Current Event Paper for Psychopathology

On 7^th October 2018, The Guardian wrote a story about a personality disorder that has extensively affected modern society. The topic of the news story was, “How self –love  got out of control.” In the story, the author makes a reflection of modern society and its use of social media, reality shows and politics which are the main things that the contemporary world only seems to care about.  Upon observing the use of all these, the author wonders whether it could really be the case that the modern world has been affected by narcissism. The author of the article observes different individuals who are in government among other social media users and is made to believe that many people are suffering the narcissistic personality disorder without knowing. Personality disorders are covered in the textbook and one of them is the narcissistic personality disorder. The narcissistic personality disorder as learned from the textbook relates to the claim by the media story in every definitive manner.

A personality disorder definitively is a way of thinking of feeling that makes an individual to showcase some difference from the other people. It is a peculiar trait that is owned by an individual which is not normal or which is not rational. It may be influenced by some things such as individual experiences, the environment around the individual and could also be caused by inherited characteristics (Maddux & Winstead, 2016). Many personality disorders could be rectified but most of them do not end up being rectified because people are not eager to understand them.  They may cause distress to an individual and may affect the way that they do things over time without the individual themselves noting that there is something wrong with them.

Among the most evident personality disorders is the narcissistic personality disorder. The narcissistic personality disorder in the first stages resembles as the love for self. It looks like an admiration for self that is unshaken by the views and attitudes of others. It, however, keeps on growing to the outward world. People who are affected by the narcissistic personality disorder do not just admire themselves but they also want to be admired by others (Maddux & Winstead, 2016).  They are likely to act in any manner that they wish just because they want to be admired by others. They also lack empathy for others and are likely to walk around hurting the feelings of other people because they do not consider other people as necessary as they are. Narcissists have a bloated sense of self-importance and entitlement to everything that they desire and hence the lack of empathy for others.

 The article headline from The Guardian correlates with the narcissistic personality disorder as learned from the textbook in such an effective manner. The millennial use of social media in the modern century is nothing other than the rise of self-adoration. The use of social media as the author points out is nothing but self-adoration. Modern users of social media are likely to upload captions that show that they are living their best lives for others to admire. While some may still not afford to live the life they speculate, they are likely to borrow cash from other people or strain themselves just so they make it to a certain place that is held with high regard. The only reason that most of the social media users strive to realize such is that they want to be admired by their followers (Hinsliff, 2018). They want to prove affordability to their friends and followers on the social sites just so their followers and friends admire their lives.   Corresponding  to the textbook, the story relates the story of narcissism on social media to emotional abuse. To the author, contemporary use of social media is of no beneficence to the users. Neither those who make posts to create some form of admiration not the admirer benefits from the posts. Instead, it is a form of emotional abuse which is the sole intent of the creators of the posts. Their main intention is not just to create some admiration but also to make others feel like they have not achieved as much and thus causing them emotional pain.  A complete lack of empathy can, therefore, be seen from the story. Narcissists have acquired the trait of showcasing ability to those who are unable which is a trait of empathetic people (Maddux & Winstead, 2016). They have on the other edge resolved to make those who probably cannot afford to feel less important. 

The use of social media in the current times as the author states is merely an abuse of the self-esteem of others. According to the author, the use of narcissism in controlled doses is good. It would be a galvanizer of self-esteem as opposed to being a destroyer of self-esteem.  As the author proposes, narcissism starts like an admiration for self. It is, therefore, can be used to uplift individual self-esteem (Hinsliff, 2018). On social media, however, it is forcefully used to not only make others feel low but also affects the individuals with the trait. A narcissist is one person who has such low self-esteem, and though it is hyped in some way, they are likely to drop their self-regard in the face of the slightest criticism. In the case where , for instance, they are likely to lose their sense of self-belief and feel angered. They are also likely to respond in an abusive manner which largely showcases their inability to handle criticism which is a basic trait of people who have self-esteem.

The article observes the effect of the narcissistic personality disorder and proves that it has affected the face of politics too. The author, for instance, follows up on Donald Trump, the president of the United States and observes that he could be an individual who is largely affected by the narcissistic personality disorder. Following up on his social media updates and his slogans throughout his campaign trail, the author of the news article believes that the president could be affected by the disorder because of how much he is obsessed in his capabilities and that of the United States. While other presidents that came before him wanted to have an international outlook, Trump considers statements such as, “America First,” “Make America Great Again” amongst other phrases showcase his ability and that of his country alone (Hinsliff, 2018). He lacks empathy for other countries and desires that they all admire America and that they try to be like it. Though it may not be wholly recognized as a narcissistic personality disorder, the very characteristics of the disorder are evident in the president. 

The article outlines narcissists as people whose decision surround their thinking too even when they are in charge of a very impactful organization. Donald Trump, for instance, is shown as one man who occupies the highest office in the United States but who is rare to change when he makes his decisions regarding matters affecting the nation. The article, however, relates him to a man who is also never happy with his decisions. He is also coupled with multiple oppositions to anything that he believes is not his directive (Hinsliff, 2018). The author, therefore, relates him to other narcissists to people who have fragile egos and who are never happy. They are hard to work with as they lack empathy and could directly or indirectly attack when another individual makes a position that does not reflect their wishes. 

In conclusion, the textbook relates personality disorders as issues that are alive and which need extreme medical knowledge. Without observing much about personality disorders however it is necessary to know that they could be inherited or could be acquired after experiences or with regard to the environment where one grows in. Therefore, to understand the impact of personality disorders, one can simply watch the life of an individual and the peculiar traits they show that are not common. The narcissistic personality disorder is one of the personality disorders that affect many people in the millennial age. Most of the social media users and politicians like Donald Trump show an extreme self-admiration and lack of empathy for others which causes them to be indifferent, insecure and o have fragile esteems. The evaluation of this disorder by the author is therefore timely and correlates with the explanation of the textbook. Medical interventions, therefore, need to be made to make the affected people relate it to their experiences and somehow change them. 

References

Hinsliff, G. (2018). How self-love got out of control. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/global/2018/oct/07/how-self-love-got-out-of-control-the-rise-of-narcissism-politics

Maddux, J. E., & Winstead, B. A. (Eds.). (2016). Psychopathology: Foundations for a contemporary understanding. Routledge.