Strong Men and Political Theatres – The “Being There” Syndrome

Given a high enough level of frustration, triggered by recurrent, endemic, and systemic failures in all spheres of policy, even the most resilient democracy develops a predilection to “strong men”, leaders whose self-confidence, sangfroid, and apparent omniscience all but “guarantee” a change of course for the better.

Psychological Signs and Symptoms

Symptoms are the patient’s complaints. They are highly subjective and amenable to suggestion and to alterations in the patient’s mood and other mental processes. Symptoms are no more than mere indications. Signs, on the other hand, are objective and measurable. Signs are evidence of the existence, stage, and extent of a pathological state. Headache is a symptom – short-sightedness (which may well be the cause of the headache) is a sign.

Psychological Defense Mechanisms

According to Freud and his followers, our psyche is a battlefield between instinctual urges and drives (the id), the constraints imposed by reality on the gratification of these impulses (the ego), and the norms of society (the superego). This constant infighting generates what Freud called “neurotic anxiety” (fear of losing control) and “moral anxiety” (guilt and shame).

Psychological Tests

The outcomes of various tests must fit in with each other. Put together, they must provide a consistent and coherent picture. If one test yields readings that are constantly at odds with the conclusions of other questionnaires or interviews, it may not be valid. In other words, it may not be measuring what it claims to be measuring.

Barack Obama – Narcissist or Merely Narcissistic?

Obama’s early life was decidedly chaotic and replete with traumatic and mentally bruising dislocations.

The Dual Role of the Narcissist’s False Self

Question:
Why does the narcissist conjure up another Self? Why not simply transform his True Self into a False one?
Answer:
We often marvel at the discrepancy between the private and public lives of our idols: celebrities, statesmen, stars, writers, and other accomplished figures. It is as though they have two personalities, two selves: the “true” one which [...]

The Misanthropic Altruist

Most narcissists confine their giving to money and material goods. Their munificence is an abusive defence mechanism, intended to avoid real intimacy.

“Malignant Self Love – Narcissism Revisited” – Introduction by Ken Heilbrunn, MD

In fact my raging is precisely what allows me to stay with you. Go ahead. Tell our friends about it. See if they can imagine what it’s like, let alone believe it.

The Myth of Mental Illness

Descriptive criteria aside, what is the essence of mental disorders? Are they merely physiological disorders of the brain, or, more precisely of its chemistry?

Narcissist, Beware the Children

Children are always derided by everyone except their parents. There is something sick and sickening in a mother’s affections.