http://psychcentral.com/disorders/narcissistic-personality-disorder-symptoms/
"Has a grandiose sense of self-importance (e.g., exaggerates achievements and talents, expects to be recognized as superior without commensurate achievements)"

I've always had a problem with this in my parents and siblings growing up.

We are descendents of Brigham Young and Hugh B. Brown and my mother who is related only in marriage has pushed her own "grandiose sense of self-importance" on us using our genetics against us. We are the perfect family and near perfect people. We had to behave "better" than others.

I believe LDS Inc. plays into this idea big time. I think it attracts people. It is the number one manipulating attractor for cults I think. They offer people a community of God's elect (self-importance exaggerating achievements and talents and expects to be recognized as superior without commensurate achievements) who consistently fail at being elect but can pretend to be so. They have all their rites of passage to Nirvana after all. If they just go find enough dead people to save then they can be almost gods in their own right.

Existential superiority through "eternal" importance with no need to actually do something requisite for thinking of yourself as such. Going to their super special temple and attending it regularly is all that is wanted.

Seems like all the LDS roles are trumped-up. Besides not having any formal training like, say, Catholic Priests, they are pre-teens. Then Elders at, what, age 18? In most churches the elders have grown children (55-60 or older). Bishops are like pastors elsewhere, etc. All this to stroke egos?

Upon leaving TSCC, some, if not most, people are able to recognize that, in reality, they are just normal, nothing special people and they then adjust to a healthy level of self esteem. A true narcissist, however, will retain that grandiose sense of self importance and will develop new avenues to express their self importance to others.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/30/2014 02:15PM by braindead.

braindead Wrote:
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> Upon leaving TSCC, some, if not most, people are
> able to recognize that, in reality, they are just
> normal, nothing special people and they then
> adjust to a healthy level of self esteem.

I whole heartedly agree. It was a relief to realize I wasn't special and just an average person no different that other people.

Stupid cult think.

Yes! Despite being told I was special, valiant, and one of the very elect, I was also the at the bottom of the pecking order at church and it was constantly reinforced.
I was nothing. I was super special. I was to be scorned and should not get above my station. I was valiant in the preexistence and earned my special place as one of the chosen.

I like being normal. I do actually excell in a few ways, and I am also lacking in some ways, and this is all NORMAL and does not set me above or below anyone.
Well, except for those with a personality disorder, for which I now have an excellent radar.
If I really REALLY want to be friends with someone, there is a good chance something is wrong with them socially or personality-wise. If someone is a decent person, but I don't feel charismatically attracted to them, they are probably good friend material.

WinksWinks Wrote:
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> If
> someone is a decent person, but I don't feel
> charismatically attracted to them, they are
> probably good friend material.

I agree and same with me. I find myself drawn to crazy but I look for good friend material. It is hard to not be drawn in but I have a lot of experience of avoiding crazy with my family.

You mean like the effing lady in Gilbert who killed all those dogs and lied about it?

I don't know. Does she have "a grandiose sense of self-importance"?

oh yes, my TBM sister is all up in this, narcicism and all. In fact she is SO sure nothing she ever does is wrong that she thinks it's okay to threaten the lives of the children of her apostate sister. We have a permanent restraining order now against that sister, my other sister and my mother because they all fall into the narcicist/severly delusional category with some serious bi-polar disorder thrown in just for fun, and they have ALL threatened to kill me, my husband and my children for a variety of reasons. Heck, my mother used to even try it when I was a kid still living at home, but she didn't succeed then either. But all this behavior is sanctioned by their local ward to my eternal bafflement.