Narcissistic Personality Disorder - Research Paper Example

 Narcissistic Personality Disorder Outline Introduction What is narcissistic personality disorder. Signs and symptoms of the narcissistic personality disorder Purpose of the paper Causes of narcissistic personality disorder Excessive pampering by parents Abuse Treatment of narcissistic personality disorder Psychotherapy Medicines Character analysis of Johnny Clay Characteristics of Johnny Clay that depict the narcissistic personality disorder in him The positive impact of Radio’s patience and forgiveness on Johnny Clay Conclusion Narcissistic personality disorder Narcissism is a condition in which an individual takes self-admiration to the extreme level. The origin of the word “narcissism” is a Greek myth about Narcissus, who is a handsome lad who falls in love with his own reflection that he sees in a water-pool. “As with other personality disorders, this disorder is an enduring and persistent pattern of behavior that negatively impacts many different life areas including social, family, and work relationships” (Cherry, 2012). Narcissistic personality disorder compiles a whole range of dramatic personality disorders. An individual who suffers from the narcissistic personality disorder feels severe unstable emotions. The individual’s self-image is distorted. The individual places the personal self above everything and is preoccupied with an urge to be powerful and successful. Rather than being factors of reflection of true self-confidence, such behaviors arise from an underlying sense of week self-esteem and insecurity. The symptoms of the narcissistic personality disorder include but are not limited to boastfulness and self-centeredness, constant search of admiration and attention, superiority complex, exaggeration of personal achievements, expectation of special treatment, extreme sensitivity, establishment of unrealistic goals, and preoccupation with the fantasies of beauty, power and success. This paper discusses the treatment of patients of the narcissistic personality disorder in light of the character of Johnny Clay in the movie Radio. There is a lot of subjectivity about the true cause of the narcissistic personality disorder. There exists a general consensus among the mental health professionals that child rearing causes the narcissistic personality disorder. Excessive pampering and very high expectations of the parents from the child cause the child to develop the narcissistic personality disorder. Paradoxically, a child may also acquire the narcissistic personality disorder if he/she grows up in totally opposite conditions, including abuse or neglect from parents. The narcissistic personality disorder is usually hard to predict in the individual until he/she reaches the stage of adulthood. Although no objective cure or treatment method is known for the narcissistic personality disorder, yet a special type of counseling called as psychotherapy may be useful in making a patient of the narcissistic personality disorder relate to others in an increasingly rewarding and affirmative manner. In the psychotherapy, the patient gets an opportunity to have a thorough insight into his/her problems so that it is easier and possible for the patient to change his/her behavior for the better. The fundamental objective of psychotherapy is to improve the self-esteem of the patient and inculcate a more realistic perception of the world in general and people in particular in the patient. Sometimes, medicines are prescribed to treat the behavioral issues associated with the narcissistic personality disorder. It is not easy to change an individual’s personality traits, which is why most psychotherapies directed at improving the behavior of patients of the narcissistic personality disorders generally take several years to complete. The short-term goal of psychotherapy is to address the issues of shame, low self-esteem and substance abuse in the patient while the long-term goals include a whole restructuring of the patient’s personality which would alter the patient’s patterns of thinking and develop a more realistic image of the self (Mayo Clinic, 2012). “When the client engages in a more effective behavior…the therapist responds to the client by reinforcing or supporting that behavior and then conveys how much more effective that behavior is” (Callaghan, Summers, and Weidman, 2003, p. 325). There are numerous examples of people suffering from the narcissistic personality disorder. One movie that depicts one such character is Radio directed by Mike Tollin which is based on a true story. In the movie radio, the character Johnny Clay suffers from the narcissistic personality disorder. This can be estimated from his role in the movie and his general attitude. By position, Johnny Clay happens to be a sports allstar in the high school. Johnny Clay maintains a cocky attitude in which, he shows little care or respect for people other than himself. His cocky attitude comes from an urge of entitlement. Johnny Clay wants to be extremely powerful and influential. He has served as a leader of the basketball team as well as the football team in the high school. His sense of being special is further aired by the attitude of his team members who idealize him as a leader and establish him as an example. Johnny Clay happens to be an effective leader. Throughout the movie, Johnny Clay can be seen trying to impress the sports scouts so that he can be granted a scholarship to a good university. As indicated in the signs of the narcissistic personality disorder, people suffering from this order have a constant desire to get others impressed and be successful. “Narcissistic patients try to sustain an image of perfection and personal invincibility for themselves and attempt to project that impression to others as well” (PsychCentral, 2012). An analysis of the character of Johnny Clay in the movie Radio suggests that he displays both of these characteristics. He is eager to attain his goals. Throughout the movie, he maintains an insulting attitude towards Radio. People suffering from the narcissistic personality disorder are insecure. Although it apparently seems that they derive the urge to be successful and impressive from their confidence, yet the reality is that these needs emerge from an underlying lack of self-esteem. The very insecurity and lack of self-esteem causes Johnny Clay to be afraid and jealous of Radio as a result of which, he mistreats Radio at various occasions. For example, when one day during the football practice the ball goes across the fence and reaches Radio, Johnny Clay commands Radio to pick the ball up and throw it over to him. But when Radio cannot understand it, Johnny Clay becomes very impatient and calls Radio “Retard”. This attitude is typical of people suffering from the narcissistic personality disorder that they cannot take anybody disobeying them or for the least, not carrying out their orders. Moved by a feeling of being important and special, Johnny Clay is easily offended by Radio when he doesn’t throw the ball over to him, and thus starts calling Radio names. At another occasion, Johnny gets Radio into the locker room of the girls. Although Radio is freaked out, yet he does not tell Coach Jones that Johnny had asked him to go into the girls’ locker room. Johnny is touched by this, and starts respecting Radio from that point onwards. Concluding, the narcissistic personality disorder equips an individual with the feelings of extreme self-importance, self-praise, the need for success and power, and aggression. Psychotherapy is conventionally adopted as a way to treat the patients of the narcissistic personality disorder. Psychotherapy aims at altering the patient’s personality and behaviors for the better. Generally, people need to understand the problem of an individual suspected with the narcissistic personality disorder and deal him/her with care. From the movie Radio, it seems that to change the attitude of an individual suffering from the narcissistic personality disorder, people should be patient and forgiving towards him/her. As discussed before, the psychotherapy helps improving the behavior of the individual with the narcissistic personality disorder by making him/her realize his mistakes, Radio indirectly makes Johnny Clay realize his mistake by showing courtesy and a forgiving attitude towards him, which has a positive impact on the relationship between the two. Radio works on the principle, “Do Unto Others as You Would Have Them do Unto You” (Harwood, 2007) which positively affects Johnny Clay. References: Callaghan, G. M., Summers, C. J., and Weidman, M. (2003). The Treatment of Histrionic and Narcissistic Personality Disorder Behaviors: A Single-Subject Demonstration of Clinical Improvement Using Functional Analytic Psychotherapy. Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy. 33(4): 321-339. Cherry, K. (2012). Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Retrieved from http://psychology.about.com/od/personalitydisorders/a/narcissisticpd.htm. Harwood, J. (2007). Leadership Portrayed in the Film. Retrieved from http://radioafilmreview.blogspot.com/2007/03/leadership-portrayed-in-film.html. Mayo Clince. (2012). Narcissistic personality disorder. Retrieved from http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/narcissistic-personality-disorder/DS00652/DSECTION=treatments-and-drugs. PsychCentral. (2012). Narcissistic Personality Disorder Treatment. Retrieved from http://psychcentral.com/disorders/sx36t.htm. Read More