If you have a lot of pain, or you know someone with chronic pain, you may have a lot of concerns on your mind. One of the things that many people worry about is whether or not chronic pain is actually related to being egocentric or narcissistic.
There are definitely some arguments for it, but it is really something that we should be worrying about on a regular basis, or is it something that really won’t matter in the long run or won’t have an effect on our lives or the way that we are living on a regular basis? That’s what we’re going to take a look at here in this article today.
Why Would People Assume This?
As you likely know, egocentrism and narcissism both deal with how a person views themselves. In many cases, that person is likely to see themselves as the center of the universe and will act like it, too.
Even though the two disorders are different, they share that one thing in common – both of them are centered on the self and how one views himself or herself. What are the differences between the two?
First, let’s take a look at narcissism. Narcissism is, in short, a love of oneself, but not in the way that we’ve always talked about in school or such. Loving yourself is fine, but when it gets to the point where you are focusing on everything related to yourself and thinking you’re better than the world, and it’s about dealing with everything related to that.
It sounds odd, but many times it’s related to not enough attention or not enough self esteem. You become obsessed with yourself in an unhealthy way, and you are almost disillusioned with yourself.
You think you have talents that you really don’t have, you are incredibly grandiose in everything that you do on a regular basis, and you aren’t able to distinguish who you are from external things.
Egocentrism is a bit different in this way. Where in narcissism, you are the type of person that thinks you’re greater than you actually are; egocentrism is about being the center of your own universe. These people are not able to look at the world around them unless it’s from their own point of view.
Because of that, they are more likely to disregard the feelings and thoughts of other people, and they may even make it difficult for others to deal with them in a healthy manner.
Egocentrism is something that is often associated with children, because they are not quite at the point where they can understand that not everyone looks at the world and deals with things in the same way. But when it happens in adults, it makes things more difficult because we are supposed to be able to process those sorts of things.
These two things are very different, however. Even though both are very closely related, narcissism is almost a “worse form” of egocentrism. In narcissism, you actually may be able to see what the other person is saying or how they see a situation, but they just decide to blow it off because of how highly they view themselves.
So, Are They?
Of course, this brings up this important question. Are the two disorders related to chronic pain at all? How would they be connected to one another, and why would this be significant in dealing with the chronic pain and getting help for the whole thing?
There are a lot of questions that we have to answer here, but the big answer that people are looking for here is this: possibly.
Why? Well, first off, if you suffer from chronic pain, you may end up having a lot of issues with being egocentric – think about it. If you’re dealing with pain 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, or at least for a majority of your lifetime, you’re going to see the world from your point of view, and it may be hard to detach yourself from that.
It’s totally understandable – pain is something that dominates your thoughts and your life, so of course you’re going to see a lot of the world around you with those lenses.
Not saying that this is what always happens at all, but if it happens, it’s not without good reason and it’s quite easy to see how it can cause those sorts of problems with particular people that struggle with pain on a regular basis.
Of course, the problem comes in when egocentrism evolves into narcissism, and honestly, it’s debated as to whether or not this is a chronic pain thing in those cases, or if it’s because of other things that are going on with the mental health in the person in question.
Just because you have chronic pain does not mean that you’re going to end up becoming self centered and narcissistic. Many people who struggle with chronic pain will not sit there and consciously stop caring about the people who are around them on a regular basis.
But the temptation may be there, because sometimes, it’s hard not to fall into negative patterns of thinking. These aren’t the only negative patterns of thinking that may happen either; many people with chronic pain will deal with depression, anxiety, and other mental illnesses as a result of what they are going through and struggling with on a daily basis.
Honestly, the first part in helping someone you know or love deal with their chronic pain is to try and understand who they are and what they are dealing with.
By coming alongside them and helping them learn how to deal with their pain, it will make it a lot easier on them and on their relationships. Even though chronic pain doesn’t excuse poor behavior, understanding how it can affect the way that someone acts makes it a lot better to deal with and it can help to address other issues.
