Narcissist: Psychotic?
Narcissists are not full-fledged psychotics, as they are aware of the difference between true and false, real and make-believe, and are in full control of their faculties and actions. Narcissists are efficient instruments for the extraction and consumption of human reactions, and they resonate with their audience, giving it what it expects, wants, and demands. Narcissists are hypersensitive and hypervigilant, alert to every bit of new data, and continuously rearrange their self-delusions to incorporate new information in an egosyntonic manner. Narcissistic Personality Disorder is insufficient grounds for claiming a diminished capacity or insanity defense, as narcissists are never divorced from reality and crave it to maintain the precarious balance of their disorganized, borderline psychotic personality.
Indifferent Narcissist
Narcissists lack empathy and are only interested in people as instruments of gratification. They lose interest in people who cannot provide them with narcissistic supply and proceed to devalue and discard them. The narcissist’s emotional and physical absence from relationships is a form of aggression and defense against their own repressed feelings. Narcissism is a form of post-traumatic stress disorder that got ossified and fixated and mutated into a personality disorder.
Communal, Prosocial Narcissist as Compulsive Giver
Compulsive givers are a type of narcissist who feel superior to those they give to, and feel exploited when they have to pay for the needs of others. They are people pleasers and co-dependents who force themselves on others and have unrealistic expectations of gratitude. They have alloplastic defenses with an external locus of control, meaning they rely on others to regulate their self-worth and blame the world for their failures. They keep a mental ledger of what they give and receive and use false asceticism and fake modesty to prove their nearest and dearest are ingrates.
Narcissism is Tiring Energy-depleting
Personality is a dynamic, ongoing process that is ever-evolving. The more primitive the personality, the less organized, the more disordered, the greater the amount of energy required to maintain it in a semblance of balance and function. Narcissists externalize most of the available energy in an effort to secure a narcissistic supply. The narcissist’s constant fatigue and ennui, his short attention span, his tendency to devalue sources of supply, even his transformed aggression.
Narcissism and Syphilis
Cephalis, a sexually transmitted disease, can go dormant for years before affecting the brain in a condition known as general paresis. Brain tissue is gradually destroyed by the tiny organisms that cause Cephalis, causing pneumonia, dementia, megalomania, delusions of grandeur, and paranoia. Cephalitic patients in the tertiary, brain-consuming stage are often described as brutal, suspicious, delusional, moody, irritable, raging, lacking empathy, grandiose, and demanding, which can be misdiagnosed as bipolar disorder combined with narcissistic and paranoid personality disorders. It is easy to confuse tertiary syphilis with personality disorders, especially the narcissistic and paranoid ones.
Narcissist’s Family
Narcissists perceive new family members, including siblings, children, and even pets, as threats to their narcissistic supply. They may belittle, hurt, or humiliate them, or retreat into an imaginary world of omnipotence. Some narcissists seek to manipulate new family members to monopolize attention and vicariously obtain narcissistic supply. As siblings or offspring grow older and become critical, the narcissist devalues and discards them, feeling stifled and trapped. The family disintegrates, and the cycle begins anew with the arrival of new family members.
Narcissist: Legally Insane?
Narcissists are not legally insane as they are not prone to irresistible impulses or dissociation. They are capable of controlling their behavior and actions, but they regard it as a waste of their time and do not care about other people’s feelings or needs. Narcissists are perceptive and sensitive to human behavior but do not care about humans as they are dispensable and interchangeable. While they may victimize and abuse others, they do it carelessly and absent-mindedly, unlike psychopaths who are sadistic and enjoy what they are doing. Narcissists are shapeshifters and have no sense of personal continuity, making them a walking compilation of personalities.
Codependence and Dependent Personality Disorder
Co-dependence is a complex multi-faceted and multi-dimensional defense against the co-dependence fears and needs. There are four types of co-dependence: abandonment, control, vicarious, and counter-dependent. The dependent personality disorder is a much disputed mental health diagnosis, and clinicians use subjective terms such as craving, clinging, stifling, humiliating, and submissive. Codependents are possessed with fantastic worries and concerns and are paralyzed by their abandonment anxiety and fear of separation.
Narcissism: Not Self-love!
The narcissist lacks the ability to distinguish between reality and fantasy and empathize with others, as they have a false self that devours their true self. They love the image they project onto others and expect others to reflect this image. The narcissist’s feeling of entitlement is not grounded in reality and can easily lead to aggression. The narcissist lacks self-knowledge and lives in an invented world of their own design, making it difficult for them to connect with others and experience mature love.
Psychopath Therapy Notes
A therapist writes notes on a first therapy session with a psychopathic patient, John Male, who was referred to therapy by the court as part of a rehabilitation program. John is serving time in prison for grand fraud, which involved hundreds of retired men and women in a dozen states over a period of three years. John shows no remorse for his actions and is contemptuous towards his victims. He is also dismissive of the therapist’s attempts to understand his motivations and needs.