A study has found that individuals with Cluster B personality disorders, specifically those with dark triad traits, have a weak, unstable, and unclear sense of self. The study’s authors suggest that recognizing these traits is important in predicting behaviors and
Professor Sam Vaknin discusses the current state of men and how it has driven women to behave dysfunctionally. He highlights that men are underachievers, underemployed, and overrepresented in menial jobs, leading to resentment and withdrawal from relationships and commitment. This
Professor Sam Vaknin discusses three solutions narcissists use to cope with their empty schizoid core: outsourced existence, substitutive existence, and displaced existence. Outsourced existence involves collecting bits of existence from the environment and experiencing it as their own. Substitutive existence
Professor Sam Vaknin discusses the importance of self-discipline and its connection to self-efficacy, which is the ability to secure positive outcomes from one’s environment. A lack of self-discipline can lead to impaired self-efficacy, resulting in generalized anxiety. To overcome this,
Professor Sam Vaknin discusses the demands of a narcissist in a relationship, the compensatory cerebral narcissist, and the complexities of borderline personality disorder, including the distinction between formative and situational promiscuity. He also addresses the likelihood of a borderline transitioning
Sex can be bad for mental health, just like cigarettes. Some forms of sex, such as those intended to regulate emotions or moods, or those without meaningful informed consent, are toxic and should be avoided. Sex used as a form
Professor Sam Vaknin discusses the paradox of excess in psychology, where everything taken to its extreme becomes its opposite. For example, extreme weakness is indistinguishable from active evil, and unbridled pleasure is often experienced as pain. Dependence taken to its
Entitlement is a crucial pillar of narcissism, and it is one of the diagnostic criteria in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual. Narcissists feel entitled to everything, including narcissistic supply, which they believe they are owed by the world. Entitlement is
Professor Sam Vaknin discusses the changing roles of men and women in society. He argues that women are becoming the new men, as they are more educated, employable, and have skills that are more relevant to the postmodern world. However,
A good enough mother exposes her child to risks, pushes her child away from her, and mediates reality for the child. A good enough mother frustrates her child by not granting them everything they wish for, which is crucial to