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Articles from Sam Vaknin | Selfgrowth.com
- The Psychopathic Patient - A Case Study - by Submitted on Aug 15, 2007 from Sam VakninNotes of first therapy session with Ani Korban, male, 46, diagnosed with Antisocial Personality Disorder (AsPD), or Psychopathy and Sociopathy Ani was referred to therapy by the court, as part of a rehabilitation program. He is serving time in prison, having been convicted of grand fraud. The ...
Views: 1059 - The Psychopath and Antisocial - by Submitted on Apr 22, 2007 from Sam VakninRoots of the Disorder Are the psychopath, sociopath, and someone with the Antisocial Personality Disorder one and the same? The DSM says "yes". Scholars such as Robert Hare and Theodore Millon beg to differ. The psychopath has antisocial traits for sure but they are coupled with and enhanced by ...
Views: 1056 - Coping With Stalking And Stalkers - by Submitted on Nov 19, 2007 from Sam VakninA Typology of Stalkers Stalkers are not made of one cloth. Some of them are psychopaths, others are schizoids, narcissists, paranoids, or an admixture of these mental health disorders. Stalkers harass their victims because they are lonely, or because it is fun (these are latent sadists), or ...
Views: 1053 - Personality Disorders as an Insanity Defense - by Submitted on Jun 19, 2007 from Sam Vaknin"It is an ill thing to knock against a deaf-mute, an imbecile, or a minor. He that wounds them is culpable, but if they wound him they are not culpable." (Mishna, Babylonian Talmud) Some personality disorders are culture-bound. Critics charge that these "mental illnesses" mostly serve as an ...
Views: 1044 - Leveraging The Children - by Submitted on Oct 11, 2007 from Sam VakninThe abuser often recruits his children to do his bidding. He uses them to tempt, convince, communicate, threaten, and otherwise manipulate his target, the children's other parent or a devoted relative (e.g., grandparents). He controls his - often gullible and unsuspecting - offspring exactly as ...
Views: 1037 - Therapy and Treatment of Personality Disorders - by Submitted on May 31, 2007 from Sam VakninI. Introduction The dogmatic schools of psychotherapy (such as psychoanalysis, psychodynamic therapies, and behaviorism) more or less failed in ameliorating, let alone curing or healing personality disorders. Disillusioned, most therapists now adhere to one or more of three modern methods: ...
Views: 1033 - The Relief of Being Abandoned - by Submitted on Oct 17, 2007 from Sam VakninThe dissolution of the abuser's marriage or other meaningful (romantic, business, or other) relationships constitutes a major life crisis and a scathing narcissistic injury. To soothe and salve the pain of disillusionment, he administers to his aching soul a mixture of lies, distortions, ...
Views: 981 - Factor Models of Personality - by Submitted on May 16, 2007 from Sam VakninThe Five Factor Model deals with the healthy, normal personality. Not so other factor models. In 1990, Clark and a group of researchers constructed an instrument with 21 dimensions, based on the criteria of personality disorders in the DSM-III, on various scholarly texts in the field, and even ...
Views: 979 - Misdiagnosing Personality Disorders as Eating Disorders - by Submitted on Aug 09, 2007 from Sam VakninThe Eating Disordered Patient Eating disorders - notably Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa - are complex phenomena. The patient with eating disorder maintains a distorted view of her body as too fat or as somehow defective (she may have a body dysmorphic disorder). Many patients with eating ...
Views: 977 - Getting Law Enforcement Authorities and the Police Involved - by Submitted on Dec 05, 2007 from Sam VakninIf you want the nightmare to end, there is a rule of thumb which requires courage and determination to implement: Involve the police whenever possible. Report his crimes as soon as you can and make sure you retain a copy of your complaint. Your abuser counts on your fear of him and on your ...
Views: 975 - Tell Your Children The Truth - by Submitted on Oct 15, 2007 from Sam VakninMost victims attempt to present to their children a "balanced" picture of the relationship and of the abusive spouse. In a vain attempt to avoid the notorious (and controversial) Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS), they do not besmirch the abusive parent and, on the contrary, encourage the ...
Views: 975 - Brain and Personality - by Submitted on Jun 05, 2007 from Sam VakninPhineas Gage was a 25 years old construction foreman who lived in Vermont in the 1860s. While working on a railroad bed, he packed powdered explosives into a hole in the ground, using tamping iron. The powder heated and blew in his face. The tamping iron rebounded and pierced the top of his ...
Views: 972 - Reforming The Abuser - by Submitted on Jan 07, 2008 from Sam VakninHow to get your abuser to see reason in the first place? How to obtain for him the help he needs – without involving law enforcement agencies, the authorities, or the courts? Any attempt to broach the subject of the abuser's mental problems frequently ends in harangues and worse. It is ...
Views: 972 - The Path to Abuse - by Submitted on Oct 02, 2007 from Sam VakninThe abuser mistreats only his closest – spouse, children, or (much more rarely) colleagues, friends, and neighbours. To the rest of the world, he appears to be a composed, rational, and functioning person. Abusers are very adept at casting a veil of secrecy – often with the active ...
Views: 950 - Contracting With Your Abuser - by Submitted on Jan 08, 2008 from Sam VakninHow can one negotiate with an abuser without incurring his wrath? What is the meaning of contracts "signed" with bullies? How can one motivate the abuser to keep his end of the bargain – for instance, to actually seek therapy and attend the sessions? And how efficacious is psychotherapy or ...
Views: 947 - Reconditioning The Abuser - by Submitted on Jan 02, 2008 from Sam VakninCan abusers be "reconditioned"? Can they be "educated" or "persuaded" not to abuse? As I wrote elsewhere, "Abuse is a multifaceted phenomenon. It is a poisonous cocktail of control-freakery, conforming to social and cultural norms, and latent sadism. The abuser seeks to subjugate his victims ...
Views: 937 - Changes in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) IV - by Submitted on Jun 04, 2007 from Sam VakninThe DSM-IV dropped two diagnoses that made an appearance in the DSM-III: the masochistic and the sadistic personality disorders. But these are not the only differences between the two editions as far as Axis II (personality disorders) goes. The DSM-IV considerably expanded and updated the ...
Views: 925 - The Depressive Patient - A Case Study - by Submitted on Aug 27, 2007 from Sam VakninNotes of first therapy session with Edward J., male, 51, diagnosed with Depressive Personality Disorder Edward has a lumbering, numbed presence. He walks as if in a dream, his gait robotic, his eyes downcast. Within minutes, it is abundantly clear to me that he is gloomy, dejected, pessimistic, ...
Views: 917(1 vote) - The Anomaly Of Abuse - by Submitted on Dec 18, 2007 from Sam VakninIs abuse anomalous – or an inevitable part of human nature? If the former – is it the outcome of flawed genetics, nurture (environment and upbringing) – or both? Can it be "cured" – or merely modified, regulated, and accommodated? There are three groups of theories – three schools – regarding ...
Views: 911 - The Gradations of Abuse - by Submitted on Aug 28, 2007 from Sam VakninIs sexual abuse worse than emotional abuse? Is verbal abuse less deleterious than physical abuse (beatings)? Somehow, the professional literature implies that there is a hierarchy with sexual mistreatment at its nadir. It is rare to hear about a dissociative identity disorder ("multiple ...
Views: 911 - Misdiagnosing Personality Disorders as Anxiety Disorders - by Submitted on Aug 08, 2007 from Sam VakninWhat is Anxiety Anxiety is uncontrollable and excessive apprehension, a kind of unpleasant (dysphoric), mild fear, with no apparent external reason. Anxiety is dread in anticipation of a future menace or an imminent but diffuse and unspecified danger, usually imagined or exaggerated. The mental ...
Views: 897 - The Three Forms Of Closure - by Submitted on Nov 14, 2007 from Sam VakninFor her traumatic wounds to heal, the victim of abuse requires closure - one final interaction with her tormentor in which he, hopefully, acknowledges his misbehaviour and even tenders an apology. Fat chance. Few abusers - especially if they are narcissistic - are amenable to such weakling ...
Views: 883 - Condoning Abuse - by Submitted on Dec 17, 2007 from Sam VakninStatistics show that intimate partner abuse, including domestic violence, has declined by one half in the last decade in the United States. Jay Silverman and Gail Williamson demonstrated in "Social Ecology and Entitlements Involved in Battering by Heterosexual College Males" (published in ...
Views: 876 - The Three Forms of Closure - by Submitted on Nov 16, 2007 from Sam VakninFor her traumatic wounds to heal, the victim of abuse requires closure - one final interaction with her tormentor in which he, hopefully, acknowledges his misbehaviour and even tenders an apology. Fat chance. Few abusers - especially if they are narcissistic - are amenable to such weakling ...
Views: 852 - Avoiding Your Paranoid Ex - by Submitted on Nov 05, 2007 from Sam VakninIf at all possible, put as much physical distance as you can between yourself and the stalker. Change address, phone number, email accounts, cell phone number, enlist the kids in a new school, find a new job, get a new credit card, open a new bank account. Do not inform your paranoid ex about ...
Views: 840 - The Masochistic Patient - A Case Study - by Submitted on Jul 18, 2007 from Sam VakninDisclaimer The Masochistic personality disorder was included in the DSM III-TR but removed from the DSM IV and from its text revision, the DSM IV-TR. This move was criticized by some scholars, notably Theodore Millon. Notes of first therapy session with Sam, male, 46, diagnosed with ...
Views: 831 - Planning and Executing Your Getaway - by Submitted on Dec 03, 2007 from Sam VakninDo not leave unprepared. Study and execute every detail of your getaway. This is especially important if your partner is violent. Be sure to make a Safety Plan – how to get out of the house unnoticed and the indispensable minimum items that you should carry with you, even on a short ...
Views: 817 - How to Cope with Your Paranoid Ex - by Submitted on Oct 30, 2007 from Sam VakninYour abusive ex is likely to cope with the pain and humiliation of separation by spreading lies, distortions, and half-truths about you and by proffering self-justifying interpretations of the events leading to the break-up. By targeting your closest, nearest, and dearest – your family, ...
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