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Narcissistic Personality Disorder is one kind of mental illness. It is distinct from Bipolar, Schizophrenia, Schizoaffective, Depression, and so on. Yet, many people get a mixture of two or more mental illnesses that could fall into any of these categories. I've met people who've described themselves as having a little bit of everything. Diagnoses don't define who we are, and it is inappropriate for treatment professionals to define us as objects that they are expected to manage and/or repair. Some with mental illness have had stellar careers. But this doesn't automatically make them narcissistic. 

We are people, and that's it. Don’t call us "people with problems" or "people with mental illness" --at least, don't do that unless you have a good reason, such as mere description. When we speak of "a Black person," to refer to someone, it could be automatic racism. That's because the person speaking sees "a Black person," and not a "person." When people are referred to as "mentally ill people," it is a form of bigotry in some contexts but not others. It is a subtle distinction but an important one. 

Being Black is more than just a description because they have a racial identity, one which contains being on the receiving end of much oppression and abuse, many triumphs, and great perseverance. It is apparent when we hear someone using the term "Black person" as a derogatory phrase versus otherwise. The same ideas to an extent, seems to hold true for "mental health clients," or "people with mental illness." We must always consider the context and tone of what is being said. 

Add to this, the phrase "homeless problem." Or a politician speaking who claimed he was going to "fix the homeless situation." 

The above concepts have been applied by many media sources, the ones that have any kind of reputation of appropriateness to maintain. 

Anthony Bourdain did an incredibly good television series in which he traveled all over the world and within the U.S. to examine food, culture, and often, politics. He won numerous Emmy Awards for his series, "Parts Unknown." Bourdain seemed to be at the top of the world. 

At around the time that President Trump came into office, Bourdain died from suicide. How could someone with that much going for him find life not worth living? Was he under too much pressure? Did he have a psychiatric illness? The answers appear to be 'yes.' Bourdain did struggle with mental health issues and was a recovered heroin addict. And his television series was massively demanding. 

(Bourdain didn't die of a drug overdose.) 

Other mega-celebrities have died tragically, not fulfilling their natural lifespans. Sometimes their personal doctors had a hand in it. The big celebrities who can remain grounded and low-key are the only ones able to live normally. The more obsessed a celebrity's fans become with that person, the harder it might be for famous people to retain a normal feeling about themselves. 

Brittany Spears is an incredibly successful performer yet is under mental health conservatorship. Her father, the conservator, is in the process of ending that, and Spears will likely take charge of her own life. According to news sources, Brittany feels able to move on. The public campaign she waged may have put a lot of pressure on her conservator to release Brittany. This is an example of mega talent and mega popularity in combination with having a mental health diagnosis. 

Catherine Zeta Jones is bipolar, but this apparently had a minimal or no effect on her career. She had not gone public about her condition until a few years ago. 

Sometimes it seems as though the mental health disease, and the emotional pain a person has, are factors that end up helping the rise to the top, rather than being an impeding factor. If you have to deal with the continuous suffering of chronic mental illness and medication side-effects, it might cause the stresses of performing to seem relatively smaller. Moreover, a mental health condition could become part of a more
intense motivation. 

Society at large is obsessed with material success. And this is a collective social sickness. It applies to me and my ambition to succeed at writing. And when I have a lull in the amount of success I'm having in my publishing attempts, or in my perceived prospects of ever reaching a higher tier, I begin to question whether what I'm doing is worth it. My endeavors at writing have garnered me more negativity and put-downs from people rather than praise. And I find this inexplicable as well as distressing. Am I narcissistic? I don't think anyone can be an objective judge about that, where it applies to oneself. If you are a narcissist, you won't be able to acknowledge it. 

Anyone can be a narcissist. You could be a garbage collector and be a narcissist. On the other hand, you could be President and you might not be thin-skinned or obsessed with yourself. President Obama is a fine example of someone who has reached the very top yet has maintained a sense of humor and a lightheartedness. He is a tremendous example of how to approach life correctly. 

Jimmy Carter, U.S. President from 1977 to 1981, was willing to fly in the coach section of a commercial jet to get to a Democratic Convention. He is an example of someone with incredible accomplishments and incredible fortitude, who apparently does not elevate himself above others. 

I haven't had much success in my life. I've either made the wrong decision at a vital moment, I've chickened out of an opportunity, or I wasn't strong enough on the inside to handle the work I was looking at. In some instances, I was doing very well, and other people have intentionally interfered and caused my efforts to be stymied. Even so, and even while my age exceeds a half century, I haven't given up. This is either perseverance or stupidity. Yet, it wouldn't do me any good to do drugs or to get lost in a fog of excessive psych meds and cigarettes. 

Society needs to ease up. And we need to ease up on ourselves. We have inappropriate value systems. We need to understand the things that are genuinely valuable in life. That may sound trite, but it is applicable. 

When we try to do something, success isn't guaranteed. But if you never try, you should not be surprised when nothing happens. 

You don't need to be famous. I wanted to be famous when I embarked on writing. I had the foolish notion that I could make good money at it. As it turns out, I'm broke. I regret not doing something lucrative, at least as a sideline. Twenty years ago, I could have decided not to abandon my computer assistance practice. It was an entirely bad decision, and it surprisingly harmed my writing career at the time. For the reader, if you haven't decided where you want to go, I recommend doing something that brings income. When you get older, you probably won't regret this. Insofar as narcissism, you could be a penniless narcissist or a narcissist who has money. Or you might not be worried about it.