Have you heard about narcissism ? if you look up the word in the dictionary, you will see that the definition is that the narcissism is a person's excessive love for himself What many people don't know is that this is a concept of psychoanalysis that has been discussed by many scholars.

Meaning of Narcissism

First of all, it is worth remembering that the word "narcissism" refers to a myth. According to the Roman poet Ovid ("Metamorphoses"), Narcissus was a very beautiful boy. One day, his parents went to the oracle Tirésias to find out about their son's future. They learned that he would live a long life if he did not see his own face.

Narcissus, in the Greek myth, falls in love with himself. He falls in love with the reflection of his image in the waters of a river. Narcissus bends toward the water. Because of this myth, a flower that usually grows on the banks of rivers or lakes and bends toward the water was given the name narcissus (or daffodil).

It is not a naive process, because it exacts a high price: Narcissus drowns, as a consequence of his unbridled love for himself .

This death can also be seen as a metaphorical death, to define the concept of narcissism: when we fixate only on our truth, we "die to the world" and to new discoveries.

One of the characteristics of the young Narcissus was his arrogance. In addition, he aroused the love of many people, including nymphs like Echo. She, however, was scorned by the boy and turned to the help of the goddess Nemesis for revenge.

The deity, in response, made the young man fall in love with his own image reflected in a river. The result of this enchantment was the self-destruction of Narcissus. The goddess then transformed him into a flower that bears her name.

The inability to bear ambiguity

Freud wrote: " Neurosis is the inability to bear ambiguity ".

One possible way to understand this phrase is to think that a rigid (inflexible) psyche will suffer by wanting to impose its psychic reality on the external factors, not understanding them in their complexity.

This rigidity can be a reflection of situations such as narcissism.

Psychoanalysis sees narcissism as:

• result of a weakened ego The ego needs to defend itself and assert itself as supreme (and this is not a sign of strength!);
• this weakened ego (to defend itself from its weakness) creates a self-image of strength;
• Psychoanalytic therapy against narcissism implies allowing the contact of the analisand with other possibilities of seeing the world and of accepting other people.

We could think that, in the extreme, what is meant by narcissism is not tolerating ambiguity, not tolerating diversity, not tolerating complexity. Because the narcissistic person simplifies the world to himself, to his self-truth, closing himself to otherness (to the other), closing himself to discovery. This would be an example of "not tolerating ambiguity".

It doesn't mean that the narcissist will necessarily isolate himself from the world. Even in constant conflict with others, it is recurrent that the narcissist needs others, precisely to have a reference over which to stand out.

The strengthened ego versus the narcissistic ego

We are all a little narcissistic This is important because the ego needs to create defenses to the organism and to the psychic life of the being. It is a form of defense and a way to delimit ourselves facing the external world and others. Without the action of the ego and our self-belief that we are distinct from other people (and from the world), the psyche could get lost in a potentially schizophrenic indistinctness.

The point is that strengthened ego without exaggerated narcissism :

• will have a background of distrust about himself,
• will seek other knowledge,
• will evaluate the facts from various perspectives,
• you will know enough about yourself to love yourself, but without that becoming "closing yourself off" and
• will be open to listen and to live with the other.

While fragile ego would represent an exaggerated narcissism As a result, the narcissistic person recurs:

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• to make unreasonable compliments, or
• to use other people mainly by focusing on your personal goals, or
• demonstrate aggressiveness when questioned or contradicted.

Psychoanalytic therapy has as one of its main achievements ego-strengthening process overcoming or mitigating narcissism.

Narcissism in psychoanalysis

The word "narcissism" was first used in the field of psychoanalysis by the German Paul Nacke in 1899. In his study on sexual perversions, he made use of this term to name the state of one's love for oneself.

Narcissism for Freud

For Sigmund Freud, narcissism is a stage in people's development. It is a stage in which there is a passage from autoeroticism, that is, pleasure that is concentrated in one's own body, to the election of another being as the object of love. This transition is important because the individual acquires the ability to live with that which is different.

This passage is called by Freud as primary narcissism It is the moment when the ego is chosen as the object of love, which differs from autoeroticism, which is a phase in which the ego does not yet exist.

O secondary narcissism consists of the return of affection to the ego after it has been assigned to external objects. According to the father of psychoanalysis, all people are narcissistic to some extent, since they contain within themselves a drive for self-preservation.

Narcissism for Klein

Austrian Melanie Klein presents another notion of primary narcissism. According to his ideas, the baby already internalizes the object in the phases corresponding to narcissism and autoeroticism. In this way, she disagrees with Freud's idea that there are stages in which there are no object relations. For Klein, from the beginning the baby already establishes affection relations with external people and things.

For Klein, narcissism would be a destructive instinct. The narcissistic interest would represent an aggression directed at the object. Thus, the renunciation of this interest is a manifestation of love and protection.

Narcissism for Houser

According to Houser, narcissism protects the psyche. This is because it allows the subject to constitute an integral image of himself.

Narcissism for Lacan

The psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan also studied narcissism. According to him, a baby when it is born does not know itself and, for this reason, identifies with the image of the son that its mother would like to have. This movement is called by the psychoanalyst "subject assumption". Thus, it can be said that, in this phase, the presence of the other is fundamental.

However, at the moment when the subject observes his own reflection in the mirror At this stage, the self identifies itself through the image of the other. It can be said that the mirror stage is a narcissistic symbology, for the subject is alienated in himself.

Narcissism for Luciano Elia

According to psychoanalyst Luciano Elia, Narcissism is a process in which an individual understands his body image as his own and, for this reason, recognizes himself in it.

Narcissism as a pathology

Note that virtually all of the above theories understand narcissism not as a pathology, but as part of ego development and differentiation. Some of these theories (it is true) will think that in certain degrees and forms of manifestation, narcissism can be characterized as pathological. That is what we will talk about now.

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It is important then to point out what is narcissistic personality disorder . This is a disorder in which a person has an exaggerated idea of his or her own importance.

Here are some features:

• People who suffer from this problem usually find it difficult to get along with others since they show irritation when they are contradicted or questioned, and they also overvalue their opinions.
• Narcissistic people also demonstrate an inability to put themselves in another person's shoes that is, a difficulty in showing empathy.
• Many theorists claim that there is tendency to depression Narcissistic people can also develop alcohol or drug addiction.

Causes

The causes of this disorder are believed to be both genetic and environmental. Thus, it is understood that this is problem can be passed from one generation to the next. However, it is also possible to state that parents who are not good enough (overprotecting or abandoning) their children can contribute to narcissistic traits developing in them.

Treatment

Psychotherapy is the most recommended form of treatment for this type of disorder. Normally a narcissistic person will not seek help from a professional because of their disorder, since they would have difficulty identifying any problems in their behavior. What motivates them to seek the help of a professional are the problems associated with narcissism, such asdepression, grief over the end of a relationship, and drug addiction, for example.

It can be said that treatment is beneficial because it helps the person with the disorder to understand how to relate better, as well as helping them to understand their own feelings.

Final considerations about narcissism

It can be said, therefore, that the narcissism Many scholars have used this concept to explain the formation of an individual's identity. In addition, it is also understood as a disorder that can damage the lives of certain people if treatment is not carried out.

Now that you already know these notions, we invite you to learn more concepts of psychoanalysis through our Clinical Psychoanalysis course, which gives you complete training in the area in the period of 12 to 36 months.

Learn more about the training course in psychoanalysis. And, if you like to learn more about narcissism It is possible that there is a relative or acquaintance who needs help in this regard, so it is important to inform them about the possibility of seeking treatment. Also leave a comment: How do you see the issue of narcissism?