Posted by beardedlady on June 15, 2002, at 9:05:33
In reply to Depressive Grandiosity and Narcissism, posted by Mark H. on June 14, 2002, at 20:32:28
"You're so vain. You probably think this [post] is about you, don't you, don't you?"
Although I probably have felt this way at one time or another (I think we all have), I don't think I'd ever say it out loud. The world does not revolve around me. And I have to say that I have little patience with this kind of thinking.
You'll notice a post from Iso on PBA in which she talks about the board being quieter without certain posters. In the post that follows, Dinah says she's well aware that the board is quieter without her and that she is one of those posters to whom Iso is referring. I have to say that Dinah's name didn't cross my mind then, and when I tried to tell her that, she didn't recall ever having thought the post was about her!
What to do to help, indeed! It is as frustrating for those witnessing it as it is for those feeling it.
And isn't this a rather fancy name for what I have always known as paranoia? I mean, the feeling that everyone is out to get you seems akin to the feeling that everyone is leaving the restaurant because of you.
Thanks for your post, Mark. Maybe you can tell me what causes you to feel this way. Is it the depression itself? Low self-esteem? The likelihood that a whole restaurant is clearing out because a person enters seems ridiculous, don't you think? Doesn't logic ever come into play in this situation? Or is a person thinking this way too depressed to use logic?
I'm sorry for being so clueless, but I really do want to understand. I would also like to know how to treat a person who is suffering from this. Phil said it helps when folks say things that seemed to show how unimportant he was in the grand scheme of things. I tried that with my post using other people to whom Iso could've been referring--just to show that the likelihood that Iso meant Dinah was very slim. But she was already coming from a bad place, and I didn't think I could say anything after that to help.
beardy
poster:beardedlady
thread:341
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20020516/msgs/344.html