What About My Grandiose Narcissism?

I was recently diagnosed as schizoid by my psychiatrist. The psychiatrist did not mention my grandiosity in her clinical report.

So, what about my grandiose narcissism? Yeah. What about it? A lot of people say that I am grandiose, that I am extremely narcissistic. People point to my self concept, the language I use and the ideas I talk about. You know what I have to say about that? Big deal!

First, grandiosity is also a symptom of Schizoid Personality Disorder. The fact that a person is grandiose does not necessarily mean that he is a narcissist -- not that there's anything wrong with being a narcissist. I would be the first to defend the rights of narcissists.

I think its useful to look at a person's behavior and not simply his self concept and ideation. By the way, may I use the word "ideation?" Do I have your permission to do that? I am reminded of the famous aphorism of Nietzsche's "It is not enough to possess a talent: one must also possess your permission to possess it -- eh, my friends?" I possess talents. Perhaps my use of some of those talents offends certain people.

If you look at schizoids and narcissists there is one issue that separates them, namely, their orientation to the world. The schizoid tends to withdraw from other people, while the narcissist tends to exploit others. One of the diagnostic criteria of Narcissistic Personality Disorder is interpersonal exploitation.

I would say that I am more withdrawn than exploitive, despite my self concept, my language use, or my ideas.

Here's a list of things I have never done:

I have never had myself admitted to a hospital to fabricate medical evidence for a fraudulent lawsuit against another driver following a car accident. That would be a crime. In fact, I have never committed a crime.

I have never spread a rumor that somebody else was a homosexual.

I have never had sex with my supervisor to obtain a job promotion.

I have never provided false information to an employer to get someone fired from his job.

I have never taken $10,000 from a person with a serious psychiatric disorder who did not have any health insurance, insurance that would allow that person to obtain psychiatric treatment.

I have never, as an employee, asked of a lawyer for whom I worked: "Well, if I do the work you want me to do, what's in it for me?"

I have never discussed engaging in criminal schemes with a friend, such as setting up a fraudulent Medicare clinic.

I have never filed false sworn statements with a government agency.

These are just some of the things I have never done. If you look at my actual behaviors, what have I done that has harmed an innocent person?

Guntrip wrote: "Narcissism is a characteristic that arises out of the predominately interior life the schizoid lives. His love objects are all inside him and moreover he is greatly identified with them so that his libidinal attachments appear to be in himself. The question, however, is whether the intense inner life of the schizoid is due to a desire for hungry incorporation of external objects or due to withdrawal from the outer to a presumed safer inner world." The need for attachment as a primary motivational force is as strong in the schizoid person as in any other human being. However, because the schizoid's love objects are internal, he or she finds safety without connecting and attaching to objects in the real world.

So, yes, narcissism is an important feature of schizoid disorder. Schizoids also possess a sense of superiority. But Guntrip distinguishes between the grandiosity of the schizoid and that of the narcissist:

Guntrip states, "a sense of superiority naturally goes with self-sufficiency. One has no need of other people, they can be dispensed with... There often goes with it a feeling of being different from other people." The sense of superiority of the schizoid has nothing to do with the grandiose self of the narcissistic disorder. It does not find expression in the schizoid through the need to devalue or annihilate others who are perceived as offending, criticizing, shaming, or humiliating. This type of superiority was described by a young schizoid man:

"If I am superior to others, if I am above others, then I do not need others. When I say that I am above others, it does not mean that I feel better than them, it means that I am at a distance from them, a safe distance." It is a feeling of being vertically displaced, rather than horizontally at a distance.