Anxious People – Narcissists? (2nd Webinar on Stress and Depression Management)
Professor Sam Vaknin discusses anxiety from various angles, including the philosophical angle. He explains that anxiety disorders are often misdiagnosed as narcissistic personality disorder because both types of patients are worried about social approval and seek feedback, admiration, and applause. However, the narcissist is egosyntonic, while the anxious patient is egodystonic. Anxiety is an essential component of existence, bad faith existence, inauthentic existence, and authentic existence. Anxiety is intimately connected to the schizoid core of personality disorder, to the need to maintain an authentic existence, and it’s intimately connected to narcissistic spectacle, to displays of grandiosity, to attempts to solicit narcissistic supply.
Narcissist’s Femme Fatale – or Mother?
Professor Sam Vaknin discusses the confusion of states of mind in narcissism, particularly possessiveness, romantic jealousy, and mortification. He explains the triggers and reactions of possessiveness and romantic jealousy, and the introspective nature of mortification. He also delves into the different types of intimate partners that provoke these reactions in narcissists. Ultimately, he emphasizes the potential for mortification to lead to self-analysis and transformation in narcissists.
Relationships Inauthentic, Will Always Fail (Sartre’s “Being and Nothingness”, SECOND LECTURE)
The text discusses Sartre’s views on desire, consciousness, and freedom. Sartre introduces the concept of desire as motivated by a lack or absence, and discusses the inherent contradiction in desire. He also delves into the nature of consciousness and the limitations of freedom. The text explores Sartre’s ideas on authenticity and ethics, and his belief that values are auto-generated through individual choices. The author reflects on Sartre’s contributions and his impact on philosophical discourse.
Being is Slavery, Nothingness is Freedom (Sartre’s “Being and Nothingness”, FIRST LECTURE)
Professor Sam Vaknin discusses the concept of nothingness and its relationship with consciousness, self, and freedom. He explores Jean-Paul Sartre’s ideas on nothingness and how it is a capacity of our consciousness that has evolutionary advantages. Vaknin also delves into the concept of bad faith and self-deception, which is the easy way out of dealing with conflicts and dissonances. He argues that bad faith is a choice and a decision made out of freedom and nothingness. Finally, he discusses Sartre’s rejection of Freud’s theory of self-deceit and repression and how individuals are 100% responsible for their actions.
Ego is Opposite of Narcissism: Ego Functions
Professor Sam Vaknin discusses the concept of ego functions and their role in personality and mental health. Ego functions include reality testing, impulse control, regulation of emotions, judgment, object relations, thinking, defenses, and synthesis. A healthy ego is essential for proper functioning and maintaining a coherent identity. However, there are inherent problems and contradictions within the concept of the ego, such as the conflict between reality testing and defense mechanisms. Ego is often misunderstood and misused in popular culture, with many mistakenly associating it with narcissism. In reality, a healthy ego is the opposite of narcissism, as it is grounded in reality and not grandiosity.
We Have No Idea What Is Narcissism
Professor Sam Vaknin discusses the historical evolution of the concept of narcissism, including the views of Freud, Jung, Kohut, Heinz Franz Cote, and Karen Horney. Narcissism is constructed around a schizoid core, which pushes the narcissist to introvert. Traumas in early childhood can have long-term effects, and the child’s perception of the trauma is different from that of adults. Narcissism can develop as a coping strategy for children who have experienced trauma, and the development of self-esteem is derived from early daily experience with attachment figures.
YOU in Narcissist’s Harem of Internal Objects
Professor Sam Vaknin discusses the narcissist’s convoluted relationships with internal objects. He explains the distinction between external and internal objects and delves into the narcissist’s interactions with internal objects. Vaknin explores the stages of separation-individuation and the impact of disrupted ego formation on object relations. He also examines the narcissist’s idealization, devaluation, shared fantasy, and approach-avoidance dynamics with internal objects. Additionally, he discusses the narcissist’s need to convert external objects into bad internal objects and the impact of the empty core on the schizoid patient’s strategies for dealing with it.
Drama Queens/Kings: Narcissists, Borderlines
Dramatic behavior is common in cluster B personality disorders, such as narcissistic, borderline, and antisocial personality disorders. Drama serves various psychological functions, including enhancing functionality, distancing oneself from trauma, regulating self-esteem, and manipulating others. It can also be a diversionary tactic or a form of emotional blackmail. While attention-seeking is often associated with dramatic behavior, it is not the primary motivation for most individuals with cluster B personality disorders.
Personality Disorders: Child’s Defense Against Madness (Schizotypy and Neoteny)
Professor Sam Vaknin discusses the relationship between schizotypy and personality disorders. He explains that schizotypy is a spectrum that includes both positive and negative traits, such as creativity, cognitive disorganization, and impaired reality testing. He suggests that there are two types of psychopaths: primary psychopaths who are grandiose and impulsive, and secondary psychopaths who have access to emotions and empathy but are low on narcissism. He also explains that schizotypy is not a mental illness but a personality theory that suggests that everyone has some degree of disorganization and chaos.
Narcissist’s Internal Family System: Parts in Conflict
Professor Sam Vaknin discusses the concepts of pseudo-identities, self-states, and complexes in individuals with mental health disorders. He explains the differences between these concepts and how they affect a person’s behavior, emotions, and thoughts. He also discusses the Internal Family Systems (IFS) model and its three types of parts: managers, exiles, and firefighters, and how they interact with each other. Ultimately, without treatment, personality disordered people can withdraw into a schizoid phase, disappearing externally as they had always been absent and void internally.