Controversial P Factor Unifying Mental Illness
The P factor is a controversial concept in psychology that suggests a common denominator to all mental disorders. It challenges the traditional approach of diagnosing people based on lists of symptoms or behaviors. The debate surrounding the P factor raises questions about the usefulness of labels and the need for customized treatments. Early intervention is key to preventing severe mental illness later in life.
Why Won’t They Change? Insight and Personal Transformation
Insight is a crucial concept in psychology, but it is not always easy to obtain. Introspection is a blunt tool, and people often go to therapists to secure insights. However, narcissists and psychopaths are not amenable to insights because they are emotionally invested in their disorders and do not see any reason to change. Insights require the involvement of four factors: cognitions, emotions, motivations, and actions. Insights are useful mostly with healthy people, as they are more likely to manage it, assimilate it, react to it emotionally without fear, and then change themselves, their behaviors, and actions.
What Is Acting Out? (and Covert Narcissist)
Acting out is a way for individuals to discharge conflicted mental content through action, often as a result of being unable to verbalize or communicate their internal struggles. It is commonly associated with personality disorders and can lead to self-destructive behaviors. Acting out can be seen as a form of somatization, using the body to remember and process repressed memories and emotions. It is important to distinguish acting out from other concepts such as acting in, passage à l’acte, and bad behavior, as they have different implications and meanings.
GREAT NEWS New Treatments, BPD Redefined ( Borderline Personality Disorder Literature Review)
Recent studies have challenged common perceptions of borderline personality disorder. One study found that individuals can qualify for a diagnosis without engaging in self-harm or self-mutilation. Another study showed that combining individual and group schema therapy can lead to a reduction in symptoms for patients with borderline personality disorder. Additionally, a study suggested that early interventions focusing on clinical case management and psychiatric care may be more effective for young patients with borderline personality disorder than individual psychotherapy. Other studies explored the effectiveness of various psychotherapies and interventions for borderline personality disorder, with mixed results.
Are You Attracted To YOURSELF? Autoerotism
Autoerotism refers to sexual attraction or activity that does not involve a sexual object, such as being attracted to one’s own body or fantasizing about oneself as a different gender or age. Freud’s concept of autoerotism evolved throughout his career, eventually linking it to narcissism and self-objectification. Autoerotic behavior can manifest in various forms, such as autogynephilia (sexual arousal by the idea of being a woman), autoandrophilia (sexual arousal by the idea of being a man), and autopedophilia (sexual arousal by the idea of being a child). Autoerotism is a complex and controversial topic in psychoanalysis, with implications for understanding sexual orientation, gender identity, and paraphilias.
Borderline’s Partner: Enters Healthy, Exits Mentally Ill
Professor Sam Vaknin discusses the impact of individuals with borderline personality disorder on their partners, suggesting that they can induce narcissistic behaviors in them. He also addresses misconceptions about Freud’s theories and delves into the psychological dynamics at play in relationships with individuals with borderline personality disorder. The borderline’s need for object constancy and the partner’s response to it are explored, leading to the development of narcissistic and borderline behaviors in the partner. The complex and challenging dynamics of these relationships are thoroughly analyzed.
Why Self-less Narcissist Can Never Love YOU (His Enemy)
Professor Sam Vaknin discusses the concepts of object constancy and introject constancy, drawing from Freud’s theories and his own work on narcissism. He explains how introject constancy differs from object constancy and how it relates to narcissistic personality disorder. Vaknin also introduces the idea of introject libido and its role in the narcissist’s internal world. He emphasizes the importance of emotional investment in internal objects and the impact on the narcissist’s relationships.
Shapeshifting Borderline, Morphing Narcissist Identity Disturbance
Professor Sam Vaknin discusses the concept of self-states in individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD), noting that BPD individuals switch between different personalities and identities. He explains the three types of identity disturbance, which include cyclical, allotropic, and object-related identity disturbance. Patients with borderline personality disorder have disturbances in the structural level of selfhood, resulting in an incomplete sense of substance, substantiality, embodiment, and a feeling of having divorced their own body. Narcissistic pathology is a more egregious form of the borderline pathology, and both the borderline and their typically narcissistic partner try to appropriate the other person’s identity as a sound and medicine to their own identity disturbance and knowing emptiness.
How To Talk to Narcissist, Borderline, OCD (with Joan J. Lachkar)
The text is a conversation between Sam Vaknin and Joanne Yuta Lachkar. They discuss the dynamics of narcissistic and borderline relationships, the impact of early childhood experiences, and the role of countertransference in therapy. They also touch on the topic of affairs and their effects 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.