Are we “entitled” to eat whatever we want?

Narcissistic personality disorder (NPD), a condition first formally recognized as a clinical diagnosis in the early 1970’s, is characterized by self-centered and self-promoting behavior, overconfidence and inflated self-esteem without basis in reality, and a deep personal sense of deserving (e.g., fame, fortune, good grades, good looks, professional advancement) without merit or valid rationale, or out of an unfounded sense of being “special”.

In my recent reading of “The Narcissism Epidemic: Living in the Age of Entitlement” (2009) by Jean Twenge, PhD and Keith Campbell, PhD, I was struck by the fact that the growth in clinical narcissism diagnoses across the last 40 years directly parallels the growth in obesity diagnoses across the same period.  It turns out that clinical narcissism is now as prevalent as obesity in our society, and like obesity, is present across all demographic groups – so it appears we’ve yet another problem of “epidemic proportions” on our hands (see Blog Post: “Is Obesity Really an Epidemic?”).