~Sanvi Mathur
“Huh! I have never seen anyone do a job as efficiently as I do.”
“You’re all fools. Good for nothing, you idiots!”
“I think I should be awarded the THE BEST LEADER award this year”
What will one perceive if one finds someone saying the above mentioned things? Personally, I would smirk and say, “Mad, let’s ignore him.”
The word Mad isn’t apt for such a behavior or attitude. Going into depths, this person suffers from the God Complex. Let’s go by the Google definition first.
What is God Complex?
God Complex is an unusual mental condition wherein one develops an unshakable belief, characterized by consistent inflated feelings of personal ability, infallibility. It is neither a clinical term, nor a diagnosable disorder.
Moreover, this does not appear in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Narcissistic Personality Disorder is the proper clinical name for ‘God Complex’.
To be precise, this is a rare mental condition. However, its mild cases are not uncommon. Narcissistic Personality Disorder is a true emotional problem caused by repetitive, obsessive thinking, also known as a psychosis.
NPD is so called because Narcissus was a Greek God who was entirely infatuated with himself. Deriving its name from the Greek God, NPD in simpler language is characterized by the following traits.
- Inflated arrogance
- Perceived need to ridicule or dominate
- Need for self appraisal
- No regard for conventions
- Expecting special treatments or privileges
Although they are inter-related, we can elucidate them one by one.
Inflated Arrogance
Arrogance being the primary characteristics of God Complex is seen in many leaders and successful people. An ‘arrogant’ person is full of self-worth and self-praise.
He finds himself the best option for anything. Overconfidence and omnipotence can define arrogance.
Perceived Need to Ridicule or Dominate
To ridicule someone simply means to make fun of them that might bring humiliation and embarrassment to the receiver.
Since the person with God Complex believes in himself being specially empowered, he tends to make fun of his folks unknowingly. To put it differently, he has imbibed that in his regular behavior.
Need for Self-Appraisal
Behind the cruel facet of God Complex, there lives a very sensitive personality that gets affected by the slightest of criticism. When these people aren’t praised by others, they grow cruel towards them.
Moreover, they start with highway talks of themselves. Praise is like a drug for them. Adding fuel to the fire would be a left-handed compliment.
No Regard for Conventions
God Complex sufferers are often seen as rule breakers, as they consider themselves as ‘exceptional cases’ that should be treated differently.
Thinking of themselves all the time, they also become self-centered and thus turn out to be merciless bosses.
Expecting Special Treatments or Privileges
Individuals who suffer from NPD have high self conceit and regard. Encompassing all their traits, God Complex sufferers are people with high superiority images of themselves along with alarmingly high self confidence.
As a result, they tend to think that they are entitled to much more than what they actually have or receive. They tend to ask for high salaries, more increments and would cite scriptures for the same.
In all, these people believe they exhibit godly features like perfection in all that they do.
What causes God complex?
Considering the popular saying, ‘Excess of everything is bad’, high amounts of parental pampering or criticism during childhood can affect a child’s brain. This is one of the reasons that can cause him to develop NPD.
As seen in recent psychological studies, the male brain is comparatively more prone to such thinking conditions. The patriarchal system of the Indian hierarchy could also be one of the causes for the same.
What is ‘Loaded God Complex’?
The popular phrase appears in the song by Fall Out Boy, Sugar, We’re Going Down and is a tribute to this artist. The following is just said to be a ‘play on words’ by the artist himself. Breaking the phrase into two parts, ‘loaded’ and ‘God Complex’ will reduce the ambiguity to explain it.
Loaded – The word is used to express overwhelming quantities of something that is filled to the brim. As mentioned earlier, excess of everything is bad. Needless to say, being ‘loaded’ with anything isn’t good.
Therefore ‘Loaded God Complex’ means, God Complex or NPD at the extreme levels. That is to say, it refers to someone who has a severe case of NPD and is hard to deal with, similar to a ‘loaded gun’.
Is God Complex a mental Disorder?
The answer is YES. God Complex or NPD is a mental disorder that cannot be diagnosed but can be related to one or more of the following characteristics.
- Obsessive Compulsive thinking
- Conceit
- Self involvement
- Self praise
- Arrogance
- Self entitlement
- Consideration of oneself as godly or extra-ordinary
- Assumptions for possessing supernatural powers
The term God Complex was first used by Ernest Jones and can be synonymous to the following terms.
- Godliness
- All-Mightiness
- Grandiosity
- Delusion of grandeur
