Special Snowflake Syndrome E-Book

Heather Silvio

• Herausgeber: Panther Books
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2016

Beschreibung

In an increasingly contentious political and cultural landscape, Dr. Heather Silvio focuses on and offers solutions to the negative impact of extremes on all sides.

Dr. Silvio asks the tough questions about the growing segment of society that:

• expresses incredible entitlement
• acts out when they don’t get their way
• seems determined to make the world conform to them and their preferences, no matter the cost.

In her groundbreaking book, Dr. Heather Silvio develops the first clinical guidelines and treatment for Special Snowflake Syndrome and provides penetrating social commentary on the impact of this debilitating disorder. More than a derisive or humorous description of bad behavior, acting like a “special snowflake”, as Dr. Silvio compellingly argues, is symptomatic of an unrecognized personality disorder destroying the world.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Also by Heather Silvio

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Part I: What is Special Snowflake Syndrome?

1 Origins of the Term

2 Psychological Features

3 Dangers

Part II: Curing Special Snowflake Syndrome

4 Assume Benevolence

5 Take Others' Perspectives

6 It's Okay to Fail

Final Thoughts

Further Reading & Resources

About the Author

Special Snowflake Syndrome:

The Unrecognized Personality Disorder Destroying the World

Heather Silvio, PsyD

Panther Books

Published in the United States by Panther Books, Las Vegas.

Contact the publisher at:

[email protected]

Correspondence to the author may be sent to:

[email protected]

Cover design by Lori Malkin Ehrlich

Headshot by Sidney Oster Photography

This is a work of nonfiction. Information contained is based on the author’s experiences as a human and clinical psychologist. Sources are provided for non-public domain information. Quotes are from public sources/people not personally known to the author; the use of the quotes/sources does not imply endorsement by those individuals of this book. Individuals specifically mentioned in the book as behaving consistent with a special snowflake have not been evaluated by me and have not been diagnosed in any way by me.

Copyright © 2016 Heather Silvio

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the publisher, except where permitted by law.

ISBN (Print) 978-0-9908005-6-9 / 0-9908005-6-3

ISBN (E-book) 978-0-9908005-7-6 / 0-9908005-7-1

also by heather silvio

Paranormal Talent Agency (Books 1-6)

Happiness by the Numbers:

9 Steps to Authentic Happiness

Not Quite Famous:

A Romantic Comedy of an Actress on the Edge

Beyond the Abyss:

Tales of the Supernatural

Stress Disorders:

A Healing Path for PTSD

Courting Death

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

To all the special snowflakes.

INTRODUCTION

Or WARNING: THIS BOOK MAY OFFEND!

What is Special Snowflake Syndrome and why is it dooming the human race?

You may or may not have heard the terms special snowflake, Generation Snowflake, or Special Snowflake Syndrome. If you have heard of them, you may or may not know exactly what they mean. When I had the idea for this book, I did a ton of research and discovered that, despite its prevalence, people were writing about special snowflakes in a very narrow way. Other than occasional articles, the best book I found was Claire Fox’s I Find that Offensive (2016), written about Generation Snowflake, a good, but limited look at what I will be detailing as a broader societal problem.

Until now, nobody has written a book defining Special Snowflake Syndrome, including detailing its origins, psychological features, dangers, and cure. That’s where this book plans to fill the gap.

Special Snowflake Syndrome: The Unrecognized Personality Disorder Destroying the World is presented in two parts:

Part I: What is Special Snowflake Syndrome?

Part II: Curing Special Snowflake Syndrome

In the first part, I provide the origins of the term Special Snowflake Syndrome. Then, based on my experience as a clinical psychologist, I detail my psychological definition and criteria for the unofficial personality disorder of Special Snowflake Syndrome. Unofficial because Special Snowflake Syndrome is *not* a diagnosable disorder at this time. Given its prevalence across all segments of society and its dangers to the whole of society, I consider it worth presenting as a diagnosable condition from a psychological perspective, but also as a form of social commentary. The remainder of Part I will be on the dangers of Special Snowflake Syndrome to the individual and society.

So as not to unhelpfully explain why the world is going to hell in a hand basket (as I keep hearing) and leave everybody depressed, Part II focuses on ways to cure ourselves of Special Snowflake Syndrome and, thus, save the world.

I divide Part II into three sections: assuming benevolence, taking others’ perspectives, and recognizing it’s okay to fail (despite what people in the age of the participation trophy have learned). The techniques in Part II can be used by any individuals with the insight to recognize they have Special Snowflake Syndrome, and can also be modeled by those in the lives of these individuals. Both can help reduce the distress and negative impact of Special Snowflake Syndrome.

Each chapter in both parts concludes with a brief summary of the major points of the chapter, including space for you to make notes on what you’ve read. In Part II, the chapter conclusions also include a brief reminder of how to implement the recommended strategies for curing Special Snowflake Syndrome.

The book finishes with my Final Thoughts on where we’ve been and where we’re going. My goal by the end of Special Snowflake Syndrome: The Unrecognized Personality Disorder Destroying the World is to demonstrate the role we each play in making the world a place where we all want to live, where we can be happy, and where we can support each other.

We can do it!

Oh, and remember my warning that this book may offend…

It is likely that everybody will be offended by something I’ve written because I don’t present an ideological “side” and I ask everyone to challenge themselves. My examples are largely ripped from the headlines and cross all political and ideological lines.

You have been warned!

A quick note – although I use real-world examples, I specifically avoid the use of names for two reasons. One, the examples are about the behavior not the person. And two, since I have not met or evaluated anybody whose behavior I call out in this book, I therefore have not diagnosed them with anything.

PART I

WHAT IS

SPECIAL SNOWFLAKE SYNDROME?

1 ORIGINS OF THE TERM

In order to cure the world of Special Snowflake Syndrome, first must come an understanding of what is meant by the term and the dangers it poses. This first chapter presents the background on the origins of the expression Special Snowflake Syndrome, as well as related terms that preceded or developed alongside it.

Special Snowflake Syndrome followed from the phrase, special snowflake, and is a broader version of the term, Generation Snowflake. Let’s look at these first.

Special Snowflake

1) According to the website knowyourmeme.com (2015, para 1), “Special Snowflake is a derogatory term widely used on Tumblr to describe someone who often whines about deserving special treatment or sees oneself as exceptionally unique for no apparent reason, similar to the use of the expression check your privilege in the social justice blogosphere.” [emphasis included from the original source].

2) According to urbandictionary.com (2015, para 1), “The Special Snowflake (Also referred to as one with the ‘Special Snowflake Syndrome’ or ‘SSS’) is a person who believes they are different and unique from everyone else because of something there [sic] are or do.”

Generation Snowflake

According to urbandictionary.com (2016, para 1), Generation Snowflake can be defined as, “The group of young people today that have the INSANE belief they have the right to NOT be offended by any of the beliefs/viewpoints of the other 7.1 billion people of this planet. When these fragile/infantile people are offended, most likely they will react in someway [sic] like a toddler (cry, scream, act hysterical, etc).”

Special Snowflake Syndrome

Of the four submitted definitions of Special Snowflake Syndrome on urbandictionary.com (2011, para 1-4), the first one is the most thorough and helpful:

“A malady affecting a significant portion of the world's population wherein the afflicted will demand special treatment, conduct themselves with a ludicrous, unfounded sense of entitlement, and generally make the lives of everyone around them that much more miserable. The danger of this disease is that the sufferers rarely, if ever, know that they have contracted it, and continue about their merry way under the assumption that EVERYONE ELSE is the problem. This condition, if left untreated, can radically alter the carrier's demeanor, to include any of the following: a complete devolution to child-like behavior, temper tantrums, and/or fits of narcissistic rage. When confronted with an individual suspected of harboring Special Snowflake Syndrome, one's best course of action is to run away. Further attempts at educating the carrier on the reality of their condition (e.g., quoting Tyler Durden: ‘You are not special. You are not a beautiful or unique snowflake. You’re the same decaying organic matter as everything else.’) will likely prove futile, and potentially hazardous to the informer.” [emphasis included from the original source].

What I would add is that while all people are self-interested to a given extent (and this is likely hardwired for survival), there is a definite line between self-interest and development of Special Snowflake Syndrome.

Where does the term Special Snowflake Syndrome come from? This is actually not so easily answered. Going back to the beginning, as noted in the definition above, the first sort-of reference was widely heard in the 1999 movie “Fight Club” (screenplay by Jim Uhls, based on the 1996 novel by Chuck Palahniuk) where the character of Tyler Durden utters the following: “Listen up, maggots. You are not special. You are not a beautiful or unique snowflake. You’re the same decaying organic matter as everything else.”