Quarantine

How are you guys dealing with the quarantine and isolation? I live in a major city and cannot go out at all. Any suggestions for keeping my brain from eating itself alive would be welcome

Being narcissistic/schizoid I always lived in isolation anyways so far. I cant understand why people are having much problems with not being able to go to bars or meet other people - some people have actually becoem much worse psychologically. Maybe thats a difference between narcissistic and more projective disorders... Not happening to me at all; I might even enjoy tha normals going crazy about something I find totally normal. The only difference for me is having to wait in line, having to buy toilet paper online and being forced to use a shopping-cart at the grocery-store. I think I'm almost disappointed they're starting to slowly lift quarantine here already .
I'd say I have much more pressing issues than isolation from my subjective perception. Like the coding project I've been working on for several months now not getting forward quickly enough (in my opinion). So while I can't really understand it, maybe getting some hobby / job that fills you up enough might help?

It hasn’t affected me much at all, I tend to be very solitary outside of working and shopping for supplies and what have you which I am still doing. It is more stressful doing anything now, just going to get groceries is stressful, but as far as quarantine goes I don’t know I’m not forced to stay home so it’s not changing very much. If I had to be inside 24/7 like some people I’d probably lose my mind.

I’ve read about a lot of people having serious problems with anxiety and depression over this but this is just something I always deal with anyway so I can’t tell any difference

Akuma wrote:Being narcissistic/schizoid I always lived in isolation anyways so far. I cant understand why people are having much problems with not being able to go to bars or meet other people - some people have actually becoem much worse psychologically. Maybe thats a difference between narcissistic and more projective disorders... Not happening to me at all; I might even enjoy tha normals going crazy about something I find totally normal. The only difference for me is having to wait in line, having to buy toilet paper online and being forced to use a shopping-cart at the grocery-store. I think I'm almost disappointed they're starting to slowly lift quarantine here already .
I'd say I have much more pressing issues than isolation from my subjective perception. Like the coding project I've been working on for several months now not getting forward quickly enough (in my opinion). So while I can't really understand it, maybe getting some hobby / job that fills you up enough might help?

I should have explained myself in more detail to be clear: I also never go out or meet people, I always cook at home, etc. The reason I am struggling is similar to what you said about your coding project. I work in the arts, and therefore basically feed off of others’ perception of my success and talents. Unfortunately, I had projects dependent on the work of other people that have completely halted. I guess you made me realize I don’t mind the isolation at all but the lack of my perceived “narcissistic supply”, if that’s the term. I am not diagnosed schizoid, but am diagnosed schizotypal. Akuma, given your also narcissistic diagnosis, do you feel like narcissistic supply is a need or a thing for you?

-- Sat Apr 18, 2020 8:34 am --

Esmoke wrote:It hasn’t affected me much at all, I tend to be very solitary outside of working and shopping for supplies and what have you which I am still doing. It is more stressful doing anything now, just going to get groceries is stressful, but as far as quarantine goes I don’t know I’m not forced to stay home so it’s not changing very much. If I had to be inside 24/7 like some people I’d probably lose my mind.

I’ve read about a lot of people having serious problems with anxiety and depression over this but this is just something I always deal with anyway so I can’t tell any difference

Yeah, basically we have to be inside 24/7. Haha, same, I’ve always dealt with depression and anxiety, the outside world I guess just provided distractions. I think my response above to Akuma would interest you if you’d like to read it.

hydrangea00 wrote:
I should have explained myself in more detail to be clear: I also never go out or meet people, I always cook at home, etc. The reason I am struggling is similar to what you said about your coding project. I work in the arts, and therefore basically feed off of others’ perception of my success and talents. Unfortunately, I had projects dependent on the work of other people that have completely halted. I guess you made me realize I don’t mind the isolation at all but the lack of my perceived “narcissistic supply”, if that’s the term. I am not diagnosed schizoid, but am diagnosed schizotypal. Akuma, given your also narcissistic diagnosis, do you feel like narcissistic supply is a need or a thing for you?

I've always seen "narcissistic supply" as a pop-psych term, also because it aint really used in psych literature; also I'm not sure what that would mean for me. There are some things give additional stability to my psychological structure, but they are mostly internal things, as a schizoid I guess a lot is imagination-based. I'm actually more of a music production guy, the coding project is a side effect of having (or being able to) delay certain developments in that area due to the pandemic. There is always a sense of fear of not meeting others expectatiosn or being not seen I assume... but I dont perceive a need to be stabilized by peoples praise or something as its presented in the literature about "classic / cliche" NPD - or as I also know from an aquaintance of mine who is very much fits that picture.
That being said, if we want to borrow the terminology - "narcissistic supply" to a degree is a thing for most neurotics / Nons, I think. Maybe more than for certain narcissistic / schizoids people who withdraw a lot and might have a reduced need for interpersonal relationships as a whole, including self-esteem modulating effects of such.

Akuma wrote:

hydrangea00 wrote:
I should have explained myself in more detail to be clear: I also never go out or meet people, I always cook at home, etc. The reason I am struggling is similar to what you said about your coding project. I work in the arts, and therefore basically feed off of others’ perception of my success and talents. Unfortunately, I had projects dependent on the work of other people that have completely halted. I guess you made me realize I don’t mind the isolation at all but the lack of my perceived “narcissistic supply”, if that’s the term. I am not diagnosed schizoid, but am diagnosed schizotypal. Akuma, given your also narcissistic diagnosis, do you feel like narcissistic supply is a need or a thing for you?

I've always seen "narcissistic supply" as a pop-psych term, also because it aint really used in psych literature; also I'm not sure what that would mean for me. There are some things give additional stability to my psychological structure, but they are mostly internal things, as a schizoid I guess a lot is imagination-based. I'm actually more of a music production guy, the coding project is a side effect of having (or being able to) delay certain developments in that area due to the pandemic. There is always a sense of fear of not meeting others expectatiosn or being not seen I assume... but I dont perceive a need to be stabilized by peoples praise or something as its presented in the literature about "classic / cliche" NPD - or as I also know from an aquaintance of mine who is very much fits that picture.
That being said, if we want to borrow the terminology - "narcissistic supply" to a degree is a thing for most neurotics / Nons, I think. Maybe more than for certain narcissistic / schizoids people who withdraw a lot and might have a reduced need for interpersonal relationships as a whole, including self-esteem modulating effects of such.

Interesting. But the need for other people to admire you isn’t really a need for interpersonal relationships? Or is it? Relationship to me connotes give and take. I don’t need anyone’s company to be stable and people seriously bore me as a whole. I wonder then why as NPD I need to prove my superiority through success, etc. Akuma, do you use social media? I may make another thread about that, and ask users here if they use it for their own gratification, etc

On the topic of narcissistic supply, just my humble opinion from what I have read and interpreted myself. I think it’s more like a need to be acknowledged, I don’t like the term admiration which paints an entirely different picture. Think about a child that wasn’t heard or given the attention they needed during development and now feels like they will be ignored or their opinion won’t matter to anyone because that’s what they were taught, so when it does and they get the attention and acknowledgement that they didn’t get it temporarily boosts the self-esteem. This is my primitive understanding I don’t think of it as some sort of cult like following where everyone involved is in a constant circle jerk. I think this definitely happens, it happens to people who are perfectly healthy psychologically also.

I think it’s important for people with NPD to find ways to validate themselves internally, I don’t think the concept of supply is a healthy one at all and it’s something to work to correct. People will put you down and try to chop you down for no reason other than they are jealous or want to hate, letting them dictate how you feel about yourself is a terrible way to exist in my opinion.

hydrangea00 wrote:Interesting. But the need for other people to admire you isn’t really a need for interpersonal relationships? Or is it? Relationship to me connotes give and take. I don’t need anyone’s company to be stable and people seriously bore me as a whole. I wonder then why as NPD I need to prove my superiority through success, etc.

Well I think from the perspective of a cliche NPD who needs admiration, he will see a "relationship" as an object-extension of himself really and if that extension is not on par with his perception of himself it will be destroyed. USAs president is a great exampel for this, if they admire him hooray, if not theyre out.

Akuma, do you use social media? I may make another thread about that, and ask users here if they use it for their own gratification, etc

I totally overslept social media. I have only lately gotten a reddit account and just for anime pictures cause Im totally into that stuff, but I rarely use it. I have a facebook account for my music business and I havent used it so far as the whole brand creation is delayed.

Esmoke wrote:On the topic of narcissistic supply, just my humble opinion from what I have read and interpreted myself. I think it’s more like a need to be acknowledged, I don’t like the term admiration which paints an entirely different picture. Think about a child that wasn’t heard or given the attention they needed during development and now feels like they will be ignored or their opinion won’t matter to anyone because that’s what they were taught, so when it does and they get the attention and acknowledgement that they didn’t get it temporarily boosts the self-esteem. This is my primitive understanding I don’t think of it as some sort of cult like following where everyone involved is in a constant circle jerk. I think this definitely happens, it happens to people who are perfectly healthy psychologically also.

It was always one of the contradictions in for me that narcissism on the one hand side says someone goes back into the self and the other side is supposed to be that you reach out to others to get your "supply". I fidn the whoel word dumb tbh. If one has an understanding like you that incorporates already much more meaning and depth than this buzzword could ever achieve.

Solitary Confinement is isolation. This is isolation for cub scouts.

Jonna wrote:Solitary Confinement is isolation. This is isolation for cub scouts.

Can I ask if you've been put in solitary confinement before?