Narcissism and Folklore Therapy
Narcissism - an age-old archetypal shadow
Narcissism & Autism: the difference
People confuse narcissism with autism so much these days. But wouldn't everyone prefer to be called an autistic individual rather than a narcissistic individual? There is seemingly much confusion over which is which. Do both carry elements of each other? Is it possible that they might sometimes overlap? There are telltale signs regarding who might be who and how they might overlap.
The civilised way of living is undoubtedly responsible for much of what we suffer today in term of narcissism & our general health & wellbeing.
Watch for more videos on narcissism. Many have found this particular video informative.More videos on different subjects relating to cultural issues here.
Folklore and folktales may seem out-dated, novel, even twee, perhaps something we would be advised to disregard today, but on closer inspection, elements within folklore and folktales can be seen to contain an education in social, mental, and emotional stability, a gauge in measuring reaction and response to human expression.
Narcissism is not new. It was once seen as a shadow. Once, this shadow was deliberately introduced in ritual form within initiation rites to younger people, boys especially, at puberty, so that they learned to understand that human nature will inevitably involve difficult relationships with openings for manipulative behaviour to occur. Psychological disturbance would have been described as 'shadow activity'. In other words, something that creeps in to influence us will need to be dealt with, usually as a matter of course.
In the case of an individual exhibiting narcissistic traits, they would more than likely have been detected far more quickly than they are today. When life was much simpler, and when people knew each other and were not so estranged, as we are now in our civilized society, shadows were recognised, because they became far more noticeable.
We may believe that folklore and folktales may only apply to people in the past, living in different times and with different ways of thinking, but human reactions and responses, throughout time, have been triggered by experience that regulates motives and desires that do not change. Values may change, just as expectations might, but socially, we may be motivated to behave in whatever way a particular era dictates.
See my video Narcissism and Folktale Characters here.
We live in a "me" society where competitive attitude, aggressive marketing of the self, especially the field of selfies, are not only acceptable, they are positively encouraged, particularly in younger people. We are now taught to feel that if we do not love ourselves, before anything else, we will not get very far in life. Narcissistic traits and attitudes, especially when they are not monitored and when they trample on other people's boundaries mean that we have a great many people suffering from narcissistic abuse today; in fact, it is now on a global scale.
When it comes to power and control, we're challenged to place ourselves at either end of the spectrum of manipulation: i.e. to manipulate or be manipulated.It is true that our 'me' society is steadily running out of control.
The narcissistic shadow has run riot and we don't know how to identify it or deal with it anymore. Although manipulative behaviour resides in all animals across the planet, humans are more likely to believe they can avoid it. But the existence of this shadow in humans, revealed so clearly in folklore and folktales over many thousands of years, is costing us dearly where ourmental health is concerned.
If you have been affected by narcissistic abuse, you CAN heal with realistic education on the subject. Please contact me for help and healing options.
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