Abuse, Trauma, and Torture - Their Consequences and Effects

Abuse, Torture,
And Trauma and Their Consequences and Effects

1
^st
EDITION

Sam Vaknin,
Ph.D.

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[email protected]


[email protected]



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http://
samvak.tripod.com

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http://www.narcissistic-abuse.com/thebook.html

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A Primer on Narcissism and the
Nar
cissistic Personality Disorder
(NPD)

The
Narcissist's Entitlement of Routine

Pathological Narcissism – A Dysfunction or a
Blessing?

The Narcissist's Confabulated Life

The Cult of the Narcissist

Bibliography

The Narcissist in the Workplace

Narcissism in the Boardroom

The Professions of the Narcissist


, Abuse, Torture - An
Overview

What is
Abuse?

Traumas as Social
Interactions

The Psychology of
Torture

How Victims are
Affected by Abuse

Victim reaction to Abuse By Narcissists and
Psychopaths

The Three Forms of Closure

Surviving the Narcissist

Mourning the
Narcissist

The Inverted
Narcissist

Torture, Abuse, and
Trauma – In Fiction and Poetry

Nothing is Happening
at Home

Night
Terror

A Dream Come
True

Cutting to
Existence

In
the concentration camp called Home

Sally
Ann

The Miracle
of the Kisses

The Book (“Malignant
Self-lo
ve: Narcissism
Revisited”)

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
http://samvak.tripod.com/siteindex.html

A Profile of
the Narcissistic Abuser

Pathological Narcissism – An Overview

Pathological narcissism
is a life-long pattern of traits and behaviours which signify
infatuation and obsession with one's self to the exclusion of all
others and the egotistic and ruthless pursuit of one's
gratification, dominance and ambition.

As distinct
from
healthy
narcissism
which we all
possess, pathological narcissism is maladaptive, rigid, persisting,
and causes significant distress, and functional
impairment.

Pathological narcissism
was first described in detail by Freud in his essay "On Narcissism"
[1915]. Other major contributors to the study of narcissism are:
Melanie Klein, Karen Horney, Franz Kohut, Otto Kernberg, Theodore
Millon, Elsa Roningstam, Gunderson, and Robert Hare.

The
Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) (formerly known as
megalomania or, colloquially, as egotism) is a form of pathological
narcissism. It is a Cluster B (dramatic, emotional, or
erratic)
Personality
Disorder
. Other Cluster B
personality disorders are the Borderline Personality Disorder
(BPD), the Antisocial Personality Disorder (APD), and the
Histrionic Personality Disorder (HPD). The Narcissistic Personality
Disorder (NPD) first appeared as a mental health diagnosis in the
DSM-III-TR (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual) in 1980.

The ICD-10,
the International Classification of Diseases, published by the
World Health Organisation in Geneva [1992] regards the
Narcissistic Personality Disorder
(NPD)
as
"a personality disorder that fits none of the specific
rubrics"
. It relegates it to the category
"Other Specific Personality Disorders" together with the eccentric,
"haltlose", immature, passive-aggressive, and psychoneurotic
personality disorders and types.

The American
Psychiatric Association, based in Washington D.C., USA, publishes
the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth
edition, Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR) [2000] where it provides the
diagnostic criteria for the
Narcissistic Personality Disorder
(301.81, p. 717).

The DSM-IV-TR
defines Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) as
"an all-pervasive pattern of grandiosity (in
fantasy or behaviour), need for admiration or adulation and lack of
empathy, usually beginning by early adulthood and present in
various contexts"
, such as family life and
work.

The DSM
specifies
nine diagnostic criteria
. Five
(or more) of these criteria must be met for a diagnosis of
Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) to be rendered.

[In the text
below, I have proposed modifications to the language of these
criteria to incorporate current knowledge about this disorder. My
modifications appear in
italics
.]

[My amendments do not
constitute a part of the text of the DSM-IV-TR, nor is the American
Psychiatric Association (APA) associated with them in any
way.]

[Click
here
to
download a
bibliography
of the studies and research regarding the Narcissistic
Personality Disorder (NPD) on which I based my proposed
revisions.]

•
Feels
grandiose and self-important (e.g., exaggerates accomplishments,
talents,
skills
,
contacts
,
and personality traits to the
point of lying
,
demands
to be recognised as superior
without commensurate achievements);

•
Is
obsessed
with fantasies
of unlimited success,
fame
,
fearsome
power or
omnipotence
,
unequalled
brilliance
(
the cerebral
narcissist
),
bodily
beauty
or sexual performance
(
the somatic
narcissist
), or ideal,
everlasting
,
all-conquering
love
or passion
;

•
Firmly
convinced that he or she is unique and, being special, can only be
understood by,
should only be treated
by
, or associate with, other special or
unique, or high-status people (or institutions);

•
Requires
excessive admiration,
adulation
,
attention and affirmation
–
or, failing that, wishes to be feared and to be
notorious
(
Narcissistic Supply
);

•
Feels
entitled.
Demands automatic and full
compliance
with his or her unreasonable
expectations for special and
favourable
priority
treatment;

•
Is
"interpersonally exploitative", i.e.,
uses
others to achieve his or her
own ends;

•
Devoid
of empathy. Is
unable
or unwilling to
identify with,
acknowledge
,
or accept
the feelings,
needs,
preferences
,
priorities
,
and choices
of others;

•
Constantly
envious of others
and seeks to hurt or
destroy the objects of his or her frustration
.
Suffers from persecutory
(paranoid) delusions as he or she
believes
that they feel the same about him or her
and are likely to act similarly
;

•
Behaves
arrogantly and haughtily.
Feels superior,
omnipotent, omniscient, invincible, immune, "above the law", and
omnipresent (magical thinking). Rages when frustrated,
contradicted, or confronted
by people he
or she considers inferior to him or her and unworthy.

According to the
DSM-IV-TR, between 2% and 16% of the population in clinical
settings (between 0.5-1% of the general population) are diagnosed
with Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD). Most narcissists
(50-75%, according to the DSM-IV-TR) are men.