Grandiosity
Encyclopedia
Grandiosity is chiefly associated with narcissistic personality disorder
, but also commonly features in manic
or hypomanic
episodes of bipolar disorder.
It refers to an unrealistic sense of superiority, a sustained view of oneself as better than others that causes the narcissist to view others with disdain or as inferior. It also refers to a sense of uniqueness, the belief that few others have anything in common with oneself and that one can only be understood by a few or very special people.
Securely buttressed by such self-beliefs, 'in a grandiose identity...all that is unpleasant to my self-image I can ditch. I can look down my nose with contempt at the child-like ways of my fellows, and I can get rid of my infantile self by pushing somewhere' outside myself. However the downside to putting myself into a grandiose state is that 'the grandiose self is extremely vulnerable, and...if something does not go my way, I make a great fuss, because I am a king who has been frustrated'.
, in that the sufferer has insight into their loss of touch with reality (they are aware that their behavior is considered unusual). The distinction is however not always clear-cut. Classic psychoanalysis
considered that 'there are even transitions from daydreams to delusions': the fact that 'narcissistic daydreams are actually believed in and become delusions, [&] that the patients feel themselves as king, president, or God is due to the loss of reality testing'.. Although these daydreams can become reality, they often are not on the grand scale envisioned by the sufferer.
Kohut
saw the grandiose self as a normal part of the developmental process. Only where this latter went astray, producing 'vertical splits between... '"I am grand" and "I am wretched" - with very little communication between them' - would a narcissistic disorder set in. Kohut's recommendations for dealing with the patient with a disordered grandiose self was that the analyst has 'only one function: to reflect and echo his grandiosity' for a considerable period, in order to gradually bring about 'the integration of the grandiose self into the structure of the reality ego'.
Narcissistic personality disorder
Narcissistic personality disorder is a personality disorder in which the individual is described as being excessively preoccupied with issues of personal adequacy, power, prestige and vanity...
, but also commonly features in manic
Mania
Mania, the presence of which is a criterion for certain psychiatric diagnoses, is a state of abnormally elevated or irritable mood, arousal, and/ or energy levels. In a sense, it is the opposite of depression...
or hypomanic
Hypomania
Hypomania is a mood state characterized by persistent and pervasive elevated or irritable mood, as well as thoughts and behaviors that are consistent with such a mood state...
episodes of bipolar disorder.
It refers to an unrealistic sense of superiority, a sustained view of oneself as better than others that causes the narcissist to view others with disdain or as inferior. It also refers to a sense of uniqueness, the belief that few others have anything in common with oneself and that one can only be understood by a few or very special people.
Narcissistic criteria
The grandiosity section of the Diagnostic Interview for Narcissism (DIN) (Second edition) is as follows:- The person exaggeratesExaggerationExaggeration is a representation of something in an excessive manner. The exaggerator has been a familiar figure in Western culture since at least Aristotle's discussion of the alazon: 'the boaster is regarded as one who pretends to have distinguished qualities which he possesses either not at all...
talents, capacity and achievements in an unrealistic way. - The person believes in his/her invulnerability or does not recognise his/her limitations.
- The person has grandiose fantasies.
- The person believes that he/she does not need other people.
- The person overexamines and downgrades other people, projects, statements, or dreams in a unrealistic manner.
- The person regards himself/herself as unique or special when compared to other people.
- The person regards himself/herself as generally superior to other people.
- The person behaves self-centeredly and/or self-referentially.
- The person behaves in a boastful or pretentious way.
Securely buttressed by such self-beliefs, 'in a grandiose identity...all that is unpleasant to my self-image I can ditch. I can look down my nose with contempt at the child-like ways of my fellows, and I can get rid of my infantile self by pushing somewhere' outside myself. However the downside to putting myself into a grandiose state is that 'the grandiose self is extremely vulnerable, and...if something does not go my way, I make a great fuss, because I am a king who has been frustrated'.
In mania
In mania, as opposed to narcissism, grandiosity is typically more pro-active and aggressive. Thus 'the manic begins by promoting himself in the family hierarchy...moves backward to grandiose statements of the high rank and quality of his forbears, and forward to an exalted view of what he proposes soon to accomplish'. Alongside with 'the individual's imputing quite grandiose personal properties to himself...there will be alterations in the overreacher's subjective sense of himself'. At the same time, he or she may 'become tremendously expansive and feel very big and powerful, and start all kinds of over-ambitious projects...going back to being a big balloon.'Reality-testing
Grandiosity is distinct from grandiose delusionsGrandiose delusions
Grandiose delusion or delusions of grandeur is principally a subtype of delusional disorder that can occur as a wide range of mental illness, including in two thirds of those in manic state of bipolar disorder, half those with schizophrenia and a substantial portion of those with substance abuse...
, in that the sufferer has insight into their loss of touch with reality (they are aware that their behavior is considered unusual). The distinction is however not always clear-cut. Classic psychoanalysis
Psychoanalysis
Psychoanalysis is a psychological theory developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud. Psychoanalysis has expanded, been criticized and developed in different directions, mostly by some of Freud's former students, such as Alfred Adler and Carl Gustav...
considered that 'there are even transitions from daydreams to delusions': the fact that 'narcissistic daydreams are actually believed in and become delusions, [&] that the patients feel themselves as king, president, or God is due to the loss of reality testing'.. Although these daydreams can become reality, they often are not on the grand scale envisioned by the sufferer.
Psychoanalysis and the grandiose self: Kernberg and Kohut
Otto Kernberg described what he called a 'pathological grandiose self' - something consisting of a threefold 'condensation of some aspects of the real self (the "specialness" of the child reinforced by early experience), the ideal self (the fantasies and self-images of power, wealth, omniscience, and beauty...) and the ideal object (the fantasy of an ever-giving, ever-loving and accepting parent)'.Kohut
Heinz Kohut
Heinz Kohut was an Austrian-born American psychoanalyst best known for his development of Self psychology, an influential school of thought within psychodynamic/psychoanalytic theory which helped transform the modern practice of analytic and dynamic treatment approaches.-Early life:Kohut was born...
saw the grandiose self as a normal part of the developmental process. Only where this latter went astray, producing 'vertical splits between... '"I am grand" and "I am wretched" - with very little communication between them' - would a narcissistic disorder set in. Kohut's recommendations for dealing with the patient with a disordered grandiose self was that the analyst has 'only one function: to reflect and echo his grandiosity' for a considerable period, in order to gradually bring about 'the integration of the grandiose self into the structure of the reality ego'.