Author of "Malignant Self Love - Narcissism Revisited"
(The use of gender pronouns in this article reflects the clinical facts:
most narcissists and most Asperger's patients are male.)
Asperger's Disorder is often misdiagnosed as Narcissistic Personality
Disorder (NPD), though evident as early as age 3 (while pathological
narcissism cannot be safely diagnosed prior to early adolescence).
In both cases, the patient is self-centered and engrossed in a narrow range
of interests and activities. Social and occupational interactions are
severely hampered and conversational skills (the give and take of verbal
intercourse) are primitive.
The Asperger's patient body language - eye to eye gaze, body posture, facial expressions - is constricted and artificial, akin to the narcissist's. Nonverbal cues are virtually absent and their interpretation in others lacking.
Yet, the gulf between Asperger's and pathological narcissism is vast.
The narcissist switches between social agility and social impairment
voluntarily. His social dysfunctioning is the outcome of conscious
haughtiness and the reluctance to invest scarce mental energy in cultivating
relationships with inferior and unworthy others. When confronted with
potential Sources of Narcissistic Supply, however, the narcissist easily
regains his social skills, his charm, and his gregariousness.
Many narcissists reach the highest rungs of their community, church, firm,
or voluntary organization. Most of the time, they function flawlessly -
though the inevitable blowups and the grating extortion of Narcissistic
Supply usually put an end to the narcissist's career and social liaisons.
The Asperger's patient often wants to be accepted socially, to have friends,
to marry, to be sexually active, and to sire offspring. He just doesn't have
a clue how to go about it.
His affect is limited. His initiative - for instance, to share his experiences with nearest and dearest or to engage in foreplay - is thwarted. His ability to divulge his emotions stilted. He is incapable or reciprocating and is largely unaware of the wishes, needs, and feelings of his interlocutors or counterparties.
Inevitably, Asperger's patients are perceived by others to be cold,
eccentric, insensitive, indifferent, repulsive, exploitative or
emotionally-absent. To avoid the pain of rejection, they confine themselves
to solitary activities - but, unlike the schizoid, not by choice. They limit
their world to a single topic, hobby, or person and dive in with the
greatest, all-consuming intensity, excluding all other matters and everyone
else. It is a form of hurt-control and pain regulation.
Thus, while the narcissist avoids pain by excluding, devaluing, and
discarding others - the Asperger's patient achieves the same result by
withdrawing and by passionately incorporating in his universe only one or
two people and one or two subjects of interest. Both narcissists and
Asperger's patients are prone to react with depression to perceived slights
and injuries - but Asperger's patients are far more at risk of self-harm and
suicide.
The use of language is another differentiating factor.
The narcissist is a skilled communicator. He uses language as an instrument
to obtain Narcissistic Supply or as a weapon to obliterate his "enemies" and
discarded sources with. Cerebral narcissists derive Narcissistic Supply from
the consummate use they make of their innate verbosity.
Not so the Asperger's patient. He is equally verbose at times (and taciturn
on other occasions) but his topics are few and, thus, tediously repetitive.
He is unlikely to obey conversational rules and etiquette (for instance, to
let others speak in turn). Nor is the Asperger's patient able to decipher
nonverbal cues and gestures or to monitor his own misbehavior on such
occasions. Narcissists are similarly inconsiderate - but only towards those
who cannot possibly serve as Sources of Narcissistic Supply.
More about Autism Spectrum Disorders here:
McDowell, Maxson J. (2002) The Image of the Mother's Eye: Autism and Early
Narcissistic Injury , Behavioral and Brain Sciences (Submitted)
Benis, Anthony - "Toward Self & Sanity: On the Genetic Origins of the Human
Character" - Narcissistic-Perfectionist Personality Type (NP) with special
reference to infantile autism
Stringer, Kathi (2003) An Object Relations Approach to Understanding Unusual
Behaviors and Disturbances
James Robert Brasic, MD, MPH (2003) Pervasive Developmental Disorder:
Asperger Syndrome
Sam Vaknin http://samvak.tripod.com is the author of Malignant Self
Love - Narcissism Revisited and After the Rain - How the West Lost the East.
He served as a columnist for Global Politician, Central Europe Review,
PopMatters, Bellaonline, and eBookWeb, a United Press International (UPI)
Senior Business Correspondent, and the editor of mental health and Central
East Europe categories in The Open Directory and Suite101.
Until recently, he served as the Economic Advisor to the Government of
Macedonia.
