"To develop a stronger persona might feel inauthentic, like learning to 'play a role,' but if one cannot perform a social role, then one will suffer."

April 20, 2014

Notes to Self are longer journal entries from Seven Yrs Ago. I was 21 in early 2014.

*healthy narcissism—theorized by Freud to be needed for normal child development

—a parent’s love for their child and their attitude towards their child could be seen as a revival and reproduction of their own narcissism

—When parents act in an extreme opposite style and the child is rejected or inconsistently reinforced depending on the mood of the parent, the self-needs of the child are not met

—Self-esteem works as a good mediator between narcissism and psych. health.

—“realistic self-esteem without being cut-off from a shared emotional life, as the unhealthy narcissist tends to be”

*egocentrism (not to be confused with narcissism)—preoccupation with one’s internal world.

—their own opinions or interests are most important or valid

—To them, self-relevant info is seen to be more important in shaping one’s judgements than are thoughts about others and other relevant info

—Egocentric people are unable to fully understand or to cope with other people’s opinions and the fact that reality can be different from what they are ready to accept

*superiority complex (cont.)—one of the ways that a person with an inferiority complex may use as a method of escape from their difficulties. They assume that they are superior when they are not, and this false success compensates for their state of inferiority which they cannot bear

—The normal person strives to be superior in the sense that we all have ambition to be successful

—For a well adapted individual, the strive is not for personal superiority over others, but an overcoming of the task, or finding useful answers to questions in life

—When faced with task, the person with inferiority complex will feel initial inferiority → stress → intense anxieties → inferiority complex or depression

—The individual may also make several attempts at solving the problem and find a solution to the problem that causes problems in other areas e.g. “How can I be thin? Not eating → thin + cost to overall health

—An indiv. who is not properly trained to answer life’s problems may turn from striving for superiority in useful ways to that of a personal superiority at all cost

—If an individual cannot be better than another on their own merit, they will attempt to tear down another person or group to maintain their superior position

*enantiodromia—principle introduced by psych. Carl Jung that the superabundance of any force inevitably produces the opposite

—“Everything arises in this way, opposites from their opposites.”—Plato

Jung’s Persona

1. Identification

   1. ID with a specific persona inhibits psych. development e.g. professor with textbook, tenor with voice

   2. result is ‘shallow, brittle, conformist kind of personality which is ‘all persona’ with its excessive concern for ‘what people think’

   3. They have little or no concept of themselves as beings distinct from what society expects of them

2. Disintegration

   1. Breakdown of persona constitutes Jungian movement in therapy + development—the “moment” when that excessive commitment to collective indivs. masking deeper individuality—the persona—breaks down…disintegrates

   2. Dissolution of persona = necessary for individuation → initial chaos

   3. “As the individuation process gets under way, the situation has thrown off the conventional husk and developed into a stark encounter w/ reality with no fake veils or adornment of any kind”

3. Negative restoration—regressive reaction

4. Absence

5. Restoration—readaptation in outer life

• “To develop a stronger persona might feel inauthentic like learning to ‘play a role,’ but if one cannot perform a social role, then one will suffer.”

• “Thus one goal for individuation is for people to ‘develop a more realistic, flexible persona that helps them navigate in society but does not collide with nor hide their true self’”

• In best case, ‘persona is appropriate and tasteful, a true reflection of our inner individuality and our outward sense of self.’

For commentary seven years later, go here.