A person who has the God Syndrome is absolutely sure that he never makes a mistake, no matter how difficult the task set before him. Most often, he ignores any established rules, considering himself worthy to do whatever he wants. This disease is among the undiagnosed, that is, there is no exact list of symptoms on the basis of which conclusions can be drawn.
God Syndrome is a disease that is often used by authors in modern culture: in plays, books, TV series and films. For example, a similar disorder is observed in Shakespeare's Hamlet, when he decides not to kill Claudius during prayer (so that he does not go to heaven). Many movie villains have some symptoms, and in Japan they made an entire anime on this topic - "Death Note".
Definition
God Syndrome is a psychotic illness characterized by the patient's unshakable faith in his own power and impunity. In some cases, a person may show signs of aggression, irritability, behavearrogantly and, not embarrassed in expressions, ridicule the shortcomings of others. Most often, these are narcissistic people, confident in their own irresistibility. Anyone who tries to doubt this is declared an enemy.
Manifestations of this syndrome are often observed in successful people, mostly in men. Of course, each person has certain signs to one degree or another, especially if he has achieved outstanding results. It is important to understand that not every self-confident or arrogant person necessarily has such, often dangerous to others and requiring hospitalization, mental illness as god syndrome.
Symptoms
In order to be able to talk about the presence of any deviation in the psyche, you need to make sure that a person has five or more of the following signs:
- an exaggerated sense of self-importance (for example, a person may expect immediate recognition from a higher authority without any reason);
- endless fantasies and reasoning about one's own irresistibility, strength, success;
- the patient believes that he is "the chosen one", but only a few are worthy to know and understand him;
- needs endless admiration;
- unable to substantiate his statements, often either chooses answers in the spirit of “well, it’s me, you don’t understand” as arguments, or shows aggression towards the opponent;
- a patient with god syndrome ignores the opinions of other people and generally accepted laws andfoundations;
- arrogant and thinks everyone owes him;
- sincerely convinced that everyone envy him;
- and, of course, as with many mental illnesses, completely denying there is a problem.
Reasons
The causes can be very diverse, since this phenomenon has not yet been fully studied, but the following can have a significant impact on the development of the disease:
- excessive admiration of parents and other relatives without a clear reason;
- excessive praise for good deeds and excessive condemnation for bad ones;
- episodes of emotional abuse in childhood;
- manipulative parents from whom a child could learn such behavior, taking it as the only right one.
Treatment
Unfortunately, at the moment there is no clear script on how to treat god syndrome. But treatment is necessary, because in especially severe cases, such a disease can lead to personality disintegration, problems with socialization, and even cause dementia (dementia, which is not congenital).
The main difficulty in the treatment of this syndrome is that the patient does not believe that he has problems, he does not realize what damage he can cause not only to himself, but also to the people around him.
Therapy may be given to help the god syndrome patient learn to be more empathetic towards others. There is often work to be done to learn how to use one's talents to help others,while avoiding ulterior motives. Work to tame anger, rage and impulsive behavior can also bring results.
Previously it was believed that group therapy was impossible with such patients, however, studies have shown that this type of communication allows you to develop trust, normalize self-esteem and learn to accept feedback from others.
The main thing to remember is that not always a bad character or bravado caused by self-doubt is a symptom of the god syndrome. Sometimes it can just be the result of bad upbringing, spoiledness, or lack of communication.
