|
|
| Psychology Information |
|
|
|
|
The Cyber Narcissist
To the narcissist, the Internet is an alluring and irresistible combination of playground and hunting grounds, the gathering place of numerous potential Sources of Narcissistic Supply, a world where false identities are the norm and mind games the bon ton. And it is beyond the reach of the law, the pale of social norms, the strictures of civilized conduct. The somatic finds cyber-sex and cyber-relationships aplenty. The cerebral claims false accomplishments, fake skills, erudition and talents. Both, if minimally communicative, end up at the instantly gratifying epicenter of a cult of fans, followers, stalkers, erotomaniacs, denigrators, and plain nuts. The constant attention and attendant quasi-celebrity feed and sustain their grandiose fantasies and inflated self-image. The Internet is an extension of the real-life Narcissistic Pathological Space but without its risks, injuries, and disappointments. In the virtual universe of the Web, the narcissist vanishes and reappears with ease, often adopting a myriad aliases and nicknames. He (or she) can thus fend off criticism, abuse, disagreement, and disapproval effectively and in real time and, simultaneously, preserve the precarious balance of his infantile personality. Narcissists are, therefore, prone to Internet addiction. The positive characteristics of the Net are largely lost on the narcissist. He is not keen on expanding his horizons, fostering true relationships, or getting in real contact with other people. The narcissist is forever the provincial because he filters everything through the narrow lens of his addiction. He measures others and idealizes or devalues them according to one criterion only: how useful they might be as Sources of Narcissistic Supply. The Internet is an egalitarian medium where people are judged by the consistency and quality of their contributions rather than by the content or bombast of their claims. But the narcissist is driven to distracting discomfiture by a lack of clear and commonly accepted hierarchy (with himself at the pinnacle). He fervently and aggressively tries to impose the "natural order" either by monopolizing the interaction or, if that fails, by becoming a major disruptive influence. But the Internet may also be the closest many narcissists get to psychodynamic therapy. Because it is still largely text-based, the Web is populated by disembodied entities. By interacting with these intermittent, unpredictable, ultimately unknowable, ephemeral, and ethereal voices the narcissist is compelled to project unto them his own experiences, fears, hopes, and prejudices. Transference (and counter-transference) are quite common on the Net and the narcissist's defence mechanisms notably projection and projective identification are frequently aroused. The therapeutic process is set in motion by the unbridled, uncensored, and brutally honest - reactions to the narcissist's repertory of antics, pretensions, delusions, and fantasies. The narcissist ever the intimidating bully is not accustomed to such resistance. Initially, it may heighten and sharpen his paranoia and lead him to compensate by extending and deepening his grandiosity. Some narcissists withdraw altogether, reverting to the schizoid posture. Others become openly antisocial and seek to subvert, sabotage, and destroy the online sources of their frustration. A few retreat and confine themselves to the company of adoring sycophants and unquestioning groupies. But a long exposure to the culture of the Net irreverent, skeptical, and populist usually exerts a beneficial effect even on the staunchest and most rigid narcissist. Far less convinced of his own superiority and infallibility, the online narcissist mellows and begins hesitantly to listen to others and to collaborate with them. First published in my
About The Author Sam Vaknin is the author of Malignant Self Love - Narcissism Revisited and After the Rain - How the West Lost the East. He is a columnist for Central Europe Review, PopMatters, and eBookWeb , a United Press International (UPI) Senior Business Correspondent, and the editor of mental health and Central East Europe categories in The Open Directory Bellaonline, and Suite101 . Until recently, he served as the Economic Advisor to the Government of Macedonia. Visit Sam's Web site at http://samvak.tripod.com; palma@unet.com.mk
Psychology - Google News |
|
|
|
Alternative Medicine The Essence of Being Human What does it mean to be Human? Well if you reflect on your thoughts and behaviors and those of the individuals around you on this planet since the beginning of our existence here I think you will likely come to the conclusion that to wear the label Human is not exactly endearing or desirable. We are in the End Days; Oh, Really Now? Some think the world is coming to an end, they cite signs in the Revelations and current world events. The world is not going to end, in all the written history and much of course which maybe somewhat a modified version of what actually happened nothing has ever been perfect and the doom and gloomers of those past periods too were out in fill force. Most of the history we read in the history text books is certainly taken out of perspective of the reality of the time shows us that nothing ever was fine and that what we have here is working and it appears to be working quite well in retrospect. We are in a better place than we have been in any of the written historical record. The World did not end then and it will not end this time. Eating Disorders and the Narcissist Patients suffering from eating disorders binge on food and sometimes are both anorectic and bulimic. This is an impulsive behaviour as defined by the DSM (particularly in the case of BPD and to a lesser extent of Cluster B disorders in general). Some patients develop these disorders as a way to self-mutilate. It is a convergence of two pathological behaviours: self-mutilation and an impulsive (rather, compulsive or ritualistic) behaviour. Do You Love Your Body? Through out the course of one's life one is faced with and accumulates a history of emotional trauma that becomes stored in ones's energy field. Such trauma poses many problems. These include such things as emotional and physical pain, chronic stress, a drain in one's vital life energy and the tendency for the individual to take flight from the physical body. In this article I hope to address the latter, its consequences and a new modality that may be able to reverse this tendency. Short Story: The Next Level of Humanity "Hey Mac, have you ever been thinking of someone and then-bang! - The telephone rings and it's them on the phone?" Hypnotic Myths Even though hypnosis has been around officially since the 1700s (Franz Anton Mesmer), there are still questions as to its validity and benefits. For the most part, these questions stem from fear and ignorance. Regarding this subject, it is generally assumed that what you don't know can hurt you. People's viewpoints on hypnosis vary according to what their experiences have been and what they've heard. Achieving an Ambidextrous Mindset History lends us an ideal of ambidexterity: Leonardo da Vinci, Harry Truman and James Garfield were all known to be physically ambidextrous, but to what does that translate? In modern times, ambidexterity isn't a hot topic, but in fact, we are all - to a degree - ambidextrous. You, I and We Our life in society hovers around the concept of 'You?I? We'. The first stage is 'You-You' which is called 'dependent' stage. As a child, we are dependent on others for our needs and expect help and support from others. The dependence can be either emotional or physical. The second stage is 'I I', where in we attain relative freedom and corresponding changes are noticeable in terms of speech, behavior, movements, preferences, interests and perceptions.In this stage we act with absolute freedom both mentally and physically. The feeling of 'Me-Mine' will be at a high point during this stage. Typical thought processes will be as follows: Narcissistic Personality Disorder Tips FIVE DON'T DO'S An Easy Cure For Math Phobia Why is it that one person enjoys math, while another person hates it? Anti-Social Behaviors and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Anti-social behaviors are common with ADHD individuals. About 60% of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder kids are also oppositional or defiant. Some are even getting in trouble with the law. Artificial Intelligence - What Have We Learned Through Natural Ignorance? During the late '80s and early '90s, I had the opportunity to work with expert systems in real-time production environments. I found artificial intelligence, or AI, to be thoroughly intriguing. I even went so far as to write an expert system package, under Microsoft Windows, called WindExS. However, as I continued my work, and expanded into other areas of knowledge management and, eventually, remote viewing, I began to find some unusual inconsistencies in the AI world and the desires to create "truly intelligent" and "thinking" machines. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Neurologically Based Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is a neurologically based disorder. Its Never Too Late First of all, a bit of background: A high school dropout, stay-at-home mom until the age of 40, I wasn't too motivated to learn. Then I read the following quote:"Old Bureaucrat, my comrade, it is not you who are to blame. No one ever helped you to escape? Nobody grasped you by the shoulder while there was still time. Now the clay of which you wereshaped has dried and hardened, and naught in you will ever awaken the sleeping musician, the poet, the astronomer that possibly inhabited you in the beginning." (Antoine de Saint Exupery) The Offspring of Aeolus - On the Incest Taboo Incest is not such a clear-cut matter as it has been made out to be over millennia of taboos. Many participants claim to have enjoyed the act and its physical and emotional consequences. It is often the result of seduction. In some cases, two consenting and fully informed adults are involved. Many types of relationships, which are defined as incestuous, are between genetically unrelated parties (a stepfather and a daughter), or between fictive kin or between classificatory kin (that belong to the same matriline or patriline). In certain societies (the American Indians or the Chinese) it is sufficient to carry the same family name (=to belong to the same clan) and marriage is forbidden. Some incest prohibitions relate to sexual acts - other to marriage. In some societies, incest is mandatory or prohibited, according to the social class (Bali). In others, the Royal House started a tradition of incestuous marriages, which were imitated by lower classes (Ancient Egypt). The list is long and it serves to demonstrate the diversity of this most universal taboo. Generally put, we can say that a prohibition to have sex with or marry a related person should be classified as an incest prohibition, no matter the nature of the relationship. Lesson Plans that Reach the Multiple Intelligences American schools have traditionally favored those students who excel in the linguistic and analytical arenas because these skills are highly valued in our culture. Unfortunately, this traditional approach leaves certain students behind to stumble blindly through an educational system which ignores their unique abilities. This is not to say that the development of linguistic and analytical skills should be abandoned in favor of nontraditional approaches to education. Rather, traditional and nontraditional approaches should be combined to formulate a method of education that is best suited to the students who populate our classrooms. Balancing Brain Lobes - Mutras When does consciousness exist? Will the sentient robots being created with nanotechnology and the dumping of human memory such as was done to a computer chip by Stanford in 1999 have a soul of their own? I do not believe our soul is dumped in this process. But the issue of soul can be debated until the cows come home by observers of natural phenomena. Modern science has no greater insight than the ancient observers. In fact the ancients spent more time attuning with consciousness or soul in all things elemental and spiritual. Most nature worshippers are able to see an element of soul in rocks and trees and the recent fact that science provides about the white pine eating insects or the changing colour of leaves not being for the first frost add to the possibility as I see it. I love the saying of the Mayans 'Do not put your self in front of your SELF.' On Empathy The Encyclopaedia Britannica (1999 edition) defines empathy as: Why Other Children are Rejecting Your Child Introduction Kleptomaniac Confessions Ever felt urged to steal a piece of bubblegum from the grocery store and given in? Then you are likely training to become either a kleptomaniac or an addictive compulsive thief. Do not despair you are not alone. Not a threat. And there is a way out.
|
| home | site map | |
© 2006 www.elearn-university.org |
