1/ "The more narcissistic version of masochistic personality dynamics, commonly called moral masochism, applies to people who equate self-renunciation and suffering with virtue. For such people, self-esteem is tied to deprivation and suffering: the greater the deprivation, the

2/ greater the sense of virtue and importance. Such people hold the conviction, conscious or unconscious, that their deprivation or suffering makes them morally superior to others, and self-righteously seek to demonstrate their moral superiority.

3/ Moral masochism is relatively prevalent in the mental health and other so-called helping professions. These professions offer endless opportunities for self-sacrifice, for example by attending to other’s needs at the expense of one’s own. Disavowed sadism is often revealed

4/ through intolerance, harshly judgmental attitudes, or outright aggression toward others who do not share their values or live up to their rigid moral expectations. Thus, self-righteousness, self-sacrifice, and sadistic cruelty can coexist; all three can often be observed in

5/ online psychotherapy discussion forums."
—proposed text for forthcoming Psychodynamic Diagnostic Manual, 3rd edition (PDM-3)