Just a quick caveat before we get started. Each of us has a way of explaining and viewing the world. This includes how we view those with what are considered mental health disorders. I often see the world through a stress and coping lens or a stress diathesis lens as well as a Biopsychosocial lens.

The last two are mouthfuls but to simplify them basically mean I look at the world of mental health in terms of there being certain predispositions to what may be developed and what the person comes into contact with in their lifetime will determine what actually does develop. In other words, we each are born with certain physiological predispositions to develop certain types of disorders. Think of these as risk factors.

Some of these risk factors are genetic, temperamental and/or neurological in nature. For example, those who are born with the temperamental quality of having a high activity level may be predisposed to developing anxiety, a disorder that is characterized by a state of high arousal. Those born with a low activity level may be predisposed to developing depression a disorder characterized by a low arousal level. That doesn’t mean that either of these children will go on to develop either. (There is also an almost limitless number of additional factors that go into the development of either of these disorders but for explanation’s sake I am trying to keep it simple).

A child raised without much stress who learns to cope with life’s difficulties adaptively, and who develops healthy thought patterns, may go through life without developing a serious problem with either of these disorders. A child however, who is never taught to cope with life stress either directly or through modeling by important adults in the child’s life, is more likely to develop a disorder to which they are predisposed. As previously stated there are countless numbers of factors which go into whether an individual will actually develop a mental disorder or not.

I mention coping because learning to cope with both negative and positive life events is important for establishing resiliency to the effects these events may have on the individual’s mental health. At the same time, coping is often, it seems to me, the reason many disorders including many of the personality disorders develop in the first place. Narcissism is one of these.

As I explain in depth below, narcissism often develops as a means of coping with low self-esteem as the individual, for one reason or another, cannot cope with how they see themselves. Narcissism is one way a person can completely repress the awareness of their negative self-perceptions and make themselves feel like they are extremely worthy of admiration and attention due to their superiority. My perspective usually focuses, at least in part, in how mental disorders may serve a coping function for the individual.

Disorders develop for a reason. While the reason or purpose may not be functional at present, it was functional at one time, allowing the person to somehow deal with something in their life. When it comes to be viewed as a disorder it is no longer adaptive and needs to be replaced with something that is adaptive. But for those of you who are budding therapist or already established as mental health providers, it is important to remember not to simply focus on getting rid of the disorder without first having something else to put into place. If you can see the disorder as it functions from a coping perspective, you don’t want to take away the persons primary coping mechanism before replacing it with something else the person can rely on.

I am explaining all this, in an effort to help you understand what type of point of view I am likely to take, and see why I present a case, disorder or answer the way that I do. I hope this helps you better comprehend the answers I provide. All of these questions could be answered differently. I answer them based on my knowledge as well as a stress and coping perspective.

I now return you to your regularly scheduled answers. On with the show.