What is the Narcissus complex?

According to Sigmund Freud's theory, the narcissus or narcissism complex refers to the overestimation of oneself. That is, instead of choosing a love object other than oneself, narcissistic people will always prefer to find another that is identical to them, that is why it is said that narcissists feel only love for themselves since it is impossible for them to find a replica from them.

But, where does the Narcissus complex come from? What are the characteristics of the people who suffer from this complex? And what exactly does narcissism refer to? In this article from Psychology-Online: What is the Narcissus complex? We are going to let you know in detail everything related to this type of complex based on the theory established by Sigmund Freud, who is considered the father of psychoanalysis.

Index

1. Narcissus complex according to psychology
2. The myth of Narcissus: origin of the psychological term
3. Traits of a narcissistic person according to their level of severity

According to Sigmund Freud theoryNarcissistic people have a behavior with their own body similar to that which is normally given to the sexual object. It is said that all people by nature have some narcissism which is considered normal to some extent, however when this dose of narcissism is exaggerated it is considered pathological. According to psychoanalysis, there are two types of narcissism, primary and secondary narcissism.

• Primary narcissism. According to psychoanalysis, this type of narcissism constitutes one of the stages of childhood that we all go through, in this case it refers to the phase of libidinal or psychosexual development (stage in which the genitals begin to be excited and in which the child discovers that by manipulating them they obtain pleasant sensations). This stage is prior to object love and treatment is given to oneself similar to that which would be given to another sexual object.
• Secondary narcissism. This type of narcissism refers to a setback in the child's evolution since instead of continuing with the next phase, which would be object love, that is, to obtain love or pleasure in another object that is not the same, it happens that it returns again to autoeroticism which is precisely where it remains stagnant.

Sigmund Freud gave the name to this complex from of the myth of Narcissus (extracted from ancient Greek mythology). This mythology tells that Daffodil He was the son of a god named Cephysus who was the protector of the homonymous river and also of the nymph Liríope.

Mythology says that Narcissus was a young man who had an enormous beauty and who did not lack the love since it attracted a large number of nymphs, who were willing to do anything to win their love. Among all the nymphs who were interested in him, he was the nymph Echo, whom she ruthlessly rejected and as a result, the nymph fell ill and asked the goddess Nemesis to do something to get revenge on Narcissus.

The way in which the goddess Nemesis took revenge on Narcissus was as follows: one day, during the hunt, Narcissus stopped next to a source of clear water and this, when observing its beautiful reflectionHe was fascinated, thinking that it was another being that he was observing. He tried to narrow his own image of him that was reflected in the water, which escaped him every time he tried.

From that moment on, Narcissus could no longer fix his gaze on anyone else since he fell in love with himself, so realizing how impossible his desire was since it was himself, he tried outdid himself and hit so hard in frustration at him for trying to pull it off, until finally he died. It is said that when they wanted to burn his body, it had turned into a flower.

Image: Museo del Prado, Narcissus painted by Jan Cossiers

The Narcissus complex can appear at different levels depending on the severity and features of the Narcissus complex. These levels are as follows:

1. Pathology of the self

These are excessively narcissistic people, who desperately need to be approved and especially admired by others. They constantly have fantasies of grandeur and success at all levels, so they avoid at all costs anything that makes them land in a reality where they do not feel successful and where the image of themselves is not idealized. They hate being in situations where they feel insecure as this can seriously hurt their feelings and their sense of feeling great. These traits are the most characteristic of people with a Narcissistic personality disorder.

2. Pathology of the relationship with others

These types of narcissists constantly envy others in an exaggerated way (consciously or unconsciously) it is for this reason that they try all the time to humiliate and exploit others to satisfy themselves. These are people who show very little empathy towards others, which makes them look superficial, cold and distant in their interpersonal relationships.

3. Superego pathology

This is considered the milder level within this pathology. People at this level are characterized by their constant mood swings and being frequently self-criticizing themselves (they always keep the focus of attention on themselves) directly influences have a low selfsteem.

They are also characterized because they have a deficit in terms of their ability to experience sadness, grief and it seems that they are more determined by shame that because of guilt. This is why in more serious pathologies within this level, the person can have chronic antisocial behaviors and not be responsible for them. By not experiencing guilt, they do not present some kind of regret for what they have done.

4. Basic state of the self

It is characterized by experiencing an immersive and chronic feeling of emotional void and boredom. The person has an immersed desire for stimuli and that is why he chooses to stimulate himself artificially by resorting to drug and alcohol consumption.

This article is merely informative, in Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.

If you want to read more articles similar to What is the Narcissus complex?, we recommend that you enter our category of Personality.

• Benjumea, L. J. D. B. (s.f.). Narcissistic Personalities (McWilliams, N. Psychoanalytic Diagnosis. Understanding the personality structure in the clinical process). Retrieved January 8, 2019, from http://www.aperturas.org/articulo.php? item = 861
• University of the Republic of Uruguay. Faculty of Psychology. (s.f.). Narcissism. Retrieved January 8, 2019, from https://sifp.psico.edu.uy/sites/default/files/Trabajos%20finales/%20Archivos/tfg_ereni_gonzalez.pdf