Gov Blago's chestnut mane might be sign of narcissistic personality disorder, psychologists say

[RiverStone]

December 11, 2008

BY STEFANO ESPOSITO Staff Reporter [e-mail]

It's a head of hair that a man 20 years his junior would envy -- a chestnut helmet that brazenly mocks Father Time and screams "healthy!"

Or does it?

Gov. Blagojevich's glossy locks -- perfectly sculpted in rain or snow -- may be an indication of a sickness beneath his scalp, said one local psychologist.

"It's all part of managing his image, managing his image of being without a blemish, without a flaw," said Scott Ambers, who has practiced clinical psychology in the city for more than two decades.

Several psychologists interviewed one day after the governor's arrest agreed that he might be suffering from an affliction known as narcissistic personality disorder.

"This grandiose sense of self . . . doesn't carry the implication that is a raving lunatic, crazy and out of touch with reality, but it does suggest he has a really overinflated view of his own importance," Ambers said.

more: http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/blagojevich/1326323,CST-NWS-diagnose11.article

I wonder if Blago will maintain his hair behind bars? :shrug:

[derby378]

1. Honestly, at first I thought it was a wig

Maybe part of his sentence should be getting his head shaves as a fundraiser for St. Baldrick's!

[Kelvin Mace]

2. Pop psychology

His hair has nothing to do with it.

[livetohike]

3. Sounds like a sexist comment doesn't it?

I wonder if the psychologists would say the same of a woman? If it is his own hair, I'm impressed :-).

[RiverStone]

12. Yes it does.

Of course, folks made fun of Palin's hair --- but for different reasons. Come to think of it, I would not mind having more hair and would happily trade being called a narcissist to have it.

I'm a guy pushing 50 and I'm losing hair lots quicker than I'm growing it!!! :hi:

[Silent3]

31. Are you sure you're fully accounting for hair growth?

For instance, have you checked inside your ears lately? There might be an offset to your other hair losses there. :)

[livetohike]

36. My husband (54) had hair past his shoulders when we married

Now there's more skin than hair, so any guy past 50 with a full head of hair is a miracle :hi:.

[LeftHander]

4. And how many Republicans have "Perfect Hair" psychosis?

All of them....helmet heads.

[Judi Lynn]

25. Texas gov. Rick Perry has been called "Governor Good Hair" or something similar for years.

http://i.a.cnn.net.nyud.net:8090/cnn/2007/images/10/17/t1home.rickperry.gi.jpg

They've got more helmet heads than you can shake a stick at in Congress. Just remembering their creepy, childish faces peering out from under their funny hair could make you shudder.

[CTyankee]

30. I call it "jerry lee lewis" hair. I have it and I'm from Texas, altho I'm a female.

However, as I get older my hair has thinned. But it still has that tidal wave in the front that I have to "work with" to get it to lie flat when I dry it.

[Cronus Protagonist]

5. People with NPD don't suffer at all!

That's one of the traits of the "disorder", and it's hardly an "affliction".

[ipfilter]

11. NPD's don't suffer, just the ones who are around them. nt

[Cronus Protagonist]

14. Well, some of them do, perhaps most of them :)

I've seen two married together, working as partners before... scary stuff :)

[rvablue]

26. Amen to that.....they do their thing, and leave a path of destruction in their wake

and don't care or worry for a moment about the devastation they've caused.

[TexasObserver]

6. Did they get a concurring opinion from Dr. Bill Frist?

You don't have to be a shrink to know this guy is narcissistic. You just have to know what the word means. As for the hair style, it means he's still wearing it the way he did in high school 30 years ago, like most white males his age.

Look at all those middle aged senators and congressmen. Every one of them appears to have the same hair style he did when he graduated high school. More lazy and averse to change than narcissistic.

[AllieB]

7. Pseudo-psychology.

He's a narcissist for sure, but his hair is more a product of genes than mental illness.

[Kalyke]

8. Hmmm... does this apply to John Edwards, too?

:shrug:

[Cronus Protagonist]

27. haha... is that the guy who talks with dead people?

He's a study to watch, and his supporters display incredible mental disorders as well.

[WI_DEM]

9. Blago is a corrupt jerk, but really, psychologists who try and dx without talking with somebody

I think have a narcissistic personality (how's that for pop psychology?)

[Occam Bandage]

10. So every man with good hair is insane? That's ridiculous. Also:

[Alcibiades]

13. That's not what his hairstyle says to me

Instead, it says "I acquired by sense of style in 1979, and I'll be damned if I'm going to change now!

[RiverStone]

16. or this...

[yurbud]

20. that looks like the gay version of Charlie's Angels

[AngryAmish]

15. I heard his trooper detail calls his comb "The Football".

[SoCalDem]

17. or it could be a combination of genetics & a guy who likes "big hair"

:)

[DS1]

18. a really overinflated view of his own importance,

stupid big picture for artistic effect

and wow, his combover failed him in this one

[undeterred]

29. He needs to shellac it on a good hair day.

[yurbud]

19. I remember they wouldn't let Michael Milken wear his rug in prison...

[Freddie Stubbs]

22. Same thing with Jim Traficant:

[yurbud]

32. wow--was he hiding the money under the wig?

[ellacott]

23. James Trafficant had to get rid of his also

[NashVegas]

21. Oh, That's Hysterical

And here I thought it looked like your basic 'Northern Working Class Joe' haircut.

[shanti]

24. are those gray roots showing?

perfect, huh....

[Alcibiades]

28. I've managed to psychopathologize this: ADHD

Anachronistic Dysmorphic Hairstyle Disorder
A condition wherein the sufferer feels that the same hairstyle s/he had at age 18 is still fashionable at age 40 or later. More common in women, but only because there is greater variation in women's haircuts. Maintaining the same haircut for 20 or 30 years or more gives the sufferer a sense of identity that is otherwise lacking. Sufferers may have exhibit unusually immature identity formation and, as a consequence of their inability to commit to a stable identity in other areas of life, make a disastrous overcommitment to an outmoded hairstyle, usually the first one adopted as an adult.

Blagojevich was born in 1956. If he suffers from ADHD, it would be reasonable to expect that his hairstyle dates from the 1974-1978 era. His haircut is THE male haircut from the 1970's. Here are some pictures from that era for comparison:






Apologies to anyone actually suffering from any form of ADHD or BDD, both of which are serious illnesses.

[Jennicut]

33. Its called a sickness to being loyal to 70's era fashion. He needs an update pronto.

Do they do haircuts in prison?

[dysfunctional press]

34. what a bunch of psycho-crapbabble- he's a big Elvis fan...that might be part of it...

:eyes:

[aikoaiko]

35. Sometimes psychologists should never talk to a reporter.

Often, reporters keep asking questions until they get the response they want.