A diagnosis, in other words the identification of a disease based on signs and symptoms, doesn’t always match one hundred percent with its manifestations. But in her case, nothing fit. I periodically continued to search for a unifying thread, something that would give me the right to feel what I felt.
I have only recently learned about the Dark Triad, a psychological profile discovered by Drs. Delroy L. Paulhus and Kevin M. Williams.* After such a long search, it’s kind of fun to end up with a name straight out of a fairy tale, Cruella de Vil–style.
Briefly, the Dark Triad is the intersection of three of the most aversive personality disorders, which have manipulation as a common denominator.
It is a difficult personality disorder to detect because the number of criteria exhibited for each of the three disorders is inferior to the quota required to establish their respective diagnoses.**
The three disorders are:
NARCISSISM
MACHIAVELLIANISM
PSYCHOPATHY.
So, she is neither narcissistic, nor Machiavellian, nor psychopathic, but she does combine parts of all three.
Some believe that those who fit this profile also possess sadistic traits. In my mother’s case, I find that to be an appropriate observation.
*The Dark Triad of Personality: Narcissism,
Machiavellianism, and Psychopathy. D.L. Paulhus
and K.M. Williams, Journal of Research in Personality, 2002.
**As defined in the DSM, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.
**As defined in the DSM, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.
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