Combating Narcissism

In my lifetime as an artist I have come across many wonderful artists - wonderful until I get to know them as a person. They are great on stage and wonderful performers. But as a human being offstage they can't seem to cope with life and normal relationships. They have a sense of grandiosity and injured superiority and often even forget that there is another person in the room. This kind of extreme self-absorption is something I feel borders on unhealthy narcissism and I have been mindful of its viral quality. To combat the creeping power of such narcissism and the martyred genius syndrome follow some of these prescriptions offered by Dr Eric Maisel

1. Stop yourself when you feel like preening, being sadistic or dismissive.

2. Choose somone to love, comfort and respect. Give without a thought to taking.

3. Moderate your reactions in the interpersonal realm. When someone injures you do not retaliate with a nuclear attack.

4. Feel, rather than steel yourself. Feel empathy, compassion and all the soft feelings that lead to love and tears.

5. Manage your ego. Someone's else's success is not a personal affront.

6. Share credit and don't be greedy.

7. Reduce your sense of injury. Haunted by old injuries you may calculate every interpersonal moment as either victory or defeat. Don't - otherwise you will be isolated.