Misinformation: Covert vs. Classic Narcissist
Covert narcissists are not cunning or manipulative, but rather suppress their true nature due to a lack of confidence. They are their own worst critics and often feel guilty and ashamed of their aggressive urges. Covert narcissists team up with classic narcissists but secretly resent and envy them. Inverted narcissists are a type of covert narcissist who are self-centered, sensitive, vulnerable, and defensive, and crave relationships with narcissists despite any abuse inflicted on them.
Somatic Narcissist: Not Sex, But Pursuit and Conquest
Somatic narcissists derive their narcissistic supply from the process of securing sex, rather than the act itself. They are often health freaks, bodybuilders, or hypochondriacs, and regard their bodies as objects to be sculpted and honed. The cerebral narcissist, on the other hand, is haughty and uses their intellect or knowledge to secure admiration. Both types are auto-erotic and prefer masturbation to interactive sex. It is a mistake to assume type constancy, as the narcissist swings between their dominant and recessive types.
Narcissist’s Victim: NO CONTACT Rules
Professor Sam Vaknin advises victims of narcissism and psychopathy to maintain as much contact with their abuser as the courts, counselors, evaluators, mediators, guardians, or law enforcement officials mandate. However, with the exception of this minimum mandated by the courts, decline any and all gratuitous contact with the narcissist or psychopath. Avoiding contact with the abuser is a form of setting boundaries, and setting boundaries is a form of healing. Be firm, be resolute, but be polite and civil.
Words which Describe the Narcissist (ADD YOUR OWN!)
The text is a list of adjectives describing different types of personalities, ranging from social and gregarious to unfriendly and abusive. The author encourages readers to add their own words to the list and mentions the possibility of creating a video compilation of the contributions.
Narcissist: Star of Own Theater of Conspicuous Existence
Narcissists engage in conspicuous existence, a form of conspicuous consumption where the consumed commodity is narcissistic supply. They stage-manage their every movement, tone of voice, posture, inflection, poise, text, subtext, and context to garner the most attention. Narcissists are excess embodied, and their constant invention of self is not limited to outward appearances. They are incessantly engaged in energy draining, gorging of other people and their possible reactions to him, and their exhaustion is all-consuming.
Cerebral Narcissist: Woman? What’s That For?
The cerebral narcissist lacks the sexual energy and magnetism of the somatic narcissist. The author, a cerebral narcissist, describes himself as a deceptive package, an I being, a mental alien in an uncanny carnal outfit. He is exhausted by the rites of procreation and rarely copulates. Women are attracted to him but repelled by his essence, and he is turned into a gaping black hole, out to suck the vitality of everyone around him.
INTERVIEW Narcissists, Psychopaths Are Among Us! (with MIKE CROSS)
Sam Vaknin discusses psychopathy and narcissism, emphasizing their lack of empathy and manipulation of others. He warns of the dangers of having such individuals in positions of power and suggests that Western society rewards traits associated with these disorders. He also discusses the potential for psychopaths and narcissists to rise to the top in certain civilizations, but remains optimistic about the future.
Some Abuse Victims Never Learn
The victims of narcissists and psychopaths often engage in magical thinking and malignant optimism, refusing to accept that some problems are unsolvable and some people are irredeemable. They see signs of hope in every fluctuation and believe that love can transform even the most destructive individuals. However, this optimism is a vulnerability that the narcissist and psychopath can exploit. The abused provide the very weapons that will ultimately be used against them. The film “We Need to Talk About Kevin” illustrates this phenomenon, as Kevin’s mother, despite enduring his massacre of their family and his schoolmates, still hugs him and believes in him.
CHILLING: Conman in Action, Scammer Pounces on Prey
The text is a first-person narrative of a conman who lures his victim into a shared psychosis, infiltrating his mind and converting him to the cause. The conman is in control and manipulates his victim’s emotions, making him feel vulnerable and dependent on him. The victim is addicted to the conman’s attention and affection, and the conman exploits this to extract information and money from him. The conman is devoid of conscience and sees his victim as nothing more than a means to an end.
Narcissists Hate Therapists
Narcissists regard therapy as a competitive sport and often try to prove themselves equal to the psychotherapist in knowledge, experience, or social status. They use professional psychological lingo and terms to level the playing field and create a shared psychosis between themselves and the therapist. Narcissists have a dilapidated and dysfunctional true self overtaken and suppressed by a false self, and therapy aims to create the conditions for the true self to resume its growth. Change is brought about only through incredible powers of torsion and wreckage, and it takes nothing less than a real crisis.