The name Adolf Hitler is often associated with an image of madman, in part because most people are loath to accept such enormity of evil as anything other than the byproduct of psychosis. The shadow of the Holocaust he created continues to darken the 20th century. Surely only a madman could have wreaked such unspeakable horror.
Hitler came from a broken home. Hitler did not do particularly well in school, leaving formal education in 1905. Unable to settle into a regular job, he drifted. He wished to become an artist but was rejected from the Academy in Vienna. Drawing on the extensive medical diaries of Hitler's physician, Dr. Theodor Morell, Redlich systematically goes through the catalogue of diseases that had been diagnosed in Hitler. Hitler clearly had some mental issues, he had a narcissistic personality.
First, Hitler clearly had, but not officially diagnosed, narcissistic personality disorder.
Let's take a look at what indicators this site lists as symptoms for NPD.
- Believing that you're better than others
- Fantasizing about power, success and attractiveness
- Exaggerating your achievements or talents
- Expecting constant praise and admiration
- Believing that you're special and acting accordingly
- Failing to recognize other people's emotions and feelings
- Expecting others to go along with your ideas and plans
- Taking advantage of others
- Expressing disdain for those you feel are inferior
- Being jealous of others
- Believing that others are jealous of you
- Trouble keeping healthy relationships
- Setting unrealistic goals
- Being easily hurt and rejected
- Having a fragile self-esteem
- Appearing as tough-minded or unemotional
Beside narcissistic personality disorder, the most important psychopathology found by Fritz Redlich was Hitler's paranoid delusions, particularly the threat of world domination by the Jews. Hitler's dominant ego defense was projection, which regularly interfered with his evaluation of his adversary's intentions.
In a review of The Mind of Adolf Hitler for The Psychoanalytic Quarterly, Martin Waugh concluded that Langer's work is important "because of its value to the historian; because it was a 'first' for this country's intelligence services; and because of the official recognition of psychoanalysis the assignment implied.
These two severe personality characteristics — paranoia and narcissism — were joined in his eliminationist anti-Semitism. Hitler is the exemplar of the destructive charismatic who unifies his wounded people by identifying and attacking an enemy.
And while the Nazi leader was afflicted with a variety of physical ills, both real and psychogenic, he suffered from nothing severe enough to take the blame for his crimes.
