Psychiatry? Psychology? Or Blowing Smoke On Occam's Razor?

Let us ask, in the name of science and Occam's Razor, why it seems so much easier for humans to diagnose behavioral and apparent emotional or mental issues in ANIMALS, but they make it such a mysterious and "highly intellectual and academic" process in diagnosing human beings?

When someone's pet dog barks and howls when the owner leaves them alone, no one questions a trainer or a veterinarian when they simply say "the dog is obviously anxious because it was left alone; dogs are pack animals, so being left alone in a confined area, and being separated from their owner can of course cause them to become upset and anxious... etc.. The dog is a social animal. The dog naturally wants companionship and leadership. The dog naturally does not want to be separated from its owner/pack leader. Therefore the dog is anxious. ALSO, the dog becomes more anxious because of certain noises in the area.
In order to HELP THE DOG FEEL BETTER, simply do this..." (whatever they prescribe).

So, why exactly does a human child who is also a "social animal", who cries when Mother and Father leave her with someone else in an unfamiliar or scary environment get weird speculations about some kind of "emotional illness" slapped on her?
It's not the fact that she's getting left in an unfamiliar, foreign environment, or that human children naturally want to be with their parents, or that human children have natural boundaries that prevent them from simply trusting any stranger or acquaintance. Nor could "excessive crying" possibly be an effect of something else that may have happened to the child either in the past or recently... right?
(But if we think something did happen, we'll immediately blame the mother OR father first...) 

Apparently, the DOG is "legitimately anxious" because of nature and external situations, events, and factors, but the HUMAN is just CRAZY, or has some kind of inner DEFECT when SHE is anxious. It's not because of anything, it's just HER... she's just "screwed up". Or, her mother is "screwed up..." It can't be anything else that we might have to find out about.

And further, if anyone connected to the child wants to share information with us about the child's life, or about that environment, we'll treat them like they're acting strange, even histrionic or codependent, or BPD...
 
The capacity for DENIAL in humans, ABOUT other humans, is absolutely MIND BLOWING, both in and out of psychiatric, medical, and social fields.

This is not an article to demonize every person who works in these fields. There are plenty of individuals who are competent and objectively scientific, and who actually respect and care about other human beings, both male and female, young and old. But in general, these fields don't seem to care much about gathering FACTS and actual INFORMATION. They tend to be quite used to getting away with "practicing" on pure speculation and assumption, and JUDGMENT and BIAS, and not a little arrogance.

If you want to find out for yourself, set yourself up as a patient in a psychiatric hospital and see what happens. You're "sane" and of sound mind, right? So what do you have to worry about...?
Surely the staff will recognize you right away as "one of them", one of the "sane people", and not try to diagnose or medicate you ..... right...?   

So, the cat at the shelter who HISSES at everyone that comes in is simply defensive because of what he's been through. You can't get near him, you have to be careful when you feed and water him, he doesn't seem to like other cats, he tries to bite and scratch, the veterinarian has to sedate him, but you can "understand why he's like that because of what he's been through"..! Right? Sure. Someone abused him at some point. He was living in an abandoned barn because someone abandoned him. All of his behaviors are completely understandable, and they're OBVIOUSLY from what he's BEEN THROUGH, what he's ENDURED, the POOR CAT, let's give him all the CARE and UNDERSTANDING we can muster.
RIGHT?

YES, in my personal opinion, YES, that's what should be going on, absolutely. The poor cat, he deserves to be understood and given CARE, and treated with RESPECT, especially given what he's endured.

So... how does that go again when a HUMAN walks into a doctor's or psychiatrist's office? Or the average counselor's office? Does anyone take that human's entire history seriously? And connect that human's current apparent emotional effects, affect, reactions and behaviors with that human's actual life events, either in the distant or recent past? Either or both, or is it just BARELY acknowledged, and REALLY, we treat this human as if they dropped out of the sky with all these "issues"? Like they were just born this way, and they would have been the SAME if they were raised in Atlantis by the Utopian royal family?

So the CAT'S behavior is because of what it's been through, not because he was just BORN "mean".
But the HUMAN's behavior and emotional profile is just "because", umm... that's "how she is"... she's just some kind of nutjob with a defective brain.
Yeah... that's it... so break out that prescription pad and give her something to affect her brain, and SEND HER ON HER WAY, get her OUT of our hair, and collect that paycheck.
In the meantime, let's make sure that poor cat is comfortable, protected, fed, and taken care of.

"Science" even fully recognizes the effects of the SOCIAL CLIMATE on the emotional and mental well-being of all other animals, and on their behavior, but apparently NOT on the animal called "human".

When an animal in a group seems to behave differently or oddly, the humans observing them IMMEDIATELY jump to finding out WHY, and they look to only a few factors:

The way the OTHER animals in the group are TREATING it,
the environment itself (food, water, terrain, weather, predators, etc)
physical disease that's affecting the animal's health and nervous system. 

They don't just single out the animal and call it "mentally ill"!
They actually LOOK at what's going on, and what has happened in the animal's life.
And they do that FIRST, and in a thorough manner until they find out what's going on,  not as an afterthought..

So... why exactly DON'T medical, psychiatric, or psychology "professionals" do that when it comes to HUMANS who behave "differently" or who are "more emotional" or "more reactive", or "can't get along well with others", or who don't seem to be interested in school or work, etc,, etc.

There is no good reason. Occam's razor is about looking at the most obvious factors about something FIRST. That means NOT making things more mysterious than they really are, not introducing all kinds of theories when the factors are right in front of you.

If a child is cutting themselves, I would bet TEN TO ONE that the child has been traumatized or abused in some way by another human being in their personal life. Direct abuse, neglect, or witnessing the abuse of a loved one is a safe bet. These are ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS, the child wasn't born as a "cutter".
So treating the child as if they're simply "defective", and not dealing with trauma and external events is frankly just sick, and it's very irresponsible.
Medicate the CHILD and act like there's nothing else going on in the child's life, and that the child is just making things up? Is that any way to treat another human being? Is that how anyone would want to be treated by others, especially professionals who are supposed to be there to protect and help?

Let's give the person who comes in with social anxiety a diagnosis of a disorder, and throw some pills at them, and invalidate everything they say about what's really going on in their families or at their job.

Let's ignore the person's claims of childhood abuse when they show signs of depression or suicide, and keep telling them to focus on themselves instead of other people... and throw some pills at them and tell them to go home.


Let's deny the next patient's obvious need to tell their story and be heard and validated by a supposedly NEUTRAL human being ,who they're PAYING, treat them like they're not that bright, definitely not as bright as WE ARE, and throw some medication at them.

WOW.
So when HUMANS have issues, it's not from anything they've been through, lived through, the household they grew up in, the people in their lives NOW, the atmosphere of social interaction in their community, OR from events in their lives that would be traumatic or upsetting for anyone... Nope, it's just because they're DEFECTIVE, and need to be medicated.

And if they're DEFECTIVE, let's NOT EXPLORE anything MEDICAL!

RIGHT?

It's much more fun, and lucrative, to call it "psychiatric", and AVOID doing any neurological testing or exploration.
I mean, never mind about all that trauma or social dynamic stuff... that's just for every OTHER species on the planet.  That doesn't have a WALLET.

Narcissists Do Not Make Natural Bonds

One of the things that can be difficult to grasp about "Narcissism" is that people who have it do not make "natural bonds" with others, and then consciously keep and protect those bonds like non-narcissists do. Their family members are just people who happen to be family members, and they either "like" and therefore favor an individual, giving them extra attention, praise, and resources, or they "don't like" them and will treat them accordingly; either with indifference, or as a target/scapegoat.

A person who has Narcissism does not refrain from darkly envying a family member who they see as getting more attention than themselves, or having something they don't have, or being attractive or talented. They will show the same kind of cold envy and jealousy toward a family member that can be seen in some children toward classmates and peers.
They will throw a family member "under the bus" just as easily as they would a business rival, for perceived social or material gain, and to deflect accountability.They will willingly step back when a family member is slandered, manipulated, conned, or even abused if stepping back seems better for themselves, or if they envy that family member, OR if the person who attacked the family member is on their list of either favored or useful people. They generally don't like to stand up for those who are targeted by others, because they fear being targeted by the attacker, they don't want to "risk their reputation", and because they don't want to help expose the dynamics in the game of manipulation, since they are a player.

Because they don't feel the connected bond between themselves and other family members that many people feel, they don't feel automatic kindredness toward family members, except for a chosen favored few (or only one, or sometimes none, however "none" may be something other than Narcissism.)   They don't feel "familial" empathy, pride, confidence in, or the desire to protect all of the other members in their family.
This lack of kindred connection with other members is the same for any kind of group that they are a part of. They will often USE being a member of a group as a badge of status, but that's completely separate from their connections with the actual members of the group.

Family members are seen as just "other people" in their lives who happen to be connected to them, and ONLY those the Narcissist favors will receive what most consider to be something like "normal" treatment toward family, such as empathy, respect, care giving, sympathy, shared activities, guidance, assistance, validation, encouragement, support, understanding, and PROTECTION from danger or disrespect from either the outside world OR from inside the family. This favoring or disfavoring does include the person's children, and it includes any and ALL family members.
A scapegoated person will not only receive LESS of these "normal"-family-interaction things than everyone else, but will also be singled out to receive more abuse, more neglect, less or no resources or assistance, and less or no protection, and often direct sabotage.


In real life examples, a favored person in the same family may be given a brand new pair of skis with boots, helmet, poles, and padding for Christmas, and the scapegoated person may receive a pair of cheap gloves, maybe a scarf, and perhaps a candy bar. Resources and displays of approval and adoration are denied and  taken away from the scapegoat, and extra are given to the favored person. The favored person will be given the biggest piece of steak, the special piece of poultry, their favorite dish on a regular basis, and the scapegoated person will be given the smallest piece of steak (or none), and criticized for their food preferences.
If the favored person shovels snow, they'll be spoken of kindly and praised by the Narcissist and others, but if the scapegoated person shovels snow, they'll be criticized, corrected, and made fun of; and that precedent carries over to any task or accomplishment.

If the favored person starts a business, they'll be praised and held up as a "go-getter", and most likely given assistance in various ways, and promoted in the community. If the scapegoated person starts the same exact business, or a different one, they'll be ignored, or criticized, demeaned, or made fun of; they will receive little if any assistance, and any "promotion" they receive will be watered down or sabotaged with negative innuendos, something like "that's my sister's pizza joint~ if you go there, tell her I sent you, but don't blame me if the pizza sucks."

A scapegoated person is often expected to SERVE a favored person, even if they are PEERS (the same age, or siblings or cousins).

The favored person may be helped in buying a car when they're 16; the scapegoated person may not be allowed to even get their license until they move out.
The favored person may have college paid for, or mostly paid for, the scapegoated person may be told that there are NO funds for their college, even if there are.
The favored person may be taken to the hospital when their fever goes past 100, the scapegoated person may be ignored or told to stop complaining or go to sleep when theirs spikes to 104 or higher. The favored person may get a shoulder to cry on for any and every bump, bruise, and mistake, but the scapegoated person will be CHASTISED, scolded, and judged negatively for anything at all that they're upset about, no matter how terrible the event, even if it was something as serious as a physical assault on them, or an illness or injury.

When a favored person tells their account of an event, they are listened to and usually believed even if they're lying to get out of something they've done. When a scapegoated person tells their account of an event, or talks about anything at all, really, they'll automatically be argued with, countered, ignored, invalidated, or accused of lying.
If a favored person were to say that a terrible storm is coming, everyone would be expected to believe them, in the same way that the Narcissist would expect to be believed. But if the scapegoated person says that a small storm is coming, or even that it's raining outside RIGHT NOW, they will FIRST be doubted and argued with, before anyone even looks outside to see if it's true.

(The relationship between a favored person and a scapegoated person can vary widely, depending on both of their levels of awareness, and their own bonding abilities. But typically, Narcissists would rather the favored person did NOT bond with the scapegoated person, and will often try to prevent or destroy such bonding.)
The seriousness of favoritism and scapegoating is a very big deal; in many cultures, and even in the "West", being the favored person or the scapegoated person in a family or community can mean the difference between wealth or extreme poverty, or even living and dying. 

(It's important to note that a favored person, especially if the person is a child, is not necessarily being done any GOOD by the favored treatment, and it's not always as "favored" as it seems. The term "Golden Child" is used to describe a Narcissistic parents' favored child, and they usually end up having serious problems in their own lives as well that may be very hard to heal; and worse, very hard for the person to even figure out where the problems came from or what they really are. They may say things like "well I was never abused" or "my childhood was fine", so they don't even try to investigate there for origins of their issues.)

Outside of the family, the Narcissist still sees people as just "other people" who happen to go to their place of worship, or who work at their place of business, or live in their neighborhood or town, or who go to their school or have the same interests. They see potential or current romantic interests in the same way, including their spouse. They don't see the people in their church, school, business, or neighborhood, as all being members of a collective "WE".
They PICK and CHOOSE only specific individuals to associate themselves with for purposes of personal gain, either social or material, or both, and the rest of the people are just random people to them who they either FAVOR, DISFAVOR, or are INDIFFERENT toward.
"Indifferent" meaning treating others as if they're not really there, like they're shadow puppets who don't have real lives and who don't really "matter".

Narcissists only really take NOTICE of individual people who they see as a potential GAIN for themselves in some way, or a potential "THREAT" to their gain, or to their current "status".As an example of that: Jake the Narcissist is a member of the local Mason lodge; the only other members he associates with or knows anything about are the ones who have higher "ranking", and who are wealthy or have "important" titles in the community, AND the ones who he feels threatened by due to their good looks, pleasant personality, or apparent talent or ability. He doesn't know or remember much at all, or care to know much at all, about any of the other members, even though there are only 18 of them. He only accepts invitations to events and parties from those who he thinks he can gain from, and simply ignores the rest. He only attends ceremonies that he absolutely has to, or that he thinks will help him gain status and favor from certain individuals, or raise his "status" in the lodge or the community.
He goes along with the "status quo" all the time, and never stands up against negative or unfair treatment toward another member, UNLESS standing up against unfair treatment IS what the "crowd" is doing, and therefore will gain him "points".

Many have said that it may be better to be a person who a Narcissist sees as a "nothing" than to be a scapegoat target, but one can't actually control that and live a real or normal life. Narcissists always notice those who seem confident, skilled, brave, smart, attractive,  talented, or warm and caring, and they will either adulate them and try to associate themselves with them, or they will compete with them, and often try to diminish or knock them down somehow. But that's "what they do", like the Scorpion and the Frog fable; we do what WE do, and avoid their sting and protect ourselves as much as we can. Frogs are naturally fantastic swimmers, and they should not stop swimming just because there are scorpions around. Frogs can learn to recognize scorpions, and avoid them as much as possible, and not give them rides.

Narcissists often choose other Narcissists to associate with, and they'll often choose them OVER, and INSTEAD OF people who they have common interests with. In other words, a Narcissist who is into baseball would seek association with the Mayor of the town who DOESN'T LIKE baseball, and happens to be a Narcissist, but would NOT associate themselves with a person who loves baseball, who is very good at playing and very knowledgeable, but who doesn't have an important Title OR behave Narcissistically, or isn't the "right" race, sex, or age, or doesn't seem to be wealthy or popular.
 
A clearer example: If the Narcissist was on a Baseball Team with two players who had an equal level of interest in the game, and equal level of advanced skill and ability, and one of them was Narcissistic but the other was not, the Narcissist would much more likely choose the Narcissistic player to be "friends" with, and NOT the non-Narcissistic player. Alternatively, the two Narcissists might become "Bitter Rivals", which gives them both NOTORIETY (they'll put themselves in the spotlight with their drama), which is the same thing as "fame" for a Narcissist.
Further, both Narcissists on the team might try to turn the non-Narcissist with the high level of ability and skill into a "mascot", "sidekick", or "gopher"; in other words, try to lower that player's "social status" and also status on the team. If and when that player protests against this treatment, the player will probably be either given the "rejection" treatment, or get Scapegoated.

In summation, people who have Narcissism don't make bonds with others because of shared experiences,  shared family ties, time spent together, shared childhoods, shared schools, shared interests, shared mutual friends, shared projects, or shared workplaces.
They only make "connections" with people they choose to connect with (who they happen to know from one of those places or in one of those groups) because they see some kind of benefit/gain for themselves in the connection. They try to keep CONTROL over that connection, because if it's stops BENEFITING them, they will pull the plug. Shut if off. Hit the switch. Reject the person like a dirty tissue, no matter what the person's relation to them is.

Narcissists FEIGN loyalty because it helps them gain, and makes them look good. They don't actually DO loyalty.

Common reasons for rejecting a person they've chosen to "connect with" is that they realized the person is not that popular, powerful, wealthy, or not easily manipulated.
Most Narcissists will immediately abandon ANY person who has been targeted by slander or other abuse, and even jump on a campaign to smear the person's name.   

They may make a dramatic exit and try to dump the "blame" for their leavetaking on the other person, but this is just to deflect accountability, either for something they did, or for their abrupt discarding of the person.
The last thing a Narcissist wants is to get exposed for social manipulation, because others might hear about it, and then their game will be exposed.