--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "ruthsimplicity" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: <snip> > Nevertheless, even if a person never meets with a professional or > if professionals disagree as to a diagnosis, it doesn't mean > that there isn't something amiss.
Not at all. I wouldn't be surprised if most people with > narcissistic PD don't go for treatment, but that their families end > up looking for help in dealing with the person. > > My gut feeling is that if you describe MMY's behavior in detail > to a number of psychologist and psychiatrists, they will guess > that he had a personality disorder. I wouldn't doubt it in the slightest. But I suspect that would be the case with quite a few spiritual leaders, especially those from the East. Which makes me wonder whether Indian psychologists and psychiatrists would have the same response. And then I wonder how MMY would have behaved had he been born in the West as a European or an American. In other words, how much of his behavior has to do with what is sanctioned, even expected, in Indian spiritual culture? I also wonder whether the Western professionals would come to the same conclusion if they were to have spent enough time around him to experience his presence. Do those who have the psychic juice to take on huge leadership roles and inspire large numbers of people to follow them maybe not quite fit the standard categories in terms of personality characteristics? How can one tell if a messianic personality is disordered, rather than exceptional? I dunno. I was never around MMY; I'm just speculating.
