Personality Disorders in the Office - Michael Gary Scott

2020-09-14 00:00:00 Makenna Clements

For those of you who follow my Instagram account, you may have seen I’m doing a series of posts discussing “Personality Disorders on 'The Office'”. 

I decided to kick things off with the head honcho himself- Michael Gary Scott (AKA Prison Mike AKA Agent Michael Scarn AKA ). *Friendly reminder people are more than a diagnosis and this is purely for fun.*

Where do we place this polarizing boss in the Personality Disorder category?

Here are some things we know about Michael that’ll help us out:

1. He has a rather grandiose sense of self-importance – whether he’s putting on a ‘Fun Run’ for an unnecessary cause, overestimating his role in Phyllis’s wedding, or exaggerating his achievements and talents – he likes to think he’s a pretty big deal.  
2. He has an excessive need for both admiration and being liked.
3. He tries to associate himself most with those he deems attractive or successful.  *cough cough, Ryan, cough*
4. He is preoccupied with success, brilliance, and ‘ideal’ love. He’s notorious for idealizing relationships and has been known to spend time imagining his life on a yacht after releasing his bestselling comedy albums. 
5. He romanticizes constantly! Proposing to Carol after only a few dates, the entirely of his relationships with Jan and Holly (though to be fair, the latter worked out), and of course there’s promising to pay for an entire class’ college tuition with money he doesn’t have…so there’s that…
6. He has been known to exploit people for his own gain, like taking advantage of Dwight’s loyalty, letting him take the fall for his Golden Ticket idea (that is, until he heard it was being praised)
7. He has a general difficulty with empathy, and a hard time understanding why some of the things he does or says could be offensive.

With these in mind, Michael comfortably fits the criteria for *drumroll please*… Narcissistic Personality Disorder.

I don’t know about you, but this one surprised me when I first learned about it in undergrad! Certainly, did not fit what I had understood narcissism to look like- goes to show there is no “one size fits all” when it comes to any diagnosis.

What do you guys think?  What else do you notice that fits this description? Would love to hear your thoughts (+ guesses for who I’ll be covering next week).

Friendly reminders: 

1. These posts are meant FOR FUN.  Do I think the media in general has done the best job when it comes to accurately representing mental health? Nope. Not even close. But that is a topic worthy of its own conversation.
2. What I share is not intended to be a tool for you to start diagnosing people (yourself included).  While I do think The Office does a strikingly good job capturing the nuances of personality disorders, albeit in a dramatized/humorous way, these posts are, again, meant purely for fun.

Mental Health