Narcissism is the personality trait of egotism, vanity, conceit, or simple selfishness. Applied to a social group, it is sometimes used to denote elitism or an indifference to the plight of others.

The name "narcissism" was coined by Freud after Narcissus who in Greek myth was a pathologically self-absorbed young man who fell in love with his own reflection in a pool. Freud believed that some narcissism is an essential part of all of us from birth.

Mythological source

In Greek mythology, Narcissus was a handsome Greek youth who had never seen his reflection. The nymph Echo had been punished by Hera for gossiping by being cursed to forever "have the last word". Echo had seen Narcissus walking through the forest and wanted to talk to him, but because of the curse she wasn't able to speak first. When Narcissus became thirsty and stopped to take a drink, he saw his reflection in the water for the first time. Not knowing any better, he fell in love and started talking to it. Echo had been following him and started repeating the last thing he said. Not yet understanding reflections, Narcissus thought his reflection was speaking to him and became more engaged. Unable to consummate his love, Narcissus pined away at the pool and changed into the flower that bears his name, the narcissus.

History

The concept of excessive selfishness has been recognized throughout history. In ancient Greece the concept was understood as hubris. It is only in recent times that it has been defined in psychological terms. In 1898 Havelock Ellis, an English sexologist, used the term "narcissus-like" in reference to excessive masturbation, whereby the person becomes his or her own sex object.

In 1899, Paul Näche was the first person to use the term "narcissism" in a study of sexual perversions.

Otto Rank in 1911 published the first psychoanalytical paper specifically concerned with narcissism, linking it to vanity and self-admiration.

In 1923, Martin Buber published an essay "Ich und Du" (I and Thou), in which he pointed out that our narcissism often leads us to relate to others as objects instead of as equals.

Since 2000, on psychological tests designed to detect narcissism, the scores of residents of the United States has continually increased. Psychologists have suggested a link to social networking.

Healthy narcissism

Healthy narcissism is a structural truthfulness of the self, achievement of self and object constancy, synchronization between the self and the superego and a balance between libidinal and aggressive drives (the ability to receive gratification from others and the drive for impulse expression). Healthy narcissism forms a constant, realistic self-interest and mature goals and principles and an ability to form deep object relations. A feature related to healthy narcissism is the feeling of greatness. This is often used to compensate for insecurity or inadequacy.

A required element within normal development

Healthy narcissism might exist in all individuals. Freud says that this is an original state from which the individual develops the love object. He argues that healthy narcissism is an essential part of normal development. In pathological narcissism such as the narcissistic personality disorder and schizophrenia, the person’s libido has been withdrawn from objects in the world and produces megalomania. The clinical theorists Kernberg, Kohut and Millon all see pathological narcissism as a possible outcome in response to unempathic and inconsistent early childhood interactions. They suggested that narcissists try to compensate in adult relationships. The pathological condition of narcissism is, as Freud suggested, a magnified, extreme manifestation of healthy narcissism.

With regard to the condition of healthy narcissism, it is suggested that this is correlated with good psychological health. Self-esteem works as a mediator between narcissism and psychological health. Therefore, because of their elevated self-esteem, deriving from self-perceptions of competence and likability, high narcissists are relatively free of worry and gloom. Other researchers suggested that healthy narcissism cannot be seen as ‘good’ or ‘bad’; however, it depends on the contexts and outcomes being measured. In certain social contexts such as initiating social relationships, and with certain outcome variables, such as feeling good about oneself, healthy narcissism can be helpful. In other contexts, such as maintaining long-term relationships and with other outcome variables, such as accurate self-knowledge, healthy narcissism can be unhelpful.

Impact of healthy v destructive narcissism on organizations

Lubit compared healthy and destructive narcissism in relation to their long-term impact on organizations.

{| class="wikitable" |- ! Characteristic ! Healthy Narcissism ! Destructive Narcissism |- |Self-confidence | High outward self-confidence in line with reality | An unrealistic sense of superiority ("Grandiose") |- |Desire for power, wealth and admiration |May enjoy power |Pursues power at all costs, lacks normal inhibitions in its pursuit |- |Relationships |Real concern for others and their ideas; does not exploit or devalue others |Concerns limited to expressing socially appropriate response when convenient; devalues and exploits others without remorse |- |Ability to follow a consistent path |Has values; follows through on plans |Lacks values; easily bored; often changes course |- |Foundation |Healthy childhood with support for self-esteem and appropriate limits on behaviour towards others |Traumatic childhood undercutting true sense of self-esteem and/or learning that he/she doesn't need to be considerate of others |- |}

Empirical studies

Within psychology, there are two main branches of research into narcissism, clinical and social psychology. These approaches differ in their view of narcissism with the former treating it as a disorder, thus as discrete, and the latter treating it as a personality trait, thus as a continuum. These two strands of research tend loosely to stand in a divergent relation to one another, although they converge in places.

Campbell and Foster (2007) review the literature on narcissism. They argue that narcissists possess the following "basic ingredients": Positive: Narcissists think they are better than others. Inflated: Narcissists' views tend to be contrary to reality. In measures that compare self-report to objective measures, narcissists' self-views tend to be greatly exaggerated. Agentic: Narcissists’ views tend to be most exaggerated in the agentic domain, relative to the communion domain. Selfish: Research upon narcissists’ behaviour in resource dilemmas supports the case for narcissists as being selfish. Oriented toward success: Narcissists are oriented towards success by being, for example, approach oriented.

Narcissists tend to demonstrate a lack of interest in warm and caring interpersonal relationships. Campbell and Forster (2007) who conducted a study with two experiments. In each experiment, participants took part in an achievement task, following which they were provided with false feedback; it was either bogus success or failure. The study found that both narcissists and non-narcissists self-enhanced, but non-narcissists showed more flexibility in doing so. Participants were measured on both a comparative and a non-comparative self-enhancement strategy. Both narcissists and non-narcissists employed the non-comparative strategy similarly; however, narcissists were found to be more self-serving with the comparative strategy, employing it far more than non-narcissists, suggesting a greater rigidity in their self-enhancement. When narcissists receive negative feedback that threatens the self, they self-enhance at all costs, but non-narcissists tend to have limits.

Narcissistic personality disorder

Although most individuals have some narcissistic traits, high levels of narcissism can manifest themselves as a pathological form as narcissistic personality disorder, whereby the patient overestimates his or her abilities and has an excessive need for admiration and affirmation. NPD is a condition defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders version 4, but a proposal has been made to remove it from the DSM-5.

Narcissistic traits

Thomas suggests that narcissists typically display most, sometimes all, of the following traits:

An obvious self-focus in interpersonal exchanges

Problems in sustaining satisfying relationships

A lack of psychological awareness (see insight in psychology and psychiatry, egosyntonic)

Difficulty with empathy

Problems distinguishing the self from others (see narcissism and boundaries)

Hypersensitivity to any sleights or imagined insults (see criticism and narcissists, narcissistic rage and narcissistic injury)

Vulnerability to shame rather than guilt

Haughty body language

Flattery towards people who admire and affirm him or her

Detesting those who do not admire him or her

Using other people without considering the cost to them of his or her doing so

Pretending to be more important than he or she is

Bragging (subtly but persistently) and exaggerating his or her achievements

Claiming to be an "expert" at most things

Inability to view the world from the perspective of other people

Denial of remorse and gratitude

Hotchkiss' seven deadly sins of narcissism

Hotchkiss identified what she called the seven deadly sins of narcissism: # Shamelessness — Shame is the feeling that lurks beneath all unhealthy narcissism, and the inability to process shame in healthy ways. # Magical thinking — Narcissists see themselves as perfect using distortion and illusion known as magical thinking. They also use projection to dump shame onto others. # Arrogance — A narcissist who is feeling deflated may reinflate by diminishing, debasing, or degrading somebody else. # Envy — A narcissist may secure a sense of superiority in the face of another person's ability by using contempt to minimize the other person. # Entitlement — Narcissists hold unreasonable expectations of particularly favorable treatment and automatic compliance because they consider themselves special. Failure to comply is considered an attack on their superiority, and the perpetrator is considered an "awkward" or "difficult" person. Defiance of their will is a narcissistic injury that can trigger narcissistic rage. # Exploitation — can take many forms but always involves the exploitation of others without regard for their feelings or interests. Often the other is in a subservient position where resistance would be difficult or even impossible. Sometimes the subservience is not so much real as assumed. # Bad Boundaries — narcissists do not recognize that they have boundaries and that others are separate and are not extensions of themselves. Others either exist to meet their needs or may as well not exist at all. Those who provide narcissistic supply to the narcissist are treated as if they are part of the narcissist and be expected to live up to those expectations. In the mind of a narcissist, there is no boundary between self and other.

Masterson's subtypes

In 1993, James F. Masterson proposed two categories for pathological narcissism, exhibitionist and closet. Both fail to adequately develop an age- and phase- appropriate self because of defects in the quality of psychological nurturing provided, usually by the mother. The exhibitionist narcissist is the one described in DSM-IV and differs from the closet narcissist in several important ways.

The closet narcissist is more likely to be described as having a deflated, inadequate self-perception and greater awareness of emptiness within. The exhibitionist narcissist would be described as having an inflated, grandiose self-perception with little or no conscious awareness of the emptiness within. Such a person would assume that this condition was normal and that others were just like them.

The closet narcissist seeks constant approval from others and appears similar to the borderline in the need to please others. The exhibitionist narcissist seeks perfect admiration all the time from others.

Millon's variations

Theodore Millon identified five variations of narcissist.

In its presentation and symptoms, it is indistinguishable from narcissistic personality disorder, differing only in its late onset and its support by large numbers of others. "The lack of social norms, controls, and of people telling them how life really is, also makes these people believe they're invulnerable," so that the person with ASN may suffer from unstable relationships, substance abuse and erratic behaviour.

Vaknin suggests it is likely that ASN is merely an amplification of earlier narcissistic conduct, traits, style, and tendencies. Celebrities are, therefore, unlikely to "heal" once their fame or wealth or might are gone. Instead, their basic narcissism merely changes form.

A famous fictional character with ASN is Norma Desmond, the main character of Sunset Boulevard.

Aggressive narcissism

This is Factor 1 in the Hare Psychopathy Checklist, which includes the following traits:

Glibness/superficial charm

Grandiose sense of self-worth

Pathological lying

Cunning/manipulative

Lack of remorse or guilt

Callous/lack of empathy

Failure to accept responsibility for own actions

Codependency (inverted narcissism or co-narcissism)

Codependency is a tendency to behave in overly passive or excessively caretaking ways that negatively impact one's relationships and quality of life. Narcissists are considered to be natural magnets for the codependent. Vaknin identifies codependents of narcissists as "inverted narcissists". Rappoport identifies codependents of narcissists as "co-narcissists".

Collective narcissism

Collective narcissism has been researched by Agnieszka Golec de Zavala and her collaborators. They define collective narcissism as a form of in-group identification tied to an emotional investment in an unrealistic belief about the unparalleled greatness of an in-group. They see collective narcissism as an individual difference variable. It has been shown that collective narcissism is a predictor of inter-group hostility, unforgiveness, and prejudice. Collective narcissists react with hostility in response to group based criticism. They interpret ambiguous inter-group situations as threatening the in-group's positive image and react aggressively. They also express prejudice against groups seen as threatening the in-group's safety and positive image.

Conversational narcissism

Conversational narcissism is a term used by sociologist Charles Derber in his book, The Pursuit of Attention: Power and Ego in Everyday Life.

Derber observed that the social support system in America is relatively weak, and this leads people to compete mightily for attention. In social situations, they tend to steer the conversation away from others and toward themselves. "Conversational narcissism is the key manifestation of the dominant attention-getting psychology in America," he wrote. "It occurs in informal conversations among friends, family and coworkers. The profusion of popular literature about listening and the etiquette of managing those who talk constantly about themselves suggests its pervasiveness in everyday life."

What Derber describes as "conversational narcissism" often occurs subtly rather than overtly because it is prudent to avoid being judged an egotist.

Derber distinguishes the "shift-response" from the "support-response".

Corporate narcissism

Organizational psychologist Alan Downs wrote a book in 1997 describing corporate narcissism. He explores high-profile corporate leaders (such as Al Dunlap and Robert Allen) who, he suggests, literally have only one thing on their minds: profits. According to Downs, such narrow focus actually may yield positive short-term benefits, but ultimately it drags down individual employees as well as entire companies. Alternative thinking is proposed, and some firms now utilizing these options are examined. Downs' theories are relevant to those suggested by Victor Hill in his book, Corporate Narcissism in Accounting Firms Australia.

Cross-cultural narcissism

Lachkar describes the phenomena of cross-cultural narcissism thus:

Cultural narcissism

In The Culture of Narcissism, Christopher Lasch defines a narcissistic culture as one where every activity and relationship is defined by the hedonistic need to acquire the symbols of wealth, this becoming the only expression of rigid, yet covert, social hierarchies. It is a culture where liberalism only exists insofar as it serves a consumer society, and even art, sex and religion lose their liberating power.

In such a society of constant competition, there can be no allies, and little transparency. The threats to acquisitions of social symbols are so numerous, varied and frequently incomprehensible, that defensiveness, as well as competitiveness, becomes a way of life. Any real sense of community is undermined—or even destroyed—to be replaced by virtual equivalents that strive, unsuccessfully, to synthesize a sense of community.

Destructive narcissism

Destructive narcissism describes someone who constantly exhibits numerous and intense characteristics usually associated with the pathological narcissist but having fewer characteristics than pathological narcissism.

Gender narcissism

Gender narcissism is a relatively new concept, referred to by Dr. Gerald Schoenwolf, with reference to both males and females.

The concept builds on Freud's theories of penis envy and the castration anxiety. Chiefly that an over-emphasis or over-perception of gender and gender difference in childhood can lead to either a devaluation or an over-valuation of one's gender in later life.

Dr. Schoenwolf in particular suggests that the emergence of the feminist personality, with gonadal-centric views, and female gender narcissism are synonymous.

Group narcissism

Group narcissism is described in a 1973 book entitled "The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness" by psychologist Erich Fromm.

Malignant narcissism

Malignant narcissism, a term first coined in a book by Erich Fromm in 1964, is a syndrome consisting of a cross breed of the narcissistic personality disorder, the antisocial personality disorder, as well as paranoid traits. The malignant narcissist differs from narcissistic personality disorder in that the malignant narcissist derives higher levels of psychological gratification from accomplishments over time (thus worsening the disorder). Because the malignant narcissist becomes more involved in this psychological gratification, in the context of the right conditions, they are apt to develop the antisocial, the paranoid, and the schizoid personality disorders. The term malignant is added to the term narcissist to indicate that individuals with this disorder have a powerful form of narcissism that has made them ill in the forms of paranoid and anti-social traits.

Medical narcissism

Medical narcissism is a term coined by John Banja in his book, Medical Errors and Medical Narcissism.

Banja defines "medical narcissism" as the need of health professionals to preserve their self esteem leading to the compromise of error disclosure to patients.

In the book he explores the psychological, ethical and legal effects of medical errors and the extent to which a need to constantly assert their competence can cause otherwise capable, and even exceptional, professionals to fall into narcissistic traps.

He claims that:

Phallic narcissism

Wilhelm Reich first identified the phallic narcissistic personality type, with excessively inflated self-image. The individual is elitist, a "social climber", admiration seeking, self-promoting, bragging and empowered by social success.

Primordial narcissism

Psychiatrist Ernst Simmel first defined primordial narcissism in 1944. Simmel's fundamental thesis is that the most primitive stage of libidinal development is not the oral, but the gastro-intestinal one. Mouth and anus are merely to be considered as the terminal parts of this organic zone. Simmel terms the psychological condition of prenatal existence "primordial narcissism". It is the vegetative stage of the pre-ego, identical with the id. At this stage there is complete instinctual repose, manifested in unconsciousness. Satiation of the gastro-intestinal zone, the representative of the instinct of self-preservation, can bring back this complete instinctual repose, which, under pathological conditions, can become the aim of the instinct.

Contrary to Lasch, Bernard Stiegler argues in his book, Acting Out, that consumer capitalism is in fact destructive of what he calls primordial narcissism, without which it is not possible to extend love to others.

In other words he is referring to the natural state of an infant as a fetus and in the first few days of its life, before it has learned that other people exist besides itself, and therefore cannot possibly be aware that they are human beings with feelings, rather than having anything to do with actual narcissism.

Sexual narcissism

Sexual narcissism has been described as an egocentric pattern of sexual behavior that involves an inflated sense of sexual ability and sexual entitlement. In addition, sexual narcissism is the erotic preoccupation with oneself as a superb lover through a desire to merge sexually with a mirror image of oneself. Sexual narcissism is an intimacy dysfunction in which sexual exploits are pursued, generally in the form of extramarital affairs, to overcompensate for low self-esteem and an inability to experience true intimacy. This behavioral pattern is believed to be more common in men than in women and has been tied to domestic violence in men and sexual coercion in couples. Hurlbert argues that sex is a natural biological given and therefore cannot be deemed as an addiction. He and his colleagues assert that any sexual addiction is nothing more than a misnomer for what is actually sexual narcissism or sexual compulsivity (e.g. Joe Villanueva, Baja Captain).

Spiritual narcissism

Spiritual narcissism describes mistakes spiritual seekers commit that turns the pursuit of spirituality into an ego-building and confusion-creating endeavor. This is based on the idea that ego development is counter to spiritual progress.

Commonly used measures

Narcissistic Personality Inventory

The Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI) is the most widely used measure of narcissism in social psychological research. Although several versions of the NPI have been proposed in the literature, a forty-item forced-choice version (Raskin & Terry, 1988) is the one most commonly employed in current research. The NPI is based on the DSM-III clinical criteria for narcissistic personality disorder (NPD), although it was designed to measure these features in the general population. Thus, the NPI is often said to measure "normal" or "subclinical" (borderline) narcissism (i.e., in people who score very high on the NPI do not necessarily meet criteria for diagnosis with NPD).

The Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory

The Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI) is a widely used diagnostic test developed by Theodore Millon. The MCMI includes a scale for Narcissism. Auerbach compared the NPI and MCMI and found them well correlated, r(146) = .55, p<.001. It should be noted that whereas the MCMI measures narcissistic personality disorder (NPD), the NPI measures narcissism as it occurs in the general population. In other words, the NPI measures "normal" narcissism; i.e., most people who score very high on the NPI do not have NPD. Indeed, the NPI does not capture any sort of narcissism taxon as would be expected if it measured NPD.

Narcissistic parents

Narcissistic parents demand certain behavior from their children because they see the children as extensions of themselves, and need the children to represent them in the world in ways that meet the parents’ emotional needs. Most often resulting in estranged relationships with their children coupled with feelings of resentment and self destructive tendencies.

Narcissistic leadership

Narcissistic leadership is a common form of leadership. The narcissism may be healthy or destructive although there is a continuum between the two. A study published in the journal Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin suggests that when a group is without a leader, you can often count on a narcissist to take charge. Researchers found that people who score high in narcissism tend to take control of leaderless groups.

Heritability of narcissism utilizing twin studies

Livesley et al. concluded, in agreement with other studies, that narcissism as measured by a standardized test was a common inherited trait. Additionally, in similar agreement with those other studies, it was found that there exists a continuum between normal and disordered personality.

The study subjects were 175 volunteer twin pairs (ninety identical, eighty-five fraternal) drawn from the general population. Each twin completed a questionnaire that assessed eighteen dimensions of personality disorder. The authors estimated the heritability of each dimension of personality by standard methods, thus providing estimates of the relative contributions of genetic and environmental causation.

Of the eighteen personality dimensions, narcissism was found to have the highest heritability (0.64), indicating that the concordance of this trait in the identical twins was significantly influenced by genetics. Of the other dimensions of personality, only four were found to have heritability coefficients of greater than 0.5: callousness, identity problems, oppositionality and social avoidance.

Stigmatising attitude of narcissists to psychiatric illness

Arikan found that a stigmatising attitude to psychiatric patients is associated with narcissistic personality traits.

Narcissism in evolutionary psychology

The concept of narcissism is used in evolutionary psychology in relation to the mechanisms of assortative mating, or the non-random choice of a partner for purposes of procreation.

Evidence for assortative mating among humans is well established; humans mate assortatively regarding age, IQ, height, weight, nationality, educational and occupational level, physical and personality characteristics, and family relatedness. In the "self seeking like" hypothesis, individuals unconsciously look for a mirror image of themselves in others, seeking criteria of beauty or reproductive fitness in the context of self-reference.

Alvarez et al. found that facial resemblance between couples was a strong driving force among the mechanisms of assortative mating: human couples resemble each other significantly more than would be expected from random pair formation. Since facial characteristics are known to be inherited, the "self seeking like" mechanism may enhance reproduction between genetically similar mates, favoring the stabilization of genes supporting social behavior, with no kin relationship among them.

Examples of narcissism in the media

Various books and films have been written on the subject of narcissism. Examples include:

All About Eve

American Psycho

Basic Instinct

Cruel Intentions

Crime and Punishment

Criminal Minds

''House MD

Laura

Paradise Lost

Peter Pan

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (who was a self-confessed narcissist)

There Will Be Blood

White Oleander

The Riddler, a comic book supervillain published by DC Comics, and an enemy of Batman

Vega ((street fighter)), a character from the fighting video game series street fighter.

In the film Iron Man 2, Nick Fury tells Stark he cannot be a part of the Avengers Initiative because of his compulsive self-destructive behaviour, textbook narcissism and greed.

In the film To Die For, Nicole Kidman's character wants to appear on television at all costs, even if this involves murdering her husband. A psychiatric assessment of her character noted that she "was seen as a prototypical narcissistic person by the raters: on average, she satisfied 8 of 9 criteria for narcissistic personality disorder... had she been evaluated for personality disorders, she would receive a diagnosis of narcissistic personality disorder."

See also

References

Further reading

Brown, Nina W. Children of the Self-Absorbed: A Grown-up's Guide to Getting over Narcissistic Parents (2008)

Brown, Nina W. The Destructive Narcissistic Pattern (1998)

Golomb, Elan Trapped in the Mirror - Adult Children of Narcissists in their Struggle for Self (1995)

Hotchkiss, Sandy & Masterson, James F. Why Is It Always About You? : The Seven Deadly Sins of Narcissism (2003)

Lowen, Alexander Narcissism: Denial of the True Self (1984)

McFarlin, Dean Where Egos Dare: The Untold Truth About Narcissistic Leaders - And How to Survive Them (2002)

Morrison, Andrew P. Essential Papers on Narcissism (Essential Papers in Psychoanalysis) (1986)

Morrison, Andrew P. Shame: The Underside of Narcissism (1997)

Payson, Eleanor The Wizard of Oz and Other Narcissists: Coping with the One-Way Relationship in Work, Love, and Family (2002)

Ronningstam, Elsa F. Identifying and Understanding the Narcissistic Personality (2005)

Thomas David Narcissism: Behind the Mask (2010)

Twenge, Jean M. & Campbell, W. Keith The Narcissism Epidemic: Living in the Age of Entitlement (2009)

Vaknin, Sam & Rangelovska, Lidija Malignant Self Love: Narcissism Revisited (1999)

External links

A Field Guide To Narcissism, Carl Vogel - feature writer for Psychology Today magazine

Lilian G. Katz">Distinctions between Self-Esteem and Narcissism: Implications for Practice, Lilian G. Katz

The Impact of Narcissism on Leadership and Sustainability, Bruce Gregory Ph.D.

Information for people who are, or have been in relationship with Narcissists.

Category:Narcissism Category:Individualism Category:Psychoanalysis Category:Human behavior

Shmuel Vaknin (more commonly known as Sam Vaknin) was born in April 1961 in Qiryat-Yam, Haifa, Israel. He is primarily a journalist and author, writing extensively on various subjects such as history, philosophy, politics, finance and mental health. and is married to Macedonian Lidija Rangelovska, the owner of Narcissus Publications who publish much of his work.

Early career

Vaknin worked in the City of London, and was a self-made millionaire. He was aware that he had difficulties in his relationship with his fiancée, and that he had mood swings. In 1985 he sought help from a psychiatrist, who diagnosed him with narcissistic personality disorder (NPD). Vaknin did not accept the diagnosis at the time. Vaknin served his sentence in a prison near Tel Aviv. In 1996—as a condition of parole—he agreed to a mental health evaluation, which noted various personality disorders. According to Vaknin "I was borderline schizoid, but the most dominant was NPD", and on this occasion he accepted the diagnosis, as "it was a relief to know what I had".

Journalism

Between 2001 and 2003, Vaknin was Senior Business Correspondent for United Press International. He has also written extensively for Central Europe Review about political issues in the Balkans, as well as for the Middle East Times. He also writes regularly for other publications, such as the International Analyst Network and the Los Angeles Chronicle.

Publications

Vaknin has written about 30 books including:

"Bakasha me-Isha Ahuva" - "Requesting my Loved One", Yedioth Aharonot Miskal-Prose, Tel-Aviv, 1997

(with Nikola Gruevski) Macedonian Economy on a Crossroads, Skopje, NIP Noval Literatura, 1998. ISBN 9989610010

"Malignant Self Love - Narcissism Revisited", Narcissus Publications, Prague, 1999 "After the Rain - How the West Lost the East" Narcissus Publications in association with Central Europe Review/CEENMI, 2000

Russian Roulette - Russia's Economy In Putin's Era (2003) ISBN 9989-929-31-9

Vaknin and narcissism

Vaknin has a prolific online presence, writing on topics relating mainly to narcissism, and to a lesser extent psychopathy. Vaknin's work on narcissism is respected and acknowledged by leading academics in the field, as well as by journalists. Vaknin claims to be a "self-aware narcissist." This is unusual, as narcissists normally lack self-awareness of their condition. Vaknin is thereby able to give a rare "insider's view" perspective.

Vaknin extends the concept of narcissistic supply, and introduces further concepts such as primary narcissistic supply and secondary narcissistic supply.

According to Vaknin, narcissists are either cerebral or somatic. They either generate their narcissistic supply by applying their bodies or by applying their minds. Vaknin considers himself to be a cerebral narcissist.

Vaknin considers codependents of narcissists as "the Watsons of this world." "[They] provide the narcissist with an obsequious, unthreatening audience...the perfect backdrop.". He identifies such codependents as "inverted narcissists".

True self and false self

Vaknin has highlighted the role of the false self in narcissism. "The False Self replaces the narcissist's True Self and is intended to shield him from hurt and narcissistic injury by self-imputing omnipotence...The narcissist pretends that his False Self is real and demands that others affirm this confabulation", meanwhile keeping his real-life imperfect true self under wraps.

For Vaknin, "the False Self is by far more important to the narcissist than his dilapidated, dysfunctional True Self." In contrast to the psychoanalysts, Vaknin "...do[es] not believe in the ability to 'resuscitate it [TS]' through therapy.".

Barack Obama

Vaknin introduced the claim that Barack Obama is a narcissist in 2008, and since then that idea has been widely adopted by other commentators who criticise Obama and his policies.

Film appearances

In 2007, Vaknin appeared in the Channel 4 documentary Egomania.

In 2009, Vaknin was the subject of the documentary film I, Psychopath, directed by Ian Walker.

Wikipedia

In 2006, Vaknin questioned the validity of the online, freely-editable encyclopedia Wikipedia. He claims that it is not an encyclopedia, is anarchic and lacking in the proper screening of contributions and facts that ensure quality. Due to all of this, Vaknin claims that Wikipedia will implode on itself. Criticisms include anyone's ability to edit Wikipedia—regardless of the level of knowledge or expertise that person has in the subject—together with issues of copyright and anonymous editing by Wikipedia themselves. His comments have reportedly attracted the interest of Wikipedia's hierarchy.

See also

Malignant narcissism

Narcissistic rage and narcissistic injury

References

Category:Israeli non-fiction writers Category:Israeli journalists Category:Narcissism Category:Psychopathy Category:Living people

Name	Drew Pinsky
Caption	Pinsky in January 2007.
Birthname	David Drew Pinsky
Birth date	September 04, 1958
Birth place	Pasadena, California, United States
Show	Loveline
Station	KROQ-FM Various (syndicated)
Network	Westwood One
Show2	Celebrity Rehab Sex Rehab Sober House
Network2	VH1 MTV
Country	United States
Spouse(s)	Susan Pinsky
Children	3
Web	DrDrew.com

David Drew Pinsky, M.D. (born September 4, 1958), better known as Dr. Drew, is an American radio/television personality, board-certified internist and addiction medicine specialist. He is the host of the nationally syndicated radio talk show, Loveline, which he has hosted since 1984. On television he produces and stars in the VH1 show Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, its spinoffs Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew and Celebrity Rehab Presents Sober House, and the MTV show Sex...With Mom and Dad.

As a medical doctor, Pinsky is Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California, former Medical Director for the Department of Chemical Dependency Services at Las Encinas Hospital in Pasadena, California, staff member at Huntington Memorial Hospital, and a private practitioner.

Early life

Pinsky was born in Pasadena, California and attended Polytechnic School. His father, Morton Pinsky (1925–2009), was a physician; his mother, Helene Stanton (1925-), is a retired singer and actress. He majored in biology at Amherst College, graduating in 1980,

Pinsky is a nonobservant Jew. He admits to abandoning most Jewish practices but claims to retain a continued desire to learn about the religion. He explains that religious as well as philosophical studies affect his medical practice and his speeches. He says that his background places "an indirect coloring on every answer."

Career

As The New York Times described it in February 2008, Pinsky's dual career in medicine and the mass media has required him to "navigat[e] a precarious balance of professionalism and salaciousness."

Loveline

In 1984, while still a medical student, Pinsky started appearing in "Ask a Surgeon", a new segment of a Sunday night KROQ show hosted by Jim "Poorman" Trenton and "Swedish" Egil Aalvik. "Ask the Surgeon" soon combined with "Loveline", another Sunday night segment, into a show of its own, co-hosted by Trenton and Pinsky.

Loveline went national in 1995, and the television version launched on MTV the following year, hosted by Pinsky and Adam Carolla. The exposure on both radio and television made Pinsky the "Gen-X answer to Dr. Ruth Westheimer, with an AIDS-era, pro-safe-sex message." Although the show was canceled in December, 2008, as of February 28, 2009 the show's website is still up and old shows can still be downloaded and listened to via the website.

Other media appearances

Dr. Drew Pinsky made his acting debut in "Terminal," a 1998 episode of the TV show Space Ghost Coast to Coast, and later appeared on Dawson's Creek and Family Guy.

In addition to his radio show and medical career, Pinsky also has gained fame on television talk shows. He served as "health and human relations expert" on the first season of the U.S. TV series Big Brother in 2000. He has also hosted his own television series, Strictly Sex with Dr. Drew, on the Discovery Health Channel, which was followed by Strictly Dr. Drew. The newer program addressed everyday health issues, premiered on July 25, 2006, and continues to air weekly on Tuesdays at 7:00 pm PT.

In 2008, Pinsky starred in Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, a reality television show which involves celebrities in a drug rehabilitation facility. The show was filmed at Pasadena Recovery Center, with Pinsky serving as the resident medical expert. The series premiered January 10, 2008 on VH-1, and has been renewed for multiple seasons. A followup show to Celebrity Rehab with many of the same celebrities was Sober House, which began its first season in January 2009, and included celebrities from the first two seasons of Celebrity Rehab continuing their recovery in a sober living facility.

Pinsky also appears on the MTV series Sex...with Mom and Dad.

Pinsky makes frequent guest appearances on a variety of news programs where he usually gives his observations on the relationship between controlled substances and high-profile individuals. He has frequently given his views on the deaths of people such as Anna Nicole Smith, Heath Ledger and Michael Jackson, arguing that their fates should set examples of the seriousness of misusing drugs.

In November 2009, Pinsky starred a spinoff of Celebrity Rehab, Sex Rehab with Dr.Drew. Patients included members celebrities being treated with sexual addiction, described as serious and potentially as fatal as drug or alcohol addiction. The rehab program took place over three weeks at the Pasadena Recovery Center.

TV appearances in which Pinsky did not appear as himself include The Adam Carolla Project, Minoriteam, Robot Chicken, My Gym Partner's a Monkey, and Code Monkeys. Pinsky has also been in the films New York Minute and Wild Hogs.

The Associated Press announced that in the Spring of 2011, Dr. Drew will host his own show on HLN that focuses on addiction.

In an interview on Kevin and Bean, Pinsky has stated he will speak to any media outlet including TMZ and The National Enquirer, but will not speak to the Los Angeles Times, explaining "They distort, and they mislead, and they take things out of context. I really am stunned at how shoddy their journalism is, so I stopped talking to them."

Other work

In 2003, Pinsky authored , recounting his experiences as the Medical Director of the Department of Chemical Dependency Services at the Las Encinas Hospital drug rehabilitation clinic in Pasadena, California. He also contributed to the book When Painkillers Become Dangerous: What Everyone Needs to Know About OxyContin and Other Prescription Drugs, published in 2004.

In addition to his media appearances, Pinsky speaks at college campuses and other public venues. When Adam Carolla and Pinsky were teamed as hosts of Loveline, Carolla and Pinsky spoke at colleges.

In 1999, Pinsky co-founded an Internet-based community and advice site for teenagers called DrDrew.com with Curtis Giesen. Among their early backers was Garage.com. DrDrew.com soon ran out of funding, and the company was sold to Sherwood Partners Inc., a corporate restructuring firm, which sold the remnants to DrKoop.com in November 2000.

Honors

Asteroid 4536 Drewpinsky is named in his honor.

Pinsky was honored with the Larry Stewart Leadership and Inspiration Award at the 12th Annual PRISM Awards in 2008.

Credentials

BA Amherst College

MD University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine of USC

Residency Internal Medicine, Huntington Memorial Hospital

Board Certified, American Board of Internal Medicine Board Certified, American Board of Addiction Medicine Certified member of American Society of Addiction Medicine since 1990

Member of American College of Physicians

Licensed Physician and Surgeon in the State of California since 1985

Criticism and praise

In 2009 Pinsky drew criticism from experts for publicly offering professional opinions of celebrities he has never met or personally examined, based on media accounts, and has also drawn the ire of some of those celebrities. Following comments Pinsky made about actor Tom Cruise's belief in Scientology and Lindsay Lohan's drug abuse, Cruise's lawyer compared Pinsky to Joseph Goebbels, and Lohan posted on Twitter, "I thought REAL doctors talked to patients in offices behind closed doors." Pinsky also received criticism in April 2010 for stating that he would frame Lohan for illegal drug use in order to force her into a sobriety program if he were her father. Pinsky responded in the same publication that his remark was intended as hyperbole and a "flight of journalistic excess," not a suggestion as a treatment modality in any way. He stated his intent was to drive home the point about bringing negative consequences to bear for a person dying of addiction when all other options have been exhausted.

Pinsky, who admits in his 2009 book, The Mirror Effect, that he scored a 16 on the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (average is 18 for celebrities), and shares several traits with the "closet narcissist", asserts that he was never motivated by fame to become a media figure, but from a desire to educate the public on the medical facts distorted by the media. Patient Andy Dick, who made Pinsky his primary care physician, disputes the accusation that Pinsky is motivated by a desire for fame, insisting that Pinsky "really is just this unbelievably caring guy. He really is. He’s almost too caring." Sex Rehab alumnus Duncan Roy, however, has criticized Pinsky's competence. While Roy concedes that Pinsky is highly skilled at treating drug and alcohol addiction, he claims that Pinsky has no knowledge of sex addiction, and that he merely recycled the words and ideas of Jill Vermiere, MFT, one of the therapists on Sex Rehab, who Roy says, along with Dr. John Sealy, were the true therapeutic forces behind his recovery.

Defending the practice of paying addicts to attend rehab, producer Pinsky says, "My whole thing is bait and switch. Whatever motivates them to come in, that’s fine. Then we can get them involved with the process."

Personal life

Pinsky married on July 21, 1991, and he and his wife Susan had triplets Douglas, Jordan, and Paulina in November 1992.

Pinsky lives in Pasadena, California. An avid fitness person since his early teens, he goes running and does weight training regularly. In addition to his hobby of traveling, Pinsky stated that he auditioned for a celebrity singing show, but that the show passed on his appearance when he made it clear to producers that he could not sing pop songs, but did perform an aria on Turn Ben Stein On.

Pinsky's father, Morton, died suddenly of a cerebral hemorrhage on October 27, 2009. A title card at the end of the season 3 finale of Celebrity Rehab dedicated the episode to him.

Filmography

Radio

Loveline

Dr. Drew Live

Film

New York Minute

Big Stan

Overexposed

Wild Hogs

Television

Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew

Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew

Strictly Sex with Dr. Drew

Strictly Dr. Drew

Sex...With Mom and Dad

Sober House

Loveline

Steve-O Demise and Rise

16 and Pregnant

''Big Brother

Beauty and the Geek

Crank Yankers

Robot Chicken

Minoriteam

Family Guy

Dawson's Creek

Space Ghost Coast to Coast

The Man Show

Tom Green Live

The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson

Larry King Live (Host)

Teen Mom

Warren the Ape

Published work

Journal publications

Books

References

External links

Official Website

2003 radio interview by Barbara Bogaev on Fresh Air

"Dr. Drew's Celebrity Addiction Special" at the VH1 website

Interview with Drew Pinksy's wife at LAist

Dr. Drew Pinsky Biography

Official Message-Board

The now canceled,"Dr. Drew Live" Radio Show

Dr. Drew behind-the-scenes video on QIK.COM

Category:Physicians from California Category:Internists Category:American Jews Category:American health and wellness writers Category:American talk radio hosts Category:American relationships and sexuality writers Category:American television talk show hosts Category:Participants in American reality television series Category:People from Pasadena, California Category:Amherst College alumni Category:University of Southern California alumni Category:University of Southern California faculty Category:1958 births Category:Living people