Freudian theory branding a narcissism

The hardliners may frown at the very title of the article, the psychiatrist may come up with some Freudian theory branding a narcissist a psychopath, and wives may feel husbands are being defended! In fact, this idea flashed in my mind when the other day one of my Facebook friends was really teed off by the posting of some of his friends in different poses their photographs religiously almost daily.

The flood of photographs of so many of them even short on looks drove him almost mad. “The narcissists. What they think of themselves. Tom Cruise? Leonardo DiCaprio? Brad Pitt? John Abraham? Ranbir Kapoor? Now I’ve to unfriend so many of them.” I was startled at his intolerance. I scrolled back his Facebook wall and found, though not a wholesaler he was also some sort of a retailer at this photo posting business. So first he should wash his hands off this photo posting crime and then should raise the washed clean finger at others. Then I laid my hands on whatever I could find on narcissism.

Greek youth Narcissus

Well, all this nomenclature began with that poor fellow, the handsome Greek youth Narcissus. Greek mythology records the story of a very handsome young hunter Narcissus, son of Cephissus, the river god. He was engrossed in himself, never paid heed to the beauties doting on him. This attitude he showed to Echo, the nymph also who was after him in the jungle. The nymph, heartbroken, wandered around the woods for the rest of her life and withered and vanished and turned into just an echo sound.

But Narcissus had to pay heavily for his indifference, the goddess of retribution and revenge Nemesisdid some tricks. He reached a pond, saw his reflection, and fell in love with it. So lost in self-love, poor fellow without an inkling that it was a reflection, he never raised his head and died thirsty and hungry and turned into the flower, which the world knows by his name.

This myth has its Roman counterpart and so many different versions also. And then the pioneers of psychology took the business of searching the self-obsessed persons and branding them with the name of that handsome yet unfortunate Greek youth. The name took a negative turn in psychology and such narcissistic personalities became the subject of clinical and research studies.

what is the harm in a little bit of self-appreciation

I very humbly ask what is the harm in a little bit of self-appreciation, a little swagger, an iota of bragging without the proper credentials to support it. And don’t you think that beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. Can’t one be one’s own beholder? We call beauty subjective. So objectively a statement may be bragging, a gait may be swagger but subjectively they should get the benefit of the doubt.

As The Holy Bible says. Judge not lest ye shall be judged so is it right to always brandish wand of judgment. And doesn’t the research say that not to tolerate others? React violently and take one’s own point of view as final is also a sort of narcissism?

Coming back to the point. I say, leaving everything aside Narcissus should have taken the nymph Echo in his embrace. Should not have turned mad at her persistence and both of them should have lived happily ever after. Alas, he would have done so. Then the other day my Facebook friend would not have been so mad at those narcissist virtual friends of his!(written by sanjay kumar kundan )