QotD: Narcissistic Defenses

[liveonearth]

Any nonnarcissistic person can sound arrogant or devaluing, or empty and idealizing, under conditions that strain his or her identity and confidence. Medical school and psychotherapy training programs are famous for taking successful, autonomous adults and making them feel like incompetent children. Compensatory behaviors like bragging, opinionated proclamations, hypercritical commentary, or idealization of a mentor are to be expected under such circumstances.
--Nancy McWilliams in Psychoanalytic Diagnosis, p195

Comments

[neptunia67.livejournal.com]

That sounds like what I've been through in the past year, as well. I am finally starting to poke my heads above the clouds... the "ME" is returning.

[liveonearth.livejournal.com]

Welcome back! Glad to hear that the stress is abating. I hadn't detected you being arrogant. I have many characteristics of narcissism, it's part of the reason that I just read up on it. The other reason being that I know someone who is downward spiraling into the most pathological form of narcisissm.

[neptunia67.livejournal.com]

Oh! I should have been more specific... it was this sentence I was referring to: Medical school and psychotherapy training programs are famous for taking successful, autonomous adults and making them feel like incompetent children. Although, I did find myself pronouncing my skills to a few people around here, which might be construed as bragging.

[liveonearth.livejournal.com]

There's a difference between real bragging and what might be construed as such. =-] You're no braggart, you just have real skills and are capable of being factual about them.

[neptunia67.livejournal.com]

:-)