The Most Special Snowflake Of All

As for these shrieking statues, I'll not weep; 

They perish as they've lived, dull witless sheep 

In slaughterhouses far beyond their ken. 

I'll shed no tears for those who die unshriven, 

For they are men, just men. And what are men 

But chariots of wrath, by demons driven? 

~ Etrigan, the Demon ~

Swamp Thing #26, by Alan Moore

Photo editing by Charles Garrett

Quoting author John Goodrich from an essay entitled, Our Demons:

"In many ways, we are defined by our demons. Who we are, who we want to be is largely a function of our unexplained or unexamined desires. Our demons. We are driven, some more than others, to do what we do by childhood experiences half-remembered, embarrassing incidents we wish to never experience again, and sudden joys in unexpected places.

These are what drive us, from the back-seat of the mighty subconscious. Some few of us can recognize and direct our demons, riding them rather than allowing them to control us, directing their restless energy. But these people are all too rare. We are not a culture of great personal insight, but rather focus on the outer trappings of success; wealth, power, and fame."

Getty Images

In the recent post entitled, Happy New Year: Now What?, we discussed two separate distinct personality types: right-wing authoritarian (RWA) and social dominance orientation (SDO).  Donald Trump obviously displays more of the SDO traits, while Republicans in general fall into either category neatly, with various degrees of overlap.  These descriptive terms, RWA and SDO, while accurate, are not exactly "official."

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), published by the American Psychiatric Association (APA), offers a common language and standard criteria for the classification of mental disorders.  So, if we want a diagnosis for Donald Trump that we call all agree on, it's a pretty safe bet that what we are experiencing is called Narcissistic Personality Disorder.

From MentalHelp.net

People with Narcissistic Personality Disorder* (NPD) have significant problems with their sense of self-worth stemming from a powerful sense of entitlement. This leads them to believe they deserve special treatment, and to assume they have special powers, are uniquely talented, or that they are especially brilliant or attractive. Their sense of entitlement can lead them to act in ways that fundamentally disregard and disrespect the worth of those around them.

People with Narcissistic Personality Disorder are preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success and power, so much so that they might end up getting lost in their daydreams while they fantasize about their superior intelligence or stunning beauty.  These people can get so caught up in their fantasies that they don't put any effort into their daily life and don't direct their energies toward accomplishing their goals.

They may believe that they are special and deserve special treatment, and may display an attitude that is arrogant and haughty. This can create a lot of conflict with other people who feel exploited and who dislike being treated in a condescending fashion.

People with NPD often feel devastated when they realize that they have normal, average human limitations; that they are not as special as they think, or that others don't admire them as much as they would like.  These realizations are often accompanied by feelings of intense anger or shame that they sometimes take out on other people.  

Their need to be powerful, and admired, coupled with a lack of empathy for others, makes for conflictual relationships that are often superficial and devoid of real intimacy and caring.

Status is very important to people with NPD.  Associating with famous and special people provides them a sense of importance. These individuals can quickly shift from over-idealizing others to devaluing them.

However, the same is true of their self-judgments. They tend to vacillate between feeling like they have unlimited abilities, and then feeling deflated, worthless, and devastated when they encounter their normal, average human limitations. Despite their bravado, people with Narcissistic Personality Disorder require a lot of admiration from other people in order to bolster their own fragile self-esteem. They can be quite manipulative in extracting the necessary attention from those people around them. 

*It is important to remember that everyone can exhibit some of these personality traits from time to time. To meet the diagnostic requirement of a personality disorder, these traits must be inflexible; i.e., they can be regularly observed without regard to time, place, or circumstance. 

Furthermore, these traits must cause functional impairment and/or subjective distress. Functional impairment means these traits interfere with a person's ability to functional well in society. The symptoms cause problems in interpersonal relationships; or at work, school, or home. Subjective distress means the person with a personality disorder may experience their symptoms as unwanted, harmful, painful, embarrassing, or otherwise cause them distress.

So what can we expect from the narcissist-in-chief?  Sadly, the answer is: more of what we've gotten so far, much more.  Do yourself a favor and check out the article over at Quartz regarding NPD:

1) It’s not curable and it’s barely treatable. He is who he is....

2) He will say whatever feels most comfortable or good to him at any given time. He will lie a lot, and say totally different things to different people....

3) You can influence him by making him feel good....

4) Entitlement is a key aspect of the disorder. As we are already seeing, he will likely not observe traditional boundaries of the office...

5) We should expect that he only cares about himself and those he views as extensions of himself, like his children....

6) It’s very, very confusing for non-disordered people to experience a disordered person with NPD....

7) People with NPD often recruit helpers. These are referred to as “enablers” in the literature when they allow or cover for bad behavior, and “flying monkeys” when they perpetrate bad behavior on behalf of the narcissist.... 

8) People with NPD often foster competition in people they control. Expect lots of chaos, firings, and recriminations....

9) Gaslighting—where someone tries to convince you that the reality you’ve experienced isn’t true—is real and torturous. He will gaslight, his followers will gaslight.... 

10) Whenever possible, do not focus on the narcissist or give him attention. Unfortunately we can’t and shouldn’t ignore the president, but don’t circulate his tweets or laugh at him—you are enabling him and getting his word out. (I’ve done this, of course, we all have… just try to be aware.) Pay attention to your own emotions: Do you sort of enjoy his clowning? Do you enjoy the outrage? Is this kind of fun and dramatic, in a sick way? You are adding to his energy. Focus on what you can change and how you can resist, where you are. We are all called to be leaders now, in the absence of leadership.

Trump's biographers were recently interviewed by Politico magazine, in an enlightening piece entitled, He Has This Deep Fear That He Is Not a Legitimate President.  For additional insight into this particular narcissist, this piece is also highly recommended.  It's going to be a long four years.

As I continue to highlight, writers, artists, and performers also continue to step up to their true roles as agents of social transformation, setting the example and showing us the way.  In her recent take-down of all things Trump, during her Golden Globes acceptance speech, Meryl Streep never mentioned his name.  Tomorrow is Inauguration Day.  Don't give Trump the narcissist the satisfaction of high ratings.  Let's do the proper thing and ignore his 'celebration.'  Watch something else or shut your television off.  

None of us really know exactly what's going to happen after tomorrow, or just how much our worlds will change in the coming days.  For me, tomorrow is an official Day of Mourning.  Unlike Trump however, I'm not taking the weekend off to celebrate.  On Friday we mourn, on Saturday we rise!!!

RM