Hi everyone, this topic is three-fold: letting autistic people be themselves, achievement vs sainthood, and…here it is… personality disorders and self actualization. So my question is, if someone has a personality warp of any kind and for any reason, would they not be fully and unapologetically that way upon a successful complete effort to contribute all they can to their society? In other words, are actualized sinners “actually” quirky but whole people in a good way?
I am writing about this because in my psychiatry notes from a hospitalization I just finished, it listed a differential diagnosis of what my schizophrenia condition isn’t, but still related to. And there was a listing of personality features that made me think all day about it and feel mad sometimes, frankly.
It really makes me think of three blog post topics, which are:
1) playing to your strengths as someone with autism
2) a common difference between south and north which has to do with maximizing potential vs. avoiding sin
3) the possibility or even probability of some people exhibiting both self actualization and personality disorder features.
People might already be mad just reading that, but I think what I am about to say is freaking good material at a psychology level that a lot of people could learn from.
All my life, I have felt more comfortable being in front of people and speaking to an audience instead of small talk. But sadly, for reasons I still don’t understand, I am frequently and consistently oppressed into constantly being in scenarios based on my weaknesses. As I navigated a very social life with a million conversations and 400,000 customers in a busy bookstore, I developed a deliberate and effective communication pattern that matches that social preference of being the up front speaker. I chose to incessantly talk about myself and be the entertainer in terms of personality instead of the mutual connector. I did give people their turn too, so I wasn’t just a selfish jerk, but I do think that my way of life is viewed by some as narcissism. That does make me mad, and I do think people are wrong. But I think I am concluding now that if people want to see it that way, they can. It can seem selfish and attention seeking to make that choice to be yourself. It can come across as proud, selfish, and just plain bad. But I actually would prescribe my strategy to other people who are shy in the ways I am, and say that in the bigger picture I was less selfish to offer my true talents to as many people as possible in my already oppressed state.
So now the mention of sin. This is also an interesting topic related to personalities, and some people for some reason see themselves as above having a discussion like that. However, many people do address their own foibles with a religious discipline and a micro strategy of fighting sinful tendencies. I have complained before about churches caring too much about scrupulous self improvement that becomes its own form of self centeredness. But it can also be a legitimate choice that does yield generous results as much as any other achievement.
And then to zoom out of that discussion a little bit, or maybe zoom in, I think about the differences in America between north and south, liberal and evangelical, democrat or republican, and I just think there are multiple approaches that people emphasized while living their lives, and each can result in a good harvest and already have. I would say some people have chosen to do well in the big picture, to focus on gifts and achievement, and be oneself as an imperfect person, and to max out everything, including their worst side. And others have taken the time to turn inward and wage a battle against their sinful nature, disciplining the private thoughts and life, refusing to brag and gossip or criticize, be negative, or whatever else people try hard at. I found the former thing to be more mentally healthy, and had to do so while church people looked on with unhidden disapproval sometimes.
That is all I will say about that, it is very interesting, lots of people have lots of friends, facebook was a cool phenomenon and display of all kinds of work, plus smartphones for billions of people, and our country and world has done well in many ways.
So okay, that was the second topic, and now finally, here is the Phd material, a worthy discussion for any psychologist at any level: Are personality disorders possible or even inevitable for fully “self actualized” people? Is our only choice on earth to be productive sinners? So might as well go with it? Also, how different is sainthood and righteousness from self actualization? Does a person literally have to give up the self for that in a way that prevents full development? Maybe it is different for different people. What if your actualized self would be a murderer? Everyone has to manage their behavior, even if it is just to get stuff they want. Would a self actualized person have all the personality disorders instead of none?
I have a lot of friends, I am mostly secure with my socializing and had a nice life. Now I have dementia and can’t read books any more or pay attention to whole conversations. But here was another blog post, and I know it is good material. My score on the global assessment of functioning is a 40 out of 100 right now, but this blog post is true and part of my life’s calling.
