Understanding and Identifying the Narcissistic Personality by Elsa Ronningstam
Dr. Ronningstam is instructor in psychology at Harvard Medical School and assistant psychologist at the Psychosocial Center, McLean Hospital, Belmont, Mass. Endorsements for Ronningstam's book:
"This is a truly masterful and scholarly work....Clinicians will find her chapters to be exceptionally useful in their everyday practice." ~Theodore Millon, Ph.D., Dean and Scientific Director, The Institute for Advanced Studies in Personology and Psychopathology
"This volume is the most comprehensive and up-to-date compendium of our knowledge of narcissistic personality disorders." ~Arnold M. Cooper, M.D., Professor Emeritus in Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry, Cornell University Medical College
"an engrossing and educational guide...filled with facts and clinical wisdom, enhanced by concise descriptions of narcissistic types familiar to us all." ~John Oldham, M.D., Professor and Chair, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina
"The abundant clinical illustrations provided by the author bring the theoretical statements alive and contribute to making this book a rich source of knowledge about this frequent, seriously crippling personality disorder." ~Otto F. Kernberg, M.D., Director, Personality Disorders Institute, The New York Presbyterian Hospital
Dear all,
I have earmarked nearly every page in Elsa Ronningstam's book and underlined countless paragraphs. Her book has become an extremely reliable reference book for almost any question a person might have about narcissism. Even HEALTHY narcissism.
In her book, Ronningstam offers an interesting division of narcissistic sub-types clarifying differences we have noted amongst the narcissists written about on N-forums.
These types are: (1) the arrogant, oblivious, overt types; (2) the shy, hypervigilent, covert types; and (3) the psychopathic types.
While most of us are familiar with the bragging, swaggering narcissistic stereotype, we are less likely to be familiar with covert and psychopathic types of narcissism. There continues to be serious debate about the constitution of NPD amongst professionals while on-going studies will hopefully clarify specific differences between Axis II disorders.
For those of you who can afford to purchase Ronningstam's book, you may want to read her descriptions of NPD (both healthy and unhealthy). For those who might not be in a situation to purchase her book, the following is a brief synopsis of the three categories of pathological narcissism.
First of all, Ronningstam defines narcissism on a 5-Type-continuum from healthy(1) and extraordinary(2) narcissism, to three types of pathological narcissism; i.e.: Narcissistic Personality Disorders.
(3) The Arrogant Type a sense of superiority and uniqueness
exaggeration of talents and achievements
grandiose fantasies
self-centered and self-referential behavior
boastful and pretentious attitude
need for admiring attention
strong reactions to criticism and defeat
strong feelings of shame and envy
intense aggressive reactions to threats to self-esteem
sharp mood variations
intense reactions to the perception of others' envy
arrogant and haughty behavior
entitlement
impaired empathic ability
interpersonal control and hostility
lack of sustained commitment to others
(page 83-100)
(4) The Shy TypeShares the following features with the Arrogant Narcissistic Type:
sense of superiority and uniqueness
lack of sustained commitment to others
impaired capacity for empathy
strong feelings of envy
Features exclusive for the shy narcissistic type include: compensatory grandiose fantasies
shame for ambitions and grandiosity
shunning being the center of attention
hypersensitivity to slights, humiliations, and criticism
harsh self-criticism
proneness to intense shame reactions
interpersonal and vocational inhibitions
modesty, humility, and unassumingness
hypochondria
dysphoric affect state with unhappiness, pessimism, lack of fulfillment, yearning, and waiting
(pages 104-105)
(5) The Psychopathic Type In summary, psychopathic NPD shares the following features with the arrogant type:
grandiose sense of self worth
exploitive behavior
envy
lack of commitment
impaired or lack of empathic capacity
Features exclusive for the psychopathic NPD type are: irritablity and raging reactions
callous and deceitful
cunning/manipulative behavior
lack of remorse or guilt
interpersonal sadism
violent behavior
one or a few crimes
(page 110)
Now before anybody diagnoses his-or-herself as a 'shy' or covert narcissist, ('cuz I know you all will ), remember that (1)
it is impossible to diagnose yourself and (2)
you are in a process of healing which always begins with a period of extreme self-focus. "In addition, in a recently proposed diagnostic term, "trauma-associated narcissistic symptoms" (Simon, 2001), the stress associated with an external traumatic experience overwhelm the self and trigger symptoms such as shame, humiliation, and rage. Although underlying vulnerability to such stress can stem from the presence of pathological narcissism...even people with relatively high self-esteem can develop narcissistic symptoms after experiencing a more or less severe narcissistic humiliation." (page 70, Elsa Ronningstam, 'Narcissistic Personality')
Hugs all,
CZBZ
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