More commonly referred to as a “God Complex,” Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) is characterized by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders as “a pervasive pattern of grandiosity, need for admiration, and a lack of empathy.”[2]
Think of this combination of traits: “a pervasive pattern of grandiosity, need for admiration, and a lack of empathy.”
In my practice, I personally witness various levels of narcissistic behavior, where the adulation is generated internally, resulting in an obsessive preoccupation with issues of status, power, and potency. As the individual excels, the narcissism is accentuated, sometimes driven to epic proportions—hence the omnipotence of the “God Complex.”
I had one particularly troubled patient, who earned an astounding $300 million annually leading a major Wall Street hedge fund. He was 43 years old, hailed from an old line Massachusetts Mayflower family and grew up on an elaborate estate in Connecticut, while his family also had a large Carnegie Hill co-op in Manhattan.
His astounding success on Wall Street had enabled him to withdraw even further from reality, to the point where he was practically incapable of normal human discourse.
My patient was ensconced in a nine-floor brownstone on the Upper East Side of Manhattan and obsessed with home interior design and multi-thousand dollar doorknobs.
He retained a co-ed naked Brazilian housecleaning service, where he was entitled to sexual relations with the cleaning staff (male and female) at his whim. The sex of the partner was irrelevant, as long as he had a convenient conduit for orgasm, which he used to fend off debilitating depression. Such lack of empathy and dehumanization are also manifestations of narcissism.
Though this behavior—and his irreconcilable lack of empathy—are certainly repulsive, they pale in comparison to his frank disdain and contempt for all other humans who were not wealthy. He truly considered them “peasants and pond-scum,” which were among his favorite characterizations of all non-peers.
He was not able to embrace the Gyroscope methodology, nor was he in touch with enough of his inner pain. He is exceptionally well defended, and convinced of his perceptions. I was frankly confused with regard to why he consulted me. He terminated treatment willingly, and entered a sexual addiction rehab in Mississippi as per my strong suggestion.
[2] The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) is published by the American Psychiatric Association and provides a common language and standard criteria for the classification of mental disorders.