Shreya Singh
An individual’s personality
is a peephole into the possible situations and events that make up who they are
today. It dictates how they react to situations, the coping mechanisms they
develop and the relationships they form with those around them. Childhood and early
adolescent experiences play a major role in this personality development.
The focus of this blog
post is to discuss the increased risk of development of personality disorders
due to childhood trauma and maltreatment. The post will start by discussing the
positive correlation between abuse suffered during childhood and the
development of personality disorders. Among those, this blog will be focusing
on Schizoid personality disorder from Cluster A and Narcissistic personality
disorder from Cluster B. It will then analyse Christian Grey’s character from
the 50 shades trilogy and discuss the portrayal of certain aspects of his
personality which come across as schizoid and narcissistic in context of his
childhood trauma.
Research
has shown that there is a positive correlation between childhood maltreatment and
the increased risk of Personality disorders. It was seen that people with documented
childhood abuse and neglect were 4 times more likely to be diagnosed with Personality
disorders (PDs) during early adulthood (Johnson, 1999). It was seen that physical/
sexual abuse and emotional abuse/neglect was associated with elevated symptoms
of all three personality disorder clusters (Tyrka, Wyche, Kelly, Price, & Carpenter, 2009)
Christian
Grey from the 50 Shades trilogy suffered physical, sexual abuse and neglect at
the hands of his mother and her drug addict, abusive boyfriend. He suffered physical
abuse in the form of cigarette burns on his chest and neglect from his mother
who failed to protect him. There was also the incident of Christian being found
next to his deceased mother, who overdosed 4 days prior.
The
defining characteristic of Schizoid personality disorder (SPD) is the aversion to
forming close personal relationships. People suffering from SPD prefer being
alone, struggle with expressing emotions and reacting to situations appropriately,
and sometimes come across as cold emotionally (Mayo Clinic, 2017).
Due
to this childhood maltreatment, Christian developed maladaptive coping
mechanisms resulting in certain personality traits analysed as schizoid and
narcissistic. Christian dissociates himself from all relationships. He lives in
a hyperregulated world of rules and contracts which help keep everyone at a distance
and in check, allowing a sense of safety and control. He doesn’t express love
or any emotions towards the family that adopted him. He indulges in solitary
activities like flying and sailing where, again, he is in control and away from
other people.
He
gets background check on employees and loved ones. He loves his girlfriend but
struggles with expressing emotions and refuses to have a normal relationship
with her. He instead makes her sign a contract of ownership and makes her sleep
in another room. Due to his trauma as a child he feels uncomfortable in situations
where he is not in charge and goes as far as buying the company his girlfriend
is working at just so that she is ultimately under his control.
The
only form of sexual activity he indulges in is BDSM with no emotional
expectation. He struggles with trusting someone, especially a woman, due to the
childhood trauma. His sexual preferences allow him to be in charge and keep woman
at bay. He also admits that he finds women that look like his mother so that he
can subconsciously punish her through BDSM. It is seen that he struggles with
settling emotional differences and doesn’t understand how to function in a
healthy relationship. It can be seen from these examples that certain facets of
his personality are schizoid based on the description of SPD given above.
This
paper will also look at Narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) defined by a grandiose
image of self in avoidance of deep seated insecurities. They are seen as cocky,
manipulative and selfish. In relationships, they aren’t looking for partners but
obedient admirers. They have a sense of entitlement and frequently belittle
others (HelpGuide, 2019).
In
the movies, Christian Grey considers himself flawless and orders everyone
around as if his word is gospel. Throughout the movie he is seen to be looking
for “obedient admirers” that always look
up to him. These instances shows that some of his personality traits are
narcissistic.
In
conclusion this paper shows the positive correlation between childhood maltreatment
and the development of personality disorders. Further it discusses how certain
traits of Christian Grey’s personality could be schizoid and narcissistic in nature.
WORKS
CITED:
1. Johnson, J. G. (1999, July 1). Childhood
Maltreatment Increases Risk for Personality Disorders During Early Adulthood.
Retrieved from https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/fullarticle/205066.
2. Tyrka, A. R., Wyche, M. C., Kelly, M. M.,
Price, L. H., & Carpenter, L. L. (2009, February 28). Childhood
maltreatment and adult personality disorder symptoms: influence of maltreatment
type. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2671800/.
3. Narcissistic Personality Disorder. (2019,
November 12). Retrieved from https://www.helpguide.org/articles/mental-disorders/narcissistic-personality-disorder.htm.
4. Schizoid personality disorder. (2017, August
17). Retrieved from https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/schizoid-personality-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20354414.
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