Could BHO's Narcissistic Personality Disorder Be What Puts Mitt Over The Top?

This is a question that has been on my mind for some time now and its especially pertinent given that we are so close to the "wire" and the fact that we've been seeing things related to it popping up all all over the internet in one not so subtle form or another so I thought it time to give it a thread.

Will BHO's narcissism be what puts Mitt over the top after he wins the next debate - hands down?

Its quite obvious even to the most casual observer that BHO fits the description of a narcissist to a T-

Please see definition below and watch the short video - very enlightening.

Narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) is a personality disorder in which the individual is described as being excessively preoccupied with issues of personal adequacy, power, prestige and vanity. Its closely linked to ego-centrism, pervasive patterns of grandiosity (in fantasy or behavior), strong need for admiration, and lack of empathy, beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by five at least 5 of the following:

1) Has a grandiose sense of self-importance (e.g., exaggerates achievements and talents, expects to be recognized as superior without commensurate achievements)
2) Is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love
3) Believes that he or she is "special" and unique and can only be understood by, or should associate with, other special or high-status people (or institutions)
4) Requires excessive admiration
Has a sense of entitlement, i.e., unreasonable expectations of especially favorable treatment or automatic compliance with his or her expectations
5) Is inter-personally exploitative, i.e., takes advantage of others to achieve his or her own ends
6) Lacks empathy: is unwilling to recognize or identify with the feelings and needs of others 7) Is often envious of others or believes others are envious of him or her
8) Shows arrogant, haughty behavior or attitudes.

ATS members have any thoughts on this?

Further definition from Wikipedia:

Partial extract......Narcissistic personality disorder
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The symptoms of narcissistic personality disorder can be similar to the traits of individuals with strong self-esteem and confidence; differentiation occurs when the underlying psychological structures of these traits are considered pathological. Narcissists have such an elevated sense of self-worth that they value themselves as inherently better than others. Yet, they have a fragile self-esteem and cannot handle criticism, and will often try to compensate for this inner fragility by belittling or disparaging others in an attempt to validate their own self-worth. It is this sadistic tendency that is characteristic of narcissism as opposed to other psychological conditions affecting level of self-worth.

Symptoms of this disorder include:

Reacting to criticism with anger, shame, or humiliation
Taking advantage of others to reach their own goals
Exaggerating their own importance, achievements, and talents
Imagining unrealistic fantasies of success, beauty, power, intelligence, or romance
Requiring constant attention and positive reinforcement from others
Becoming jealous easily
Lacking empathy and disregarding the feelings of others
Being obsessed with oneself
Pursuing mainly selfish goals
Trouble keeping healthy relationships
Becoming easily hurt and rejected
Setting goals that are unrealistic
Wanting "the best" of everything
Appearing unemotional

Painting of "Narcissus Admiring His Own Reflection" - by Michelangelo Caravaggio who was himself a narcissist

I believe Obama does in fact suffer from narcissistic personality disorder.

The body language reactions in the debates are one indication.

I would speculate that many high officials in the Administration suffer the same.

That's who's running the country and that explains the childish and goofy decisions we have seen.

The glaring arrogance is another obvious indication.

The entire Administration acts like this.

reply to post by xuenchen


Women and minorities don't find Obama narcissistic; they find Mitt the arrogant one! And without the ladies and minorities, I don't think Mitt stands a chance in a legitimate election.

However I don't think this will be a legitimate election.



truth-out.org...

reply to post by Vitruvian


Well Obama may take a shine to his Self a tad too much.

Mitts Wife is Worried about his Mental Health, THATS SCARY.

I'm a woman and I find him narcissistic. You generalize about women and minorities as if they are a monolithic group and must all think the same way - a way that confirms your condescending attitude toward them. I'm a woman who needs to support herself and I think with Romney I have a much better chance. He doesn't hate business.

reply to post by Vitruvian


How did you "diagnose" Obama? Or was it some quack on a quack website?

Honestly, I think Romney has more problems and you're just ignoring them out of convenience.

The only persons I've heard call Obama a narcissist are nut job conservative radio hosts, looney conservatives and people that are severly ignorant.

But I've heard people of all classes and political spectrum call Romney an arrogant elitist douchebag.

The same could easily be said regarding just about any politician -- presidential or not.

Besides, perspective is everything. Of course, most GOP enthusiasts will view Obama in this light. Vice versa, the democrats will view Romney and other republicans in much the same way.

It's the same all the way around. Nothing new here, aside from an opportunity to throw cheap shots at the opposing candidate. Mudslinging, anyone?

Originally posted by muse7
The only persons I've heard call Obama a narcissist are nut job conservative radio hosts, looney conservatives and people that are severly ignorant.

Really?

Narcissistic President

He may not always be as good at everything as he thinks, including politics. While Mr. Obama has given himself high grades for his tenure in the White House — including a “solid B-plus” for his first year — many voters don’t agree, citing everything from his handling of the economy to his unfulfilled pledge that he would be able to unite Washington to his claim that he would achieve Israeli-Palestinian peace.
Those were not the only times Mr. Obama may have overestimated himself: he has also had a habit of warning new hires that he would be able to do their jobs better than they could.
“I think that I’m a better speechwriter than my speechwriters,” Mr. Obama told Patrick Gaspard, his political director, at the start of the 2008 campaign, according to The New Yorker. “I know more about policies on any particular issue than my policy directors. And I’ll tell you right now that I’m going to think I’m a better political director than my political director.”
Though he never ran a large organization before becoming president, he initially dismissed internal concerns about management and ended up with a factionalized White House and a fuzzier decision-making process than many top aides wanted.

I hope you don't think foot stomping and name calling is going to win this election for Romney. There are few candidates who have ever displayed such low charisma as your man- that's not an insult, it's a fact. Romney actually alienated nearly 1/2 of the U.S. population at one event alone. He also doesn't present any sensible plans, he just makes proclamations that hold no merit under scrutiny. If you want to consider yourself educated, you should look into his plan: trickle down economics and the studies that have been done on it over the last 20 years while paying attention to it's success rate (here's a hint: it sucks). It's easy to tell everyone what they want to hear, but if you have no data to support how that is possible, or better yet the available data is in opposition to your claim, you're pretty much a snake oil salesman. I don't know what may be a more serious personality flaw-- considering yourself important when you are the leader of the worlds most powerful nation or being a follower regardless of a lack evidence for a position and a lack of rational discourse on the real problems with regard to the true causes and solutions. Personally I will go with the guy that brings forth the data. Especially if that data happens to be non-partisan.

www.rawstory.com -
Upper-class people less empathetic than lower-class people: study...

................
But the differences between people of upper and lower-classes seems to be the product of the cultural environment, not ingrained traits. Studies have found that as people rise in the classes, they become less empathetic.

Keltner speculates that people of lower-classes are more empathetic because they need to rely on others more often to be successful. Those who can’t afford daycare service for their children, for example, turn to neighbors or relatives to watch the kids.

“If you don’t have resources and education, you really adapt to the environment, which is more threatening, by turning to other people,” he explained. “People who grow up in lower-class neighborhoods, as I did, will say,’ There’s always someone there who will take you somewhere, or watch your kid. You’ve just got to lean on people.’”

usatoday30.usatoday.com -
Narcissism can make politicians leaders ... and cheaters...

......
"Politicians are different," says Pepper Schwartz, a sociologist at the University of Washington in Seattle who's writing a book about narcissistic men. "How many of us would have the desire, much less the ability, to promote ourselves ceaselessly? You have to do that as a politician. It's an amazing level of self-love … and a need for affirmation."

Most recently in the news was Gov. Mark Sanford of South Carolina, whose extramarital romance with a woman in Argentina spurred investigations into his spending habits. And remember Eliot Spitzer? He was forced to resign as governor of New York last year; his extramarital dalliance involved a prostitution ring. James McGreevey, former governor of New Jersey, resigned in 2004 after revealing his adultery with a male aide.

"Ambition and narcissism are occupational hazards for all political leaders," says Stanley Renshon, a political psychologist at City University of New York and author of books dealing with psychological issues and political behavior. "Infidelity is a byproduct of narcissism."
.......

abcnews.go.com - Politicians' Biggest Battle: Themselves...

.......
Feeling invincible and having no regard for the consequences your actions may have, is not uncommon for men who fill powerful posts, several psychologists told ABCNews.com, and are common attributes of narcissists.

"There is something about a lot of the people in power that they think the rules no longer apply to them or they're above the rules," said Wendy Behary, an expert specializing in narcissism and the author of "Disarming the Narcissist."

"They have a sense of entitlement that comes with their prestige or place in the political sphere," Behary said.
.......

Personally, I think we ALL have issues and/or disorders. Big and small.

I mean that too and I'm not saying it lightly. I have OCPD. Probably why I went into computers in school - my obsessive compulsions for details naturally fits better in technical fields just as narcissist traits can naturally fit into positions of power. It could be that some of this is nurture and not nature. For example, one piece of evidence I read showed that OCPD can be acquired/grown from the family environment, not from genetics. And this appears to be the case with narcissists too - it's an acquired trait. I'm sure genetics are involved in some way too though. Nature and nurture.

I think everyone, if they really examined themselves, will find flaws.

reply to post by xuenchen


Are you a licensed psychiatrist?

I think not.

reply to post by Xtrozero


Again, people who are not qualified to make such diagnoses are doing so.

This time, it's Forbes.

Let's stick to the economy and policy issues and stay away from trying to diagnose candidates.

As I said earlier, why isn't anyone looking at Romney's lack of empathy, etc?

Originally posted by Mumbotron
He also doesn't present any sensible plans,

And what plan does Obama have? He is so busy saying Ronmey's plan is bad that he has not put forth a single idea of his own. The difference is Obama's plan has failed these last four years and he has ZERO experience to show otherwise, but Ronmey has proven himself over and over.


BTW with your long ass paragraph are you conceding that Obama is still Narcissistic even though you believe in him?

Originally posted by VaterOrlaag
Are you a licensed psychiatrist?

I think not.

Lol actually Psychology was my major... All I did was put forth actual Obama statements...you can see them for what they are...

Originally posted by VaterOrlaag
As I said earlier, why isn't anyone looking at Romney's lack of empathy, etc?

Empathy? You know little of his personal life. I think I can put the advice back on you guys to not believe all the spin. The Left is so desprate to paint him as a bad guy.... ALL they have is Bain and their spin on it. I could more factually say he saved 50 companies from disapearing off the face of the earth, and so saved a hell of a lot more jobs then he is suggested to have done away with.

Can you show me anything of empathy from Obama that isn't designed to get votes?

Here is some empathy...lol


Fact Check

When Barack Obama was elected to the U.S. Senate, he obtained a $1 million earmark for the University of Chicago Hospital--and his wife’s salary as Vice President for Community Affairs jumped from $121,910 to $316,962. Her job: pushing poor, uninsured patients to other hospitals.

reply to post by Xtrozero


Obama has plenty of experience keeping the U.S. economy afloat during one of the worst financial crises in U.S. history. Did Obama culminate the forces that brought upon this crisis: No! Ask yourself how Romney made his living in the private sector. Better yet look it up (I'll give you another hint: it wasn't very good at all for American jobs).
Sorry my paragraph was too long for you in my previous post, clearly you are short on material if you need to take your criticism there. As for the question posed in the title of this thread which you repeated, I think it falls under the same rubric as your paragraph statement.

Originally posted by Mumbotron

Obama has plenty of experience keeping the U.S. economy afloat during one of the worst financial crises in U.S. history. Did Obama culminate the forces that brought upon this crisis: No! Ask yourself how Romney made his living in the private sector. Better yet look it up (I'll give you another hint: it wasn't very good at all for American jobs).
Sorry my paragraph was too long for you in my previous post, clearly you are short on material if you need to take your criticism there. As for the question posed in the title of this thread which you repeated, I think it falls under the same rubric as your paragraph statement.

Reagan was handed a really bad recession, Clinton was too and SO WAS BUSH!! All three handled it well, and all three didn't complain about the last president. Now we have Obama that seems to be OJT for all of this and people are like "well he is experienced now" lol it is so sad.

Once again what is Obama's plan? He has none other than ANOTHER 450 billion recovery package on the table that even his own party will not pass. You say Romney wasn't good for the job market...holy crap!! The president isn't good for all America.

A big part of Obama's failures is he thinks he is smarter than EVERYONE (basically his own words) and will not work with congress in anyway...why should he since he is a rock star...

It would be hard pressed to convinced me he is not narcissistic.