Egomania is a psychiatric term used to describe excessive preoccupation with one's ego, identity or selfdictionary.com and applies the same preoccupation to anyone who follows one’s own ungoverned impulses, is possessed by delusions of personal greatness & grandeur and feels a lack of appreciation. Someone suffering from this extreme

egocentric Egocentrism is the inability to differentiate between self and other. More specifically, it is the inability to accurately assume or understand any perspective other than one's own. Egocentrism is found across the life span: in infancy, early chi ...

focus is an egomaniac. Egomania as a condition, while not a classified

personality disorder Personality disorders (PD) are a class of mental disorders characterized by enduring maladaptive patterns of behavior, cognition, and inner experience, exhibited across many contexts and deviating from those accepted by the individual's culture ...

, is considered psychologically abnormal. The term ''egomania'' is often used by laypersons in a pejorative fashion to describe an individual who is perceived as intolerably self-centered. The clinical condition that most resembles egomania, and most often associated with is narcissistic personality disorder, though they differ vastly according to the individual's responses to others.

History

Egomania was brought into polemical prominence at the end of the 19th century by

Max Nordau Max Simon Nordau (born ''Simon Maximilian Südfeld''; 29 July 1849 – 23 January 1923) was a Zionist leader, physician, author, and social critic. He was a co-founder of the Zionist Organization together with Theodor Herzl, and president or vic ...

, one of the first critics who perceived the centrality of the concept of

egoism Egoism is a philosophy concerned with the role of the self, or , as the motivation and goal of one's own action. Different theories of egoism encompass a range of disparate ideas and can generally be categorized into descriptive or normativ ...

for an understanding of

Modernism Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...

, with criticism on the ideology of egomania'. Nordau distinguished egoism from the egomania. He described egoism as a lack of amiability while maintaining the ability to look after oneself, and egomania as a condition where one does not see things as they are, does not understand the world, and cannot take up a right attitude towards it. Nordau's attack was aimed at the

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

of the ''

fin de siècle () is a French term meaning "end of century,” a phrase which typically encompasses both the meaning of the similar English idiom "turn of the century" and also makes reference to the closing of one era and onset of another. Without context, ...

''. His describes the self-proclaimed geniuses as criminals & madmen obsessed with culte du moi (the cult of self)''.'' Over a century later, the term egomania re-appeared with a positive gloss to mark the

post-modern Postmodernism is an intellectual stance or mode of discourseNuyen, A.T., 1992. The Role of Rhetorical Devices in Postmodernist Discourse. Philosophy & Rhetoric, pp.183–194. characterized by skepticism toward the " grand narratives" of moderni ...

quest for success and celebrity. "

Self-confidence Confidence is a state of being clear-headed either that a hypothesis or prediction is correct or that a chosen course of action is the best or most effective. Confidence comes from a Latin word 'fidere' which means "to trust"; therefore, having ...

is the key to all success..." By contrast, reticent personalities may be labelled: it may well be a form of egomania, if you aren't willing to take a chance".

Substance abuse

Egomania has also been linked with

alcoholism Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol (drug), alcohol that results in significant Mental health, mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognize ...

. A recovering alcoholic may well look back at the past as "the land of

self-loathing Self-hatred is personal self-loathing or hatred of oneself, or low self-esteem which may lead to self-harm. In psychology and psychiatry The term "self-hatred" is used infrequently by psychologists and psychiatrists, who would usually describe ...

, egomania, and decay". The danger with the egomaniac is always that 'underneath the apparent over-confidence and bravado lies a fragile personality', driven by " grandiose fantasies of boundless success or power or perfect love"Reevy, p. 217 which cannot be fulfilled.

References

{{Narcissism Ego psychology Narcissism Mania

History

Substance abuse

See also

References