When is a disorder not a disorder?

I heard this week that in the DSM V which will replace the DSM IV that they are removing or revising Narcissistic Personality Disorder from their list of Psychological disorders. NPD is described as having five or more of the following symptoms:

(1) has a grandiose sense of self-importance (e.g., exaggerates achievements and talents, expects to be recognized as superior without commensurate achievements)
(2) is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love
(3) believes that he or she is “special” and unique and can only be understood by, or should associate with, other special or high-status people (or institutions)
(4) requires excessive admiration
(5) has a sense of entitlement, i.e., unreasonable expectations of especially favorable treatment or automatic compliance with his or her expectations
(6) is interpersonally exploitative, i.e., takes advantage of others to achieve his or her own ends
(7) lacks empathy: is unwilling to recognize or identify with the feelings and needs of others
(8) is often envious of others or believes that others are envious of him or her
(9) shows arrogant, haughty behaviors or attitudes

The person who told me this went on to explain the reason it is being revised is such behavior is now considered to be the norm in our society. In other words it is normal to exhibit narcissistic behavior.

I have for a while now have been seeing and saying this is a problem. When we care only about how something affects up. Or if we look at my issues as being more important than everyone else's then there is a problem or I want what is mine and i do not care about you.

The place where this is most evident is in the government. I heard a congressman make the statement he was talking at a rally where in one sentence a person said we want to make sure you are not going to raise my taxes and then the very next words out of his mouth were: "now I am going to get my Social Security increase this year aren't I?"

How can one have an increase in what they recieve without a raise in taxes the only was it to take it away from someone else. Who is saying the same thing.

There has been a long debate over what to do about the tax cuts which were put into place by a previous administration. No one wants them eliminated (that would be a surefire death for re-election) Some want them for everyone while others want to exclude the wealthiest people saying they are the ones that reinvest the money for more jobs etc.

No one it seems wants to do the difficult work and make the unpopular decision by saying we can not spend money we do not have and in order to get rid of the deficit we need to let them expire for everyone and start living within our means.

I have noticed a couple of things, the division between rich and poor in our country is getting wider with the middle class shrinking. This tells me the tax cuts for wealthiest people over the last 30 years when the tax code changed has not worked. Trickle down system of the wealthy having more money trickling down to the less wealthy in our society has not worked except for the very rich.

The other thing I have noticed is the huge amount of national debt which is held by other countries. One thing I learned in my world economic systems class was a national debt becomes a problem only when it is outside the borders of that country. As long as it is maintained within the country it is fine. Somewhere we lost sight of that basic truth and practice.

Getting back to my original point. When we accept narcissisim as the norm we lose sight of how important the other people in our lives are. If I allow you to fail then we all fail. I feel the call of Christ in my life is simply put we are all in this together and we need to help each other and not just care about ourselves.

What Does the Future Hold?

It is hard to believe I have been home from Haiti for a little over a month and since I have been back they have had to deal with a hurricane and an election.

On the news I saw that there was a great deal of turmoil in the streets surrounding the election with allegations of massive fraud typical problems of people wanting to vote but unable to because their names were not on the list. How people were staying home because they were afraid of violence.

On the other hand I heard via Facebook from a friend I had met when I was there how there were some problems but for the most part things went smoothly and while some people had problems at the polls and there were some accusations of corruption, that is Haiti.

Coming from a country where the voting process operates very smoothly and there is little or no violence and sort of protest or upheaval will come to the forefront of the news.

On the other hand do I believe the possibility of corruption does exist in a country such as Haiti for the simple reason when I look at the recent history.

What does the future hold for a country like Haiti? With thousands living in tents, a crumbling infrastructure and very few jobs for the people I wonder about their future.

With all the money given for recovery for the earthquake the has been a lot of hope generated for the future of Haiti. But having been there twice since the quake I must admit I am beginning to have my doubts. While some of the rubble has been removed a great deal remains to be cleaned up. Dangerous building still half standing can still be seen all over the city.

Haiti needs more than recovery.

I recently read where many people now living in tents are reluctant to go back to living in apartments or homes they did not own. They were in debt to their landlord because of high rent and at least they have something they can call their own in a tent.

Second with an extremely high unemployment rate (I have heard it is over 50%) and with many government building in shambles and a shaky infrastructure before the quake crumbling at a faster rate since the quake the creation of jobs for the people needs to be a priority. I believe education and training are the key to the future.

Haiti needs more than recovery it needs rebuilding. If Haiti is to be rebuilt several things must take place. Government leaders need to care as much about the average Haitian as they do about themself.

Companies investing in the country need to care as much about their workers as they care about making the most profit. Profits can still be made but not to the extent of making the most one can and then bailing out when more can be made somewhere else. Stability is key for the future.

Third I believe people need to see they are working for something. There is an enormous sense of pride when people people work toward a goal and it is achieved. It helps build a sense of personal value and self worth. It also builds a sense of confidence which one goes on to reach higher and further than they thought they could reach.

I believe there is hope for Haiti if we will look beyond recovery to rebuilding not only the building but also the people.