My understanding is that the “personality disorders” section of the DSM was unreliable/wildly subjective and existed for completeness only rather than as a really valid diagnosis? This is almost certainly true in how the labels get used and I think somewhat undermines that these are disorders in a medical sense and just kind of a catchall for people that society doesn’t like (I am aware of the overlap)
I know one diagnosed narcissist who fits the whole stereotype up and down, and I know a lot of other people with diagnosed personality disorders who are not the monsters society accuses them of being. I also know a lot of selfish assholes who have not been diagnosed with any mental health condition. I think to a large degree people use medical language to describe people who have hurt them or behaved badly, or just behaved in a way they don’t like, because it reduces that person to an irredeemable, absolute monster. You can write them off as something inhuman, like a vampire, and absolve yourself for failing to recognize them, or their abusive behavior, or acting on it, or whatever feeling of guilt or failure is gnawing at you. P*do gets thrown around very casually the same way - If you can get your audience to accept that your opponent deserves the epithet then you can do whatever you want to the opponent. They’re an absolute monster at that point.
It’s not good. Medicalizing your opponent in an argument or whatever doesn’t generally serve your argument. Yeah, yeah, fallacies, whatever, fuck the debate club nerds, but in this case the ad-hominem attack is something to be concerned about. And when it become a widespread way of shutting down someone’s argument or speech or whatever in a community it can be readily weaponized by bad actors to disrupt the community.
And when it gets used often enough, people really do think that us actual narcisstists are irredeemable monsters. That’s why I’ve been told to my face that I don’t deserve to live because of my disability.
It’s often more subtle than that, though. Constant, constant microaggressions. The most common problem being that neurotypical empathy doesn’t work on narcissists and NTs tend to take personal offence when they can’t read our minds.
Yeah, the way narcissist gets thrown around it’s usually medicalizing selfish behavior or speech, or at least behavior and speech that the poster believes to be unusually selfish. But it’s a word that gets thrown around very casually without much consideration.
Apparently it’s always been a psychology term in English. There were instances where comparisons to Narcissus were used to accuse someone of excessive self love, but “narcissist”, “narcissistic”, and “narcissism” are all medical terms. And, of course, once someone has labelled you a narcissist there is no possible defense, because any attempt to defend yourself is ascribed to narcissism.
I’m fine with it being banned. Being an asshole is not a psychological disorder and doesn’t need to be assigned to an underlying psychiatric condition that essentializes the persona and positions them as incapable of self reflection or acting in good faith.
They’re referring to “narcissist”. Which should be banned as a pejorative because it’s the name of a mental disability.
My understanding is that the “personality disorders” section of the DSM was unreliable/wildly subjective and existed for completeness only rather than as a really valid diagnosis? This is almost certainly true in how the labels get used and I think somewhat undermines that these are disorders in a medical sense and just kind of a catchall for people that society doesn’t like (I am aware of the overlap)
I know one diagnosed narcissist who fits the whole stereotype up and down, and I know a lot of other people with diagnosed personality disorders who are not the monsters society accuses them of being. I also know a lot of selfish assholes who have not been diagnosed with any mental health condition. I think to a large degree people use medical language to describe people who have hurt them or behaved badly, or just behaved in a way they don’t like, because it reduces that person to an irredeemable, absolute monster. You can write them off as something inhuman, like a vampire, and absolve yourself for failing to recognize them, or their abusive behavior, or acting on it, or whatever feeling of guilt or failure is gnawing at you. P*do gets thrown around very casually the same way - If you can get your audience to accept that your opponent deserves the epithet then you can do whatever you want to the opponent. They’re an absolute monster at that point.
It’s not good. Medicalizing your opponent in an argument or whatever doesn’t generally serve your argument. Yeah, yeah, fallacies, whatever, fuck the debate club nerds, but in this case the ad-hominem attack is something to be concerned about. And when it become a widespread way of shutting down someone’s argument or speech or whatever in a community it can be readily weaponized by bad actors to disrupt the community.
And when it gets used often enough, people really do think that us actual narcisstists are irredeemable monsters. That’s why I’ve been told to my face that I don’t deserve to live because of my disability.
It’s often more subtle than that, though. Constant, constant microaggressions. The most common problem being that neurotypical empathy doesn’t work on narcissists and NTs tend to take personal offence when they can’t read our minds.
doctors never fail to be the absolute worst
Occasionally they do
Yeah, the way narcissist gets thrown around it’s usually medicalizing selfish behavior or speech, or at least behavior and speech that the poster believes to be unusually selfish. But it’s a word that gets thrown around very casually without much consideration.
Apparently it’s always been a psychology term in English. There were instances where comparisons to Narcissus were used to accuse someone of excessive self love, but “narcissist”, “narcissistic”, and “narcissism” are all medical terms. And, of course, once someone has labelled you a narcissist there is no possible defense, because any attempt to defend yourself is ascribed to narcissism.
I’m fine with it being banned. Being an asshole is not a psychological disorder and doesn’t need to be assigned to an underlying psychiatric condition that essentializes the persona and positions them as incapable of self reflection or acting in good faith.
Also serves to poison the well in cases where acting out of self-interest might genuinely be called for.
I always assumed it was a non-medical term first, that changes things.