These personalities are defined by Wikipedia as:
[C]haracterized by dramatic, overly emotional, or unpredictable thinking or behavior or interaction with others. They include antisocial personality disorder, borderline personality disorder, histrionic personalty disorder and antisocial personality disorder.
"Antisocial personality disorder" is another way of referring to sociopathy.
These disorders are grouped together for good reason, as they are indicative of character flaws, as opposed to either neuroses or psychoses.
If you're trying to figure out who's who in your personal life, it's helpful to think of narcissistic personalities as walking, talking egos (Donald Trump is the most prominent current example).
Think of histrionic personalities as walking, talking needs for attention (think Jim Carrey or Miley Cyrus or any number of Instagram personalities).
And think of borderline personalities as seething, volcanic bundles of rage (think Rosie O'Donnell or Rose McGowan).
A sociopath is in fact all these things; he is simply better at hiding them. He is as egotistical as any narcissist, though he likely affects a veneer of modesty.
He hates not being the center of attention in any group. If someone else is, he'll usually find a way to undermine him. But, he can bide his time about working his way back into the limelight.
And he may not appear to be a bundle of rage, but there is no one more full of schadenfreude. He is in fact constantly overflowing with animosity and a desire to see you fail -- even as he pretends to be your friend.
I've known narcissistic personalities who weren't full of rage (unless someone insulted them).
I've known histrionic personalities who didn't consistently overrate themselves.
Neither of the borderline personalities I've known personally (or have been aware of, at least) floated around on a cloud of egotism, or even needed to be the center of attention.
But I've never known a sociopath who didn't manage to incorporate all of these traits.
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6 comments:
John - Have you thought any about Dr. Fauci’s personality type? I have the feeling the further we go with the covid19 stuff the more will be revealed about him.
Smallberries Worldwide --
Honestly, I haven't. I started suffering from COVID burnout fairly early in the process and after a short while couldn't bear to look at those nightly newscasts with Fauci and Birx and Trump etc. So I don't have much of a feel for Fauci's personality. You could well be right, I just don't have much of an opinion.
All three types engage in lovebombing their potential suitors, before eventually devaluing (and discarding) them. If the partner doesn't know what is going on (that the lovebombing was all part of a Cluster B charade), it can leave them extremely confused.
Here's a good description of what it's like to be devalued and discarded by a borderline partner: http://www.bpdfamily.org/2010/12/leaving-person-with-borderline_28.html
- Gethin
Gethin --
Interesting article, thanks.
I've had a fair amount of experience with sociopaths, and a lot with narcissists, but have had relatively little experience personally with borderlines and histrionics, so can't say for sure. I think all four, especially sociopaths, lie at the beginning stages of a relationship, just as they lie about everything else. (With sociopaths, it's almost always a deliberate lie, with the others, there are varying degrees of convincing themselves of the lie involved.)
The list of reasons cited as to why non-Cluster B's ("normal" people) hold out hope in these relationships is quite insightful and a great analysis of how normal people think. (By holding out hope, and believing in cliches.)
How did that turn out? This comment aged like milk. Poor take.
How did what turn out?
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