Context changes personality, but can it make someone narcissistic?

Today, we explore the controversial criteria for hubris syndrome.

Welcome to the Carlythe Psychiatry Podcast, keeping psychiatry honest since 2003.

I'm Chris Haken, the editor-in-chief of the Carlat Psychiatry Report.

And I'm Kelly Newsom, a psychiatric MP and a dedicated reader of every issue.

In 2008, two psychiatrists teamed up to describe a new psychiatric disorder.

One was Jonathan Davidson, known for his work on anxiety and mood disorders at Duke University.

The other was David Owen, who worked briefly as a psychiatrist before entering a long career as a politician and parliamentarian in England.

The disorder was hubris syndrome, a kind of environmentally induced narcissism, and it came with its own set of

DSM-style criteria.

1. A narcissistic propensity to see their world primarily as an arena in which to exercise power

and seek glory. Two, a predisposition to take actions, which seem likely to cast the

individual in a good light, i.e. in order to enhance image. Three, a disproportionate concern

with image and presentation. Four, a mezzanic manner of talking about current activities and a tendency to exaltation.

5. An identification with the nation or organization to the extent that the individual regards his or her

outlook and interests as identical.

6. A tendency to speak in the third person or use the royal we.

7. Excessive confidence in the individual's own judgment and contempt for the advice

or criticism of others. 8. Exaggerated self-belief. Bordering on a sense of omnipotence

in what they personally can achieve.

Nine, a belief that rather than being accountable to the mundane court of colleagues or public opinion,

the court to which they answer is history or God.

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