Echo Personality Disorder is a specific and highly differentiated form of
dependency, marked by behaviours of compliance and a need to 'mirror'
significant others -parents, spouse, friends, employer. It has been found that
those with EPD are highly attracted to relationships with individuals who show
marked narcissistic tendencies.
This mirroring behaviour was the reason
for choosing the name Echo personality disorder,
which is based on the Greek
myth of Narcissus and Echo. In this story Echo, a forest nymph, falls completely
in love with the egocentric youth Narcissus, and when he shows clear signs of
rejecting her, she persists in her attatchement to him and will not be moved
from her aim. She finally satisfies him with the masochistic task of echoing
back to him all that he says. This too is the central feature of EPD behaviour
in relationships, where the individual will mirror, echo, and compliment another
at the expense of their own self-worth and dignity.
Self descriptions by
EPD sufferers focus strongly on percieved fears of abandonment, rejection, and
loss, and these agonizing feelings are the driving force behind the
above-mentioned interpersonal coping style (mirroring others). These individuals
protect themselves from abandonment/rejection by being so agreeable to others,
via their mirroring capacity, that chances of re-experiencing abandonment agony
is brought to a low minimum. Unfortunately this approach amounts to a false
existence with little or no true self expression, and eventually leads to poor
psychological health.
Characteristic experiential history for EPD often
involves individuals being parented by caretakers who are themselves
self-absorbed or narcissistic. In this environment the child learns that
asserting ones true self will be met with a form of (often serial) rejection, to
which they respond by substituting compliant behaviour in place of true
selfhood. This 'compliant' behaviour can then be witnessed as a stable feature
throughout the childs growing-up years, with other school children, and within
the family.
Depression, smoking, alcoholism, addictive behaviour all
occur with very high frequency in this disorder.
On a positive note, EPD
people are excellent contributors to society, and to family, as they are found
to be very perceptive of the needs of others. The highly respected religions of
Christianity and Buddhism are based on the principles of altruism and charity,
and this is a lifestyle at which the EPD individual can be said to be expert.
Good traits such as these cannot simply be written off with a simple catch-cry
of 'pathology', and if the EPD sufferer could regain some healthy sense-of-self
whilst maintaining these good traits, they would become paragons of society.