‘Neurosis’ at Psychology, Philosophy and Real Life, Page 5

When you’re talking about a neurotic individual, it’s reasonable to think of their personality as a sort of “mask” or facade that hides their true self. But when it comes to the disordered character, what you see is what you get.

Neurotics often have damaged self-images that stem from low self-esteem. Disordered characters see themselves as superior which leads to a sense of entitlement. What’s more, disordered characters aren’t compensating for anything, they really do think they’re all that!

Neurotics want things to be good and wonderful, take it hard when things go wrong, and blame themselves for failures. Disordered characters take adversity in stride and blame everyone and everything else when their actions invite disastrous consequences.

Neurotics are generally uncomfortable with the “symptoms” of their illness and seek help on their own. While others may be upset with signs and symptoms of their disturbance, disordered characters like who they are and how they operate and rarely get into therapy unless pressured to do so.

Several intriguing comments and questions have been posted in reply to my earlier articles on character disturbance. In this post, I’d like to address some of these and the issues which readers have raised.