Are arrogant people mentally healthy? (depression, narcissistic, arrogance, juice)
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Individual personality traits do not make up a mental illness unless they interfere with that person's life/ability to co-exist in the world.
So - if I think I'm better than you, then no this does not mean I'm mentally ill. It means I think I'm better than you. And maybe I am. Maybe I have good reason to think I'm better than you. There are lots of reasons why I might have a legitimate reason to have this superior opinion of myself, compared to you.
On the other hand, I might be socially awkward, but otherwise basically normal, unimpressive. Not overly intelligent, no physically or musically gifted, nothing to write home about. Just normal. But also socially awkward. Maybe looking people in the eye makes me uncomfortable, so I avoid doing that, and sometimes that means I'll be fine at parties where everyone is flitting around and no one is really focusing on one person for very long, but I'd be horrible on a date with just one other person, who has no one to focus on -other- than me.
Does that make me mentally ill? No. It just makes me socially awkward.
What -might- be mental illness, is the need to plug every personality trait into a category, and come out with a diagnosis. So, cheerful people are clearly manic. Calm people are intellectually inferior, lacking somehow in some brain chemistry that humans emit in order to get excited about things and want to pursue goals. People who are afraid of spiders are sick sick sick and must be medicated. A woman who was once morbidly obese, who now has a svelte figure, but has no idea how to present herself with pride because she's spent the last 20 years trying to hide her bulk under badly-fitting clothes, has body dismorphia and must be medicated - instead of brought to a store where the salespeople can help her learn to dress appropriately and feel good about it again.
Yes, there ARE mental illnesses that incorporate symtoms such as arrogance, phobias, body image distortions. But it doesn't mean that everyone who thinks highly of themselves, has a fear, or thinks their thighs are too fat, is mentally ill.
I'm off on the other side..I have some fears and phobias when it comes to "appearing arrogant." Or coming across as a "know-it-all" etc...In person I'm very low-key and soft-spoken and even "bland" most of the time...But sometimes "a lot" comes "pouring out" when I start writing or talking. (Mostly when I write and just once in awhile when I talk.)...It all comes "pouring out" and I constantly remind myself to "tone it down." I don't want to come across as arrogant because I'm not a big fan of arrogant people and don't want to be that way myself...But sometimes I just get excited and this is why so much comes "pouring out!" I love to have discussions about topics that interest me! I enjoy "stretching my mind" in other words...Guess I'm just a "mental person." But I don't think that I "know everything" and I certaintly don't want to come across as arrogant or superior to others!...When I run into people who have a tendency to boast and brag and "put on airs" I don't consider them mentally ill...I wonder if they are trying to overcompensate for hidden insecurities. (Insecurities they haven't really "owned" or explored or "dealt with" quite yet.) ..How do you feel about it? Thanks for listening to me "ramble!"
Some people just have poorly developed social skills and end up running off at the mouth about themselves out of nervousness. Others feel it will make them appear more important if they tout their own accomplishments. It is true - you create your own PR - so if you don't let folks know what is going on in your world, how will they find out? LOL
Then there are the grandiose types who probably do have a mental health issue. But most people who are self-centered and braggarts simply like to hear themselves talk - about themselves.
I don't think most of the braggarts I have run into (at least in my professional life) had insecurities. I think they simply didn't realize how tiresome it is for others to be hit with a barrage of "me me me" and "how great I am" . . . a few were just so excited about what they were accomplishing, they loved talking about it.
People who are accomplishing amazing things in their lives don't have time to waste attempting to "impress" others, lol.
Having a conversation on a topic you know a lot about is not arrogant. Putting down others who disagree with you is arrogant and ill-mannered. I believe most folks get turned off when the topic always comes back to "how great the speaker is" . . . if the conversation is a two way street, simply conveying knowledge is not arrogant - unless done in a haughty or demeaning way.
Is it mentally healthy to think oneself as superior?
And are there traits in general that lend to mental unwellness? Like having poor coping skills, being excessively angry, etc?
No one is essentially superior to anyone else.
If someone thinks he/she is, he / she is not only arrogant but ignorant as well.
Someone may be a better athlete, more intelligent, a better musician, a better writer, artist, student, etc., etc., etc..
That doesn't mean that such a person is essentially superior.
There are plenty of intellectually intelligent people who are incredibly selfish, narcissistic closed heart-ed and mean spirited. Is such a person "superior" to the person with Down Syndrome who has an open and loving heart and gentle spirit?
crazy?? not every time, but the sheep will gladly follow them to their deaths.
the fatal flaw of the nice guy, lack of confidence, its like skunk juice to women.
bek of your caution, she will pick a confident loser every time over u.
First, what defines arrogance? If I think differently than you and really aren't interested in your thoughts, and seem like I'm not listening, I probably are not. This doesn't mean that I expect you to be me, on the contrary I respect that. It's just that your world is grey and mine isn't and the dull greys are, well dull.
If I'm absolutely sure that my way is the only real choice, and I make it clear its my way or the highway, but mostly I just kinda ignore you, thats certainly close to arrogance, but is it an illness to not want to have to listen to someone else you don't have interest in? I'm still not telling you how you should be thinking if you were proper. I'm just not saying a word and pointedly ignoring you.
But now, I still believe I'm the authority and can't believe you disagree. But instead of being silent and wishing you'd go away, I keep digging in and in and in and pretty soon your angry. But I'm still confused, since of course I know my rightness is perfect and you don't seem to get it.
Here we get into why I feel I must 'educate' you. Or you don't just make a parting swipe and leave and insist on trying to 'educate' me.
There are those who do so out of 'pure' reasons, honestly believing that the other is wrong, that its terrible that he/she feels that way, and that bringing up the general standards is worth the argument. Maybe they have good motives, but there has to be a satisfaction in there too about it too. And if I don't just leave, it must satisfy me too. So while its not necessarily a 'friendly' conversation, a real social interaction did take place. Probably both walked away as happy but slightly frustrated warriors.
Then there are those who need other people to believe them because they don't really know for sure and it reinforces their 'belief' because now there's two. In this case, I will push you to agree. I'll keep pushing until you just plain are done with it and go. Maybe we'll both end up angry and not really understand why. But insecurity isn't necessarily a mental illness, and you have to look back. Did someone dominate you, push you where you had to give, and the cover is now *you* have to always be right? Or is it that your socially either trying hard not be be a loner because people expect you not to be or you just are clueless in social situations. These are both lightbulbs lit trying to tell you something, but its up to you to see it. The loner might need to accept its who they are and find some comfort in not being with the herd. The clueless can get better at it. But for both its a choice. The person pushed and shoved into complience does need an avenue to let it out and heal, but that too is a choice.
Oddly, the most isolated of all is the psychotic, who lives in a world of one, and who emotionally interacts with nothing. True, dangerous mental condition but by and large they don't come off as arrogant. It doesn't matter if the grey things around them think they are right, since none of them matter.
Arrogant and snobbish people are walking around with a lot of anger inside of them. (Anger mixed with resentment.)...They "look down their noses" at people who don't share their beliefs and value system. And people who don't seem to respect their "position" in the "hierarchy."...I've been playing "Robin Hood" since I was a kid and I've "taken-on" the "rich and the pompous." Or "psuedo-intellectualizers" who love to "flash" their degrees or IQ scores...It's good to "come down to earth" once in awhile and mix and mingle with "common folks!" This is how I feel anyway!...I think a lot of people who feel compelled to "uphold" their "image" and so-called "status" in life do get angry about having to do it at times. They hardly ever feel "free" and "off the hook!"....And they resent people who seem "carefree." They resent people who don't have to abide by all of the "rules" they have to "follow" and "obey" to maintain "status" among their peers...And there are "rules" within "scientific communities" too. (And a definite "hierarchy.") Most people are expected to "follow" and teach what they have been "taught." The system doesn't encourage "free reign" or "pioneer thinking" very often.
Is it mentally healthy to think oneself as superior?
And are there traits in general that lend to mental unwellness? Like having poor coping skills, being excessively angry, etc?
the majority of very successfull people are arrogant , they usually balance and compensate for it with charm , without a health degree of arrogance , you can never achieve great things as being humble prevents you from daring to move above your station , you need arrogance to believe you are entitled to make things happen
i see no connection between arrogance and mental unwellness , people with depression etc are usually too humble , with a low opinion of themselves
the majority of very successfull people are arrogant , they usually balance and compensate for it with charm , without a health degree of arrogance , you can never achieve great things as being humble prevents you from daring to move above your station , you need arrogance to believe you are entitled to make things happen
i see no connection between arrogance and mental unwellness , people with depression etc are usually too humble , with a low opinion of themselves
There's a difference between self confidence / faith in oneself and arrogance.
And it is possible to have confidence in oneself but have humility as well.
Last edited by jaijai; 03-28-2012 at 04:23 PM..
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