DEMEDICALIZED NARCISSISM: A PSYCHO-SOCIOLOGICAL COMMENTARY
Tags: Narcissism, Sociology, Psychology Behind

DEMEDICALIZED NARCISSISM: A PSYCHO-SOCIOLOGICAL COMMENTARY

My initial research is focused on the question, to which extent should we normalize and demedicalize narcissism. I proceed by explaining narcissism, it’s pathway through demedicalization, the provoking effect of social media, and conclude by doing some fortunetelling on near future.

Defining Narcissism

Freud, in his essay “On Narcissism” defines narcissism as an imbalance between “ego-libido” and “object-libido”. Object libido is the admiration directed towards the outer circle of the subject. And ego-libido is the hyper-amplified interest in self. Object libido and ego libido are inseparable until a person figures out the sexual power of self, meaning until adulthood emerges. The disproportionate development of ego and lack of societal acceptance as a person grows up causes narcissism to occur. As we grow up, our mistakes that had once seemed sympathetic becomes viewed as crucial. That is the reason why a person feels like s/he has to devalue other’s perceptions and feelings for the sake of one’s existence not being threatened. As the perception of “ me” strengthens, “they” diminish. For a narcist, there is no collective mind. The world is an indivisible field of “them” versus “myself”. The most distinguishing characteristic of a narcissistic personality is the constant validation s/he seeks from the outer circle, regardless of the nonchalant impression s/he adopts. A narcissist can not exist without a society to behold upon.

On my terms, narcissism is the recklessness one feels against the outer world. Their sense of self is so filling that they do not presume the challenges or opportunities the outer world presents. In the context of medical sociology, I view narcissism as the key to explain high-income groups’ blindsidedness to diseases that occur amongst the poor. We witness narcissism each time a disease is classified as “tropical”, each time Tuberculosis is not considered as one of the leading causes of death, and each time we classify HIV as immoral. Humanity has made the habit of alienating subjects that are not directly related to themselves. High-income groups invent technologies to cure those diseases and then sell them to a couple of hospitals. As balance sheets look filled up, it is no one’s concern why 77 percent of registered HIV patients are black and Hispanic, most of them poor. As Farmer mentions, the only diseases popular culture mentions are the ones that affect high-income families. As the global agenda gets constituted solely on matters that affect high-income families, narcissism is getting rapidly demedicalized.

Demedicalization

Narcissism is the normal outcome of today’s consumerism. “Writers such as Wolfe and Lasch documented the rise of the cult of the individual, self-expression, self-admiration, and materialism as key to economic prosperity, happiness and success, away from traditional American societal values anchored in family and community” (Yakeley 2). Narcissism is not only a psychological disorder but an institutionalized deformity, and that is exactly how the disease is becoming demedicalized.. The strongest example of institutionalized narcissism was seen in the Heat Wave disaster where ten times more people were killed than the Bay Earthquake, yet the higher income groups thought the catastrophe was simply exaggerated and numbers were fabricated, because “Their victims are primarily social outcasts — the elderly, the poor, and the isolated — from whom we customarily turn away.” (Klinenberg 17). Even Mayor Daley himself tried to depict O’Donoghue’s factual death statistics so that the tourist economy would not get hurt. In a way this was a government normalisation of narcissism. However what Mayor did not see was, social injustice eventually diminishes macro-economy. A low SES person who does not reach a sufficient health level to work produces less output, therefore the “individual”s problem becomes a social problem. However, as Burris argues, concealment always seems easier than resistance.

Today, most of the possible Narcissistic Personality Disorder diagnoses go unnoticed, simply because everyone has their own share of the disease.. The individualistic soul of the 21st century created a medical ideology on the “normative happiness.”. The current ideology of “happiness” ,which contemplates sadness as an unnatural feeling, inclines the person to be in the constant evaluation of their own happiness. Collectivity gets lost in translation and as a result, one’s own happiness becomes the ultimate goal of one’s life. This drives the person to eventually disregard any of the possible services that one can provide to others. However, lower SES groups are less disposed to narcissism, as their basic requirements for a living (overall health, housing, employment) is at more risk, they have less time to get attuned with this medical ideology of habitual happiness. The research was done by Hamilton and colleagues (1990) cited by Link and Phelan on “Social Conditions as Fundamental Causes of Disease” proves that lower SES groups are more responsive to their outer environment. Hamilton’s research shows that from the demographic of laid-off workers, those who belonged to lower SES groups were more likely to experience negative mental health problems. The income instability of Low SES groups tilts them towards being more responsive to the outer changes and transitions which come within those changes. Therefore there is less room for low SESindividuals to become narcissistic.

Consumerism and Narcissism

There is strong evidence of NPD in the upper-class/ elite echelons. The most prominent one is brand consumerism, where elites constantly battle to buy the newest bags, shoes, cars, clothes. The purchasing power of one strengthens the perception of belonging into a higher SES group. In a sense the logos on our clothes symbolize which “cult” we belong in. And the narcissist, who needs the higher perception of the outer community in order to stand still, buys tirelessly. The institutionalized narcissism automatically puts low SES citizens directly out of the system. Therefore social gaps widens and class conflicts emerge. In a fact, I find this situation as similar to Latino Paradox, where Latinos were surprisingly more advantageous in health compared to other minorities. And in the case of narcissism, low income controversially means being in lower risk group.

Social Media and Narcissism

One of the main tools that narcissism gets demedicalized is social media. The rise of social media created normalized ground for pretentious behavior. Social media grants a sense of false self-actualization, directly proportional with the quality of images uploaded.. As number of users on those platforms increase, the diversity of content does not increase societal sensitivity but rather everyone seeks out to stand out on those content tyranny. The ground it presents raises a culture where brands people wear and places they visit become more important than moral behavior, social capital is now measured with number of followers. Through my little anthropological research amongst the higher-echelon college students, I realized most location tags are ranging amongst “Mykonos”, “St. Tropez”, and “St. Barts”. The only time location tags are used is when high SES people visit different high SES places. Social media creates various cults where alikes comment on the pictures of alikes. As social segregation becomes more distinct on this technological medium, the rise of “visuals” degrade the value of true activism. It is possible to state that technology is the main ground to apply social control on narcissism.

Who the current system benefits to?

This current system definetely benefits big technology producers and pharmaceuticals, as well as psychiatrists. Apple and Samsung began to compete on photo quality, instead of software quality, because the common norm of narcissim is based on quality visuals. At the same time, as the norm of balanced mental wellbeing switched into a happiness dictatorship, psychiatrists are having their most profitable period of time.” ‘We have never seen demand for psychiatrists this high in our 30-year history,’ said Tommy Bohannon, who is the vice president of Merritt Hawkins, a physician recruiting firm. “(Brooks). Whereas, Prozac and Xanax took their places on emergency kits. In fact, according to APA’s statistics, there was a 64% increase on antidepressant usage between 1999 and 2004.

Why we do not take a step back from narcissism?

I believe the main reason behind why narcissism is demedicalized is due to it’s institutionalized background. Individuality is so strictly promoted by American government that the public views the sole alternative capitalism as communism. And most people prefer living with the extreme outcomes of capitalism to communal poverty of communism. As the wide range of governmental systems are divided to two, we are convinced to endure the “lesser evil”, and the “lesser evil” outcomes it produces.

The Future

If narcissism continues to get demedicalized, the disinterest social groups have against each other will increase even more. This means the fundamental cause theory will enter into an endless cycle. As poor will get poorer, rich will be busy with posting pictures. The only occasion that triggers a pragmatic narcist to do a favor would be either for admiration or a favorable return. My hypothesis is that in accordance with discrepancy theory, either world is going to eliminate who are not able to survive in the capitalist world, such as we have seen in Heat Wave disaster, or push them to work harder in order to earn a better place on the narcissistic world. And if the world is lucky enough, eventually the corona crisis might lead the world into becoming less self-concerned individuals before the narcissism gets full hold of all of us.

Works Cited