Narcissistic Grief in Pandemic (Intl. Conference on Psychiatry and Mental Health)
Professor Sam Vaknin discussed the narcissist’s conflicted attitude towards disability, illness, and accidents, and how it ties into the COVID-19 pandemic. He explained that the pandemic has elicited two types of responses: grief-related responses and narcissistic defenses. Narcissists, especially somatic narcissists, are more likely to experience coronaphobia or generalized anxiety disorders than the general population. Vaknin also touched upon the five-stage model of grieving and how it applies to people’s reactions to the pandemic.
NOT Alpha Males: Narcissists and Psychopaths
Sam Vaknin, a professor of psychology, discusses the concept of the alpha male in scholarly research. He critiques the misinterpretation of alpha males by groups like MGTOW and Incels, and emphasizes the importance of distinguishing alpha males from narcissists and psychopaths. He also delves into topics such as script analysis, the Johari window, and the characteristics of alpha males. He emphasizes the importance of empathy, collaboration, and self-awareness in true alpha males.
Your Child At Risk: How Narcissists Are Made
Professor Sam Vaknin discusses the origins of narcissism, the debate surrounding its nature, and its impact on children. He explores the role of parents in shaping a child’s self-concept and the development of narcissistic traits. Vaknin delves into the psychological defense mechanisms and behaviors of narcissists, emphasizing the impact of early experiences on the formation of pathological narcissism. He also highlights the complex dynamics of narcissistic supply and the manipulation of reality by narcissistic personalities.
Narcissist’s Femme Fatale – or Mother?
Professor Sam Vaknin discusses the confusion of states of mind in narcissism, particularly possessiveness, romantic jealousy, and mortification. He explains the triggers and reactions of possessiveness and romantic jealousy, and the introspective nature of mortification. He also delves into the different types of intimate partners that provoke these reactions in narcissists. Ultimately, he emphasizes the potential for mortification to lead to self-analysis and transformation in narcissists.
Anxious People – Narcissists? (2nd Webinar on Stress and Depression Management)
Professor Sam Vaknin discusses anxiety from various angles, including the philosophical angle. He explains that anxiety disorders are often misdiagnosed as narcissistic personality disorder because both types of patients are worried about social approval and seek feedback, admiration, and applause. However, the narcissist is egosyntonic, while the anxious patient is egodystonic. Anxiety is an essential component of existence, bad faith existence, inauthentic existence, and authentic existence. Anxiety is intimately connected to the schizoid core of personality disorder, to the need to maintain an authentic existence, and it’s intimately connected to narcissistic spectacle, to displays of grandiosity, to attempts to solicit narcissistic supply.
Relationships Inauthentic, Will Always Fail (Sartre’s “Being and Nothingness”, SECOND LECTURE)
The text discusses Sartre’s views on desire, consciousness, and freedom. Sartre introduces the concept of desire as motivated by a lack or absence, and discusses the inherent contradiction in desire. He also delves into the nature of consciousness and the limitations of freedom. The text explores Sartre’s ideas on authenticity and ethics, and his belief that values are auto-generated through individual choices. The author reflects on Sartre’s contributions and his impact on philosophical discourse.
We Have No Idea What Is Narcissism
Professor Sam Vaknin discusses the historical evolution of the concept of narcissism, including the views of Freud, Jung, Kohut, Heinz Franz Cote, and Karen Horney. Narcissism is constructed around a schizoid core, which pushes the narcissist to introvert. Traumas in early childhood can have long-term effects, and the child’s perception of the trauma is different from that of adults. Narcissism can develop as a coping strategy for children who have experienced trauma, and the development of self-esteem is derived from early daily experience with attachment figures.
Ego is Opposite of Narcissism: Ego Functions
Professor Sam Vaknin discusses the concept of ego functions and their role in personality and mental health. Ego functions include reality testing, impulse control, regulation of emotions, judgment, object relations, thinking, defenses, and synthesis. A healthy ego is essential for proper functioning and maintaining a coherent identity. However, there are inherent problems and contradictions within the concept of the ego, such as the conflict between reality testing and defense mechanisms. Ego is often misunderstood and misused in popular culture, with many mistakenly associating it with narcissism. In reality, a healthy ego is the opposite of narcissism, as it is grounded in reality and not grandiosity.
YOU in Narcissist’s Harem of Internal Objects
Professor Sam Vaknin discusses the narcissist’s convoluted relationships with internal objects. He explains the distinction between external and internal objects and delves into the narcissist’s interactions with internal objects. Vaknin explores the stages of separation-individuation and the impact of disrupted ego formation on object relations. He also examines the narcissist’s idealization, devaluation, shared fantasy, and approach-avoidance dynamics with internal objects. Additionally, he discusses the narcissist’s need to convert external objects into bad internal objects and the impact of the empty core on the schizoid patient’s strategies for dealing with it.
Narcissist’s Partner: Womb, Fetish (Schizoid Undead Reborn, Borderline, Codependent)
Professor Sam Vaknin discusses the evolution of the ego and how it is molded through external object relations. He explains that bad object relations with caregivers can lead to a child becoming schizoid or creating a false self to maintain external object relations while shielding the schizoid inner absence. Individuals with personality disorders, such as narcissism, paranoia, depression, borderline, and codependency, use different solutions to cope with their inner emptiness and lack of object relations. The role of the intimate partner in the life of a narcissist is regulatory and life-sustaining, and they serve as the safe zone where the narcissist can be himself and experience the schizoid state. Ultimately, all narcissists, borderlines, and codependents end up losing the battle and becoming full-fledged