Breaking News on CPTSD, BPD, NPD and Self (with Daria Zukowska)
Professor Sam Vaknin discusses the differences and connections between various personality disorders, including covert and overt narcissism, primary and secondary psychopathy, borderline personality disorder (BPD), and complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD). He argues that all of these disorders are post-traumatic conditions caused by abuse in early childhood. Vaknin proposes a theory of self-states, where people have reactive potentials that are activated by situations, and emotional dysregulation is subject to cognitive distortions, deficits, and biases. He also suggests that the foundational concepts of personality psychology are wrong.
How To Love the Narcissist AND Keep Him?
In this video, Professor Sam Vaknin discusses two contradictory solutions to the question of how to love and keep a narcissist. The first solution is to emulate the narcissist’s dead mother, which creates a reverse trauma bonding that keeps the narcissist coming back. The second solution is to conform to the snapshot of the narcissist’s ideal partner and never deviate from it. However, Vaknin warns that being in a relationship with a narcissist is a form of self-harm and that the narcissist is an absence, chaos, and unadulterated anguish.
Mystical Experiences, Religion as Mental Illness
Mystical experiences, which are the foundation of many religions, have been linked to mental illness and brain damage. Neuroscience has found that damage to certain areas of the brain, such as the frontal and temporal lobes, can increase the likelihood of mystical experiences. These experiences share similarities with dissociative states, addiction, and pathological narcissism. While some researchers argue that mystical experiences can be healing and transformative, others suggest that they are a result of mental illness or brain dysfunction.
Resist When Narcissist Triggers You Inner Voices (Death, God, Life Introjects)
Professor Sam Vaknin discusses the three types of voices in a narcissist: the voice of death, the God voice, and the life voice. These voices are introjects that originate from parental figures, role models, and caregivers. When a narcissist enters a relationship, they implant these voices in their partner’s mind, triggering corresponding introjects in the partner. To heal from a narcissistic relationship, one must identify and eradicate these implanted voices and replace them with their own authentic voice.
Borderline Girl, Interrupted (Rebecca Ray’s “Pure”)
Professor Sam Vaknin discusses the book “A Certain Age” by Rebecca Ray, praising it as a masterpiece that provides insight into the formation of borderline personality disorder in adolescence. He reads excerpts from the book and comments on them, highlighting the pathogenesis of borderline personality disorder, precocious sexuality, dissociation, and the internal struggles of individuals with this disorder. He emphasizes the transactional mindset, external locus of control, and the use of fantasy as a defense mechanism. The discussion also touches on self-harming behaviors, lying, and the need for external validation in individuals with borderline personality disorder.
Borderline’s Mating Strategies, Mismanaged Aggression
Professor Sam Vaknin discusses the role of aggression in Cluster B personality disorders, particularly in borderline personality disorder. He explains that healthy aggression is externalized and sublimated, while unhealthy aggression is both externalized inappropriately and internalized self-destructively. This ambivalent duality leads to approach-avoidant behaviors and decompensatory acting out in individuals with borderline personality disorder. Vaknin suggests that Cluster B patients need to learn how to externalize aggression safely and sublimate it in socially acceptable ways to improve their mental health and relationships.
From Narcissistic Cities to Psychopathic Metaverse (EXCERPT)
Professor Sam Vaknin discusses the historical process of the transition from nature to the metaverse, and how it has led to the rise of narcissism and other mental health disorders. He explains that the move from agriculture to cities led to the loss of non-narcissistic traits and behaviors, and the rise of competitiveness, ambition, and lack of empathy. The transition from cities to the metaverse will have much worse outcomes, as cyberspace is solipsistic, self-centered, and aggressive, leading to a transition from narcissism to psychopathy. Ultimately, Vaknin argues that cities and the metaverse have been and will be unmitigated disasters for human psychology and the environment.
When We Lose the Plot, Fall Apart: Narrative Failure
Professor Sam Vaknin discusses the role of narratives in mental health and mental illness. Healthy individuals have multiple narratives for different situations, while mentally unhealthy individuals have one rigid narrative at a time. In mental illness, the individual creates multiple selves, each with its own narrative, to cope with various situations. Vaknin uses the examples of virtue signaling and depression to illustrate how narratives can impact mental states and mental illness. Narratives can override and camouflage mental illnesses, demonstrating their powerful influence on individuals.
How to Be Good Enough Mother
In this video, Professor Sam Vaknin answers questions about motherhood and what it means to be a woman. He explains that mothering is a social function and has nothing to do with genitalia or gender roles. A good mother’s main role is to frustrate the child and encourage them to become separate from her, fostering boundaries and a proper reality testing. Vaknin also notes that anyone, regardless of genitalia or body composition, can fulfill the role of a mother, and that mental health issues are the only likely barrier to being a good enough mother.
Can Men Be Good Mothers? Can AI Robots?
Gender roles are social constructs and not biologically determined. While sex is largely determined at birth, gender is a result of socialization and upbringing. Anyone, regardless of their sex, can fulfill the role of a mother or father, as these roles are jobs with specific functions and qualifications. The way boys and girls are raised by their mothers can create an imbalance in emotional expression and contribute to gender-related issues in society.