Self-Aware Narcissist: Still a Narcissist
Narcissism is pervasive and defines the narcissist’s waking moments, infiltrating and permeating their dreams. Narcissists only admit to a problem when they are abandoned, destitute, and devastated. Narcissistic behaviors can be modified using talk therapy and pinpointed medication conditioning, but there is a huge difference between behavior modification and a permanent alteration of a psychodynamic landscape. Narcissism may improve with age, but it is rare.
Compulsive Narcissist
Narcissism is an all-pervasive obsessive-compulsive disorder, with the narcissist seeking to recreate and reenact old traumas and conflicts with figures of primary importance in their life, mainly their parents. The narcissist develops a unique defense mechanism, constructing a story, a narrative, and another self, which is perfect, brilliant, omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. The child worships this new deity, succumbing to what they perceive to be the false self’s wishes and needs, making sacrifices of narcissistic supply to the false self. The narcissist’s compulsive acts are merely an element in their complicated personality, and shaving them off does nothing to ameliorate the narcissist’s titanic inner struggle for survival.
Over-sexed: Histrionic Personality Disorder and Narcissism
Histrionic personality disorder is more commonly diagnosed in women, leading to questions about whether it is a real mental health problem or a reflection of a patriarchal society. Histrionics crave attention and are uncomfortable when not at the center of it, similar to narcissists. They are preoccupied with physical appearance and sexual conquests, and often act flirtatious and seductive. Histrionics are enthusiastic and emotional, but their behavior can be exhausting and off-putting to others.
Antisocial Psychopath and Sociopath: Antisocial Personality Disorder
Psychopathy is a personality disorder that is characterized by callousness, ruthlessness, extreme lack of empathy, deficient impulse control, deceitfulness, and sadism. It is frequently ameliorated with age and tends to disappear altogether by the fourth or fifth decade of life. Psychopathy may be hereditary and has a strong genetic, biochemical, and neurological component. Psychopaths are abusively exploitative and incapable of true love and intimacy, and they are irresponsible, unreliable, vindictive, and hold grudges forever.
Labile: Borderline Personality Disorder and Narcissism
Borderline personality disorder is a controversial diagnosis that is often found among women. Some scholars believe it is a culture-bound pseudo-syndrome invented by men to serve a patriarchal and misogynistic society. Patients diagnosed with the disorder have chaotic lives and stormy, short-lived, and unstable relationships. Borderlines are impulsive, reckless, and display wildly fluctuating self-worth, self-image, and affect.
Narcissists and Negativistic (Passive-Aggressive) Personality Disorder
The negativistic, passive-aggressive personality disorder is not yet recognized by the committee that is cobbling together the diagnostic and statistical manual. People diagnosed with a negativistic passive-aggressive personality disorder resemble narcissists in some important respects. Despite the obstructive role they play, passive-aggressives feel unappreciated, underpaid, cheated, discriminated against, and misunderstood. Passive-aggressives may be sullen, irritable, impatient, argumentative, cynical, skeptical, and contrarian.
PCL-R (Psychopathy Checklist Revised) Test
The Psychopathy Checklist Revised Test (PCLR) is a structured interview that is used to rate symptoms common among psychopaths in forensic populations. The test is designed to cover the major psychopathic traits and behaviors, but it has very dubious, predictive and retrodictive power. The PCLR is based on a structured interview and collateral data gathered from family, friends, and colleagues and from documents. The hope of the designers of the PCLR test is that information gathered outside the scope of a structured interview will serve to rectify any potential abuse, diagnostic bias, and manipulation by both the testee and the tester.
Closure with Abusers
Closure is necessary for victims of abuse to heal their traumatic wounds. There are three forms of effective closure: conceptual, retributive, and dissociative. Conceptual closure involves a frank discussion of the abusive relationship, while retributive closure involves restorative justice and a restored balance. Dissociative closure occurs when victims repress their painful memories, leading to dissociative identity disorder. Victims pay a hefty price for avoiding and evading their predicament. Coping with various forms of closure will be discussed in a future video.
Narcissist and Psychopath Coping Strategies: Submissive Posture
In this video, Professor Sam Vaknin provides advice on how to survive a relationship with a narcissist or psychopath. He explains that not all abusers suffer from a personality disorder, but abuse is a multifaceted phenomenon. Abusers react with disproportionate wrath and rage, so it is important never to openly and repeatedly disagree with them or contradict them. The abuser seeks to subjugate their victims and transform their personal space into the exact opposite of their real life. The only way to treat an abuser is not to treat them at all, to disengage, and go away.
Adolescent Narcissist: “Donovan”
Professor Sam Vaknin discusses the difference between healthy narcissism in adolescence and full-fledged narcissistic personality disorder. He writes a letter to the adoptive mother of a 16-year-old boy named Donovan, who is a pathological narcissist. Donovan is incapable of love due to his childhood abuse, and he only shows love to achieve his goals. He is a danger to himself and others, and treatment is not very effective. Vaknin advises the adoptive mother to condition her love and sign a contract with Donovan if she wishes to engage with him.