Self(ie)-love Credit: Purag Moumdjian's Twitter pics

Prominent UCSD Professor of Psychology Rafe Lection announced today that he is formally petitioning the American Psychological Association to remove Narcisssitc Personality Disorder from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder, or DSM.

"Times change, and people change with the times," said Lection. "If Kim Kardashian, the rise of the Internet and social media, and the invention of the selfie stick have taught us anything, it is that the chief work of modern life is the curation of the self. Sharing yourself with the world: what you look like, where you go, what you eat, what you wear, how you feel, what you think is funny, what you think is smart, what you think is worth watching or hearing, what you think is cool, what you think is terrible. Even your friends exist chiefly to observe you and celebrate you, and also, to demonstrate to the wider world that you are worth observing and celebrating and hanging out with. As in times past, you may write a song, you may paint a picture, you may start a business or a movement. But today, the song, the picture, the business, and the movement exist only to validate you and promote your personal brand. In such an era, the characteristics that have traditionally been associated with Narcissistic Personality Disorder are clearly much more feature than bug. And it's not like we don't have precedent for this kind of adjustment. In times past, the DSM listed homosexuality and transgenderism in the DSM. But as time passed and cultural norms shifted, the American Psychological Association had the courage to admit its mistakes and reclassify the abnormal as normal. The time has come. Besides the formal petition, I plan to start campaigns on Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, YouTube, and maybe even Snapchat. Check us out at #mirrorkisses."