Blog Post 2: Does Mariah Carey have a Narcissistic Personality Disorder?

"Look at this. Is this all the red carpet I get?" Mariah said upon descending from her "own personal private Learjet" in Dublin, Ohio. "That's not standard!", she added. This incident got people talking about how much of a diva she is and that she is full of herself. It is a very known fact that Mariah can be a little cocky sometimes. What people don't know is that she only does those things to make humor out of it. Yes, acting like a self-conceited, ego filled diva has been a huge a part of Mariah's image but does that necessarily mean that she is a narcissistic person?

Before that, we need to be aware of what narcissism is. And this article "Narcissistic Personality Order" by Kendra Cherry from psychology.about.com explains it to us in detail. First of all, what is a narcissistic personality disorder? It is a pervasive disorder characterized by self-centeredness, lack of empathy, and an exaggerated sense of self-importance. It negatively impacts many different life areas including social, family, and work relationships.

Narcissistic personality order is the least common one among the other personality disorders. It is said to affect 1% of the whole population of adults in the United States and is more common in men. It's symptoms are an exaggerated sense of one's own abilities and achievements, a constant need for attention, affirmation and praise, a belief that he or she is unique or "special" and should only associate with other people of the same status, persistent fantasies about attaining success and power, exploiting other people for personal gain, a sense of entitlement and expectation of special treatment, a preoccupation with power or success, feeling envious of others, or believing that others are envious of him or her, and a lack of empathy for others. The cause of this personality disorder is yet unclear but some factors may have contributed to it like childhood experiences such as over indulgence of the parents, unreliable parenting, excessive praise and lack of realistic responses.

"It is important to distinguish between those who have narcissistic personality traits and those suffering from narcissistic personality disorder. Those with narcissistic personalities are often seen as arrogant, confident, and self-centered, but they do not have the exaggerated or grandiose view of their own abilities that characterizes narcissistic personality disorder." as Kendra Cherry said.

It is hard to tell if Mariah Carey really has a narcissistic personality disorder or does she only have narcissistic personality traits. One thing's for sure though, her childhood might have led her to become this way. As a child of divorce, Mariah had an unreliable support from her father. Her mother, on the other hand, trained and raised her for the intent of super-stardom. Even her name "Mariah" was inspired by a musical play and was purposely made a stage name. An idea was formed in her brain that she must become better than everybody else and she did, later on. With her life-long dream accomplished, it is no mystery why she acts like how she does today.

In my quest to find out the answer to that question, I read the article "18 Signs You're Dealing With A Narcissist" by Amanda L. Chan from huffingtonpost.com. It says that it is possible to have some of the traits a narcissist has without having a clinically diagnosed narcissistic personality disorder. There is a specific range in narcissism. Most people are in the middle and some with extreme cases, go overboard. So, how do we know if we're dealing with a narcissist? We may do so by observing the following signs:

1. They leave a good first impression - that doesn't really last.
2. Some Narcissists are outgoing, some are quiet and shy.
3. They take the role of a leader.
4. Eventually, every conversation is about them.
5. Guilty of name-dropping.
6. They tell stories about their failures but they have a way of pointing out that it wasn't their fault.
7. Materialistic.
8. Appearance is everything to them.
9. They don't post bad pictures on social media.
10. They are strongly averse to criticism.
11. Excuses are a narcissist's best friend.
12. They leave a trail of wreckage behind them.
13. They may be more likely to cheat.
14. They take everything personal.
15. A narcissistic person probably has no idea he or she is a narcissist. 
16. You find yourself resorting to flattery just to maintain the peace with a narcissist.
17. Narcissists are not low in self-esteem.
18. Men are more likely to be narcissists than women.

"But sometimes the signs of narcissism are a little more nuanced. They're not always as obvious as media depictions would have you believe. And yes, it's possible to have some traits of narcissism without having full-blown, clinically diagnosed narcissistic personality disorder, which is when narcissism starts to have a serious, negative impact on everyday life and relationships." said Amanda.

I was able to associate some of these signs with Mariah's personality. She is more of the loud and proud type since she never fails to include her accomplishments into every interview she's done. She also mentions big names (if not as big as hers) and her relationship with those people. So, that's 2, 4 and 5 there. As for number 6, there was this one time when a different version of her song was uploaded and she pointed out that it was her staff's fault in which the only job they had to do was press Enter. And of course, number 7. As a celebrity, she wears designer clothes in order to increase her status. Earlier in her career, Mariah caused a commotion for only letting people take pictures of her in a certain angle. This shows that she is very aware of her looks since it might affect her reputation. As to being in the industry long enough, she encountered a lot of criticism from all sorts of people, even ones who are in the same field as her. She reacted strongly about those criticisms but never showed it in a unprofessional way. She simply throws shade every once in a while and often acts like she cares less about what people say. Although Mariah is an expert in dodging questions, she has a way of only getting involved with the things she wants to wherein she can boast about her success, etc. As it is very obvious, Mariah has a huge self-esteem. She has confidence in herself in just about everything she does. Finally, that's 8, 9, 10 and 17.

All in all, Mariah got 9 out of 18. Even-though she is energetic and confident, as described above, she tends to hide them by showing that she doesn't care or she puts it out in humor. With this, Mariah Carey appears less cocksure and narcissistic than she actually is. I think this answers the question, "Does Mariah Carey have a Narcissistic Personality Disorder?" No, she doesn't. She only has a narcissistic personality which is not an extreme case and shouldn't really be taken seriously.

Blog Post 1: What lies behind Mariah Carey's success?

The voice, the hits, the legend. The woman who shocked the world in not less than 23 years ago with her majestic take on the American patriotic song, "America The Beautiful". Reputable for owning an outstanding five octave vocal range. The original singer and composer of the now-considered Christmas classic, "All I Want For Christmas Is You". Selling an outstanding number of 200 Million records worldwide, with 18 number one Billboard Hot 100 entries - two of which are deemed "Song Of The Decade", owning 176 awards including "Most Successful Female Artist of The Millennium" and five Grammys.

We all know her name. She's Mariah Carey, of course! There is no denying her notable fame in the music industry, but let's take a deeper look and see what made a woman like herself such a prominent figure in the world today. What lies behind Mariah Carey's success? What made her the person she is right now?

Recently, I've been reading some articles about the psychology behind success and happened to stumble upon this article "The Psychology of Success" by Joyce Marter from huffingtonpost.com in which the writer explained the factors on making a successful person - in any field. Overall, she mentioned ten.

First is "To become conscious of why you do what you do". She explained that everything a person goes through happens for a reason. In order to start a new perspective in life, you must learn to let go of the old habits that do not help you in growing more as a person and limit you from understanding what you should be doing.

Second, "Open yourself up to prosperity". After letting go of all the negative stuff, you must be mindful not to constrain yourself. You must welcome all that is good into your life.

Third, "Bring your attention to the present". Having said that, you must let go of the past and stop obsessing over the future.

Fourth, "You must discover the power of intention". Joyce Marter quoted Wayne Dyer who said, "Our intentions create our reality." In this, you should be able to identify you primary intentions and live by them.

The fifth is to "Develop one's vision". Positive visualization increases the likelihood of success. You must set a goal in which you will be able to use your strengths for the common good.

For the sixth pointer, "Silence your inner critic". This is for you to look at your own negativity in a neutral way.

Seventh, "You must practice positive thinking". Choose to be your best cheerleader rather than your worst critic.

Eighth is "Practice acceptance". A person cannot always change how others think or feel that's why we should learn to forgive and let go of resentments.

Ninth is "Appreciate that personal and professional progress is not linear". This teaches you to learn from your mistakes, and to be resilient and forge ahead.

And lastly, "Love yourself". Practice self-compassion and self-care. You can do so by striving to reach a goal for yourself.

"Being successful requires us to wake up and be present in our own lives, aligning ourselves our greatest destiny and mapping out the way. We must consciously select a path that facilitates the awakening of our awareness, both individually and collectively. Everything in life is interconnected. As we evolve, our relationships, work and lives blossom. And, conversely, as we are impacted by our relationships and our work, we evolve." said Joyce Marter.

Digging deep into Mariah's history, I can see it's relation to the factors mentioned above. Probably, the reason why Mariah started her career as a singer was because of her mother's influence. As a professional opera singer and vocal coach, Patricia Carey raised and trained Mariah to grow up in the same field as her. And although Mariah went through a lot of hardships as a child for being part of a poor, bi-racial family who suffered extreme racism, she focused on her main goal and had learned to let go of all the negativity in her life.

During her teenage days, Mariah worked as a waitress while doing a part-time job as a back-up singer and had since then, recorded a lot of mixtapes with her singing demos. Through this, I can say that she really intended to become a singer and had never stopped pursuing her life-long dream. She held her head up high and kept a positive attitude while waiting for what is to happen. Finally, the day came when she met rising pop singer, Brenda K. Starr who later introduced her to the head of Sony Entertainment, Tommy Mottola. After three days of nerve-racking anticipation, Mottola broke the news to Mariah that she made it in and is expected to sign a contract for Sony Entertainment.

Soon after that, she married Mottola and everything went well for her. That was until their ugly public divorce which led to the termination of contract. Even so, Mariah accepted her fate and was not discouraged by it. Virgin Records, then, offered her a contract which lasted for not more than two years because of her "breakdown" incident. She was hospitalized for extreme exhaustion and was later confined in a rehabilitation center. Mariah had lost control of her career. Her album did not make it big and was even considered as one of the most epic flops at that time. She was also paid by Virgin Records just to end the deal. During that experience, she was able to do a lot of thinking and once she got out of the hospital, she told fans not to worry and that she will take better care of herself this time now that she knows how harsh the consequences are. She had also learned how to love herself more, as it is evident today.

Years after being away from the limelight, she broke out from the silence with the biggest selling album of 2005 and was later crowned "Most Successful Female Artist of the Millennium". Obviously, she took the past to her advantage and used it as a stepping stone that had helped her become the more confident and successful woman she is today.

Unarguably, Mariah's former breakdown is just another testament that failure isn't all bad when we know how to make the best out of it. Supporting that statement would be the article "Why you should Give yourself Permission to Screw up" by Dr. Heidi Grant Halvorson from 99u.com. This article explains that there are two different mindsets when dealing with a task. The first one is when a person is focused more on proving one's ability for the sake of showing off which Dr. Heidi refers to as the "Be Good" mindset. Anyone who has that kind of mindset is said to more likely fail especially when put under pressure unlike a person with a "Be Better" mindset, who is not afraid of screwing up thus ending up committing less mistakes.

Although, if you find yourself stuck with the "Be Good" mindset, there are three steps to get rid of it. First one is to start anew. Keep in mind that it is okay to make a mistake as long as you know how to use it to make yourself a better individual and finally break free from it. Second, ask for guidance from people with more experience in that matter like mentors, teachers, parents, etc. These are the people who can really help you. And lastly, try not to compare yourself with others. Instead, look at your past accomplishments and do your best to surpass them in every way you can. Dr. Heidi said, "We need to be continuously striving to go beyond our comfort zones if we want to be successful."

Before her singing career started, Mariah tried a lot of jobs. She also entered beauty school, hoping it would somehow be a fallback career option, but it only lasted for 500 hours because she quit. And even though she did, she considers it as a failure that lead to her success today. Think of it this way; if she were a beautician instead of the famous singer, Mariah Carey, then she wouldn't have been worth $500 Million, she wouldn't have met her husband, she wouldn't have gave birth to "dembabies", we wouldn't be humming that number one Christmas song every year, and many wouldn't have made it because they weren't able to hear those inspirational lyrics she wrote.

When looking back at Mariah during the 90s, one can say she had a "Be Better" mindset because she was always ready to start afresh and was very open to criticism. She asked for people's help for her to know where she needs improvement. And even with all the things going her way, she stayed grounded and tried her best to become a better person everyday. I now truly understand that in order to achieve success, one must go through failure first and that is what made Mariah Carey the successful woman she is right now.