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Emotional Intelligence: The Basics

2008-07-17T00:03:00.009-07:00

There's so much talk about emotional intelligence and how it can promote personal and business success. What is it really? What are its basic tenets?

Emotional intelligence is the capacity to recognize, understand, and manage one's emotions and that of others. This "intelligent" concept focuses on the role of emotion in our daily lives and how it affects our perception, reasoning, and behavior.

Emotions are pervasive in our daily existence. From the time we wake up to the time we retire to bed, we experience emotions. We can get excited by the news of economic recovery, or we feel upset when our favorite team loses a championship game.

Moreover, we can get lonely when our friend of many years decides to look for greener pastures and we can feel anxious when our child does not go home on time after class.

So really, emotions happen everywhere and anytime. There is no day that passes by without emotions being involved. We experience emotions when we - win or lose, receive phone calls from long lost friends, greet our children good morning, say hello to our neighbors, prepare meals for our spouses, or ride the subway train.

Emotions are just as normal as the rising of the sun.

However, there are times when our emotions can become overwhelming and can negatively affect our functioning. For instance, anger is normal. However, the inappropriate display of uncontrolled anger can be destructive.

Let me clarify this point with a hypothetical situation. Richard, a relatively nice guy who works as a salesman, is married for 5 years with Cynthia. For the past few years, his sales have plummeted due to some unknown reasons. He used to be mild-mannered but lately he hasn't been the same.

When he gets angry, he just can't control himself. He yells, bangs the door, throws fits, and punches the wall. In addition, he calls his wife names and puts her down. Eventually, he has physically harmed Cynthia. Due to his uncontrollable anger and physically abusive behavior, Cynthia has decided to file a divorce.

In this example, Richard has failed to recognize his ongoing anger and its associated behavioral consequences. Because of his inability to recognize his anger and consequent behavior, he has failed miserably to contain his anger despite signs that his wife doesn't want to put up with it. In addition, he has failed miserably to recognize and understand the feelings of Cynthia. How could he? He can't even recognize his own.

Emotional intelligence can therefore become an important tool at home and at work. By learning its basic tenets of self awareness (knowing one's emotions), self management (controlling one's emotions), social awareness (recognizing the emotions of others), and relationship management (social skills), people can make use of the emotion to advance the positive cause of our families and communities.

By Dr. Michael G. Rayel

Narcissistic Personality Disorder - Who is a Malignant Narcissist?

2008-07-17T00:03:00.007-07:00

QUESTION Number 1 - Who is a Narcissist?

Dear Dr. Vaknin,

I read the excerpts you placed on your web site with great interest.

I wanted to ask:

Isn't your definition of malignant narcissism too wide? Having read it, I think that it fits my neighbours, friends, and family to a "t". Everyone seems to be a narcissist to me now!

HELP!

ANSWER

Yours is an understandable reaction. All of us have narcissistic TRAITS. Some of us even develop a narcissistic PERSONALITY. Moreover, narcissism is a SPECTRUM of behaviours - from the healthy to the utterly pathological (known as the Narcissistic Personality Disorder, or NPD).

But the "malignant" narcissist consistently manifests at least 5 of these 9 criteria.

The DSM IV uses this language:

"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."

So, what matters is that these characteristics, often found in healthy people, appear:

Jointly and not separately or intermittently

They are all-pervasive (invade, penetrate, and mould every aspect, nook, and cranny of the personality)

That grandiose fantasies are abundantly discernible

That grandiose (often ridiculous) behaviours are present

That there is an over-riding need for admiration and adulation ("narcissistic supply")

That the person lacks empathy (regards other people as two dimensional cartoon figures and abstractions, unable to "stand in their shoes")

That all these phenomena began, at the latest, in early adolescence

That the narcissistic behaviours pervade all the social and emotional interactions of the narcissist.

Here are the 9 criteria. Having 5 of these 9 "qualifies" you as a narcissist...

Feels grandiose and self-importance (e.g., exaggerates achievements and talents to the point of lying, demands to be recognized 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. Expects unreasonable or special and favourable priority treatment. Demands automatic and full compliance with his or her expectations

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

Devoid of empathy. Is unable or unwilling to identify with or acknowledge the feelings and needs of others

Constantly envious of others or believes that they feel the same about him or her

Arrogant, haughty behaviours or attitudes coupled with rage when frustrated, contradicted, or confronted.

The language in the criteria above is based on or summarized from:

American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, fourth edition (DSM IV). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.

By Sam Vaknin

Gender and the Narcissist

2008-07-17T00:03:00.005-07:00

In the manifestation of their narcissism, female and male narcissists, inevitably, do tend to differ. They emphasise different things. They transform different elements of their personality and of their life into the cornerstones of their disorder.

Women concentrate on their body (as they do in eating disorders: Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa). They flaunt and exploit their physical charms, their sexuality, their socially and culturally determined "femininity". They secure their Narcissistic Supply through their more traditional gender role: the home, children, suitable careers, their husbands ("the wife of?"), their feminine traits, their role in society, etc.

It is no wonder than narcissists - both men and women - are chauvinistic and conservative. They depend to such an extent on the opinions of people around them - that, with time, they are transformed into ultra-sensitive seismographs of public opinion, barometers of prevailing winds and guardians of conformity. Narcissists cannot afford to seriously alienate those who reflect to them their False Self. The very proper and on-going functioning of their Ego depends on the goodwill and the collaboration of their human environment.

True, besieged and consumed by pernicious guilt feelings - many a narcissist finally seek to be punished. The self-destructive narcissist then plays the role of the "bad guy" (or "bad girl"). But even then it is within the traditional socially allocated roles. To ensure social opprobrium (read: attention), the narcissist exaggerates these roles to a caricature. A woman is likely to self-label herself a "whore" and a male narcissist to self-style himself a "vicious, unrepentant criminal". Yet, these again are traditional social roles. Men are likely to emphasise intellect, power, aggression, money, or social status. Women are likely to emphasise body, looks, charm, sexuality, feminine "traits", homemaking, children and childrearing - even as they seek their masochistic punishment.

Another difference is in the way the genders react to treatment. Women are more likely to resort to therapy because they are more likely to admit to psychological problems. But while men may be less inclined to DISCLOSE or to expose their problems to others (the macho-man factor) - it does not necessarily imply that they are less prone to admit it to themselves. Women are also more likely to ask for help than men.

Yet, the prime rule of narcissism must never be forgotten: the narcissist uses everything around him or her to obtain his (or her) Narcissistic Supply. Children happen to be more available to the female narcissist due to the still prevailing prejudiced structure of our society and to the fact that women are the ones to give birth. It is easier for a woman to think of her children as her extensions because they once indeed were her physical extensions and because her on-going interaction with them is both more intensive and more extensive.

This means that the male narcissist is more likely to regard his children as a nuisance than as a source of rewarding Narcissist Supply - especially as they grow and become autonomous. Devoid of the diversity of alternatives available to men - the narcissistic woman fights to maintain her most reliable Source of Supply: her children. Through insidious indoctrination, guilt formation, emotional sanctions, deprivation and other psychological mechanisms, she tries to induce in them a dependence, which cannot be easily unravelled.

But, there is no psychodynamic difference between children, money, or intellect, as Sources of Narcissistic Supply. So, there is no psychodynamic difference between male and female narcissist. The only difference is in their choices of Sources of Narcissistic Supply.

An interesting side issue relates to transsexuals.

Philosophically, there is little difference between a narcissist who seeks to avoid his True Self (and positively to become his False Self) - and a transsexual who seeks to not be his true gender. But this similarity, though superficially appealing, is questionable.

People sometimes seek sex reassignment because of advantages and opportunities which, they believe, are enjoyed by the other sex. This rather unrealistic (fantastic) view of the other is faintly narcissistic. It includes elements of idealised over-valuation, of self-preoccupation, and of objectification of one's self (THAT which have all the advantages is what we want to become). It demonstrates a deficient ability to empathise and some grandiose sense of entitlement ("I deserve to have the best opportunities/advantages") and omnipotence ("I can be whatever I want to be - despite nature/God").

This feeling of entitlement is especially manifest in some gender dysphoric individuals who aggressively pursue hormonal or surgical treatment. They feel that it is their inalienable right to receive it on demand and without any strictures or restrictions. For instance, they oftentimes refuse to undergo psychological evaluation or treatment as a condition for the hormonal or surgical treatment.

It is interesting to note that both narcissism and gender dysphoria are early childhood phenomena. This could be explained by problematic Primary Objects, dysfunctional families, or a common genetic or biochemical problem. It is too early to say which. As yet, there isn't even an agreed typology of gender identity disorders - let alone an in-depth comprehension of their sources.

There are mental disorders, which afflict a specific sex more often. This has to do with hormonal or other physiological dispositions, with social and cultural conditioning through the socialisation process, and with role assignment through the gender differentiation process. None of these seem to be strongly correlated to the formation of malignant narcissism. The Narcissistic Personality Disorder (as opposed, for instance, to the Borderline or the Histrionic Personality Disorders, which afflict women more than men) seems to conform to social mores and to the prevailing ethos of capitalism. Social thinkers like Lasch speculated that modern American culture - a narcissistic, self-centred one - increases the rate of incidence of the Narcissistic Personality Disorder. To this Kernberg answered, rightly:

"The most I would be willing to say is that society can make serious psychological abnormalities, which already exist in some percentage of the population, seem to be at least superficially appropriate."

Quotes from the Literature

"Specifically, past research suggests that exploitive tendencies and open displays of feelings of entitlement will be less integral to narcissism for females than for males. For females such displays may carry a greater possibility of negative social sanctions because they would violate stereotypical gender-role expectancies for women, who are expected to engage in such positive social behavior as being tender, compassionate, warm, sympathetic, sensitive, and understanding.

In females, Exploitiveness/Entitlement is less well-integrated with the other components of narcissism as measured by the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI) - Leadership/Authority, Self-absorption/Self-admiration, and Superiority/Arrogance- than in males - though 'male and female narcissists in general showed striking similarities in the manner in which most of the facets of narcissism were integrated with each other'."

Gender differences in the structure of narcissism: a multi-sample analysis of the narcissistic personality inventory - Brian T. Tschanz, Carolyn C. Morf, Charles W. Turner - Sex Roles: A Journal of Research - Issue: May, 1998

"Women leaders are evaluated negatively if they exercise their authority and are perceived as autocratic."

Eagly, A. H., Makhijani, M. G., & Klonsky, B. G. (1992). Gender and the evaluation of leaders: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 111, 3-22, and ...

Butler, D., & Gels, F. L. (1990). Nonverbal affect responses to male and female leaders: Implications for leadership evaluations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 58, 48-59.

"Competent women must also appear to be sociable and likable in order to influence men - men must only appear to be competent to achieve the same results with both genders."

Carli, L. L., Lafleur, S. J., & Loeber, C. C. (1995). Nonverbal behavior, gender, and influence. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 68, 1030-1041.

By Sam Vaknin

Metaphors of the Mind (Part II)

2008-07-17T00:03:00.003-07:00

Storytelling has been with us since the days of campfire and besieging wild animals. It served a number of important functions: amelioration of fears, communication of vital information (regarding survival tactics and the characteristics of animals, for instance), the satisfaction of a sense of order (justice), the development of the ability to hypothesize, predict and introduce theories and so on.

We are all endowed with a sense of wonder. The world around us in inexplicable, baffling in its diversity and myriad forms. We experience an urge to organize it, to "explain the wonder away", to order it in order to know what to expect next (predict). These are the essentials of survival. But while we have been successful at imposing our mind's structures on the outside world - we have been much less successful when we tried to cope with our internal universe.

The relationship between the structure and functioning of our (ephemeral) mind, the structure and modes of operation of our (physical) brain and the structure and conduct of the outside world have been the matter of heated debate for millennia. Broadly speaking, there were (and still are) two ways of treating it:

There were those who, for all practical purposes, identified the origin (brain) with its product (mind). Some of them postulated the existence of a lattice of preconceived, born categorical knowledge about the universe - the vessels into which we pour our experience and which mould it. Others have regarded the mind as a black box. While it was possible in principle to know its input and output, it was impossible, again in principle, to understand its internal functioning and management of information. Pavlov coined the word "conditioning", Watson adopted it and invented "behaviourism", Skinner came up with "reinforcement". The school of epiphenomenologists (emergent phenomena) regarded the mind as the by product of the brain's "hardware" and "wiring" complexity. But all ignored the psychophysical question: what IS the mind and HOW is it linked to the brain?

The other camp was more "scientific" and "positivist". It speculated that the mind (whether a physical entity, an epiphenomenon, a non-physical principle of organization, or the result of introspection) - had a structure and a limited set of functions. They argued that a "user's manual" could be composed, replete with engineering and maintenance instructions. The most prominent of these "psychodynamists" was, of course, Freud. Though his disciples (Adler, Horney, the object-relations lot) diverged wildly from his initial theories - they all shared his belief in the need to "scientify" and objectify psychology. Freud - a medical doctor by profession (Neurologist) and Bleuler before him - came with a theory regarding the structure of the mind and its mechanics: (suppressed) energies and (reactive) forces. Flow charts were provided together with a method of analysis, a mathematical physics of the mind.

But this was a mirage. An essential part was missing: the ability to test the hypotheses, which derived from these "theories". They were all very convincing, though, and, surprisingly, had great explanatory power. But - non-verifiable and non-falsifiable as they were - they could not be deemed to possess the redeeming features of a scientific theory.

Deciding between the two camps was and is a crucial matter. Consider the clash - however repressed - between psychiatry and psychology. The former regards "mental disorders" as euphemisms - it acknowledges only the reality of brain dysfunctions (such as biochemical or electric imbalances) and of hereditary factors. The latter (psychology) implicitly assumes that something exists (the "mind", the "psyche") which cannot be reduced to hardware or to wiring diagrams. Talk therapy is aimed at that something and supposedly interacts with it.

But perhaps the distinction is artificial. Perhaps the mind is simply the way we experience our brains. Endowed with the gift (or curse) of introspection, we experience a duality, a split, constantly being both observer and observed. Moreover, talk therapy involves TALKING - which is the transfer of energy from one brain to another through the air. This is directed, specifically formed energy, intended to trigger certain circuits in the recipient brain. It should come as no surprise if it were to be discovered that talk therapy has clear physiological effects upon the brain of the patient (blood volume, electrical activity, discharge and absorption of hormones, etc.).

All this would be doubly true if the mind was, indeed, only an emergent phenomenon of the complex brain - two sides of the same coin.

Psychological theories of the mind are metaphors of the mind. They are fables and myths, narratives, stories, hypotheses, conjunctures. They play (exceedingly) important roles in the psychotherapeutic setting - but not in the laboratory. Their form is artistic, not rigorous, not testable, less structured than theories in the natural sciences. The language used is polyvalent, rich, effusive, and fuzzy - in short, metaphorical. They are suffused with value judgements, preferences, fears, post facto and ad hoc constructions. None of this has methodological, systematic, analytic and predictive merits.

Still, the theories in psychology are powerful instruments, admirable constructs of the mind. As such, they are bound to satisfy some needs. Their very existence proves it.

The attainment of peace of mind is a need, which was neglected by Maslow in his famous rendition. People will sacrifice material wealth and welfare, will forgo temptations, will ignore opportunities, and will put their lives in danger - just to reach this bliss of wholeness and completeness. There is, in other words, a preference of inner equilibrium over homeostasis. It is the fulfilment of this overriding need that psychological theories set out to cater to. In this, they are no different than other collective narratives (myths, for instance).

In some respects, though, there are striking differences:

Psychology is desperately trying to link up to reality and to scientific discipline by employing observation and measurement and by organizing the results and presenting them using the language of mathematics. This does not atone for its primordial sin: that its subject matter is ethereal and inaccessible. Still, it lends an air of credibility and rigorousness to it.

The second difference is that while historical narratives are "blanket" narratives - psychology is "tailored", "customized". A unique narrative is invented for every listener (patient, client) and he is incorporated in it as the main hero (or anti-hero). This flexible "production line" seems to be the result of an age of increasing individualism. True, the "language units" (large chunks of denotates and connotates) are one and the same for every "user". In psychoanalysis, the therapist is likely to always employ the tripartite structure (Id, Ego, Superego). But these are language elements and need not be confused with the plots. Each client, each person, and his own, unique, irreplicable, plot.

To qualify as a "psychological" plot, it must be:

All-inclusive (anamnetic) - It must encompass, integrate and incorporate all the facts known about the protagonist.

Coherent - It must be chronological, structured and causal.

Consistent - Self-consistent (its subplots cannot contradict one another or go against the grain of the main plot) and consistent with the observed phenomena (both those related to the protagonist and those pertaining to the rest of the universe).

Logically compatible - It must not violate the laws of logic both internally (the plot must abide by some internally imposed logic) and externally (the Aristotelian logic which is applicable to the observable world).

Insightful (diagnostic) - It must inspire in the client a sense of awe and astonishment which is the result of seeing something familiar in a new light or the result of seeing a pattern emerging out of a big body of data. The insights must be the logical conclusion of the logic, the language and of the development of the plot.

Aesthetic - The plot must be both plausible and "right", beautiful, not cumbersome, not awkward, not discontinuous, smooth and so on.

Parsimonious - The plot must employ the minimum numbers of assumptions and entities in order to satisfy all the above conditions.

Explanatory - The plot must explain the behaviour of other characters in the plot, the hero's decisions and behaviour, why events developed the way that they did.

Predictive (prognostic) - The plot must possess the ability to predict future events, the future behaviour of the hero and of other meaningful figures and the inner emotional and cognitive dynamics.

Therapeutic - With the power to induce change (whether it is for the better, is a matter of contemporary value judgements and fashions).

Imposing - The plot must be regarded by the client as the preferable organizing principle of his life's events and the torch to guide him in the darkness to come.

Elastic - The plot must possess the intrinsic abilities to self organize, reorganize, give room to emerging order, accommodate new data comfortably, avoid rigidity in its modes of reaction to attacks from within and from without.

In all these respects, a psychological plot is a theory in disguise. Scientific theories should satisfy most of the same conditions. But the equation is flawed. The important elements of testability, verifiability, refutability, falsifiability, and repeatability - are all missing. No experiment could be designed to test the statements within the plot, to establish their truth-value and, thus, to convert them to theorems.

There are four reasons to account for this shortcoming:

Ethical - Experiments would have to be conducted, involving the hero and other humans. To achieve the necessary result, the subjects will have to be ignorant of the reasons for the experiments and their aims. Sometimes even the very performance of an experiment will have to remain a secret (double blind experiments). Some experiments may involve unpleasant experiences. This is ethically unacceptable.

The Psychological Uncertainty Principle - The current position of a human subject can be fully known. But both treatment and experimentation influence the subject and void this knowledge. The very processes of measurement and observation influence the subject and change him.

Uniqueness - Psychological experiments are, therefore, bound to be unique, unrepeatable, cannot be replicated elsewhere and at other times even if they deal with the SAME subjects. The subjects are never the same due to the psychological uncertainty principle. Repeating the experiments with other subjects adversely affects the scientific value of the results.

The undergeneration of testable hypotheses - Psychology does not generate a sufficient number of hypotheses, which can be subjected to scientific testing. This has to do with the fabulous (=storytelling) nature of psychology. In a way, psychology has affinity with some private languages. It is a form of art and, as such, is self-sufficient. If structural, internal constraints and requirements are met - a statement is deemed true even if it does not satisfy external scientific requirements.

So, what are plots good for? They are the instruments used in the procedures, which induce peace of mind (even happiness) in the client. This is done with the help of a few embedded mechanisms:

The Organizing Principle - Psychological plots offer the client an organizing principle, a sense of order and ensuing justice, of an inexorable drive toward well defined (though, perhaps, hidden) goals, the ubiquity of meaning, being part of a whole. It strives to answer the "why's" and "how's". It is dialogic. The client asks: "why am I (here follows a syndrome)". Then, the plot is spun: "you are like this not because the world is whimsically cruel but because your parents mistreated you when you were very young, or because a person important to you died, or was taken away from you when you were still impressionable, or because you were sexually abused and so on". The client is calmed by the very fact that there is an explanation to that which until now monstrously taunted and haunted him, that he is not the plaything of vicious Gods, that there is who to blame (focussing diffused anger is a very important result) and, that, therefore, his belief in order, justice and their administration by some supreme, transcendental principle is restored. This sense of "law and order" is further enhanced when the plot yields predictions which come true (either because they are self-fulfilling or because some real "law" has been discovered).

The Integrative Principle - The client is offered, through the plot, access to the innermost, hitherto inaccessible, recesses of his mind. He feels that he is being reintegrated, that "things fall into place". In psychodynamic terms, the energy is released to do productive and positive work, rather than to induce distorted and destructive forces.

The Purgatory Principle - In most cases, the client feels sinful, debased, inhuman, decrepit, corrupting, guilty, punishable, hateful, alienated, strange, mocked and so on. The plot offers him absolution. Like the highly symbolic figure of the Saviour before him - the client's sufferings expurgate, cleanse, absolve, and atone for his sins and handicaps. A feeling of hard won achievement accompanies a successful plot. The client sheds layers of functional, adaptive clothing. This is inordinately painful. The client feels dangerously naked, precariously exposed. He then assimilates the plot offered to him, thus enjoying the benefits emanating from the previous two principles and only then does he develop new mechanisms of coping. Therapy is a mental crucifixion and resurrection and atonement for the sins. It is highly religious with the plot in the role of the scriptures from which solace and consolation can be always gleaned.

By Sam Vaknin

I'm Sorry! Blame-Game or Accountability?

2008-07-17T00:03:00.001-07:00

A powerful tool for health as we approach the new year can be to focus on giving and/or receiving only real apologies when we want to heal a rift with a family member, friend, or co-worker. We hear apologies all the time, but I don't think many of them are sincere. An apology has to be real to heal.

Trang Lei spent the day helping Martha buy furniture and art for her remodeled living room, but Martha never even offered to buy Trang Lei's lunch and so she felt unappreciated. Later when she told Martha she felt hurt, Martha said, "I'm sorry. I was just so excited about what I was buying that I didn't even think about it." Trang Lei did not feel better. In fact, she felt worse.

What was wrong with Martha's apology?Martha's apology came with a built-in excuse, implying that however she behaved was unintentional-beyond her conscious control. Moreover, Martha has an expectation that Trang Lei will accept the excuse. Thus, Martha perpetuates the original problem by continuing to be more focused on herself than on Trang Lei. I call this kind of apology "Sorry-Excuse."

Even Martha wasn't consciously manipulating, her goal was not to take responsibility but to find a way out of it. In most cases, if you don't accept other people's excuses when they apologize, they will quickly get irrupted at you, blaming you for not being understanding.

When we receive a counterfeit apology we often sense it and so rather than the hurt being healed, it is deepened-as in the old saying, "adding insult to injury." I think almost all of us give such apologies. And we model it for our children.

Guidelines for making real apologies:

One: Identify common formats for apology that are" counterfeit."

If you clearly various types of bogus apologies, it will help you recognize when you give or receive an one. Here are some examples of common phrasing.

"Sorry-Excuse"
Example: "I'm sorry I didn't call-I've been really busy."

Translation: Please be understanding about the fact that other things were more important than you."

"Sorry-Denial of Intent"
Example: "I'm sorry you took it that way. It wasn't what I meant."

Translation: I think it's too bad that you had difficulty understanding me correctly.

Example: "I'm sorry if I offended you."

Translation: I can't think of anything I did wrong, but if you think so, I'd be happy to apologize so I can get back in your good graces.

"Sorry-Blame"
Example: "I'm sorry I didn't call sooner. Have you been feeling Insecure about our relationship lately?"

Translation: If you are upset about my not calling, the real cause is your own insecurity, not anything I did.

Two: Only say "I'm sorry," when you mean it and can specify exactly what you are apologizing for

When we give what I believe is a "healthy" or authentic apology, we can state clearly what we did that was disrespectful or inconsiderate without:

immediately explaining why we did it,

telling the person that however it looked or sounded, it wasn't our real intention, or,

bringing up some other issue that suggests that the other person contributed to or caused the problem.

For example, instead of focusing on why she didn't buy Trang-Lei's lunch-her excuse, Martha could have taken full responsibility, saying,

"I'm so sorry I hurt you. There is no excuse for me to forget to buy your lunch. Even that would have been a small thank you for how much you helped me. And you spent your only day off doing it."

Here, Martha uses her apology to show her real appreciation as well as her sadness that she didn't do so earlier.

Three: Decline to accept an apology that is not given sincerely.

When you accept an apology, and then walk away knowing it wasn't real, you enter a world of make-believe where you pretend an issue is resolved while harboring resentments. Gently, firmly, without anger, you can decline a hollow apology. For example:

If you believe that I simply misunderstood you, then I would rather not have an apology from you.

Only if you believe you did something hurtful would I want one.

When you refuse to accept an insincere apology, you refuse to surrender to being manipulated or pacified and you hold the other person more accountable-without having to argue or try to force an apology. You are likely to feel greater confidence.

Real Apologies Build Character and Respect

If we can change how we give and receive apologies, we can become less defensive, gain insight, grow wiser, and strengthen all of our relationships. We can also, then, be a strong model for others, including our children, teaching them that real apologies show strength of character, gain the respect of others, and have great healing power.

by Sharon Ellison

Accepting New Ideas

2008-07-17T00:02:00.017-07:00

Much of the time when a new idea comes to us, we handle that idea and move on, without ever becoming consciously aware of the process. During the times when we are consciously aware of the process of handling a new idea, we often reject that idea without understanding why we rejected it, or sometimes without even understanding that we did reject it.

How can this be?

To understand this, lets briefly review the mechanics of how our minds work. When a new idea comes to us, it comes into our conscious mind. It can be as a result of our own thinking, or it can be from an outside source. Immediately, and sometimes before the new idea is even properly formed, our sub-conscious mind starts to evaluate that idea.

Now this evaluation is happening in our sub-conscious mind. That means that we are not consciously aware of it, but it is happening anyway.

So how does our sub-conscious mind evaluate an idea, sometimes before the idea is complete, and without us being aware that this is going on. To understand this we need to understand a characteristic of our sub-conscious mind.

Our sub-conscious mind has no ability to reason. If that is so, how can it evaluate a new idea? Well one way is to ask itself, does this new idea fit with what I already 'know'. If it does, then the new idea will not be immediately rejected. If it doesn't then the sub-conscious mind will send a message to the conscious mind to say that this new idea doesn't fit. Usually at this point, the conscious mind will believe what the sub-conscious mind is saying to it, and reject the idea.

There are a number of problems with this. What if the information that the sub-conscious mind is evaluating the new idea against, is wrong?

A common example of this is when a new idea comes into our conscious mind, and our sub-conscious mind starts to evaluate it. The sub-conscious mind says, 'I already know that'. Now that 'I already know that' message is sent to the conscious mind, and what happens then?

Often the conscious mind stops considering the new idea at that point, and moves on to something new. But did the sub-conscious mind really know that it knew that? Maybe sometimes, but often the new idea is not even properly formed yet, so how could the sub-conscious mind be sure that it 'knew' that.

Unfortunately when the conscious mind gets the 'I know that' message, it usually stops receiving or processing the new idea, and that means the opportunity to learn something new is lost.

What can we do about this? How can we interrupt our sub-conscious mind so that it does not stop us learning from new ideas, when we are exposed to them. I suggest that there are two easy ways.

Firstly, when we hear our sub-conscious mind saying 'That doesn't fit', or 'That can't be right', or something similar, we can simply say to our sub-conscious mind 'Thank-you for that information'. This means that we have decided not to act on the message that our sub-conscious mind was sending. Our conscious mind is then free to continue considering, reasoning and thinking about the new idea.

The second thing we can do is ask our conscious mind to think about the new idea in a way it may have not done before. Usually our conscious mind thinks 'Is this idea right?', or 'Is this idea wrong?'. Instead of those questions we could ask 'Could this idea change or improve my life in some way?'.

This allows us to look at a new idea in a completely fresh way, without being influenced by all the things that we have learnt before, or that we already 'know'.

It was Will Rogers who said many years ago that "it's not what people don't know that hurts them. It's what they do know that just ain't so."

By Tony McGlinn

HypoManiacs Often Misunderstood

2008-07-17T00:02:00.015-07:00

Are you a Hypomaniac? If you are you have some definite advantages over others. Hypomaniacs are often superstars in their fields, but they are often misunderstood by those who work so hard to profile personalities and put individuals into neat little boxes.

Regarding this article which seems to be the present day thought on the Hypomaniac Syndrome: 'Hypomanic' executives often most successful Associated Press 04/26/2002 Washington-

I too have been studying this group of people as I observe the superstars and read the biographies of the most driven individuals. Here are my thoughts on the subject. Perhaps you can assist and shed some light on this subject.

First off the Very good article. But how does an individual know if he has this "Hypomanic" Thing? I submit the hypomaniac person maybe much more complicated than was introduced in this article.

And having those traits myself (many times those who chose the subject of psychology actually have questions about themselves which causes them to go into such subject matter as a profession). I have read 100s of biographies of the greatest leaders, sports figures, inventors, entreprenuers, warriors, scientists, etc. Yet I have a hard time placing many of these people into those categories. So it seems hard to find a correlation to these comments in the article and also difficult to see the downside of such a person for society, it is a plus and allows many of us to live without worry because those hard chargers are protecting the heard so to speak.

Most hypomaniacs would not see the drawbacks. I too do not see them as negative; I do see them as an advantage. This is very interesting indeed. I first must question and wonder about the "risk taking" thing a little, in that I do not believe these people see it as a risk, I know I do not. Challenge yes, risk, not really. Innovation is a necessity of any of these people, and that maybe perceived as out on a limb or a risk. As far a the grandiosity issue I think that too maybe debatable, because nothing is impossible, anything can be achieved it is more a matter of mind and perseverance which I guess a PhD in the psychology field would not be able to readily recognize. Any person like this Hypomanic, constantly has others tell them they cannot do something, yet they do it for spite. Is it really grandiosity of the Hypomaniac or is it misjudgment of the observer? I think it maybe the psychologist are thinking they are so special that they cannot conceive of these people and their reach. For instance many Entrepreneurs and I use this context because the article does (I suppose scientists have other traits if they were hypomaniacs) do poorly after their first big win, in their next big thing or endeavor.

Entrepreneurs rarely have multiple wins in different industries, except people like Branson, Gates, Fred Smith (Fed EX), Wayne Hiezinga. The reason for these is they carried their same work ethic into the next battle, and they are not done yet, they want more. I see one of the traits at Harvard use to be hard work ethic, yet do not see it in these people anymore. Enron debacle was stupid, they had the world by the balls, but leadership slacked off, right when they should have been really turning on the juice. They needed a visionary, no prisoners leader, like the previously mentioned, too bad, because it hurt America. The reasoning being that commoditizing additional things that are omnipotent for our society is of value. I think also if the idea that Gates also has savant tendencies and you add Bi-Polar to it, then you have to go back to the drawing board and cannot relate his success or hard work ethic with that of the others.

Anyone out there is doing research on this Hypomanic personality trait should post their comments after this discussion. When studying great people such as, Gates "The Road Ahead" (And the Inner Circle Magazine), Turner "It Ain't As Easy as It Looks", Ellison "The Difference Between god and", Richard Branson book "Virginity," and Guzietta from Coke A Cola "I Want the World to Buy a Coke". All seem to have many of these traits. I think the anger in stupidity, bureaucracy, and slow moving brain dead people, causes them to work harder, all seem to mention this in their autobiographical works. Perhaps they are trading the maniac mild depression into anger and steam and using it to heat up the soft tissue in the back of the head to drive their stick-to-it-ness back to the home front battle. I sometimes think that the anger of the brick walls in the way force these individuals to go crazy forcing them into thier work. How can anyone be depressed if they are doing what they love to do? They love to win.

A hypomaniac which does not like what they are doing might be different. Tesla the famous AC inventor had many of these traits and yet loved his work. There maybe cases to prove this point wrong. Maybe these off the chart Hypomaniacs have other sides to them, but this mild maniac depression seems a little unlikely. If people have witnessed these traits in these people, I would say they mistook the depletion of vitamins due to the self inficted stress of the their own inner personal battle with the "human factor" resistence put in their way to get to where they are going to be. It is possible to go without eating and sleeping and then all of a sudden it hits you. Maybe these people if witneesed in a depression like state, just need some more Chormium Picolinate or protien for their brains. This particular article may have missed a couple other benefits, although obviously cannot be a whole book because it is just an article;

1. When people cannot put you in their frame of reference they mis judge your motivations and needs in negotiations and therefore give you the upper hand;

2. Also a person moving that fast cannot have too many friends due to time. Therefore does not get too caught up in "Familiarity Breeds Contempt" traps;

2.5 Competition cannot keep up, because if they copy them, they are already several more steps ahead and back around to flank them. They never know what hit them and then it is too late;

3. Misdirection and miss information techniques are easier to emloy because no body can figure out where you are going or coming from;

4. When they are moving that fast and have faith in future moves they do not need to worry, they will find a way. This looks dangerous to others, and it gives them an advantage because no one will dare follow;

5. A moving target is harder to hit and almost impossible to follow;

6. Their very existence intimidates people, which can also help you. People are afraid of you;

7. Their energy radiates out word and causes things to line up your way by your sheer will.

Now on the drawbacks side of things the articles fails to mention the following; Draw Backs:

1. They burn people out;

2. Others that emulate them often fail, it requires too much knowledge and skill to work at this level;

3. People question their judgment because they do not realize the multiple affect. ie... Ted Turner over paying in a merger so he had the movie classic content for his future project;

4. They have problems relating with people who cannot reason or do complex thoughts;

5. They do not do good at parties which are wasting your time. Although you can be the life of the party quite easily;

6. They are still stuck in linear time and therefore cannot do everything you want to;

7. They have to be careful not to run right over someone or through them, it is very easy to do;

8. They have no peers, this may actually be a benefit up for discussion.

Regarding the downer side of this hypomaniac title or labeling, I cannot see the mellow downer side of it. I do not see that maniac depression state? Perhaps that was put in there to capture the "Bi-Polar" thing to loop the story in a full circle, readers believe in all that Bi-Polar, lithium and Prozac ( a good book on this subject is "Living With Prozac" (scary book if you think of what this can do to our soicety) stuff. After all readers will not buy the superman idea without the kryptonite? Is the author sure that, that was not put in just to appease readers and make them not feel so little against these people?

There may be brief times where you have to think a lot, to get them out of a jam they got into by hitting the wrong turn in the maze or running through the wrong door of opportunity. But then again that is only a short time frame, then you usually just find a way to use all the mistakes as advantages. This article now makes me remember, of a guy who crashed into his new house in his new Beechcraft Baron? He may have had a moment such as this depression thing, but killing one's self is giving up and a person with unlimited energy and a brain to match would never give up. Now if you need a down side maybe it would be the "burn out affect" or something else, although that does not seem to work either, judging by history and the referenced biographies above. Of course if one does not eat right or take care of themselves this type of person will write checks that it's body cannot cash, causing health issues, I suppose.

In this article are the PhDs or author really specialists in Bi Polar disorders? I once had a gentleman who worked for me who was Bi-Polar, he had his life really screwed up, nice guy and needed help. I had to cut him lose due to performance issues, we needed more output. Some days he was terrific and other not at all. I was wondering what type of job a person like this might be best suited for. He was not good at a sales, although everyone seemed to like him. My theory was that his displacement caused feelings of superiority in others around him and make him appear to have Charisma and be approachable and non-intimidating. He was on Litium. What does lithium do to people, well it seems wrong to give to people, does it have after side affects?

After all Bi-polar is interesting since the Cerebellum if unfolded is 1128 cu centimeters the size of a record album cover which is bigger than either of the left or right side of the brain. Even together the cerebral cortex including both halves is 1900 cubic centimeters. So those who use it well are able to do more faster. We know from those who have brain injuries that their brain uses the cerebellum as RAM memory and lights up on the computer screens with activity when the damaged part of either the left or right side cannot be used. There are more cells and neurons in the cerebellum than the rest of the brain, much more capacity. So when some is using it they can do more faster and process more data and crutch more numbers so to speak. You may wish to check up on Nueroantomist Santiago Ramon y Cajal.

Sharks have also huge cerebellums and they have 400 million years of evolution on the modern man no matter what you believe as far as 160,000 years, 40,000 years since Neanderthal or 10,000 years of Chinese recorded written history. The problem I see with the article is that everyone is a Doctor of something and they are the same people giving kids under age 6 Prozac and screwing up their brains before full development. Perhaps the Hypomaniac is a positive label although to try to narrowly title a behavior is unhealthy and can cause risks of mislabeling. People who appear to be different for whatever reason all share another familiar advantage in sports, war, business, game or politics. Their opponents and followers, who do not understand them, once they realize that they do not understand, often fear them. From a Machiavellian standpoint one could say this is good if you are in a leadership capacity and especially good in the unforgiving battle in politics. It's best if your opponents think you are crazy and unpredictable, because that incites fear and hesitation, the edge needed in surprise attack or reciprocal response. If your followers do not understand your methods but understand your strength in intelligence they will follow you and not try to topple you out of fear and admiration. This too would be considered a positive attribute if this article Bi-Polar theory holds true from the Hypomaniac executive model.

Remember Patton use to say that if stood on his jeep to make a speech he had everyone's ear, his troops knew he knew how to win, the media made him sound crazy beating up on hospital wounded or panic attacked soldiers and no one could figure him out and therefore to his advantage, he was able to fly by the seat of his pants into victorious battle. Hitler talked in mesmerizing cadence and put people in a beta state of mind. While also having the ups and downs of Bi-Polar tendencies. Vince Lombardi said to be one of the greatest sports leaders in history also had mood swings to the low, they say. Steve Jobs is a good example of bi-polarality in this article context from what I have read. Perhaps a bi-polar type tendency and a trend towards hard charging never give up individuals and hypomaniac label may actually be a strength of character to be addressed and watched for positive advantages and to keep from turning evil?

The premise that there is only room for one visionary at a time is false. Visionaries always seek out like-minded visionaries to vision with. If one is the absolute boss, then there is a problem but it is not like household pets where the first pet is the boss. Visionaries often work well together and two minds are better than one providing the fundamental issues are equal (Belief System Theory-Equally yoked principle). Now then people like Mr. Lear, Edison, Tesla, Copernicus, Leonardo de Vinci, etc. may actually be loners and work better that way, although they all had companions and understood they needed help to get out their message and inventions and bring things to market.

There can be other experiments to determine if these hypomaniacs really exist to the degree mentioned in the article. By using naturalistic observations and a limited control group of other over achievers and we will have created a random assignment. I question the validity of subjects like Gates and Jobs as proof that the Bi-Polar theory holds true to the Hypomaniac hypothesis. The correlation in such limited data set along with the PR bull that their companies and books promote make it difficult to know the truth of any of this. I mean, the theory still may have some validity, and it cannot be proven either way unless we can have them at our disposal for a week or two which is impossible based on the justice departments needs of gate's time when he should be working on R and D projects and Jobs incredible schedule and interview rounds with his latest new product rollout. And if these subjects were taken away from their artificial lives compared with that of normal folks we could lose the whole project. For instance if we took all these people and put them on a track with go carts and watched their behavior we might see some interesting things similar to all, but we may also find none to that of the HS Athlete, full of piss and vinegar wanting to conquer their world. Does this make sense? If the article and theories hold true and we cannot have off the chart in one direction without off the chart in another, which I believe too, then the Bi-Polarity between Major Depression and Mania maybe a good answer for things. And if this is so then we should not condemn those who are too far off the end on one side, because they have so much to offer the world on the other. Interesting.

This subject matter is fascinating as we try to understand the human spirit and will of top performing individuals, what on Earth makes them tick? The examples presented are interesting indeed and we need to take a real look into the theory, which seems to be too simply defined in the article and there has to be more to this. Although the article hits home for me, thus I find this subject matter of value, it appears we might all learn from such hard charging super stars like Gates and Jobs. I think I still have to question trying to pigeon hole any individual as people are complex and are an accumulation of all their observations, experiences, genetics and achievements are unique and therefore such simple classifications may be highly invalid, why don't we simply ask them? If any one has any data on Hypomaniac Syndromes, please post them below so that other Think Tank members can review this as many over achiever tend to also join think tanks to make a difference.

By Lance Winslow

Fairies and Mental Health

2008-07-17T00:02:00.013-07:00

Schizophrenics hallucinate alternate realities. People who claim to have been abducted by aliens are accused of having Fantasy Prone Personalities. So what about those of us who claim to be conversing with angels, fairies, and spirit guides? Are we nuts? Absolutely yes! If we weren't crazy before we started chatting with the divine, we soon will be. Just the constant questioning of one's sanity can drive a person insane. How do you know if you're really talking to spirits or if you're losing your mind?

Let me start by saying that until the little creatures begin showing themselves as real and 3D touchable as any other critter on earth and do it on a massive worldwide scale so that they're able to be counted and kept track of like anyone else on the endangered species list, then you won't ever really know for sure will you? So why don't they? Well that's one of those million dollar questions. As far as I can tell it's a combination of them not actually existing in a physical sense beyond the spiritual realm and that they get a certain amount of pleasure in teasing and playfully messing with our minds.

I don't know what the official stance is according to the Grand PooBah of Psychiatry, but I know that most people who are certifiably insane don't know that they are. The saying goes that if you are capable of questioning your own sanity, then you must not be too far gone yet. Not very reassuring, I know. Are they real or not? That's the question you're asking. I could give you one of those psychobabble answers like, "They are as real as you believe them to be." Again, that doesn't really help much.

Here's the first question to ask yourself. Do they control you? The reason I ask is because throughout history there have been stories in all religions and cultures of some type of spirits that come to lovingly guide us along our way. So are the spirits controlling you and your life or are they guiding and nudging you? If they're pushy and controlling you then there's a higher probability that it's a psychological game you're playing with yourself. "The devil made me do it." That usually means that you don't want to face your secret motivations and so you have created an entity to force you to do things.

If they don't control you and are simply loving guides trying to help out, then do you control them? If you are able to tell them what to do and they are working around the clock at your beck and call, then chances are you're making them up. Free will is at the core of love. Nobody is forced to do anything. If you're able to control when they come and go and what they do or do not do to help you, then you aren't working with separate entities. Angels, fairies, and spirit guides are not our cosmic slaves to be controlled and dictated to. If you can do that, then they aren't real.

Are you dependant on them? What I mean by this is that if they are an emotional security blanket then you've probably made them up in your mind. Real guardian angels and such are here to help you to believe in yourself, not to make you completely dependant on them for your every thing. If you can't make a personal decision without your guides and they allow that kind of neediness, then they aren't real. If you require they're presence in order to create your art, play your music, or to write your great masterpiece, then chances are you don't have enough self-esteem and you created a third party in your mind to give the credit to. That's not the same as occasionally co-creating with them but being able to also work independently. If you are unable to do your spiritual works or offer your gifts to the world without their assistance, then they are probably not real.

Finally, upon meeting with the spirits and building a strong mentally healthy relationship with them where neither is a control freak bossing the other around and both are free to come and go as they please. Then the last thing to consider is the impact that the relationship has on you. Are you called to do some sort of spiritual work? Are you shown how to give some kind of a gift of love to the world whether it's music, writing, speaking, art, cleaning up the planet or whatever else? Most people who come into contact with the divine find themselves with some sort of an undying need to spread love and joy around the planet. Real angels, fairies, and spirit guides teach us how to give our greatest gifts to the world. They empower us with the self belief that we have always had whatever is needed to make a difference in the world. If the relationship isn't spiritual and inspirational, then it's doubtful that it's really spirit guides or angels that you're talking to.

It is universally understood that the angels, fairies, spirit guides, or whatever other name your culture gives to those messengers of love and light, it is understood that they come from God. Again, it doesn't matter if you call it God, Mother Nature, the Light, the Force or whatever name you like. These little spirits are divine helpers from the heavens come to cheer you on and to help you find a spiritually divine path. They are not owned by us and cannot be bossed around. They have no control over us and cannot boss us around without our consent. They can work amazing magic when co-creating with us, but they are here to show you your own magic and the divinity within you. Once that's done, they tend to slip back into the shadows to allow you to shine your own light on your little corner of the world.

By Skye Thomas

The 5 Hindrances of the Mind: Are They Blocking Your Self-Esteem?

2008-07-17T00:02:00.011-07:00

The issue of self-esteem is perhaps one of the greatest determinates in creating a life of freedom and abundance, or feeling inhibited and "just getting by". Self-esteem is defined as "a feeling of pride in oneself". It is how you feel in relation to yourself rather than how others see you. It's between you and, well? you. Therefore, it's not necessary to be so concerned about what others think to determine your level of self -esteem, as the definition does not include any "others", just you. So where can you help yourself to better understand you? There are so many aspects of you but one that is of great importance is that of your mind.

In the ancient wisdom of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, there are five hindrances or afflictions of the mind that are collectively known as the klesas. An understanding of each of these hindrances can help play a part in the discovery of self, leading to a feeling of well-being, connectivity, and greater self-esteem. The hindrances are as follows: ignorance (avidya), egoism (asmita), attachment (raga), aversion (dvesa), and clinging to life (abhinivesah). Encountering the afflictions without being aware of them creates stumbling blocks on the path to self-realization. The afflictions will arise at different times in life, but if one has spent time studying them, one may be able to recognize them for what they are and move through them with a certain level of personal understanding.

The first hindrance is ignorance of the true self which is the building block for all of the other afflictions. It can be described as an incorrect understanding of oneself that is the culmination of years of unconscious actions, thoughts, and words that one has become dependent upon as part of one's being. Sound familiar? How many times have we replayed old tapes over and over in our head until they become so embedded in our persona that we begin to self-realize these false beliefs? From ignorance, derives judgments of oneself and of others. By understanding the various afflictions and where they originate, one may transcend a lifetime absorbed in ignorance.

The second hindrance is egoism which is the identification of the self with what one is not- the body, mind, personality, emotions, senses, accomplishments, failures, and possessions, or lack thereof. You may be thinking, "People with low self-esteem are certainly not showing an ego problem." Well, it actually is an ego problem, as the concern over what others think dominates many choices and actions in daily life. In egoism, the practice of remaining in the moment and being a non-judgmental witness comes in handy. In truly observing what is happening in life as it is, rather than placing violent judgments on self, others and situations, one may experience life with a limited ignorance. Imagine viewing the world through a camera lens and just seeing what is-nothing else.

The third hindrance is attachment which arises from the ego's idea that more is better and of the fear of losing what one already has in his/her possession. Are you keeping up with the Jones'? Do you really need to be? More stuff just means more upkeep; right? As one progresses on the life path, experiences occur that cause feelings of great pleasure. One may cling to these things in hopes of experiencing the feelings over and over again. Attachment is looking outside of oneself for validation and bliss. The reality is that external factors come and go; it is the internal true self that remains a constant. "Happiness is found within", is a timeless phrase and it is unconditional and independent of any outside circumstances or people. Freeing, isn't it?

The fourth hindrance is aversion which is also a form of attachment, but in the negative sense. The experiences or circumstances that one does not want to have, or is repulsed by, comprise aversions. Aversions are typically based on fear of the unknown, unfamiliar, or years of subconscious mechanical thought. Fear plays a big role in issues of low self-esteem. Attachments and aversions are both relative in that what is a good/bad experience or feeling for one may not be so good/bad for another. Any attachment or aversion springs from the imagination and can be construed as clinging, and therefore, in turn, suffering. By practicing detachment to either aversions or attachments, one can see a situation for what it is rather than what it is perceived to be.

Clinging to life or the fear of death is the final hindrance. It is self-preservation and the fundamental will to live in one's body on this Earth. This affliction is said to be experienced even by the very wise. It is ultimately the understanding of this affliction that will set us free. Each individual would come to terms with this hindrance by their own accord in relation to their own belief system regarding death and what happens when we leave our physical body. It is my sense that we are eternal in spirit.

The klesas are complex and interwoven. By increasing the understanding of each affliction, one may begin to identify them when they surface in life. In knowing where the reaction, situation, or behavior is derived, the individual may be better able to experience the true sense of the moment in awareness and without judgment. By remaining open, one is able to receive the perfection in every moment.

It is a daily process to connect with oneself in understanding, but one that can create a life that is, for the most part, joyous, peaceful, and full of love. With practice the sense of self-esteem will continuously improve and the feelings of a life connectedness will deepen. Try it for yourself as this all begins and ends with you. For, it's what you think that really matters.

"The mind is everything; what you think, you become." (Buddha)

By Deborah L. Shipley, RYT

Human Psychological Issues in the Recruitment of Suicide Bombers

2008-07-17T00:02:00.009-07:00

Swedish Scientists did a study and found that young men with low intelligence scores were more likely to commit suicide.

"Researchers from Sweden's Karolinska Institute analyzed test scores for 987,308 armed forced recruits and then cross-referenced the data with those who subsequently committed suicide over 26 years - a total of almost 3,000. They found that those with the lowest scores were three times more likely to take their own lives. Institute associate professor, Finn Rasmussen, reported in the British Medical Journal: "There is a strong inverse association between intelligence test scores and suicide. Better performance on the tests was associated with a reduced risk of suicide." So? "The scientists speculate that poor test scores could be associated with depression and schizophrenia - two conditions which contribute to suicide. They further offer: "It is also possible that people with low intelligence are less able to deal with their problems and may consider suicide as a solution."

Now then armed with this information how can we prevent young men from joining suicide squads? Educate them? Give them something to live for? Use TV or virtual learning, things such as the discovery channel as we have in the United States? Why not? Al-Jazeera satellite television station is awfully effective on smearing America and her efforts. Why not use TV the other way, make small bite size history, math, language, geography, lessons on TV, helping them learn and helping them develop a desire to travel, understand and dream?

Before this particular study there have been only a few relevant studies on the subject, however there have been a few which indicated similar outcomes?.

"Few previous studies have assessed the association of measures of intelligence with suicide. The 1946 British birth cohort study found that suicide was associated with delayed physical development but not with age at first speech, alertness (age 7 years), or measures of intelligence at age 15 years. There were only 11 suicides in that study and so it lacked power to detect potentially important effects. A study of 43 suicides in Israeli conscripts aged 18-21 years suggested that they were of above average intelligence,4 although patterns of suicide in the context of military service may differ from those in the general population. A study of university students in the United States, however, also found an increased risk of suicide among the offspring of better educated or professional parents. Suicide rates among Australian army conscripts were strongly associated with a measure of general intelligence, even after adjustment for several other risk markers, but this study was based on only 76 suicides. In a previous study of Swedish conscripts, associations with suicide were attenuated after adjustment for measures of conduct and personality. Several studies have examined the association of childhood IQ with overall mortality. In two Scottish studies low IQ at age 10-11 years and poor mental ability at age 11 years were strongly associated with all cause mortality."

These studies in fact seem to make sense and so we need to work on ways to increase intelligence, thru early schooling, nutrition and in the home parenting. This will come soon enough. But we have TV sets now and if we were to set up their televisions with educational stations, we might find fewer young men joining suicide terrorist groups. Further I propose healthy bodies to go with those new healthy minds. I propose setting up soccer fields throughout Iraq with floodlights for use at night too. Keep the energy on the field and give them something to work for, teaching them a different kind of group teamwork, one that builds strength of character and camaraderie in a positive way. Help them develop in to strong young men with dreams and passion, intelligence and perseverance and you will find no more suicide bombers in that land. No that is a new vision for the youth of Iraq. Onward and Upward for all the right reasons.

By Lance Winslow

Creating A Winning Mindset

2008-07-17T00:02:00.007-07:00

Do you know anyone who always wins? Sure you know that person, everything just works out for them. They go into business and they are an instant success. They enter the dating scene and their phone rings off the hook. If they were in the Olympics, you just know they wouldn't settle for anything less than the gold. It seems as though they always win.

Why is it that some people just have IT and others seem not to? Want to learn the secret to their success? Ready? Here it comes....the secret to unstoppable success...drumroll please....Winners EXPECT to win!

That's the big secret. Simple, huh?

But, think about it for a moment...Winners actually SEE their success BEFORE it happens! Do YOU expect to win BEFORE you have even entered a situation...or do you assess your chances AFTER you are already in the situation? Or, even worse, do you imagine failure?

BEFORE selling a piece of real estate, winners EXPECT to get their asking price. BEFORE buying a car, winners EXPECT to get a discount.

Before running an Olympic race, winners EXPECT TO WIN the gold, so they do win! This one small thing gives winners a tremendous advantage over others.

Want to be a winner?

Try this exercise...

Close your eyes for a full minute and THINK about achieving a goal in your life...go ahead, close your eyes for one minute and really THINK about achieving it.

OK, now close your eyes again for one full minute and EXPECT to get it. Did you notice a difference? When we simply THINK about getting something, our thoughts tend to be vague.

There are also two options...getting it or not getting it (winning or losing). But, when we EXPECT to get it, there is only one possibility...getting it (winning).

So now that you know the secret, the next step is applying your powerful knowledge and getting yourself to that point where YOU ALWAYS EXPECT TO WIN. I suggest that you take a full minute pause right before entering any challenging situation. During that minute, close your eyes, and imagine winning. See it, feel it, hear it, imagine yourself already having won. Guess what...you will have programmed your mind to pull you powerfully in the winning direction.

When you do enter that situation, your words and actions will be generated from a winning mindset. Your path will be straight to victory...you will already know the way and EXPECT to get there...so you WILL get there. Want a little more help with this?

Using the power of hypnosis, you can easily program yourself for a constant winning mindset. This is why I have created over 70 powerful hypnosis products to help you achieve all of your desires. I invite you to visit my vast library of tools you can use in your life right now to make a postiive change. They are now avaliable in downloadable form...this means you can use them right NOW. Learn more...

Live in abundant possibility!

By Steve G. Jones

On Empathy

2008-07-17T00:02:00.005-07:00

The Encyclopaedia Britannica (1999 edition) defines empathy as:

"The ability to imagine oneself in anther's place and understand the other's feelings, desires, ideas, and actions. It is a term coined in the early 20th century, equivalent to the German Einfühlung and modelled on "sympathy." The term is used with special (but not exclusive) reference to aesthetic experience. The most obvious example, perhaps, is that of the actor or singer who genuinely feels the part he is performing. With other works of art, a spectator may, by a kind of introjection, feel himself involved in what he observes or contemplates. The use of empathy is an important part of the counselling technique developed by the American psychologist Carl Rogers."

Empathy is predicated upon and must, therefore, incorporate the following elements:

(a) Imagination which is dependent on the ability to imagine

(b) The existence of an accessible Self (self-awareness or self-consciousness)

(c) The existence of an available other (other-awareness, recognizing the outside world)

(d) The existence of accessible feelings, desires, ideas and representations of actions or their outcomes both in the empathizing Self ("Empathor") and in the Other, the object of empathy ("Empathee")

(e) The availability of an aesthetic frame of reference

(f) The availability of a moral frame of reference

While (a) is presumed to be universally available to all agents (though in varying degrees) - the existence of the other components of empathy should not be taken for granted.

Conditions (b) and (c), for instance, are not satisfied by people who suffer from personality disorders, such as the Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Condition (d) is not met in autistic people (e.g., those who suffer from the Asperger syndrome). Conditions (e) is so totally dependent on the specifics of the culture, period and society in which it exists - that it is rather meaningless and ambiguous as a yardstick. Condition (f) suffer from both afflictions: it is both culture-dependent AND is not satisfied in many people (such as those who suffer from the Antisocial Personality Disorder and who are devoid of any conscience or moral sense).

Thus, the very existence of empathy should be questioned. It is often confused with inter-subjectivity. The latter is defined thus by "The Oxford Companion to Philosophy, 1995":

"This term refers to the status of being somehow accessible to at least two (usually all, in principle) minds or 'subjectivities'. It thus implies that there is some sort of communication between those minds; which in turn implies that each communicating minds aware not only of the existence of the other but also of its intention to convey information to the other. The idea, for theorists, is that if subjective processes can be brought into agreement, then perhaps that is as good as the (unattainable?) status of being objective - completely independent of subjectivity. The question facing such theorists is whether intersubjectivity is definable without presupposing an objective environment in which communication takes place (the 'wiring' from subject A to subject B). At a less fundamental level, however, the need for intersubjective verification of scientific hypotheses has been long recognized". (page 414).

On the face of it, the difference between intersubjectivity and empathy is double:

(a) Intersubjectivity requires an EXPLICIT, communicated agreement between at least two subjects.

(b) It involves EXTERNAL things (so called "objective" entities).

These "differences" are artificial. This how empathy is defined in "Psychology - An Introduction (Ninth Edition) by Charles G. Morris, Prentice Hall, 1996":

"Closely related to the ability to read other people's emotions is empathy - the arousal of an emotion in an observer that is a vicarious response to the other person's situation... Empathy depends not only on one's ability to identify someone else's emotions but also on one's capacity to put oneself in the other person's place and to experience an appropriate emotional response. Just as sensitivity to non-verbal cues increases with age, so does empathy: The cognitive and perceptual abilities required for empathy develop only as a child matures... (page 442)

In empathy training, for example, each member of the couple is taught to share inner feelings and to listen to and understand the partner's feelings before responding to them. The empathy technique focuses the couple's attention on feelings and requires that they spend more time listening and less time in rebuttal." (page 576).

Thus empathy does require the communication of feelings AND an agreement on the appropriate outcome of the communicated emotions (=affective agreement). In the absence of such agreement, we are faced with inappropriate affect (laughing at a funeral, for instance).

Moreover, empathy does relate to external objects and is provoked by them. There is no empathy in the absence of an empathee. Granted, intersubjectivity is intuitively applied to the inanimate while empathy is applied to the living (animals, humans, even plants). But this is a difference in human preferences - not in definition.

Empathy can, thus, be re-defined as a form of intersubjectivity which involves living things as "objects" to which the communicated intersubjective agreement relates. It is wrong to limit empathy to the communication of emotion. It is the intersubjective, concomitant experience of BEING. The empathor empathizes not only with the empathee's emotions but also with his physical state and other parameters of existence (pain, hunger, thirst, suffocation, sexual pleasure etc.).

This leads to the important (and perhaps intractable) psychophysical question.

Intersubjectivity relates to external objects but the subjects communicate and reach an agreement regarding the way THEY have been affected by the objects.

Empathy relates to external objects (the Others) but the subjects communicate and reach an agreement regarding the way THEY would have felt had they BEEN the object.

This is no minor difference, if it, indeed, exists. But does it really exist?

What is it that we feel in empathy? Is it OUR emotions/sensations merely provoked by an external trigger (classic intersubjectivity) or is it a TRANSFER of the object's feelings/sensations to us?

Such a transfer being physically impossible (as far as we know) - we are forced to adopt the former model. Empathy is the set of reactions - emotional and cognitive - to triggering by an external object (the other). It is the equivalent of resonance in the physical sciences. But we have NO WAY to ascertain the "wavelength" of such resonance is identical in both subjects. In other words, we have no way to verify that the feelings or sensation invoked in the two (or more) subjects are one and the same. What I call "sadness" may not be what you call "sadness". Colours have unique, uniform, independently measurable properties (like energy). Still, no one can prove that what I see as "red" is what another calls "red" (as is the case with Daltonists). If this is true where "objective", measurable, phenomena are concerned - it is infinitely true in the case of emotions or feelings.

We are, therefore, forced to refine our definition:

Empathy is a form of intersubjectivity which involves living things as "objects" to which the communicated intersubjective agreement relates. It is the intersubjective, concomitant experience of BEING. The empathor empathizes not only with the empathee's emotions but also with his physical state and other parameters of existence (pain, hunger, thirst, suffocation, sexual pleasure etc.).

BUT

The meaning attributed to the words used by the parties to the intersubjective agreement known as empathy is totally dependent upon each party. The same words are used, the same denotates - but it cannot be proven that the same connotates, the same experiences, emotions and sensations are being discussed or communicated.

Language (and, by extension, art and culture) serve to introduce us to other points of view ("what is it like to be someone else" to paraphrase Thomas Nagle). By providing a bridge between the subjective (inner experience) and the objective (words, images, sounds) -language facilitates social exchange and interaction. It is a dictionary which translates one's subjective private language to the coin of the public medium. Knowledge and language are, thus, the ultimate social glue, though both are based on approximations and guesses (see George Steiner's "After Babel").

But, whereas the intersubjective agreement regarding measurements and observations concerning external objects IS verifiable or falsifiable using INDEPENDENT tools (e.g., lab experiments) - the intersubjective agreement which concerns itself with the emotions, sensations and experiences of subjects as communicated by them IS NOT verifiable or falsifiable using INDEPENDENT tools. The interpretation of this second kind of agreement is dependent upon introspection and an assumption that identical words used by different subjects still possess identical meaning. This assumption is not falsifiable (or verifiable). It is neither true nor false. It is a probabilistic statement with no probabilities attached. It is, in short, a meaningless statement. As a result, empathy itself is meaningless.

In human-speak, if you say that you are said and I empathize with you it means that we have an agreement. I regard you as my object. You communicate to me a property of yours ("sadness"). This triggers in me a recollection of "what is sadness" or "what is to be sad". I say that I know what you mean, I have been sad before, I know what it is like to be sad. I empathize with you. We agree about being sad. We have an intersubjective agreement.

Alas, such an agreement is meaningless. We cannot (yet) measure sadness, quantify it, crystallize it, access it in any way from the outside. We are totally and absolutely reliant on your introspection and my introspection. There is no way anyone can prove that my "sadness" is even remotely similar to your sadness. I may be feeling or experiencing something that you might find hilarious and not sad at all. Still, I call it "sadness" and I empathize with you.

This would not have been that grave if empathy hadn't been the cornerstone of morality.

The Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1999 Edition:

"Empathy and other forms of social awareness are important in the development of a moral sense. Morality embraces a person's beliefs about the appropriateness or goodness of what he does, thinks, or feels... Childhood is ... the time at which moral standards begin to develop in a process that often extends well into adulthood. The American psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg hypothesized that people's development of moral standards passes through stages that can be grouped into three moral levels...

At the third level, that of postconventional moral reasoning, the adult bases his moral standards on principles that he himself has evaluated and that he accepts as inherently valid, regardless of society's opinion. He is aware of the arbitrary, subjective nature of social standards and rules, which he regards as relative rather than absolute in authority.

Thus the bases for justifying moral standards pass from avoidance of punishment to avoidance of adult disapproval and rejection to avoidance of internal guilt and self-recrimination. The person's moral reasoning also moves toward increasingly greater social scope (i.e., including more people and institutions) and greater abstraction (i.e., from reasoning about physical events such as pain or pleasure to reasoning about values, rights, and implicit contracts)."

But, if moral reasoning is based on introspection and empathy - it is, indeed, dangerously relative and not objective in any known sense of the word. Empathy is a unique agreement on the emotional and experiential content of two or more introspective processes in two or more subjective. Such an agreement can never have any meaning, even as far as the parties to it are concerned. They can never be sure that they are discussing the same emotions or experiences. There is no way to compare, measure, observe, falsify or verify (prove) that the "same" emotion is experienced identically by the parties to the empathy agreement. Empathy is meaningless and introspection involves a private language despite what Wittgenstein had to say. Morality is thus reduced to a set of meaningless private languages.

The Encyclopaedia Britannica:

"... Others have argued that because even rather young children are capable of showing empathy with the pain of others, the inhibition of aggressive behaviour arises from this moral affect rather than from the mere anticipation of punishment. Some scientists have found that children differ in their individual capacity for empathy, and, therefore, some children are more sensitive to moral prohibitions than others.

Young children's growing awareness of their own emotional states, characteristics, and abilities leads to empathy--i.e., the ability to appreciate the feelings and perspectives of others. Empathy and other forms of social awareness are in turn important in the development of a moral sense... Another important aspect of children's emotional development is the formation of their self-concept, or identity--i.e., their sense of who they are and what their relation to other people is.

According to Lipps's concept of empathy, a person appreciates another person's reaction by a projection of the self into the other. In his Ästhetik, 2 vol. (1903-06; 'Aesthetics'), he made all appreciation of art dependent upon a similar self-projection into the object."

This may well be the key. Empathy has little to do with the other person (the empathee). It is simply the result of conditioning and socialization. In other words, when we hurt someone - we don't experience his pain. We experience OUR pain. Hurting somebody - hurts US. The reaction of pain is provoked in US by OUR own actions. We have been taught a learned response of feeling pain when we inflict it upon another. But we have also been taught to feel responsible for our fellow beings (guilt). So, we experience pain whenever another person claims to experience it as well. We feel guilty.

In sum:

To use the example of pain, we experience it in tandem with another person because we feel guilty or somehow responsible for his condition. A learned reaction is activated and we experience (our kind of) pain as well. We communicate it to the other person and an agreement of empathy is struck between us.

We attribute feelings, sensations and experiences to the object of our actions. It is the psychological defence mechanism of projection. Unable to conceive of inflicting pain upon ourselves - we displace the source. It is the other's pain that we are feeling, we keep telling ourselves, not our own.

The Encyclopaedia Britannica:

"Perhaps the most important aspect of children's emotional development is a growing awareness of their own emotional states and the ability to discern and interpret the emotions of others. The last half of the second year is a time when children start becoming aware of their own emotional states, characteristics, abilities, and potential for action; this phenomenon is called self-awareness... (coupled with strong narcissistic behaviours and traits - SV)...

This growing awareness of and ability to recall one's own emotional states leads to empathy, or the ability to appreciate the feelings and perceptions of others. Young children's dawning awareness of their own potential for action inspires them to try to direct (or otherwise affect) the behaviour of others...

...With age, children acquire the ability to understand the perspective, or point of view, of other people, a development that is closely linked with the empathic sharing of others' emotions...

One major factor underlying these changes is the child's increasing cognitive sophistication. For example, in order to feel the emotion of guilt, a child must appreciate the fact that he could have inhibited a particular action of his that violated a moral standard. The awareness that one can impose a restraint on one's own behaviour requires a certain level of cognitive maturation, and, therefore, the emotion of guilt cannot appear until that competence is attained."

That empathy is a REACTION to external stimuli that is fully contained within the empathor and then projected onto the empathee - is clearly demonstrated by "inborn empathy". It is the ability to exhibit empathy and altruistic behaviour in response to facial expressions. New-borns react this way to their mother's facial expression of sadness or distress.

This serves to prove that empathy has very little to do with the feelings, experiences or sensations of the other (the empathee). Surely, the infant has no idea what it is like to feel sad and definitely not what it is like for his mother to feel sad. In this case, it is a complex reflexive reaction. Later on, empathy is still rather reflexive, the result of conditioning.

The Encyclopaedia Britannica quotes fascinating research which dramatically proves the object-independent nature of empathy. Empathy is an internal reaction, an internal process, triggered by external cue provided by animate objects. It is communicated to the empathee-other by the empathor but the communication and the resulting agreement ("I know how you feel therefore we agree on how you feel") is rendered meaningless by the absence of a monovalent, unambiguous dictionary.

"An extensive series of studies indicated that positive emotion feelings enhance empathy and altruism. It was shown by the American psychologist Alice M. Isen that relatively small favours or bits of good luck (like finding money in a coin telephone or getting an unexpected gift) induced positive emotion in people and that such emotion regularly increased the subjects' inclination to sympathize or provide help.

Several studies have demonstrated that positive emotion facilitates creative problem solving. One of these studies showed that positive emotion enabled subjects to name more uses for common objects. Another showed that positive emotion enhanced creative problem solving by enabling subjects to see relations among objects (and other people - SV) that would otherwise go unnoticed. A number of studies have demonstrated the beneficial effects of positive emotion on thinking, memory, and action in pre-school and older children."

If empathy increases with positive emotion (a result of good luck, for instance) - then it has little to do with its objects and a lot to do with the person in whom it is provoked.

By Sam Vaknin

The Joan of Arc Complex

2008-07-17T00:02:00.003-07:00

Sometimes I think that I have a mental health problem and that at any minute the pharmaceutical companies are going to develop a cute little green star-shaped pill to cure me of my ailment. I call it my Joan of Arc Complex. You see, I hear voices that I'm pretty sure aren't mine and they tell me to go out and do these stupid save the world projects. I call them THEY or THEM because they refuse to give me a more accurate name to call them. So, I must be crazy.

I've spent a lot of years analyzing the heck out of this topic. Here are the eerie facts. I have no control whatsoever as to when and how THEY show up. I am absolutely convinced that THEY are something separate from me, my 'Higher Self,' or my imagination. I have no influence over THEM and what THEY believe. THEY have a higher accuracy rate at predicting my future than most of the psychics I know. THEY refuse to 'serve' me and do not require that I 'serve' THEM. We are both free to end the relationship at any time. Therefore, I believe THEY are real.

I've spent a lot of time trying to figure out who or what THEY are. When I ask, THEY typically just chuckle and say something cosmically vague like, "We are the light before it shines, the medicine before it cures, the song before it's sung." Yeah great, that helps a lot, thanks guys. I've come to a place that for my own personal understanding and for the ability to be able to even talk about it to others, I call THEM angels. It 'feels' accurate. THEY are not opposed to such titles. Apparently THEY have been referred to as such for quite some time now and THEY seem to think it's a rather quaint concept that we've used to wrap our heads around the idea of them.

So I hear angels telling me to go out and do good works. More than half of my articles are really their messages. I find myself sometimes in awe of the things that I write. Sure it's all stuff that I think or believe, but often I didn't even know that I knew that stuff until it came out of me. It's like the book on overcoming fear and doubt caused by our inner-critic. I didn't have a clue what to say or why I even needed to write on that topic. But, as it came out day after day, I found myself amazed and strangely impressed that THEY took all of these seemingly separate ideas and beliefs that had been rattling around in my head and THEY pulled it all together into that book. Cool! I had no idea that I knew that much about the topic. I just sat there with my coffee cup every morning and asked THEM what did they want me to say. Next thing you know, there's this pretty cool book with some really nice tips and ideas. I had to learn the lessons of that book before I could even begin to do the other works THEY told me I was to do. Funny thing, telling someone you've written a book about overcoming fear and doubt but you're too chicken to submit it to a publisher! Beautiful irony.

A few times over the years, I've concluded that I was some type of schizophrenic and that I needed to shut up and stop doing this stuff or I'd surely end up in a pink padded room. I've quit many times for fear that I was making it all up in my head and that THEY weren't real and I was just having illusions of grandeur. You know what? I always missed being the kind of person that THEY say I am. I always felt lost and not really sure what to do with myself or what kind of a career to move forward with. I really tried to be smart and logical and to get a real job in the industry I was formally educated and trained to do. It really sucked. I just couldn't get into the flow of it. I couldn't find success or happiness doing anything else but this save the world stuff. "Teach them how to be happy. In doing so, you'll find your own happiness."

I know there are people out there like me. I'm not alone. Are we making a difference? Do the weird things we teach really work? Do crystals have healing powers? Do aliens telepathically communicate with us? Can the many religions be united into one root concept - love one another? Can the Lightworkers hold the energy of enlightenment for us until we figure it out for ourselves? Does any of this even matter?

I also know there's people out there who are nothing like me. They're the majority. They believe their version of god is the only version that matters. They believe only in what their five senses can see, hear, and feel. If science can't prove it, then it's not real. We're all just a bunch of quacks you know.

Even as I write this, my heart swells and I feel so blessed to do this work that THEY have asked of me that I am moved to tears. If you knew me, you'd know that I really hate that sappy crying in public stuff. It just goes to show how deeply touched I am by the fact that I get to do this. So like Joan of Arc, I hear these voices and THEY tell me to go do these great things, and I listen and I do them and people seem to like it, to be helped, to be touched on a soul level. If I am crazy, please don't give me that pill. Let me live to my dieing breath believing in THEM and that I'm doing the work of angels. Don't cure me.

By Skye Thomas

What's the Problem: Introducing Solution Focus Pt 1

2008-07-17T00:02:00.001-07:00

Solution Focus is the brain child of Insoo Kim Berg and Steve de Shazer. This positive approach to problem resolution is rooted in the tradition of Milton Erickson's brief therapy. It assumes that small modifications in the individual's cognitive and behavioral expressions can lead to significant life changes. It further assumes that how individuals perceive events is what gives meaning to those events; how one organize and reorganize those experiences in conversation with others, allows for a reality that is versatile, fluid, and capable of revision. This approach is based on the premise that all individuals and families have definite strengths, coping skills and unique problem solving abilities to create positive change. Solution Focus taps in to this strength, helps individuals/families build upon it and uses a variety of tools such as purposeful questions that are utilized to assist in the movement from problems to solutions.

Three of the biggest hindrances to helping others are the helper's tendency to: (1) be judgmental (2) begin with preconceived notions; (3) "know" what is best for the helpee. Professionals and non-professionals alike are notorious for thinking we know how to run other people's lives better than they do. In actuality, we do not have a clue! Thus enters Solution Focus. Solution Focus discards these roadblocks and begins from a position of Not Knowing. The helper is not the authority on the life of the helpee. The helpee is the expert of his/her own life. Solution Focus recognizes and respects this truth. "Not Knowing" is a term first coined by Anderson and Goolishian and supports the contention that helpers do not have a priori knowledge of the importance of the helpee's world of experiences and behaviors. Therefore, the helper must rely on the helpee's perception and explanations. The helper puts forth every effort to enter into the helpee's frame of reference. Helper's adopt a stance of curiosity, of not knowing, yet desiring to be informed by the helpee. This is not easy to do which is why so few actually do it. It is difficult primarily because helpers have an almost unconquerable tendency to believe they know what is best for others. It takes practice and commitment to allow others to be the experts of their own lives and to solve challenges within the framework of their own strengths. It is a continuous skill building process.

Useful Solution Focus Skills - Dynamic Listening

Good listening is an essential part of being a successful Solution Focus (referred to as SF) helper. You must be very aware of the feedback you are receiving from the people around you. It might be added that being a good listener is a skill important in many other settings. For example, being a good listener will enhance your social relationships of all types, marriage, dating, parties, work, etc. But, be warned, it is hard work.

Dynamic listening means listening actively and not just hearing the words being spoken. This is important to any communications and paramount to SF intervention. Dynamic listening involves sensitivity and the ability to perceive and listen to others as persons who are unique, have needs and emotions as well as strengths and skills. It is being able to listen from the client's perspective, experience, or point of view, rather than your own. This is difficult I agree, but not impossible. Anyone can improve their listening capacity through purposeful effort. Most people have what it takes to be a good listener. Good listening includes a package of skills, which requires knowledge of technique and practice very similar to good writing or good speaking. Many people believe that good listening skills are easy to learn or automatically part of every person's personality. Neither is correct. I am certain that you have experienced occasions when you have asked someone, "Are you listening to me?"

Poor listening habits are very common. Actually, poor listening skills are more common than poor speaking skills. Have you noticed situations when two or more people talking to each other at the same time? People cannot talk and be an effective listener simultaneously. There is shallow listening and deep listening. Shallow or superficial listening is all too common on the job and many other settings. Most of us have learned how to give the appearance of listening while not really listening. Even less obvious is when the message received is different from the one sent. We did not really understand the message. We listened, but we did not get the intended message. We heard, but we missed the context. Can you recall times when you knew the person supposedly listening to you, did not have a clue as to what you were really attempting to convey. Such failed communications are the consequences of poor speaking, poor listening and/or poor understanding.

Good listening skills will vary from one communications situation to the next. For example, what is effective feedback for one may be different for another. Some people to whom you are listening may need more feedback than other people. Listening skills can always be improved because perfection in listening, just as in other communications skills, does not really exist.

It cannot be emphasized too often that listening is vital to effective communication, yet we don't always do it well enough. Listening is more than just hearing until the other person has stopped making noise so we can share our thoughts or agenda with them! Joan Rivers made famous the cliché, Can we talk? This is what most people do. Talk. Talking is fine if that is all you want to do and all the other person expects from you. But if you are interested in learning and understanding and helping, dynamic listening skills are crucial. Active listening involves MUCH more than talk! To be effective in our SF communication, we really need to master the skills of "dynamic listening."

By Rev. Saundra L. Washington, D.D.

The Myth of Mental Illness

2008-06-30T00:43:00.005-07:00

"You can know the name of a bird in all the languages of the world, but when you're finished, you'll know absolutely nothing whatever about the bird? So let's look at the bird and see what it's doing - that's what counts. I learned very early the difference between knowing the name of something and knowing something."

Richard Feynman, Physicist and 1965 Nobel Prize laureate (1918-1988)

"You have all I dare say heard of the animal spirits and how they are transfused from father to son etcetera etcetera - well you may take my word that nine parts in ten of a man's sense or his nonsense, his successes and miscarriages in this world depend on their motions and activities, and the different tracks and trains you put them into, so that when they are once set a-going, whether right or wrong, away they go cluttering like hey-go-mad."

Lawrence Sterne (1713-1758), "The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman" (1759)

I. Overview

Someone is considered mentally "ill" if:

His conduct rigidly and consistently deviates from the typical, average behaviour of all other people in his culture and society that fit his profile (whether this conventional behaviour is moral or rational is immaterial), or

His judgment and grasp of objective, physical reality is impaired, and

His conduct is not a matter of choice but is innate and irresistible, and

His behavior causes him or others discomfort, and is

Dysfunctional, self-defeating, and self-destructive even by his own yardsticks.

Descriptive criteria aside, what is the essence of mental disorders? Are they merely physiological disorders of the brain, or, more precisely of its chemistry? If so, can they be cured by restoring the balance of substances and secretions in that mysterious organ? And, once equilibrium is reinstated - is the illness "gone" or is it still lurking there, "under wraps", waiting to erupt? Are psychiatric problems inherited, rooted in faulty genes (though amplified by environmental factors) - or brought on by abusive or wrong nurturance?

These questions are the domain of the "medical" school of mental health.

Others cling to the spiritual view of the human psyche. They believe that mental ailments amount to the metaphysical discomposure of an unknown medium - the soul. Theirs is a holistic approach, taking in the patient in his or her entirety, as well as his milieu.

The members of the functional school regard mental health disorders as perturbations in the proper, statistically "normal", behaviours and manifestations of "healthy" individuals, or as dysfunctions. The "sick" individual - ill at ease with himself (ego-dystonic) or making others unhappy (deviant) - is "mended" when rendered functional again by the prevailing standards of his social and cultural frame of reference.

In a way, the three schools are akin to the trio of blind men who render disparate descriptions of the very same elephant. Still, they share not only their subject matter - but, to a counter intuitively large degree, a faulty methodology.

As the renowned anti-psychiatrist, Thomas Szasz, of the State University of New York, notes in his article "The Lying Truths of Psychiatry", mental health scholars, regardless of academic predilection, infer the etiology of mental disorders from the success or failure of treatment modalities.

This form of "reverse engineering" of scientific models is not unknown in other fields of science, nor is it unacceptable if the experiments meet the criteria of the scientific method. The theory must be all-inclusive (anamnetic), consistent, falsifiable, logically compatible, monovalent, and parsimonious. Psychological "theories" - even the "medical" ones (the role of serotonin and dopamine in mood disorders, for instance) - are usually none of these things.

The outcome is a bewildering array of ever-shifting mental health "diagnoses" expressly centred around Western civilisation and its standards (example: the ethical objection to suicide). Neurosis, a historically fundamental "condition" vanished after 1980. Homosexuality, according to the American Psychiatric Association, was a pathology prior to 1973. Seven years later, narcissism was declared a "personality disorder", almost seven decades after it was first described by Freud.

II. Personality Disorders

Indeed, personality disorders are an excellent example of the kaleidoscopic landscape of "objective" psychiatry.

The classification of Axis II personality disorders - deeply ingrained, maladaptive, lifelong behavior patterns - in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, fourth edition, text revision [American Psychiatric Association. DSM-IV-TR, Washington, 2000] - or the DSM-IV-TR for short - has come under sustained and serious criticism from its inception in 1952, in the first edition of the DSM.

The DSM IV-TR adopts a categorical approach, postulating that personality disorders are "qualitatively distinct clinical syndromes" (p. 689). This is widely doubted. Even the distinction made between "normal" and "disordered" personalities is increasingly being rejected. The "diagnostic thresholds" between normal and abnormal are either absent or weakly supported.

The polythetic form of the DSM's Diagnostic Criteria - only a subset of the criteria is adequate grounds for a diagnosis - generates unacceptable diagnostic heterogeneity. In other words, people diagnosed with the same personality disorder may share only one criterion or none.

The DSM fails to clarify the exact relationship between Axis II and Axis I disorders and the way chronic childhood and developmental problems interact with personality disorders.

The differential diagnoses are vague and the personality disorders are insufficiently demarcated. The result is excessive co-morbidity (multiple Axis II diagnoses).

The DSM contains little discussion of what distinguishes normal character (personality), personality traits, or personality style (Millon) - from personality disorders.

A dearth of documented clinical experience regarding both the disorders themselves and the utility of various treatment modalities.

Numerous personality disorders are "not otherwise specified" - a catchall, basket "category".

Cultural bias is evident in certain disorders (such as the Antisocial and the Schizotypal).

The emergence of dimensional alternatives to the categorical approach is acknowledged in the DSM-IV-TR itself:

"An alternative to the categorical approach is the dimensional perspective that Personality Disorders represent maladaptive variants of personality traits that merge imperceptibly into normality and into one another" (p.689)

The following issues - long neglected in the DSM - are likely to be tackled in future editions as well as in current research. But their omission from official discourse hitherto is both startling and telling:

The longitudinal course of the disorder(s) and their temporal stability from early childhood onwards;

The genetic and biological underpinnings of personality disorder(s);

The development of personality psychopathology during childhood and its emergence in adolescence;

The interactions between physical health and disease and personality disorders;

The effectiveness of various treatments - talk therapies as well as psychopharmacology.

III. The Biochemistry and Genetics of Mental Health

Certain mental health afflictions are either correlated with a statistically abnormal biochemical activity in the brain - or are ameliorated with medication. Yet the two facts are not ineludibly facets of the same underlying phenomenon. In other words, that a given medicine reduces or abolishes certain symptoms does not necessarily mean they were caused by the processes or substances affected by the drug administered. Causation is only one of many possible connections and chains of events.

To designate a pattern of behaviour as a mental health disorder is a value judgment, or at best a statistical observation. Such designation is effected regardless of the facts of brain science. Moreover, correlation is not causation. Deviant brain or body biochemistry (once called "polluted animal spirits") do exist - but are they truly the roots of mental perversion? Nor is it clear which triggers what: do the aberrant neurochemistry or biochemistry cause mental illness - or the other way around?

That psychoactive medication alters behaviour and mood is indisputable. So do illicit and legal drugs, certain foods, and all interpersonal interactions. That the changes brought about by prescription are desirable - is debatable and involves tautological thinking. If a certain pattern of behaviour is described as (socially) "dysfunctional" or (psychologically) "sick" - clearly, every change would be welcomed as "healing" and every agent of transformation would be called a "cure".

The same applies to the alleged heredity of mental illness. Single genes or gene complexes are frequently "associated" with mental health diagnoses, personality traits, or behaviour patterns. But too little is known to establish irrefutable sequences of causes-and-effects. Even less is proven about the interaction of nature and nurture, genotype and phenotype, the plasticity of the brain and the psychological impact of trauma, abuse, upbringing, role models, peers, and other environmental elements.

Nor is the distinction between psychotropic substances and talk therapy that clear-cut. Words and the interaction with the therapist also affect the brain, its processes and chemistry - albeit more slowly and, perhaps, more profoundly and irreversibly. Medicines - as David Kaiser reminds us in "Against Biologic Psychiatry" (Psychiatric Times, Volume XIII, Issue 12, December 1996) - treat symptoms, not the underlying processes that yield them.

IV. The Variance of Mental Disease

If mental illnesses are bodily and empirical, they should be invariant both temporally and spatially, across cultures and societies. This, to some degree, is, indeed, the case. Psychological diseases are not context dependent - but the pathologizing of certain behaviours is. Suicide, substance abuse, narcissism, eating disorders, antisocial ways, schizotypal symptoms, depression, even psychosis are considered sick by some cultures - and utterly normative or advantageous in others.

This was to be expected. The human mind and its dysfunctions are alike around the world. But values differ from time to time and from one place to another. Hence, disagreements about the propriety and desirability of human actions and inaction are bound to arise in a symptom-based diagnostic system.

As long as the pseudo-medical definitions of mental health disorders continue to rely exclusively on signs and symptoms - i.e., mostly on observed or reported behaviours - they remain vulnerable to such discord and devoid of much-sought universality and rigor.

V. Mental Disorders and the Social Order

The mentally sick receive the same treatment as carriers of AIDS or SARS or the Ebola virus or smallpox. They are sometimes quarantined against their will and coerced into involuntary treatment by medication, psychosurgery, or electroconvulsive therapy. This is done in the name of the greater good, largely as a preventive policy.

Conspiracy theories notwithstanding, it is impossible to ignore the enormous interests vested in psychiatry and psychopharmacology. The multibillion dollar industries involving drug companies, hospitals, managed healthcare, private clinics, academic departments, and law enforcement agencies rely, for their continued and exponential growth, on the propagation of the concept of "mental illness" and its corollaries: treatment and research.

VI. Mental Ailment as a Useful Metaphor

Abstract concepts form the core of all branches of human knowledge. No one has ever seen a quark, or untangled a chemical bond, or surfed an electromagnetic wave, or visited the unconscious. These are useful metaphors, theoretical entities with explanatory or descriptive power.

"Mental health disorders" are no different. They are shorthand for capturing the unsettling quiddity of "the Other". Useful as taxonomies, they are also tools of social coercion and conformity, as Michel Foucault and Louis Althusser observed. Relegating both the dangerous and the idiosyncratic to the collective fringes is a vital technique of social engineering.

The aim is progress through social cohesion and the regulation of innovation and creative destruction. Psychiatry, therefore, is reifies society's preference of evolution to revolution, or, worse still, to mayhem. As is often the case with human endeavour, it is a noble cause, unscrupulously and dogmatically pursued.

By Sam Vaknin

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Eating Disorders and the Narcissist

2008-06-30T00:43:00.003-07:00

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.

The key to improving the mental state of patients with dual diagnosis (a personality disorder plus an eating disorder) lies in concentrating upon their eating and sleeping disorders.

By controlling their eating disorders, patients assert control over their lives. This is bound to reduce their depression (even eliminate it altogether as a constant feature of their mental life). This is likely to ameliorate other facets of their personality disorders. Here is the chain: controlling one's eating disorders controlling one's life enhanced sense of self-worth, self-confidence, self-esteem a challenge, an interest, an enemy to subjugate a feeling of strength socialising feeling better.

When a patient has a personality disorder and an eating disorder, the therapist should concentrate on the eating disorder. Personality disorders are intricate and intractable. They are rarely curable (though certain aspects, like OCD, or depression can be ameliorated with medication). Their treatment calls for the enormous, persistent and continuous investment of resources of every kind by everyone involved. From the patient's point of view, the treatment of her personality disorder is not an efficient allocation of scarce mental resources. Also personality disorders are not the real threat. If a patient with a personality disorder is cured of it but her eating disorders are aggravated, she might die (though mentally healthy)?

An eating disorder is both a signal of distress ("I wish to die, I feel so bad, somebody help me") and a message: "I think I lost control. I am very afraid of losing control. I will control my food intake and discharge. This way I control at least ONE aspect of my life."

This is where we can and should begin to help the patient. Help him to regain control. The family or other supporting figures must think what they can do to make the patient feel that he is in control, that he manages things his own way, that he is contributing, has his own schedules, his own agenda, matter.

Eating disorders indicate the strong combined activity of an underlying sense of lack of personal autonomy and an underlying sense of lack of self-control. The patient feels inordinately, paralysingly helpless and ineffective. His eating disorders are an effort to exert and reassert mastery over his own life. At this stage, he is unable to differentiate his own feelings and needs from those of others. His cognitive and perceptual distortions (for instance, regarding body image - somatoform disorders) only increase his feeling of personal ineffectiveness and his need to exercise even more self-control (on his diet, the only thing left).

The patient does not trust himself in the slightest. He is his worst enemy, a mortal enemy, and he knows it. Therefore, any efforts to collaborate with HIM against his disorder - are perceived as collaboration with his worst enemy against his only mode of controlling his life to some extent.

The patient views the world in terms of black and white, of absolutes. So, he cannot let go even to a very small degree. He is HORRIFIED - constantly. This is why he finds it impossible to form relationships: he mistrusts (himself and by extension others), he does not want to become an adult, he does not enjoy sex or love (which both entail a modicum of loss of control). All this leads to a chronic absence of self-esteem. These patients like their disorder. Their eating disorder is their only achievement. Otherwise they are ashamed of themselves and disgusted by their shortcomings (expressed through shame and disgust directed at their bodies).

There is a chance to cure the patient of his eating disorders (though the dual diagnosis of eating disorder and personality disorder has a poor prognosis). This - and ONLY this - must be done at the first stage. The patient's family should consider therapy AND support groups (Overeaters Anonymous). Recovery prognosis is good after 2 years of treatment and support. The family must be heavily involved in the therapeutic process. Family dynamics usually contribute to the development of such disorders.

Medication, cognitive or behavioural therapy, psychodynamic therapy and family therapy ought to do it.

The change in the patient IF the treatment of his eating disorders is successful is VERY MARKED. His major depression disappears together with his sleeping disorders. He becomes socially active again and gets a life. His personality disorder might make it difficult for him - but, in isolation, without the exacerbating circumstances of his other disorders, he finds it much easier to cope with.

Patients with eating disorders may be in mortal danger. Their behaviour is ruining their bodies relentlessly and inexorably. They might attempt suicide. They might do drugs. It is only a question of time. Our goal is to buy them time. The older they get, the more experienced they become, the more their body chemistry changes with age - the better their prognosis.

By Sam Vaknin

No Picnic In Sight

2008-06-30T00:43:00.001-07:00

Upon being diagnosed with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, I saw the reality behind the greatest myth of mental illness, the myth that The Victim Is Unaware of His or Her Own Condition. A childhood flooded with media depictions of the mentally ill had lead me to believe that the afflicted had somehow been robbed of their objectivity, thrown into a dark hall-of-mirrors beyond the realm of rational perspective.

Nonsense. My rational mind remained intact, albeit uncomfortably so. From the lighter corner of my mind, I watched darkness flow in. Obsessive images of violence and amorality. Urges, or rather, "pseudo-urges" to do things I didn't want to. Yin (the rational mind) duking it out with yang (the imbalanced, irrational mind) on a daily basis. The word "Hell" was used often when describing this state.

I'm certain that the suffering of many leads to punctured objectivity and the loss of rational self-awareness. Fortunately, I remained aware. No matter how awful I felt, I could at least articulate what was going on. The power of descriptive articulation should not be underestimated. It keeps the disorder in context as a disorder, preserving a firm boundary between the right mind and the ill mind. For me, imagining such a boundary was a vital survival tool. I focused on finding a day when Yin overran Yang, so to speak.

The afflicted mind has difficulty inspiring itself to seek assistance. What a complex entity the mind is; even in sickness, it has only itself to rely upon. Unlike somebody with a broken leg, a person with an anxiety disorder cannot lean on his or her other mind. Overcoming mental duress is like trying to kiss your own lips. Quite tricky, but possible with enough imagination.

Imagination and resourcefulness, that's what it comes down to. These strange ailments go just as they came. I knew that elements of my mind were strong; the challenge was getting these elements to positively influence the weaker ones. This required many analysts, many appointments, many schools of healing. Psychology, psychiatry, homeopathy, reflexology, reiki, energy healing-- these were all thrown in the pot to little avail. Finally and unexpectedly, acupuncture provided balance. I've improved significantly. I thank acupuncture and I thank my supportive family, but, most importantly, I thank counter-mythology: even when afflicted, the human mind sees itself. And in itself, it sees solutions.

Eric Shapiro

Narcissism, Substance Abuse, and Reckless Behaviours

2008-06-30T00:42:00.013-07:00

Pathological narcissism is an addiction to Narcissistic Supply, the narcissist's drug of choice. It is, therefore, not surprising that other addictive and reckless behaviours - workaholism, alcoholism, drug abuse, pathological gambling, compulsory shopping, or reckless driving - piggyback on this primary dependence.

The narcissist - like other types of addicts - derives pleasure from these exploits. But they also sustain and enhance his grandiose fantasies as "unique", "superior", "entitled", and "chosen". They place him above the laws and pressures of the mundane and away from the humiliating and sobering demands of reality. They render him the centre of attention - but also place him in "splendid isolation" from the madding and inferior crowd.

Such compulsory and wild pursuits provide a psychological exoskeleton. They are a substitute to quotidian existence. They afford the narcissist with an agenda, with timetables, goals, and faux achievements. The narcissist - the adrenaline junkie - feels that he is in control, alert, excited, and vital. He does not regard his condition as dependence. The narcissist firmly believes that he is in charge of his addiction, that he can quit at will and on short notice.

The narcissist denies his cravings for fear of "losing face" and subverting the flawless, perfect, immaculate, and omnipotent image he projects. When caught red handed, the narcissist underestimates, rationalises, or intellectualises his addictive and reckless behaviours - converting them into an integral part of his grandiose and fantastic False Self.

Thus, a drug abusing narcissist may claim to be conducting first hand research for the benefit of humanity - or that his substance abuse results in enhanced creativity and productivity. The dependence of some narcissists becomes a way of life: busy corporate executives, race car drivers, or professional gamblers come to mind.

The narcissist's addictive behaviours take his mind off his inherent limitations, inevitable failures, painful and much-feared rejections, and the Grandiosity Gap - the abyss between the image he projects (the False Self) and the injurious truth. They relieve his anxiety and resolve the tension between his unrealistic expectations and inflated self-image - and his incommensurate achievements, position, status, recognition, intelligence, wealth, and physique.

Thus, there is no point in treating the dependence and recklessness of the narcissist without first treating the underlying personality disorder. The narcissist's addictions serve deeply ingrained emotional needs. They intermesh seamlessly with the pathological structure of his disorganised personality, with his character faults, and primitive defence mechanisms.

Techniques such as "12 steps" may prove more efficacious in treating the narcissist's grandiosity, rigidity, sense of entitlement, exploitativeness, and lack of empathy. This is because - as opposed to traditional treatment modalities - the emphasis is on tackling the narcissist's psychological makeup, rather than on behaviour modification.

The narcissist's overwhelming need to feel omnipotent and superior can be co-opted in the therapeutic process. Overcoming an addictive behaviour can be - truthfully - presented by the therapist as a rare and impressive feat, worthy of the narcissist's unique mettle.

Narcissists fall for these transparent pitches surprisingly often. But this approach can backfire. Should the narcissist relapse - an almost certain occurrence - he will feel ashamed to admit his fallibility, need for emotional sustenance, and impotence. He is likely to avoid treatment altogether and convince himself that now, having succeeded once to get rid of his addiction, he is self-sufficient and omniscient.

First published in my
"Narcissistic Personality Disorder"
Topic Page on Suite 101

By Sam Vaknin

The Cyber Narcissist

2008-06-30T00:42:00.011-07:00

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
"Narcissistic Personality Disorder"
Topic Page on Suite 101

By Sam Vaknin

Treatment Modalities and Therapies

2008-06-30T00:42:00.009-07:00

Narcissism constitutes the entire personality. It is all-pervasive. Being a narcissist is akin to being an alcoholic but much more so. Alcoholism is an impulsive behaviour. Narcissists exhibit dozens of similarly reckless behaviours, some of them uncontrollable (like their rage, the outcome of their wounded grandiosity). Narcissism is not a vocation. Narcissism resembles depression or other disorders and cannot be changed at will.

Adult pathological narcissism is no more "curable" than the entirety of one's personality is disposable. The patient is a narcissist. Narcissism is more akin to the colour of one's skin rather than to one's choice of subjects at the university.

Moreover, the Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) is frequently diagnosed with other, even more intractable personality disorders, mental illnesses, and substance abuse.

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapies (CBTs)

The CBTs believe that insight - even if merely verbal and intellectual - is sufficient to induce an emotional outcome. If properly manipulated, verbal cues, insights, analyses of standard sentences we keep saying to ourselves ("I am ugly", "I am afraid no one would like to be with me"), inner dialogues and narratives, and repeated behavioural patterns (learned behaviours) coupled with positive (and, rarely, negative) reinforcements - are sufficient to induce a cumulative emotional effect tantamount to healing.

Psychodynamic theories do not believe that cognition can influence emotion. They believe that much deeper strata have to be accessed and studied by both patient and therapist. The very exposure of these strata is considered sufficient to induce a dynamic of healing. The therapist's role is either to interpret the material revealed to the patient (psychoanalysis) by allowing the patient to transfer past experience and superimpose it on the therapist - or to actively engage in providing a safe emotional and holding environment conducive to changes in the patient.

The sad fact is that no known therapy is effective with narcissism ITSELF - though a few therapies are reasonably successful as far as coping with some of its effects goes (behavioural modification).

Dynamic Psychotherapy

Or Psychodynamic Therapy, Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy

As opposed to common opinion it is NOT psychoanalysis. It is an intensive psychotherapy BASED on psychoanalytic theory WITHOUT the (very important) element of free association. This is not to say that free association is not used - only that it is not a pillar of the technique in dynamic therapies. Dynamic therapies are usually applied to patients not considered "suitable" for psychoanalysis (such as Personality Disorders, except the Avoidant PD).

Typically, different modes of interpretation are employed and other techniques borrowed from other treatments modalities. But the material interpreted is not necessarily the result of free association or dreams and the psychotherapist is a lot more active than the psychoanalyst.

These treatments are open-ended. At the commencement of the therapy the therapist (analyst) makes an agreement (a "pact") with the analysand (patient or client). The pact says that the patient undertakes to explore his problems no matter how long it takes (and how expensive it becomes). This is supposed to make the therapeutic environment much more relaxed because the patient knows that the analyst is at his/her disposal no matter how many meetings would be required in order to broach painful subject matter.

Sometimes, these therapies are divided to expressive versus supportive, but I regard this division as misleading.

Expressive means uncovering (=making conscious) the patient's conflicts and studying his/her defences and resistances. The analyst interprets the conflict in view of the new knowledge gained and guides the therapy towards a resolution of the conflict. The conflict, in other words, is "interpreted away" through insight and the change in the patient motivated by his/her insights.

The supportive therapies seek to strengthen the Ego. Their premise is that a strong Ego can cope better (and later on, alone) with external (situational) or internal (instincts, drives) pressures. Supportive therapies seek to increase the patient's ability to REPRESS conflicts (rather than bring them to the surface of consciousness). As a painful conflict is suppressed - so are all manner of dysphorias and symptoms. This is somewhat reminiscent of behaviourism (the main aim is to change behaviour and to relieve symptoms). It usually makes no use of insight or interpretation (though there are exceptions).

Group Therapies

Narcissists are notoriously unsuitable for collaborative efforts of any kind, let alone group therapy. They immediately size up others as potential Sources of Narcissistic Supply - or potential competitors. They idealise the first (suppliers) and devalue the latter (competitors). This, obviously, is not very conducive to group therapy.

Moreover, the dynamic of the group is bound to reflect the interactions of its members. Narcissists are individualists. They regard coalitions with disdain and contempt. The need to resort to team work, to adhere to group rules, to succumb to a moderator, and to honour and respect the other members as equals - is perceived by them to be humiliating and degrading (a contemptible weakness). Thus, a group containing one or more narcissists is likely to fluctuate between short-term, very small size, coalitions (based on "superiority" and contempt) and outbreaks (acting outs) of rage and coercion.

Can Narcissism be Cured?

Adult narcissists can rarely be "cured", though some scholars think otherwise. Still, the earlier the therapeutic intervention, the better the prognosis. A correct diagnosis and a proper mix of treatment modalities in early adolescence guarantees success without relapse in anywhere between one third and one half the cases. Additionally, ageing ameliorates or even vanquishes some antisocial behaviors.

In their seminal tome, "Personality Disorders in Modern Life" (New York, John Wiley & Sons, 2000), Theodore Millon and Roger Davis write (p. 308):

"Most narcissists strongly resist psychotherapy. For those who choose to remain in therapy, there are several pitfalls that are difficult to avoid ... Interpretation and even general assessment are often difficult to accomplish..."

The third edition of the "Oxford Textbook of Psychiatry" (Oxford, Oxford University Press, reprinted 2000), cautions (p. 128):

"... (P)eople cannot change their natures, but can only change their situations. There has been some progress in finding ways of effecting small changes in disorders of personality, but management still consists largely of helping the person to find a way of life that conflicts less with his character ... Whatever treatment is used, aims should be modest and considerable time should be allowed to achieve them."

The fourth edition of the authoritative "Review of General Psychiatry" (London, Prentice-Hall International, 1995), says (p. 309):

"(People with personality disorders) ... cause resentment and possibly even alienation and burnout in the healthcare professionals who treat them ... (p. 318) Long-term psychoanalytic psychotherapy and psychoanalysis have been attempted with (narcissists), although their use has been controversial."

The reason narcissism is under-reported and healing over-stated is that therapists are being fooled by smart narcissists. Most narcissists are expert manipulators and they learn how to deceive their therapists.

Here are some hard facts:

There are gradations and shades of narcissism. The difference between two narcissists can be great. The existence of grandiosity and empathy or lack thereof are not minor variations. They are serious predictors of future dynamics. The prognosis is much better if they do exist.

There are cases of spontaneous healing and of "short-term NPD" [see Gunderson's and Roningstam work, 1996].

The prognosis for a classical NPD case (grandiosity, lack of empathy and all) is decidedly not good as far as long-term, lasting, and complete healing. Moreover, narcissists are intensely disliked by therapists.

BUT?

Side effects, co-morbid disorders (such as Obsessive-Compulsive behaviors) and some aspects of NPD (the dysphorias, the paranoiac dimensions, the outcomes of the sense of entitlement, the pathological lying) can be modified (using talk therapy and, depending on the problem, medication). these are not short-term or complete solutions - but some of them do have long-term effects.

The DSM is a billing and administration oriented diagnostic tool. It is intended to "tidy" up the psychiatrist's desk. The Personality Disorders are ill demarcated. The differential diagnoses are vaguely defined. There are some cultural biases and judgements [see the diagnostic criteria of the Schizotypal PD]. The result is sizeable confusion and multiple diagnoses ("co-morbidity"). NPD was introduced to the DSM in 1980 [DSM-III]. There isn't enough research to substantiate any view or hypothesis about NPD. Future DSM editions may abolish it altogether within the framework of a cluster or a single "personality disorder" category. As it is, the difference between HPD, BPD, AsPD, and NPD is, to my mind, rather blurred. When we ask: "Can NPD be healed?" we need to realise that we don't know for sure what is NPD and what constitutes long-term healing in the case of an NPD. There are those who seriously claim that NPD is a cultural disease with a societal determinant.

Narcissists in Therapy

In therapy, the general idea is to create the conditions for the True Self to resume its growth: safety, predictability, justice, love and acceptance - a mirroring and holding environment. Therapy is supposed to provide these conditions of nurturance and the guidance necessary to achieve these goals (through transference, cognitive re-labelling or other methods). The narcissist must learn that his past experiences are not laws of nature, that not all adults are abusive, that relationships can be nurturing and supportive.

Most therapists try to co-opt the narcissist's inflated ego (False Self) and defences. They compliment the narcissist, challenging him to prove his omnipotence by overcoming his disorder. They appeal to his quest for perfection, brilliance, and eternal love - and his paranoid tendencies - in an attempt to get rid of counterproductive, self-defeating, and dysfunctional behaviour patterns.

By stroking the narcissist's grandiosity, they hope to modify or counter cognitive deficits, thinking errors, and the narcissist's victim-stance. They contract with the narcissist to alter his conduct. Some even go to the extent of medicalizing the disorder, attributing it to a hereditary or biochemical origin and thus "absolving" the narcissist from guilt and responsibility and freeing his mental resources to concentrate on the therapy.

Confronting the narcissist head on and engaging in power politics ("I am cleverer", "My will should prevail", and so on) is decidedly unhelpful and could lead to rage attacks and a deepening of the narcissist's persecutory delusions, bred by his humiliation in the therapeutic setting.

Successes have been reported by applying 12-step techniques (as modified for patients suffering from the Antisocial Personality Disorder), and with treatment modalities as diverse as NLP (Neurolinguistic Programming), Schema Therapy, and EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization).

But, whatever the type of talk therapy, the narcissist devalues the therapist. His internal dialogue is: "I know best, I know it all, the therapist is less intelligent than I, I can't afford the top level therapists who are the only ones qualified to treat me (as my equals, needless to say), I am actually a therapist myself?"

A litany of self-delusion and fantastic grandiosity (really, defences and resistances): "He (my therapist) should be my colleague, in certain respects it is he who should accept my professional authority, why won't he be my friend, after all I can use the lingo (psycho-babble) even better than he does? It's us (him and me) against a hostile and ignorant world (follies-a-deux)?"

Then there is: "Just who does he think he is, asking me all these questions? What are his professional credentials? I am a success and he is a nobody therapist in a dingy office, he is trying to negate my uniqueness, he is an authority figure, I hate him, I will show him, I will humiliate him, prove him ignorant, have his licence revoked (transference). Actually, he is pitiable, a zero, a failure?"

And this is only in the first three sessions of the therapy. This abusive internal dialogue becomes more vituperative and pejorative as therapy progresses.

Narcissists generally are averse to receiving medication. Resorting to medicines is an implied admission that something is wrong. Narcissists are control freaks. Additionally, many of them believe that medication is the "great equaliser" - it will make them lose their uniqueness, superiority and so on. That is unless they can convincingly present the act of taking their medicines as "heroism", a part of a daring enterprise of self-exploration, a distinguishing feature and so on.

They often claim that the medicine affects them differently than it does other people, or that they have discovered a new, exciting way of using it, or that they are part of someone's (usually themselves) learning curve ("part of a new approach to dosage", "part of a new cocktail which holds great promise"). Narcissists must dramatise their lives to feel worthy and special. Aut nihil aut unique - either be special or don't be at all. Narcissists are drama queens.

Very much like in the physical world, change is brought about only through incredible powers of torsion and breakage. Only when the narcissist's elasticity gives way, only when he is wounded by his own intransigence - only then is there hope.

It takes nothing less than a real crisis. Ennui is not enough.

By Sam Vaknin

Traumas as Social Interactions

2008-06-30T00:42:00.007-07:00

("He" in this text - to mean "He" or "She")

We react to serious mishaps, life altering setbacks, disasters, abuse, and death by going through the phases of grieving. Traumas are the complex outcomes of psychodynamic and biochemical processes. But the particulars of traumas depend heavily on the interaction between the victim and his social milieu.

It would seem that while the victim progresses from denial to helplessness, rage, depression and thence to acceptance of the traumatizing events - society demonstrates a diametrically opposed progression. This incompatibility, this mismatch of psychological phases is what leads to the formation and crystallization of trauma.

PHASE I

Victim phase I - DENIAL

The magnitude of such unfortunate events is often so overwhelming, their nature so alien, and their message so menacing - that denial sets in as a defence mechanism aimed at self preservation. The victim denies that the event occurred, that he or she is being abused, that a loved one passed away.

Society phase I - ACCEPTANCE, MOVING ON

The victim's nearest ("Society") - his colleagues, his employees, his clients, even his spouse, children, and friends - rarely experience the events with the same shattering intensity. They are likely to accept the bad news and move on. Even at their most considerate and empathic, they are likely to lose patience with the victim's state of mind. They tend to ignore the victim, or chastise him, to mock, or to deride his feelings or behaviour, to collude to repress the painful memories, or to trivialize them.

Summary Phase I

The mismatch between the victim's reactive patterns and emotional needs and society's matter-of-fact attitude hinders growth and healing. The victim requires society's help in avoiding a head-on confrontation with a reality he cannot digest. Instead, society serves as a constant and mentally destabilizing reminder of the root of the victim's unbearable agony (the Job syndrome).

PHASE II

Victim phase II - HELPLESSNESS

Denial gradually gives way to a sense of all-pervasive and humiliating helplessness, often accompanied by debilitating fatigue and mental disintegration. These are among the classic symptoms of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). These are the bitter results of the internalization and integration of the harsh realization that there is nothing one can do to alter the outcomes of a natural, or man-made, catastrophe. The horror in confronting one's finiteness, meaninglessness, negligibility, and powerlessness - is overpowering.

Society phase II - DEPRESSION

The more the members of society come to grips with the magnitude of the loss, or evil, or threat represented by the grief inducing events - the sadder they become. Depression is often little more than suppressed or self-directed anger. The anger, in this case, is belatedly induced by an identified or diffuse source of threat, or of evil, or loss. It is a higher level variant of the "fight or flight" reaction, tampered by the rational understanding that the "source" is often too abstract to tackle directly.

Summary Phase II

Thus, when the victim is most in need, terrified by his helplessness and adrift - society is immersed in depression and unable to provide a holding and supporting environment. Growth and healing is again retarded by social interaction. The victim's innate sense of annulment is enhanced by the self-addressed anger (=depression) of those around him.

PHASE III

Both the victim and society react with RAGE to their predicaments. In an effort to narcissistically reassert himself, the victim develops a grandiose sense of anger directed at paranoidally selected, unreal, diffuse, and abstract targets (=frustration sources). By expressing aggression, the victim re-acquires mastery of the world and of himself.

Members of society use rage to re-direct the root cause of their depression (which is, as we said, self directed anger) and to channel it safely. To ensure that this expressed aggression alleviates their depression - real targets must are selected and real punishments meted out. In this respect, "social rage" differs from the victim's. The former is intended to sublimate aggression and channel it in a socially acceptable manner - the latter to reassert narcissistic self-love as an antidote to an all-devouring sense of helplessness.

In other words, society, by itself being in a state of rage, positively enforces the narcissistic rage reactions of the grieving victim. This, in the long run, is counter-productive, inhibits personal growth, and prevents healing. It also erodes the reality test of the victim and encourages self-delusions, paranoidal ideation, and ideas of reference.

PHASE IV

Victim Phase IV - DEPRESSION

As the consequences of narcissistic rage - both social and personal - grow more unacceptable, depression sets in. The victim internalizes his aggressive impulses. Self directed rage is safer but is the cause of great sadness and even suicidal ideation. The victim's depression is a way of conforming to social norms. It is also instrumental in ridding the victim of the unhealthy residues of narcissistic regression. It is when the victim acknowledges the malignancy of his rage (and its anti-social nature) that he adopts a depressive stance.

Society Phase IV - HELPLESSNESS

People around the victim ("society") also emerge from their phase of rage transformed. As they realize the futility of their rage, they feel more and more helpless and devoid of options. They grasp their limitations and the irrelevance of their good intentions. They accept the inevitability of loss and evil and Kafkaesquely agree to live under an ominous cloud of arbitrary judgement, meted out by impersonal powers.

Summary Phase IV

Again, the members of society are unable to help the victim to emerge from a self-destructive phase. His depression is enhanced by their apparent helplessness. Their introversion and inefficacy induce in the victim a feeling of nightmarish isolation and alienation. Healing and growth are once again retarded or even inhibited.

PHASE V

Victim Phase V - ACCEPTANCE AND MOVING ON

Depression - if pathologically protracted and in conjunction with other mental health problems - sometimes leads to suicide. But more often, it allows the victim to process mentally hurtful and potentially harmful material and paves the way to acceptance. Depression is a laboratory of the psyche. Withdrawal from social pressures enables the direct transformation of anger into other emotions, some of them otherwise socially unacceptable. The honest encounter between the victim and his own (possible) death often becomes a cathartic and self-empowering inner dynamic. The victim emerges ready to move on.

Society Phase V - DENIAL

Society, on the other hand, having exhausted its reactive arsenal - resorts to denial. As memories fade and as the victim recovers and abandons his obsessive-compulsive dwelling on his pain - society feels morally justified to forget and forgive. This mood of historical revisionism, of moral leniency, of effusive forgiveness, of re-interpretation, and of a refusal to remember in detail - leads to a repression and denial of the painful events by society.

Summary Phase V

This final mismatch between the victim's emotional needs and society's reactions is less damaging to the victim. He is now more resilient, stronger, more flexible, and more willing to forgive and forget. Society's denial is really a denial of the victim. But, having ridden himself of more primitive narcissistic defences - the victim can do without society's acceptance, approval, or look. Having endured the purgatory of grieving, he has now re-acquired his self, independent of society's acknowledgement.

By Sam Vaknin

Time Out of Mind

2008-06-30T00:42:00.005-07:00

Let us first consider the role of time in our lives, then let us consider that role in terms of mental illness. Buddhists and Hindus, among others, propose that time does not actually exist. The Western world, however, with its dependence on clocks and deadlines, scoffs at such a notion, relying upon sayings such as "Time is money" and "Time is of the essence."

Time is of the essence. What an expression. Its inherent suggestion is that time comes from our essences; time exists within our souls. This is consistent with the Western position that time was discovered rather than created. Then again, the question haunts us: what if we did, in fact, create time? What if all our ticking clocks and watches amount to nothing more than a symbolic quest for orderly and coherent living? It's a terrifying yet convincing idea.

One considers, then, how time functions from the perspective of a person with a mental disorder. The sufferer of depression, or anxiety, or psychotic ailments, likely travels life's trajectory in creaky slow-motion. Catchy sayings such as "Life's too short" make such victims grin wearily, responding in their minds, "No, life's too long." Given the incessant presence of pain in the victim's mind-- the ceaseless worrying, excessive self-reflection, and troubling sensory distortion-- hours tend to stretch, stretch, stretch until the act of exiting one's bed in the morning becomes overwhelming.

Another kind of smile, likely even more weary, will cross the sufferer's face when met with this maxim: "Time flies when you're having fun." Indeed it does, and indeed the patient's schedule leaves no room for fun of any kind. Unless, of course, one counts the quiet joy of the moment when the depressed person sees that it's already six o'clock and thinks, "I can't believe I've made it another hour."

It is this writer's suggestion that given the dark relationship between the aching mind and the ticking clock, the mentally ill should ignore time altogether. Take a note from our Eastern thinkers and do not, as my father always told me, "try to live the whole future in one day." Again, time needn't be regarded as a finite fact of life. One may choose to doubt it, or, moreover, disapprove of it! Who needs time, anyway? Whose mind needs a sweltering flurry of images from a thousand yesterdays and ten thousand tomorrows?

The path to wellness may take two months or it may take two years. This is of no consequence. The moment is of the essence.

By Eric Shapiro

The Diagnosis Myth

2008-06-30T00:42:00.003-07:00

Although I risk dissension by doing so, I must say something that I think many of us in the mental health community have acknowledged for quite some time: every single diagnosis of a mental disorder is fallible.

Before I proceed, I should note the value of diagnoses. They are immensely useful categorical tools. The human being cannot productively navigate the uncertain tides of reality without the use of symbols and structures. Symbols and structures allow us to determine where our glasses end and our tables begin. Accordingly, when Patient A is compulsively cleaning her apartment and Patient B is speaking to invisible demons, it is important to have the words "Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder" to describe the former and the word "Schizophrenia" to describe the latter. Categorizations such as these not only help us to distinguish between ailments, they also assist us in making reliable behavioral predictions and selecting appropriate modes of treatment. I have no intention of ignoring these facts.

However, two unsettling flaws consistently accompany diagnoses of mental disorders.

When one breaks an arm and is diagnosed with the linguistically sophisticated ailment known as a "broken arm," there is finitude on display. Witnesses could line up from the patient's bed to the hospital parking lot, and they would all agree that the patient was suffering from a broken arm. The Law of Averages insists that one or two jokers would, due to rebelliousness or sheer foolishness, concoct some other diagnosis, but I believe that my point is clear: physical diagnoses are better suited for objective consideration than are mental ones.

Despite the probable existence of Patient A and Patient B, the mind is a realm of liquidity and abstractions. Absent are any features remotely approaching the rigidity of a bone. Even for its most stubborn bearers, the mind is a place of motion. When it is possible for a Depressed patient to shift from numbness to panic to auditory hallucinations within the space of a single afternoon, of what ultimate use is the "Depression" label? To be sure, some symptoms achieve prominence within some minds, but all minds, we must acknowledge, never stop shifting, advancing, reversing, and flowing. Every mental disorder is therefore an abstraction at best.

I have been diagnosed with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. This seems about right, but what am I to make of my occasional bouts of Panic? Are they "part of" my O.C.D., or do I also have Panic Disorder? And, further, what am I to make of the one or two professionals who have said that I may have Attention-Deficit Disorder? Is my A.D.D. an offshoot of my O.C.D. or does my O.C.D. stem from my A.D.D.? Which of the two shares a stronger bond with my Panic? Even more confusing: as part of my O.C.D., I sometimes obsess about the possibility of becoming Manic. This obsession seems to tangibly alter my moods, but am I authentically Manic, or am I merely Obsessed? I feel like panicking.

We must admit that all mental disorders, however distinctive their given names, are members of one large dysfunctional family. This family is so huge that I question the merits of memorizing all its members' names and faces.

The second inevitable defect of a mental illness diagnosis is the fact that Its Recipient Is Also Its Source. In other words, because the mind of a diagnosed patient is the seat of her affliction, knowledge of a diagnosis can provoke greater mental distress. Said distress can arrive in several forms. The patient's symptoms may increase due to her renewed awareness. The patient may develop an Inferiority Complex (yet another disorder!) or drift into a state of panic. Most troubling, the patient may adhere so strongly to the notion of being SICK that her mind will never trust itself to part with its imbalance.

I can sense the naysayers closing in on me. You likely think, "The patient will surely never improve if she's ignorant about the existence of her disorder!"

I agree wholeheartedly. Acknowledging the presence of a problem is the first step toward solving it. Nonetheless, our collective perception of mental diagnoses is ripe for a change. Not only do these labels fail to holistically summarize the people they're attached to, they also tend to make said people feel stuck.

Upon being diagnosed with a mental disorder, a patient should regard her diagnosis as a handy signpost en route to treatment and recovery. Regarding such disorders as fixed, deep-rooted states is a terrific way to make them hang around longer and sink in even deeper.

By Eric Shapiro

Ericksons Theory of Human Development

2008-06-30T00:42:00.001-07:00

I'm sure you've heard the term "Identity Crisis" before. It's thought of as a conflict of self and society and its introduction came from one of the most famous psychoanalyst of the 20th century.

Sigmund Freud is probably the most familiar name that comes to mind when one thinks of famous psychologists. His basic foundation theories of instinct, phallic symbol obsession and oedipal complexes are prevalent in almost every artistic aspect of our culture. However, it was a friend and fellow psychoanalyst of Freud's, Erik Erickson, who created one of the major theories that open a window to the development of everything that makes us who we are on the inside. It is referred to as Erickson's Theory of Human Development and it simplifies the complex topic of human personality.

First, let's talk about the man himself. Erik Homberger was born in Frankfurt, Germany in 1902. The conditions under which he began life give a great deal of insight into his obsession with identity. He was challenged with it from the stat. His parents weren't married and his Danish father left before Erik was born. His Jewish mother married Erik's pediatrician when he was three. Erik had Nordic features; he was tall, blond and had blue eyes. Neither the Jewish children at temple nor the German children at school accepted him.

As he grew up, psychology and art began to interest Erik and led him to various institutes including one where he was psychoanalyzed by Anna Freud, wife of Sigmund. Both later became close friends to Erickson. When the Nazis came to power, Erik moved to Boston where he studied child psychoanalysis and was influenced by many psychologists and anthropologists Mead, but many famous psychologists and anthropologists.

He is considered a Freudian ego-psychologist, meaning he takes the basic foundation of Freud's theories, but veers away by focus on social and cultural orientation. Erickson's theory closely ties personality growth with parental and societal values. His 1950 book, Childhood and Society, is considered a classic in its field.

There are eight stages of human development, each focusing on a different conflict that we need to solve in order to development successfully into the next stage of our lives. The idea is that if we don't resolve each stage or we choose the wrong of two choices, our ability to deal with the consecutive stages is impaired and the failure will return to us at some point later in life.

Stage One: Oral Sensory
Ages: Birth To 12-18 Months
Conflict: Trust vs Mistrust
The infant's bond with their primary caregiver is about trust and love. The connection with that person (usually Mommy) allows them to feel like they are safe and can rely on the person who is basically the only thing they know. It's about touch and being there and can be seen in that tender stare they give you as you feed them.

Stage Two: Muscular Anal
Ages: 18 Months To 3 Years
Conflict: Autonomy vs Doubt
This stage focuses on self control and self confidence and Erickson gives toilet training as the greatest example of this conflict. He also points out that this is the stage where an overprotective parent can do the most damage. The child wants autonomy. We're all familiar with the two hour wait because they have to tie their own shoes. We wait because in this stage, failure to reinforce these efforts will lead the child to doubt themselves and your trust in them.

Stage Three: Locomotor
Ages: 3 To 6 Years
Conflict: Initiative vs Guilt
This is all about independence and letting the child exert his/her initiative. This is the stage where carrying your car keys or helping Mommy in any way possible is very important. They are developing a sense of responsibility and limitations. They will try to do things they can't and the response the parent gives them, encouragement or refusal, will allow the child to understand limitations without guilt.

Stage Four: Latency
Ages: 6 To 12 Years
Conflict: Industry vs Inferiority
This is about completion. Before this stage, we're all familiar with the child beginning to do something, but then snap; he drops it and is on to something else. In this stage, completion and the pleasure it brings becomes crucial. This is greatly influenced by their introduction to school beyond day care. It is the coming together of mental and physical capabilities as well. Parents need to encourage their child to handle the different experiences of a home atmosphere and the atmosphere at school among others.

Stage Five: Adolescence
Ages: 12 To 18 Years
Conflict: Identity vs Role Confusion
This stage could be a book in itself; the teenage years. They are hard on everyone, but especially the child herself. They are aware that they will become a contributor to society (industry) and the search for who they are drives their actions and thoughts. The desire to know what it is they want and believe separate from what they've adopted from their parents is crucial to their self confidence.

Stage Six: Young Adulthood
Ages: 19 To 40 Years
Conflict: Psychosocial Development
Love relationships dominate this stage for all of us and relies heavily on our ability to solve the conflicts faced in stage five. Can you be intimate? Can you be open? Can you commit? Intimacy is referred to as the ability to make a personal commitment and doesn't necessarily mean sex. Personal commitment, met with mutual satisfaction, make this a successful stage. If unable to handle this stage, an adult will resort to isolation.

Stage Seven: Middle Adulthood
Ages: 40 To 65 Years
Conflict: Generativity vs Stagnation
The words are getting bigger, but stay with me. Generativity is our ability to care for someone else which is mostly displayed in parenting. Specifically, it's the ability to direct someone into society and the next generation. We don't focus on death, but we begin to understand that we are high in the order of society and owe society something. If we haven't dealt with our previous conflicts, we become stagnant and our lives won't exhibit anything we can look back on.

Stage Eight: Maturity
Ages: 65 to Death
Conflict: Ego Integrity vs Despair
This is when we begin to reflect on our lives, accepting it for what it was. If we have done well in previous stages, especially stage seven, we can feel a sense of fulfillment and accept death as an unavoidable reality with dignity. If we haven't done well, we can be filled with regret, despair over the time running out and fear of death.

When you read through the stages, it's impossible not to identify them as you've experienced them or as you see your children experiencing them. However, Erickson's theory is not without critics. Many say that it is too focused on infancy and childhood and isn't very helpful for later in life. Others say it really applies to boys and not girls using Erickson's belief (Freudian) that boys and girls naturally develop different personalities.

In general, Erickson's Theory of Human Development is widely accepted and plays a major role in all human and psychological development studies and theories. The best advice is to use the theory as a framework or map for understanding and identifying what issues/conflicts unresolved lead to current behavior and preparing for the stages to come.

By Angela Winters

What is the Treatment for Bipolar Disorder?

2008-06-13T23:51:00.001-07:00

How do we treat bipolar disorder? Specifically, how do we treat mania or depression associated with bipolar disorder? The treatment of these two clinical states is not the same.

The treatment of mania is dependent upon its severity and acuity. For mild to moderate mania, mood stabilizers such as lithium and valproic acid (Valproate) are still the standard of treatment and may be sufficient to contain the symptoms. Lithium starts to work after 10 to 14 days while valproic acid, about 7 to 10 days.

Also, recent studies have shown the effectiveness of atypical antipsychotics such as risperidone, olanzapine, and quetiapine even when used alone to treat the acute phase of bipolar disorder.

These drugs are relatively safe but they don't come without side effects. Nausea, vomiting, tremors, and dizziness during the initial phase of treatment are commonly experienced. The more serious side effects such as renal and thyroid problem from lithium, liver dysfunction and pancreatitis from valproic acid, and increased risk of diabetes and high cholesterol from atypical antipsychotics are uncommon. However, regular blood tests are required to monitor any abnormalities.

For moderate to severe cases, atypical antipsychotics such as risperidone and quetiapine should be added to the mood stabilizers during the acute phase. Once the illness has stabilized and the symptoms have subsided, then the atypical neuroleptics can be gradually tapered off. But the mood stabilizers should continue. Regardless of severity, patients usually do well on a combination of mood stabilizer and atypical antipsychotic during the acute phase.

What is the treatment for bipolar depression? In general, the mood stabilizers' dosage should be optimized or if the patient is not on any medication yet, a mood stabilizer such as lithium should be started. Physicians should make sure that the medication maintains a "therapeutic level." If not, the dosage should be adjusted. Moreover, possible precipitants such as stresses at home should be addressed.

If these measures don't help and the depression is so severe, an antidepressant with the least risk to induce mania such as bupropion should be added to the mood stabilizer. When the depression is resolved, then the antidepressant can be gradually tapered off because its prolonged use even in the presence of mood stabilizer can still induce mania.

When should the medication be discontinued? Bipolar patients have to continue taking the medication for several months even after they become normal. High relapse rate is common if medications are prematurely stopped. Also, for patients with multiple or difficult-to-treat episodes, they may need to take the medication for years or even for life to prevent recurrence.

Patients and their physicians should thoroughly discuss the risk and benefits of any treatment intervention. Knowledge about the drug's indication, side effects, and prognosis with or without treatment is a must.

Furthermore, it is crucial that bipolar patients should also receive individual psychotherapy to help them deal with the many personal and psychosocial issues they face on a daily basis. As you know, medication alone won't suffice to address financial problems, marital conflict, work issues, and prior abuse.

In summary, the combination of medication and psychotherapy is the best treatment for bipolar disorder.

By Dr. Michael G. Rayel

What Is Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder?

2008-06-13T23:50:00.003-07:00

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is a medical condition. It is caused by genetic factors that result in certain neurological differences. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder comes in various forms, and there are five or six different types of ADHD.

In the DSM-IV Diagnostic manual, each of these forms, or "types" of ADHD falls under the diagnostic category of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The main category is then subdivided into ADHD Inattentive Type, or ADHD Impulsive-Hyperactive Type, or ADHD Combined Type. In the recent past, the terms attention deficit disorder "with" or "without" hyperactivity were also commonly used. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder comes in various forms, and truly, no two ADD or ADHD kids are exactly alike.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder might affect one, two, or several areas of the brain, resulting in several different "styles" or "profiles" of children (and adults) with ADD ADHD.

These different profiles impact performance in these four areas:

First, problems with Attention.
Second, problems with a lack of Impulse Control.
Third, problems with Over-activity or motor restlessness,
Fourth, a problem which is not yet an "official" problem found in the diagnostic manuals, but ought to be: being easily Bored.

A few other important characteristics of this disorder are:

1) That it is SEEN IN MOST SITUATIONS, not just at school, or just in the home. When the problem is seen only at home, we then would wonder if perhaps the child is depressed, or if the child is just being non-compliant with the parents;

2) That the problems are apparent BEFORE the AGE OF SEVEN (7). Since Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is thought to be a neurologically based disorder, we would expect that, outside of acquiring its symptoms from a head injury, the individual with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder would have been born with the disorder. Even though the disorder might not become much of a problem until the second or third grade when the school work becomes more demanding, one would expect that at least some of the symptoms were noted before the age of seven.

About one of twenty people, children and adults, have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. It is a significant problem for these people, and for their families. Learn more about the different types of ADHD at and visit the ADHD Information Library's family of web sites.

By Douglas Cowan, Psy.D.

Intro to Being an ADHD Parent

2008-06-13T23:50:00.001-07:00

In my fifteen years of private practice working with children with ADHD, one of the common concerns that I observed by parents was the fear that they had done something, or failed to do something, that caused their child's ADHD. I guess it is normal to blame yourself when your child is having problems.

However, it is important for parents to know that Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is not the result of "bad parenting" or obnoxious, willful defiance on the part of the child. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is a medical condition, caused by genetic factors that result in certain neurological differences.

Yes, a child may be willfully defiant whether he has Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or not. But defiance, rebelliousness, and selfishness are usually "moral" issues, not neurological issues. Make no excuses for "immoral," "selfish," or "destructive" behaviors, whether from individuals with ADD ADHD or not. Parents need to step up and correct these behavior problems whether a child has ADHD or not.

It may also be true that the parents may need further training. We are constantly amazed at how many young parents today grew up in homes where their parents were gone all day. We now see "grown up latch key kids" trying to parent as best as they can, but without having had the benefit of growing up with good parental role models. This is a problem in any family, but especially when there is a child in the home who is inattentive, impulsive, and possibly hyperactive.

Parents should consider becoming a part of a parenting class offered by a local therapist, or a local church. These classes can be a good investment of your time. More information about Attention Deficit Disorder is available at the ADHD Information Library.

By Douglas Cowan, Psy.D.

Behavioral Manifestations of Alzheimer's Dementia

2008-06-13T23:49:00.029-07:00

Alzheimer's Dementia has a combination of cognitive and behavioral manifestations. Cognitive impairment is the core problem which includes memory deficits and at least one of the following: aphasia or language problem, agnosia or problems with recognition, apraxia or motor activity problem, and impairment in executive functioning (e.g. planning, abstract reasoning, and organizing).

As the disease advances, the cognitive decline becomes associated with behavioral manifestations. What are these behavioral manifestations of dementia?

Behavioral syndromes in Alzheimer's can be grouped into two categories: psychological and behavioral. Major psychological syndromes consist of depression, anxiety, delusions, and hallucinations.

Depression in dementia is very common. Up to about 87% of patients develop some form of depression. It is characterized by tearfulness or crying episodes, feelings of sadness, and neurovegetative signs and symptoms such as inability to sleep, lack of appetite, poor energy, and thoughts of death. Irritability is also common. Depression can occur even in the early or mild phase of the illness.

About 50% of demented patients show delusions or false fixed beliefs. Such delusions include beliefs that a relative is stealing, that a spouse is just an impostor or is having an affair with a neighbor, or that friends and relatives are conspiring to cause trouble.

Moreover, many patients with dementia may experience hallucinations. Most of these hallucinations are visual - seeing strangers in the house, an animal or insects in the living room, people in the bedroom or on top of the TV set. Occasionally, auditory hallucinations may be experienced - hearing footsteps or knocking on the door or even people singing church hymns.

Regarding major behavioral syndromes associated with dementia, these problems include agitation, verbal outbursts, repetitive behavior, wandering, and aggression or even violence. Agitation can be manifested by pacing back and forth, restlessness, and inability to sit still.

Verbal outbursts consist of day-long screaming or occasional yelling at someone. Repetitive behavior is manifested by closing and opening a closet or a purse or a drawer. Asking questions repetitively for instance about a relative's visit is very common.

Wandering can happen especially at the late stages of the illness. If doors are left unlock, some patients wander away from the house. Hence, safety level becomes an issue.

Aggression likewise may occur. Hitting the caregiver or throwing things are some complaints. Destroying things although rare can also ensue. A gentleman for example hit the wall with a cane and broke the window by smashing a chair.

Although difficult to deal with, most of these behavioral consequences of dementia can be treated especially if recognized and addressed early.

By Dr. Michael G. Rayel

How Big of a Problem is Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder?

2008-06-13T23:49:00.027-07:00

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder - "ADD" or "ADHD" - affects between five to ten percent (5% - 10%) of all children in the United States, and three to six percent (3% - 6%) of adults. About 35% of all children referred to mental health clinics are referred for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, making it one of the most prevalent of all childhood psychiatric disorders.

The 5% number is a solid, conservative number supported by a lot of research. Even at 5% each classroom in America will have one or two (2) ADHD kids in the class. So it is a very real, and very significant problem across America.

When only Parent Rating Scales are used in a research project, the numbers will range from a low of seven percent (7%) of school-aged children to a high of twenty-three percent (23%) of children.

You may see published estimates stating that Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder may effect as many as 20% to 30% of children in America, but these numbers are not really supported by research data, and are probably inflated for the purpose of trying to sell something.

However, we should note that Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, Head Injuries, or other Specific Learning Disabilities, are often mistaken for ADD ADHD, which can inflate the numbers reported. As many as 10% of children are now being born with FAS or are drug exposed babies.

ADHD is not a "fad" disorder, nor is it a conspiracy by pharmaceutical companies to get more kids on drugs. It is a very real neurological condition that is common enough as to require parents, teachers, and physicians to become better educated about its causes, the available treatment options, and the potential problems with doing nothing. Learn more about ADHD at the ADHD Information Library.

By Douglas Cowan, Psy.D.

You, I and We

2008-06-13T23:49:00.025-07:00

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:

1. I can do anything independently

2. I have a set of tastes, beliefs, desires and goals

3. I am the decision maker of my actions

4. I am responsible for my actions

The final and most important stage is 'We-We', which is a state of maturity, and get out of the earlier restlessness. This stage brings us to realization that we cannot live alone and need help and support of others and do things in mutual cooperation and understanding. Typically in this stage the thought processes are as follows:

1. Let us do this

2. Let us cooperate

3. This is ours

4. We can do this

Broadmindedness and reduced selfishness are the characteristics of this state. Some of us remain stagnated at the 'dependent' stage and further in the life cannot take any decisions independently. People who gradually pass through each of these stages will be successful in life, be it personal or professional. Interdependence stage is the most important one in relation to ones career growth too, for interdependence gives us the capability to communicate effectively and participate in team work.

By Ravikumar Uppaluri

Anti-Social Behaviors and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

2008-06-13T23:49:00.023-07:00

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.

Impulsive-Hyperactive ADHD kids are the most likely to get into trouble than are the Inattentive ADHD kids, as they tend to crave the stimulation of anti-social behaviors, and impulsively "act-out". Because they are impulsive, they don't plan their crimes well, and are usually easily caught.

Teens untreated for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder average two arrests by the age of 18. About 20% of teens untreated for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder will be arrested for a felony, versus only about 3% of teens without ADHD.

As many as 50% of all men in prisons have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, and were untreated as children or teens for ADHD. It is also estimated that as many as 50% of all teenagers in juvenile facilities have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder but were untreated for ADHD.

Teenagers with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder - Impulsive Type ADHD - have 400% more traffic accidents and traffic tickets related to speeding, than teens without ADD ADHD.

Twice as many teens with ADHD will run away from home than teens without ADHD. About 16% of teens run away from home at some point, versus 32% of teens untreated for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

Arson is often associated with Attention Deficit Disorder, as teens with untreated Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder are three times more likely to be arrested for arson than those without ADHD: 16% vs. 5%.

Teenagers untreated for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder are ten times more likely to get pregnant, or cause a pregnancy, than those without ADHD.

Teenagers untreated for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder are 400% more likely to contract a sexually transmitted disease than teens without ADHD: 16% to 4%.

Around the house, the inattentive kids tend to be non-compliant due to not being motivated enough to remember the things he was asked to do.

ADHD causes problems in our homes, and in our nation. We need to learn more about Attention Deficit Disorder, how to diagnose it and how to treat it successfully. To learn more visit the ADHD Information Library.

By Douglas Cowan, Psy.D.

Its Never Too Late

2008-06-13T23:49:00.021-07:00

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 were
shaped 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)

I didn't want it to be too late, so I finished high school,
then took a full-time computer course, and finally
business courses. My desire to learn and my self-
confidence grew with each step forward.

I love using computers and realize that the more
you learn, the more there is to learn. So I thought
I'd take a trip down memory lane:

My first computer had no hard drive, but I still
thought it was pretty neat.

The first time using an online encyclopedia - we
were amazed to see pictures of birds and animals,
and actually hear their sounds.

The first time we connected to the Internet -
hearing someone's voice and responding by
standing in front of the monitor and yelling into it.

The first family newsletter, complete with clip
art and three columns, written faithfully every
week for almost a year and sent to my family.

My first emails to my daughter, so much easier
than trying to think of a long letter. Instead I
could send a line or two as things happened.
Emails back and forth, to keep for future
generations.

My first chat using a webcam; watching my
grand-daughter lift her new puppy up for
me to see.

My first multiple chat, trying to talk to daughter
and granddaughter in two different cities at
the same time and trying not to get confused.

My first time opening up a computer, with the
aid of my sidekick mother, and adding a cd
rewritable drive.

Learning that you should always note where
the screws came from or there will be one
left over.

So many firsts, especially mistakes, too many of
those to count. I learned:

not to pull the plug out of the monitor end or
you will have to buy a new monitor.

not to fiddle with your monitor settings too
much or you may not see anything.

not to continue without saving your work every
so often, unless you enjoy panic attacks.

not to select public chatting on MSN, unless
you want to see a strange man's face on your
screen saying hello to you, just before you
quickly turn it off.

not to buy more software until you at least
try the last one out first.

not to let your grandchildren print in colour
as much as they like.

not to expect that your computer will always
do what you want. It often has a mind of it's own.

not to sit for hours in front of the computer
without a break. No more meals at the desk.

And above all, not to ever, ever think you won't
learn to tame that machine. No matter who you
are, or how old you are, it's never too late 2 learn!

Creative Home Computing is a unique online resource, providing the help and ideas to use computers confidently and creatively and have fun in the process. Regardless of your age or skill level, computer literacy will enlarge your world.

What Causes Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder?

2008-06-13T23:49:00.019-07:00

The most recent models that attempt to describe what is happening in the brains of people with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder suggest that several areas of the brain may be affected by the disorder. They include the frontal lobes, the inhibitory mechanisms of the cortex, the limbic system, and the reticular activating system. Each of these areas of the brain is associated with various neurological functions.

There are several areas of the brain potentially impacted, and there are several possible "types" of ADHD. Daniel Amen, a medical doctor using SPECT scans as identified six different types of ADHD, each with its own set of problems, and each different from the other "types." In our practice we used five different "types" of ADHD, identifying each "type" with a character from the Winnie the Pooh stories (Pooh is inattentive, Tigger is hyperactive, Eeyore is depressive, and so on).

The frontal lobes help us to pay attention to tasks, focus concentration, make good decisions, plan ahead, learn and remember what we have learned, and behave appropriately for the situation. The inhibitory mechanisms of the cortex keep us from being hyperactive, from saying things out of turn, and from getting mad at inappropriate times, for examples. They help us to "inhibit" our behaviors. It has been said that 70% of the brain is there to inhibit the other 30%.

When the inhibitory mechanisms of the brain aren't working as hard as they ought to, then we can see results of what are sometimes called "dis-inhibition disorders" which allow for impulsive behaviors, quick temper, poor decision making, hyperactivity, and so on.

The limbic system is the base of our emotions and our highly vigilant look-out tower. If over-activated, a person might have wide mood swings, or quick temper outbursts. He might also be "over-aroused," quick to startle, touching everything around him, hyper-vigilant. A normally functioning limbic system would provide for normal emotional changes, normal levels of energy, normal sleep routines, and normal levels of coping with stress. A dysfunctional limbic system results in problems with those areas.

The Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder might affect one, two, or all three of these areas, resulting in several different "styles" or "profiles" of children (and adults) with ADD ADHD.

Learn more about the impact of ADHD on children and teens, treatment options for ADHD, and much more at the ADHD Information Library.

By Douglas Cowan, Psy.D.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is Not Related to I.Q.

2008-06-13T23:49:00.017-07:00

It's important to know that Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Intelligence, as measured by I.Q., are two different things.

Some parents are convinced that if their child has ADD it means that they are retarded. On the other hand, other parents say, "I've heard that ADD kids are really very, very bright. I think my child must have ADD," as if they wanted to wear a button that said, "My child is smarter than your child because he has ADD." Both of these points of view are unfortunate, and are based on bad information.

Intelligence falls into a Bell Curve, even for those with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Some Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder kids are below average I.Q., and some are even retarded. Other ADD ADHD kids are above average I.Q., and some are even quite brilliant. But the awful truth for a parent to hear is that MOST children (about 2 out of 3) are AVERAGE I.Q. That's why they call it "average." And most Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder kids have average I.Q. as well.

Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder just have a very tough time in the classroom setting. We tend to see lower academic achievement than we would predict based on the child's I.Q. If they are really smart and they ought to be A students, we are disappointed when they're getting C's instead. If they ought to be B students, they're getting D's instead. Their school performance is disappointing, but it may not be due to a lack of intelligence.

The ADHD Information Library has six web sites with information to help children and teens with Attention Deficit Disorder be more successful in school, at home, and in life. At our site dedicated to helping children and teens succeed in the classroom you will find over 500 classroom interventions for teachers and parents to use. Visit ADDinSchool.com and look around for four or five suggestions to help your child succeed.

By Douglas Cowan, Psy.D.

Panic Attacks: Effective Ways to Cope

2008-06-13T23:49:00.015-07:00

Jill is a 21 y/o college student who used to do well until about a few months ago when she started to experience "weird" attacks almost daily. She described her experience as "horrible." When she has the attack, she feels that she's about to die or develop a stroke.

One day while she was in a mall, she suddenly developed an "overwhelming" sensation all over her body. She was sweaty and tremulous and felt that her heart was pumping so fast. Within a few seconds, she also suffered from chest pain and shortness of breath. This episode lasted for about 10 minutes but she felt that this was her worst ten minutes of her life.

Overwhelmed by her experience, she has stayed away from malls and has avoided being in a crowd of people. Because of the frequency of the attacks, Jill can't anymore function normally. She is afraid to leave the house and go to work.

Jill's experience is typical of someone with Panic Disorder. A person with panic disorder develops anxiety attacks associated with the thought that he or she would die or develop a stroke or heart attack. Physical changes such as fast heart beat, shortness of breath, fainting episodes, sweating and tremulousness are some of the accompanying symptoms.

A typical episode usually comes "out of the blue" and not precipitated by any triggers. It can therefore happen any time and anywhere. An attack can last for a few to several minutes.

One episode can make a person feel scared of having another one. In fact, a lot of people feel distressed anticipating the occurrence of another attack. So most individuals prefer to stay at home and isolate themselves from friends, co-workers, and even relatives. Eventually they become incapacitated.

If you're like Jill, is there any treatment that can help?

Yes, there is. Individuals with this condition are successfully treated with an antidepressant such as the serotonin-reuptake inhibitors. Usually, the dose should be started low, for instance 10 mg/day of citalopram. After a few weeks, the dose should be gradually increased depending upon the person's clinical status.

Cognitive behavior therapy is likewise very effective. This type of "talk psychotherapy" helps the individual to restructure his or her thinking. Negative cognition associated with the illness should be addressed in therapy because it creates more harm than good. Relaxation techniques such as breathing exercises should also help.

During treatment, patience is very important because it takes a while before any intervention helps. However, don't despair. After a few weeks, the medication should start working and should give you a feeling of comfort.

What's the role of benzodiazepines (e.g. lorazepam or clonazepam) in the treatment of panic disorder? This type of drug can provide acute relief but should be used only on a short-term basis because of its addiction potential. For long-term treatment, antidepressants and psychotherapy are still preferable.

By Dr. Michael G. Rayel

Biometrics

2008-06-13T23:49:00.013-07:00

ABSTRACT

Biometric identification refers to identifying an individual based on his/her distinguishing physiological and/or behavioural characteristics. As these characteristics are distinctive to each and every person, biometric identification is more reliable and capable than the traditional token based and knowledge based technologies differentiating between an authorized and a fraudulent person. This paper discusses the mainstream biometric technologies and the advantages and disadvantages of biometric technologies, their security issues and finally their applications in day today life.

INTRODUCTION:

"Biometrics" are automated methods of recognizing an individual based on their physical or behavioral characteristics. Some common commercial examples are fingerprint, face, iris, hand geometry, voice and dynamic signature. These, as well as many others, are in various stages of development and/or deployment. The type of biometric that is "best " will vary significantly from one application to another. These methods of identification are preferred over traditional methods involving passwords and PIN numbers for various reasons: (i) the person to be identified is required to be physically present at the point-of-identification; (ii) identification based on biometric techniques obviates the need to remember a password or carry a token. Biometric recognition can be used in identification mode, where the biometric system identifies a person from the entire enrolled population by searching a database for a match.

A BIOMETRIC SYSTEM:

All biometric systems consist of three basic elements:

Enrollment, or the process of collecting biometric samples from an individual, known as the enrollee, and the subsequent generation of his template.

Templates, or the data representing the enrollee's biometric.

Matching, or the process of comparing a live biometric sample against one or many templates in the system's database.

Enrollment

Enrollment is the crucial first stage for biometric authentication because enrollment generates a template that will be used for all subsequent matching. Typically, the device takes three samples of the same biometric and averages them to produce an enrollment template. Enrollment is complicated by the dependence of the performance of many biometric systems on the users' familiarity with the biometric device because enrollment is usually the first time the user is exposed to the device. Environmental conditions also affect enrollment. Enrollment should take place under conditions similar to those expected during the routine matching process. For example, if voice verification is used in an environment where there is background noise, the system's ability to match voices to enrolled templates depends on capturing these templates in the same environment. In addition to user and environmental issues, biometrics themselves change over time. Many biometric systems account for these changes by continuously averaging. Templates are averaged and updated each time the user attempts authentication.

Templates

As the data representing the enrollee's biometric, the biometric device creates templates. The device uses a proprietary algorithm to extract "features" appropriate to that biometric from the enrollee's samples. Templates are only a record of distinguishing features, sometimes called minutiae points, of a person's biometric characteristic or trait. For example, templates are not an image or record of the actual fingerprint or voice. In basic terms, templates are numerical representations of key points taken from a person's body. The template is usually small in terms of computer memory use, and this allows for quick processing, which is a hallmark of biometric authentication. The template must be stored somewhere so that subsequent templates, created when a user tries to access the system using a sensor, can be compared. Some biometric experts claim it is impossible to reverse-engineer, or recreate, a person's print or image from the biometric template.

Matching

Matching is the comparison of two templates, the template produced at the time of enrollment (or at previous sessions, if there is continuous updating) with the one produced "on the spot" as a user tries to gain access by providing a biometric via a sensor. There are three ways a match can fail:

Failure to enroll.
False match.
False nonmatch.

Failure to enroll (or acquire) is the failure of the technology to extract distinguishing features appropriate to that technology. For example, a small percentage of the population fails to enroll in fingerprint-based biometric authentication systems. Two reasons account for this failure: the individual's fingerprints are not distinctive enough to be picked up by the system, or the distinguishing characteristics of the individual's fingerprints have been altered because of the individual's age or occupation, e.g., an elderly bricklayer.

In addition, the possibility of a false match (FM) or a false nonmatch (FNM) exists. These two terms are frequently misnomered "false acceptance" and "false rejection," respectively, but these terms are application-dependent in meaning. FM and FNM are application-neutral terms to describe the matching process between a live sample and a biometric template. A false match occurs when a sample is incorrectly matched to a template in the database (i.e., an imposter is accepted). A false non-match occurs when a sample is incorrectly not matched to a truly matching template in the database (i.e., a legitimate match is denied). Rates for FM and FNM are calculated and used to make tradeoffs between security and convenience. For example, a heavy security emphasis errs on the side of denying legitimate matches and does not tolerate acceptance of imposters. A heavy emphasis on user convenience results in little tolerance for denying legitimate matches but will tolerate some acceptance of imposters.

BIOMETRIC TECHNOLOGIES:

The function of a biometric technologies authentication system is to facilitate controlled access to applications, networks, personal computers (PCs), and physical facilities. A biometric authentication system is essentially a method of establishing a person's identity by comparing the binary code of a uniquely specific biological or physical characteristic to the binary code of an electronically stored characteristic called a biometric. The defining factor for implementing a biometric authentication system is that it cannot fall prey to hackers; it can't be shared, lost, or guessed. Simply put, a biometric authentication system is an efficient way to replace the traditional password based authentication system. While there are many possible biometrics, at least eight mainstream biometric authentication technologies have been deployed or pilot-tested in applications in the public and private sectors and are grouped into two as given,

Contact Biometric Technologies
fingerprint,
hand/finger geometry,
dynamic signature verification, and
keystroke dynamics

Contactless Biometric Technologies
facial recognition,
voice recognition
iris scan,
retinal scan,

CONTACT BIOMETRIC TECHNOLOGIES:

For the purpose of this study, a biometric technology that requires an individual to make direct contact with an electronic device (scanner) will be referred to as a contact biometric. Given that the very nature of a contact biometric is that a person desiring access is required to make direct contact with an electronic device in order to attain logical or physical access. Because of the inherent need of a person to make direct contact, many people have come to consider a contact biometric to be a technology that encroaches on personal space and to be intrusive to personal privacy.

Fingerprint

The fingerprint biometric is an automated digital version of the old ink-and-paper method used for more than a century for identification, primarily by law enforcement agencies. The biometric device involves users placing their finger on a platen for the print to be read. The minutiae are then extracted by the vendor's algorithm, which also makes a fingerprint pattern analysis. Fingerprint template sizes are typically 50 to 1,000 bytes. Fingerprint biometrics currently have three main application arenas: large-scale Automated Finger Imaging Systems (AFIS) generally used for law enforcement purposes, fraud prevention in entitlement pro-grams, and physical and computer access.

Hand/Finger Geometry

Hand or finger geometry is an automated measurement of many dimensions of the hand and fingers. Neither of these methods takes actual prints of the palm or fingers. Only the spatial geometry is examined as the user puts his hand on the sensor's surface and uses guiding poles between the fingers to properly place the hand and initiate the reading. Hand geometry templates are typically 9 bytes, and finger geometry templates are 20 to 25 bytes. Finger geometry usually measures two or three fingers. Hand geometry is a well-developed technology that has been thoroughly field-tested and is easily accepted by users.

Dynamic Signature Verification

Dynamic signature verification is an automated method of examining an individual's signature. This technology examines such dynamics as speed, direction, and pressure of writing; the time that the stylus is in and out of contact with the "paper"; the total time taken to make the signature; and where the stylus is raised from and lowered onto the "paper." Dynamic signature verification templates are typically 50 to 300 bytes.

Keystroke Dynamics

Keystroke dynamics is an automated method of examining an individual's keystrokes on a keyboard. This technology examines such dynamics as speed and pressure, the total time of typing a particular password, and the time a user takes between hitting certain keys. This technology's algorithms are still being developed to improve robustness and distinctiveness. One potentially useful application that may emerge is computer access, where this biometric could be used to verify the computer user's identity continuously.

CONTACTLESS BIOMETRIC TECHNOLOGIES:

A contactless biometric can either come in the form of a passive (biometric device continuously monitors for the correct activation frequency) or active (user initiates activation at will) biometric. In either event, authentication of the user biometric should not take place until the user voluntarily agrees to present the biometric for sampling. A contactless biometric can be used to verify a persons identity and offers at least two dimension that contact biometric technologies cannot match. A contactless biometric is one that does not require undesirable contact in order to extract the required data sample of the biological characteristic and in that respect a contactless biometric is most adaptable to people of variable ability levels.

Facial Recognition

Facial recognition records the spatial geometry of distinguishing features of the face. Different vendors use different methods of facial recognition, however, all focus on measures of key features. Facial recognition templates are typically 83 to 1,000 bytes. Facial recognition technologies can encounter performance problems stemming from such factors as no cooperative behavior of the user, lighting, and other environmental variables. Facial recognition has been used in projects to identify card counters in casinos, shoplifters in stores, criminals in targeted urban areas, and terrorists overseas.

Voice Recognition

Voice or speaker recognition uses vocal characteristics to identify individuals using a pass-phrase. Voice recognition can be affected by such environmental factors as background noise. Additionally it is unclear whether the technologies actually recognize the voice or just the pronunciation of the pass-phrase (password) used. This technology has been the focus of considerable efforts on the part of the telecommunications industry and NSA, which continue to work on

improving reliability. A telephone or microphone can serve as a sensor, which makes it a relatively cheap and easily deployable technology.

Iris Scan

Iris scanning measures the iris pattern in the colored part of the eye, although the iris color has nothing to do with the biometric. Iris patterns are formed randomly. As a result, the iris patterns in your left and right eyes are different, and so are the iris patterns of identical-cal twins. Iris scan templates are typically around 256 bytes. Iris scanning can be used quickly for both identification and verification

Applications because of its large number of degrees of freedom. Current pilot programs and applications include ATMs ("Eye-TMs"), grocery stores (for checking out), and the few International Airports (physical access).

Retinal Scan

Retinal scans measure the blood vessel patterns in the back of the eye. Retinal scan templates are typically 40 to 96 bytes. Because users perceive the technology to be somewhat intrusive, retinal scanning has not gained popularity with end-users. The device involves a light source shined into the eye of a user who must be standing very still within inches of the device. Because the retina can change with certain medical conditions, such as pregnancy, high blood pressure, and AIDS, this biometric might have the potential to reveal more information than just an individual's identity.

Emerging biometric technologies:

Many inventors, companies, and universities continue to search the frontier for the next biometric that shows potential of becoming the best. Emerging biometric is a biometric that is in the infancy stages of proven technological maturation. Once proven, an emerging biometric will evolve in to that of an established biometric. Such types of emerging technologies are the following:

Brainwave Biometric
DNA Identification
Vascular Pattern Recognition
Body Odor Recognition
Fingernail Bed Recognition
Gait Recognition
Handgrip Recognition
Ear Pattern Recognition
Body Salinity Identification
Infrared Fingertip Imaging & Pattern Recognition

SECURITY ISSUES:

The most common standardized encryption method used to secure a company's infrastructure is the Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) approach. This approach consists of two keys with a binary string ranging in size from 1024-bits to 2048-bits, the first key is a public key (widely known) and the second key is a private key (only known by the owner). However, the PKI must also be stored and inherently it too can fall prey to the same authentication limitation of a password, PIN, or token. It too can be guessed, lost, stolen, shared, hacked, or circumvented; this is even further justification for a biometric authentication system. Because of the structure of the technology industry, making biometric security a feature of embedded systems, such as cellular phones, may be simpler than adding similar features to PCs. Unlike the personal computer, the cell phone is a fixed-purpose device. To successfully incorporate Biometrics, cell-phone developers need not gather support from nearly as many groups as PC-application developers must.

Security has always been a major concern for company executives and information technology professionals of all entities. A biometric authentication system that is correctly implemented can provide unparalleled security, enhanced convenience, heightened accountability, superior fraud detection, and is extremely effective in discouraging fraud. Controlling access to logical and physical assets of a company is not the only concern that must be addressed. Companies, executives, and security managers must also take into account security of the biometric data (template). There are many urban biometric legends about cutting off someone finger or removing a body part for the purpose of gain access. This is not true for once the blood supply of a body part is taken away, the unique details of that body part starts to deteriorate within minutes. Hence the unique details of the severed body part(s) is no longer in any condition to function as an acceptable input for scanners.

The best overall way to secure an enterprise infrastructure, whether it be small or large is to use a smart card. A smart card is a portable device with an embedded central processing unit (CPU). The smart card can either be fashioned to resemble a credit card, identification card, radio frequency identification (RFID), or a Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) card. The smart card can be used to store data of all types, but it is commonly used to store encrypted data, human resources data, medical data, financial data, and biometric data (template). The smart card can be access via a card reader, PCMCIA slot, or proximity reader. In most biometric-security applications, the system itself determines the identity of the person who presents himself to the system. Usually, the identity is supplied to the system, often by presenting a machine-readable ID card, and then the system asked to confirm. This problem is "one-to- one matching." Today's PCs can conduct a one-to-one match in, at most, a few seconds. One-to-one matching differs significantly from one-to-many matching. In a system that stores a million sets of prints, a one-to-many match requires comparing the presented fingerprint with 10 million prints (1 million sets times 10 prints/set). A smart card is a must when implementing a biometric authentication system; only by the using a smart card can an organization satisfy all security and legal requirements. Smart cards possess the basic elements of a computer (interface, processor, and storage), and are therefore very capable of performing authentication functions right on the card.

The function of performing authentication within the confines of the card is known as 'Matching on the Card (MOC)'. From a security prospective MOC is ideal as the biometric template, biometric sampling and associated algorithms never leave the card and as such cannot be intercepted or spoofed by others (Smart Card Alliance). The problem with smart cards is the public-key infrastructure certificates built into card does not solve the problem of someone stealing the card or creating one. A TTP (Trusted Third Party) can be used to verify the authenticity of a card via an encrypted MAC (Media Access Control).

CULTURAL BARRIERS/PERCEPTIONS:

People as diverse as those of variable abilities are subject to many barriers, theories, concepts, and practices that stem from the relative culture (i.e. stigma, dignity or heritage) and perceptions (i.e. religion or philosophical) of the international community. These factors are so great that they could encompass a study of their own. To that end, it is also theorized that to a certain degree that the application of diversity factors from current theories, concepts, and practices may be capable of providing a sturdy framework to the management of employees with disabilities. Moreover, it has been implied that the term diversity is a synonymous reflection of the initiatives and objectives of affirmative action policies. The concept of diversity in the workplace actually refers to the differences embodied by the workforce members at large. The differences between all employees in the workforce can be equated to those employees of different or diverse ethnic origin, racial descent, gender, sexual orientation, chronological maturity, and ability; in effect minorities.

ADVANTAGES OF BIOMETRIC TECHNOLOGIES:

Biometric technologies can be applied to areas requiring logical access solutions, and it can be used to access applications, personal computers, networks, financial accounts, human resource records, the telephone system, and invoke customized profiles to enhance the mobility of the disabled. In a business-to-business scenario, the biometric authentication system can be linked to the business processes of a company to increase accountability of financial systems, vendors, and supplier transactions; the results can be extremely beneficial.

The global reach of the Internet has made the services and products of a company available 24/7, provided the consumer has a user name and password to login. In many cases the consumer may have forgotten his/her user name, password, or both. The consumer must then take steps to retrieve or reset his/her lost or forgotten login information. By implementing a biometric authentication system consumers can opt to register their biometric trait or smart card with a company's business-to-consumer e-commerce environment, which will allow a consumer to access their account and pay for goods and services (e-commerce). The benefit is that a consumer will never lose or forget his/her user name or password, and will be able to conduct business at their convenience. A biometric authentications system can be applied to areas requiring physical access solutions, such as entry into a building, a room, a safe or it may be used to start a motorized vehicle. Additionally, a biometric authentication system can easily be linked to a computer-based application used to monitor time and attendance of employees as they enter and leave company facilities. In short, contactless biometrics can and do lend themselves to people of all ability levels.

DISADVANTAGES OF BIOMETRIC TECHNOLOGIES:

Some people, especially those with disabilities may have problems with contact biometrics. Not because they do not want to use it, but because they endure a disability that either prevents them from maneuvering into a position that will allow them to make use the biometric or because the biometric authentication system (solution) is not adaptable to the user. For example, if the user is blind a voice biometric may be more appropriate.

BIOMETRIC APPLICATIONS:

Most biometric applications fall into one of nine general categories:

Financial services (e.g., ATMs and kiosks).

Immigration and border control (e.g., points of entry, precleared frequent travelers, passport and visa issuance, asylum cases).

Social services (e.g., fraud prevention in entitlement programs).

Health care (e.g., security measure for privacy of medical records).

Physical access control (e.g., institutional, government, and residential).

Time and attendance (e.g., replacement of time punch card).

Computer security (e.g., personal computer access, network access, Internet use, e-commerce, e-mail, encryption).

Telecommunications (e.g., mobile phones, call center technology, phone cards, televised shopping).

Law enforcement (e.g., criminal investigation, national ID, driver's license, correctional institutions/prisons, home confinement, smart gun).

CONCLUSION:

Currently, there exist a gap between the number of feasible biometric projects and knowledgeable experts in the field of biometric technologies. The post September 11 th, 2002 attack (a.k.a. 9-11) on the World Trade Center has given rise to the knowledge gap. Post 9-11 many nations have recognized the need for increased security and identification protocols of both domestic and international fronts. This is however, changing as studies and curriculum associated to biometric technologies are starting to be offered at more colleges and universities. A method of closing the biometric knowledge gap is for knowledge seekers of biometric technologies to participate in biometric discussion groups and biometric standards committees.

The solutions only needs the user to possess a minimum of require user knowledge and effort. A biometric solution with minimum user knowledge and effort would be very welcomed to both the purchase and the end user. But, keep in mind that at the end of the day all that the end users care about is that their computer is functioning correctly and that the interface is friendly, for users of all ability levels. Alternative methods of authenticating a person's identity are not only a good practice for making biometric systems accessible to people of variable ability level. But it will also serve as a viable alternative method of dealing with authentication and enrollment errors.

Auditing processes and procedures on a regular basis during and after installation is an excellent method of ensuring that the solution is functioning within normal parameters. A well-orchestrated biometric authentication solution should not only prevent and detect an impostor in instantaneous, but it should also keep a secure log of the transaction activities for prosecution of impostors. This is especially important, because a great deal of ID theft and fraud involves employees and a secure log of the transaction activities will provide the means for prosecution or quick resolution of altercations.

K.Murali

Are All Dementias Alzheimer's?

2008-06-13T23:49:00.011-07:00

I'm surprised when some patients and caregivers confuse dementia and Alzheimer's as one and the same. Each time a family member is suffering from memory loss, the conclusion is always Alzheimer's. Is it reasonable to label all dementias as Alzheimer's?

As a clinician, my answer to queries is that Alzheimer's dementia is only one type of dementia and that not all dementias are Alzheimer's. Aside from Alzheimer's disease, other dementias exist such as Dementia with lewy body, Vascular dementia, Parkinson's disease with dementia, and dementias due to various neurologic and medical conditions.

How will you know if a person is suffering from Alzheimer's dementia? What is Alzheimer's dementia?

Alzheimer's dementia is a neurologic disorder characterized by a progressive and irreversible cognitive decline associated with impairment in functioning. The cognitive deterioration consists of memory impairment. Initially there is recent memory impairment but as the disease progresses, even the long term memory is affected.

In addition to memory impairment, a patient with dementia has impairment in one of four cognitive areas: aphasia, apraxia, agnosia, and impairment in executive functioning. Aphasia is a problem in language characterized by inability to express oneself, repeat words or phrases, or understand what is being said. Apraxia is inability to adequately perform a usual motor activity such as combing the hair or brushing the teeth despite no paralysis or musculoskeletal abnormality.

Agnosia is inability to recognize objects or things despite no sensory deficits. For instance, a demented patient cannot recognize a key or a pen placed in his or her hands without looking at it.

Impairment in executive functioning is characterized by difficulty in abstract reasoning and in organizing things, schedule, and activities. Patients with this problem give concrete meaning to proverbs. For example, when a patient is asked what "don't cry over spilled milk" means, the patient responds, "It's easy. Just wipe it!" Moreover, knowing the specific similarities and differences of certain things (e.g. apple versus orange) is a struggle for some patients.

What are the possible causes of Alzheimer's?

The cause of Alzheimer is still unknown. However, several risk factors have been identified. One major risk factor is age. The risk of developing dementia increases as our age advances. Older individuals therefore are more at risk. Having said this, Alzheimer's can also happen to young individuals.

Other important risk factors include the presence of apolipoprotein E4 allele, the predominance of plaques and tangles in the brain, and the brain's impaired cholinergic system.

Is there any successful treatment for Alzheimer's?

Alzheimer's disease is irreversible so current medications are only geared to slow down the deterioration. These acetylcholisterase inhibitors, namely galantamine, rivastigmine, and donepezil, are aimed at improving the cholinergic functioning in the brain by inhibiting the cholinesterase enzyme. Although initially indicated for mild to moderate dementia, some recent evidence shows that some of these drugs may also benefit patients with moderate to severe dementia. Further studies are warranted to determine its efficacy in this group.

By Dr. Michael G. Rayel

Short Story: The Next Level of Humanity

2008-06-13T23:49:00.009-07:00

"Hey Mac, have you ever been thinking of someone and then-bang! - The telephone rings and it's them on the phone?"

"Pinkus, why are you always asking me stupid inane questions that have absolutely no relevance whatsoever to the job at hand?"

Mac smiled and laughed loudly. It was the kind of laugh that could boil the water in your fishbowl. He rolled back from his desk slowly in his ergonomic computer chair, and then whipped a super-quick 360-degree wheelie stopping with perfect precision, his eyes staring directly at mine with a look of pure mischievous intent.

"You know Pinkus, I often wonder if you're actually a human at all. The planet Kleptar 12 definitely seems like a much more probable location from which your form popcorned out and graced our universe with your presence. I'm serious man, answer the question!"

Pushing back from my desk in the cubicle I tried to remember Mac's stupid question. Had I ever been thinking of someone and then the phone rang, that person calling on the line?

"Of course I have, it happens once in a while. Why do you ask? You got one of your deep-space theories that the reason for this coincidence is actually a sign that humans were spawned by giant mushroom people in another galaxy, or is it a hidden conspiracy where mutants on Pluto are controlling our minds with ectoplasm injected into our chewing gum?"

Mac didn't seem perturbed by my comments, obviously he was getting quite used to them. A very serious look covered his face; this was a rare event in itself as Mac never looked serious. Normally a smile was permanently imprinted on his mouth, a chilly reminder that maybe I wasn't as happy as I could be in this life. His face often appeared in my dreams, sometimes whispering sacred proverbs, other times just a giant head chasing me through a tunnel that stretched for eternity. Of course I never spoke of these dreams to him, I didn't want him to know that he had any effect on me, if he knew it'd be like letting a bee loose in a field of wildflowers. I'd never get him to shut up.

"Have you ever heard of the concept of a collective consciousness Pinkie old boy?" he asked in an unusually intimately sounding voice.

"Yeah of course I have. I'm a computer programmer like you man; it's called the Internet. Everyone with access to it has a means to obtaining as much knowledge as they like from anyone and anywhere in the world. What, do you think I'm a complete moron or something?"

Mac's eyes lit up, they gave the impression a tiger was about to pounce on a helpless antelope. In this particular case Pinkus Brewster was the antelope. It was at this moment the Beatles's famous song lyric "I am a walrus." popped into my head. I really could have handled being a walrus at that moment. It would have made it a slightly bit more comfortable.

"Collective consciousness is a concept I didn't create Pinkus me lad. It's the idea that a species can obtain knowledge mentally from others in the species without even searching for it. Have you ever heard the story of the bird that back in 1927 in England that was documented to have figured out how to rip the lid off a milk bottle and then eat the cream on top?"

"No. What happened?"

" Just after this event, birds of the same species all over Europe were also recorded as suddenly having gained the new skill. There was no way the information could have been passed by personal instruction, the knowledge had spread out geographically over a large area that the small birds couldn't have traveled in such a small period of time."

"So Mac, why do you feel this is so important to be telling me that I'm not getting any work done?"

"It's like the telephone call Pinkus. Humans are more connected than we are aware of. You know who's on the line beforehand because we're all linked to a field of energy that all of our species uses to learn and grow. Have you ever heard of an invention that appears at the same time historically but in two completely different parts of the world where the inventors had no contact with each other whatsoever?"

A stupefied look now covered my face. I know this because I've got a computer monitor mirror staring right back at me. Why is this crackpot telling me this bull winkle? As if reading my mind with his 'collective consciousness' Mac gave it to me straight.

"The big breakthrough is about to come Pinko. You're right about the Internet, but you're not seeing the whole picture. Now that a whole lot of us humans are hooked into this new technology it means we are hearing each other's thoughts and ideas more easily subconsciously. The feelings you have are being transmitted through your blog's words as well as the plain information. The Internet is the means for a psychic revolution! It's going to take humanity to the next level of evolution."

I sat quietly and thought to myself, "Psycho revolution more like it! This guy sure is making me feel strange. Uh, oh! -Did I just say he was making me feel strange? Already this collective consciousness idea is playing with my brain." A weird feeling of calm overcame me. Maybe other humans have gotten used to the idea and now they're sending me the knowledge to relax and take it all in easy and slow. I looked over at Mac. He was looking deep into his computer screen as if it was a set of enchanting eyes and kept whispering to himself over and over:`

"I am you, you are me. Together that makes we."

About The Author

By Jesse S. Somer

Hypnosis: A Brief History

2008-06-13T23:49:00.007-07:00

Evidence of hypnotic-like phenomena appears in many ancient cultures. The writer of Genesis seems familiar with the anaesthetic power of hypnosis when he reports that God put Adam "into a deep sleep" to take his rib to form Eve. Other ancient records suggest hypnosis was used by the oracle at Delphi and in rites in ancient Egypt (Hughes and Rothovius, 1996). The modern history of hypnosis begins in the late 1700s, when a French physician, Anton Mesmer, revived an interest in hypnosis.

1734-1815 Franz Anton Mesmer was born in Vienna. Mesmer is considered the father of hypnosis by many. He is remembered for the term "mesmerism" which described a process of inducing trance through a series of passes he made with his hands and/or magnets over people. He worked with a person's animal magnetism (psychic and electromagnetic energies). The medical community eventually discredited him despite his considerable success treating a variety of ailments. His successes offended the medical establishment of the time, who arranged for an official French government investigating committee. This committee included Benjamin Franklin, then the American ambassador to France, and Joseph Guillotine, a French physician who introduced a never-fail device for physically separating the mind from the rest of the body.

1795-1860 James Braid, an English physician, originally opposed to mesmerism (as it had become known) who subsequently became interested. Hypnosis was developing. He said that cures were not due to animal magnetism however, they were due to suggestion. He developed the eye fixation technique (also known as Braidism) of inducing relaxation and called it hypnosis (after Hypnos, the Greek god of sleep) as he thought the phenomena of hypnosis was a form of sleep. Later, realising his error, he tried to change the name to monoeidism (meaning influence of a single idea)however, the original name of hypnosis stuck.

1825-1893 Jean Marie Charcot a French neurologist,disagreed with the Nancy School of Hypnotism and contended that hypnosis was simply a manifestation of hysteria. There was bitter rivalry between Charcot and the Nancy group (Liebault and Bernheim). He revived Mesmer's theory of Animal Magnetism and identified the three stages of trance; lethargy, catalepsy and somnambulism.

1845-1947 Pierre Janet was a French neurologist and psychologist who was initially opposed to the use of hypnosis until he discovered its relaxing effects and promotion of healing. Janet was one of the few people who continued to show an interest in hypnosis during the psychoanalytical rage.

1849-1936 Ivan Petrovich Pavlov - Russian psychologist who actually was more focused on the study of the digestive process. He is known primarily for his development of the concept of the conditioned reflex (or Stimulus Response Theory). In his classic experiment, he trained hungry dogs to salivate at the sound of a bell, which was previously associated with the sight of food. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology in 1904 for his work on digestive secretions. Though he had nothing to do with hypnosis, his Stimulus Response Theory is a cornerstone in linking and anchoring behaviours, particularly in NLP.

1857-1926 Emile Coue, a physician who formulated the Laws of Suggestion used in modern hypnosis. He is also known for encouraging his patients to say to themselves 20-30 times a night before going to sleep; "Everyday in every way, I am getting better and better." He also discovered that delivering positive suggestions when prescribing medication proved to be a more effective cure than prescribing medications alone. He eventually abandoned the concept of hypnosis in favour of just using suggestion, feeling hypnosis and the hypnotic state impaired the efficiency of the suggestion.

Coue's Laws of Suggestion

The Law of Concentrated Attention

" Whenever attention is concentrated on an idea over and over again, it spontaneously tends to realise itself"

The Law of Reverse Action

"The harder one tries to do something, the less chance one has of success"

The Law of Dominant Effect

"A stronger emotion tends to replace a weaker one"

1856-1939 Sigmund Freud travelled to Nancy and studied with Liebault and Bernheim, and then did additional study with Charcot. Freud did not incorporate hypnosis in his therapeutic work however because he felt he could not hypnotise patients to a sufficient depth, felt that the cures were temporary, and that hynosis stripped patients of their defences. Freud was considered a poor hypnotist given his paternal manner. However, his clients often went into trance and he often, unknowingly, performed non-verbal inductions when he would place his hand on his patient's head to signify the Doctor dominant, patient submissive roles. Because of his early dismissal of hypnosis in favour of psychoanalysis, hypnosis was almost totally ignored.

1875-1961 Carl Jung, a student and colleague of Freud's, rejected Freud's psychoanalytical approach and developed his own interests. He developed the concept of the collective unconscious and archetypes. Though he did not actively use hypnosis, he encouraged his patients to use active imagination to change old memories, some consider this to be hypnosis. He often used the concept of the inner guide, in the healing work. He believed that the inner mind could be accessed through tools like the I Ching and astrology. He was rejected by the conservative medical community as a mystic. However, many of his ideas and theories are actively embraced by healers and those in hypnosis-related fields to this day.

1932-1974 Milton Erickson, a psychologist and psychiatrist pioneered the art of indirect suggestion in hypnosis. He is considered to be the father of modern hypnosis. His methods of hypnosis bypassed the conscious mind through the use of both verbal and nonverbal hypnosis pacing techniques including metaphor, confusion, and many others. He was a colourful character and has immensely influenced the practice of contemporary hypnosis applications, and its official acceptance by the AMA. His work, combined with the work of Satir and Perls, was the basis for Bandler and Grinder's Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP).

By Adam Eason

The Psychology of Torture

2008-06-13T23:49:00.005-07:00

There is one place in which one's privacy, intimacy, integrity and inviolability are guaranteed - one's body, a unique temple and a familiar territory of sensa and personal history. The torturer invades, defiles and desecrates this shrine. He does so publicly, deliberately, repeatedly and, often, sadistically and sexually, with undisguised pleasure. Hence the all-pervasive, long-lasting, and, frequently, irreversible effects and outcomes of torture.

In a way, the torture victim's own body is rendered his worse enemy. It is corporeal agony that compels the sufferer to mutate, his identity to fragment, his ideals and principles to crumble. The body becomes an accomplice of the tormentor, an uninterruptible channel of communication, a treasonous, poisoned territory.

It fosters a humiliating dependency of the abused on the perpetrator. Bodily needs denied - sleep, toilet, food, water - are wrongly perceived by the victim as the direct causes of his degradation and dehumanization. As he sees it, he is rendered bestial not by the sadistic bullies around him but by his own flesh.

The concept of "body" can easily be extended to "family", or "home". Torture is often applied to kin and kith, compatriots, or colleagues. This intends to disrupt the continuity of "surroundings, habits, appearance, relations with others", as the CIA put it in one of its manuals. A sense of cohesive self-identity depends crucially on the familiar and the continuous. By attacking both one's biological body and one's "social body", the victim's psyche is strained to the point of dissociation.

Beatrice Patsalides describes this transmogrification thus in "Ethics of the unspeakable: Torture survivors in psychoanalytic treatment":

"As the gap between the 'I' and the 'me' deepens, dissociation and alienation increase. The subject that, under torture, was forced into the position of pure object has lost his or her sense of interiority, intimacy, and privacy. Time is experienced now, in the present only, and perspective - that which allows for a sense of relativity - is foreclosed. Thoughts and dreams attack the mind and invade the body as if the protective skin that normally contains our thoughts, gives us space to breathe in between the thought and the thing being thought about, and separates between inside and outside, past and present, me and you, was lost."

Torture robs the victim of the most basic modes of relating to reality and, thus, is the equivalent of cognitive death. Space and time are warped by sleep deprivation. The self ("I") is shattered. The tortured have nothing familiar to hold on to: family, home, personal belongings, loved ones, language, name. Gradually, they lose their mental resilience and sense of freedom. They feel alien - unable to communicate, relate, attach, or empathize with others.

Torture splinters early childhood grandiose narcissistic fantasies of uniqueness, omnipotence, invulnerability, and impenetrability. But it enhances the fantasy of merger with an idealized and omnipotent (though not benign) other - the inflicter of agony. The twin processes of individuation and separation are reversed.

Torture is the ultimate act of perverted intimacy. The torturer invades the victim's body, pervades his psyche, and possesses his mind. Deprived of contact with others and starved for human interactions, the prey bonds with the predator. "Traumatic bonding", akin to the Stockholm syndrome, is about hope and the search for meaning in the brutal and indifferent and nightmarish universe of the torture cell.

The abuser becomes the black hole at the center of the victim's surrealistic galaxy, sucking in the sufferer's universal need for solace. The victim tries to "control" his tormentor by becoming one with him (introjecting him) and by appealing to the monster's presumably dormant humanity and empathy.

This bonding is especially strong when the torturer and the tortured form a dyad and "collaborate" in the rituals and acts of torture (for instance, when the victim is coerced into selecting the torture implements and the types of torment to be inflicted, or to choose between two evils).

The psychologist Shirley Spitz offers this powerful overview of the contradictory nature of torture in a seminar titled "The Psychology of Torture" (1989):

"Torture is an obscenity in that it joins what is most private with what is most public. Torture entails all the isolation and extreme solitude of privacy with none of the usual security embodied therein ... Torture entails at the same time all the self exposure of the utterly public with none of its possibilities for camaraderie or shared experience. (The presence of an all powerful other with whom to merge, without the security of the other's benign intentions.)

A further obscenity of torture is the inversion it makes of intimate human relationships. The interrogation is a form of social encounter in which the normal rules of communicating, of relating, of intimacy are manipulated. Dependency needs are elicited by the interrogator, but not so they may be met as in close relationships, but to weaken and confuse. Independence that is offered in return for 'betrayal' is a lie. Silence is intentionally misinterpreted either as confirmation of information or as guilt for 'complicity'.

Torture combines complete humiliating exposure with utter devastating isolation. The final products and outcome of torture are a scarred and often shattered victim and an empty display of the fiction of power."

Obsessed by endless ruminations, demented by pain and a continuum of sleeplessness - the victim regresses, shedding all but the most primitive defense mechanisms: splitting, narcissism, dissociation, projective identification, introjection, and cognitive dissonance. The victim constructs an alternative world, often suffering from depersonalization and derealization, hallucinations, ideas of reference, delusions, and psychotic episodes.

Sometimes the victim comes to crave pain - very much as self-mutilators do - because it is a proof and a reminder of his individuated existence otherwise blurred by the incessant torture. Pain shields the sufferer from disintegration and capitulation. It preserves the veracity of his unthinkable and unspeakable experiences.

This dual process of the victim's alienation and addiction to anguish complements the perpetrator's view of his quarry as "inhuman", or "subhuman". The torturer assumes the position of the sole authority, the exclusive fount of meaning and interpretation, the source of both evil and good.

Torture is about reprogramming the victim to succumb to an alternative exegesis of the world, proffered by the abuser. It is an act of deep, indelible, traumatic indoctrination. The abused also swallows whole and assimilates the torturer's negative view of him and often, as a result, is rendered suicidal, self-destructive, or self-defeating.

Thus, torture has no cut-off date. The sounds, the voices, the smells, the sensations reverberate long after the episode has ended - both in nightmares and in waking moments. The victim's ability to trust other people - i.e., to assume that their motives are at least rational, if not necessarily benign - has been irrevocably undermined. Social institutions are perceived as precariously poised on the verge of an ominous, Kafkaesque mutation. Nothing is either safe, or credible anymore.

Victims typically react by undulating between emotional numbing and increased arousal: insomnia, irritability, restlessness, and attention deficits. Recollections of the traumatic events intrude in the form of dreams, night terrors, flashbacks, and distressing associations.

The tortured develop compulsive rituals to fend off obsessive thoughts. Other psychological sequelae reported include cognitive impairment, reduced capacity to learn, memory disorders, sexual dysfunction, social withdrawal, inability to maintain long-term relationships, or even mere intimacy, phobias, ideas of reference and superstitions, delusions, hallucinations, psychotic microepisodes, and emotional flatness.

Depression and anxiety are very common. These are forms and manifestations of self-directed aggression. The sufferer rages at his own victimhood and resulting multiple dysfunction. He feels shamed by his new disabilities and responsible, or even guilty, somehow, for his predicament and the dire consequences borne by his nearest and dearest. His sense of self-worth and self-esteem are crippled.

In a nutshell, torture victims suffer from a post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Their strong feelings of anxiety, guilt, and shame are also typical of victims of childhood abuse, domestic violence, and rape. They feel anxious because the perpetrator's behavior is seemingly arbitrary and unpredictable - or mechanically and inhumanly regular.

They feel guilty and disgraced because, to restore a semblance of order to their shattered world and a modicum of dominion over their chaotic life, they need to transform themselves into the cause of their own degradation and the accomplices of their tormentors.

The CIA, in its "Human Resource Exploitation Training Manual - 1983" (reprinted in the April 1997 issue of Harper's Magazine), summed up the theory of coercion thus:

"The purpose of all coercive techniques is to induce psychological regression in the subject by bringing a superior outside force to bear on his will to resist. Regression is basically a loss of autonomy, a reversion to an earlier behavioral level. As the subject regresses, his learned personality traits fall away in reverse chronological order. He begins to lose the capacity to carry out the highest creative activities, to deal with complex situations, or to cope with stressful interpersonal relationships or repeated frustrations."

Inevitably, in the aftermath of torture, its victims feel helpless and powerless. This loss of control over one's life and body is manifested physically in impotence, attention deficits, and insomnia. This is often exacerbated by the disbelief many torture victims encounter, especially if they are unable to produce scars, or other "objective" proof of their ordeal. Language cannot communicate such an intensely private experience as pain.

Spitz makes the following observation:

"Pain is also unsharable in that it is resistant to language ... All our interior states of consciousness: emotional, perceptual, cognitive and somatic can be described as having an object in the external world ... This affirms our capacity to move beyond the boundaries of our body into the external, sharable world. This is the space in which we interact and communicate with our environment. But when we explore the interior state of physical pain we find that there is no object 'out there' - no external, referential content. Pain is not of, or for, anything. Pain is. And it draws us away from the space of interaction, the sharable world, inwards. It draws us into the boundaries of our body."

Bystanders resent the tortured because they make them feel guilty and ashamed for having done nothing to prevent the atrocity. The victims threaten their sense of security and their much-needed belief in predictability, justice, and rule of law. The victims, on their part, do not believe that it is possible to effectively communicate to "outsiders" what they have been through. The torture chambers are "another galaxy". This is how Auschwitz was described by the author K. Zetnik in his testimony in the Eichmann trial in Jerusalem in 1961.

Kenneth Pope in "Torture", a chapter he wrote for the "Encyclopedia of Women and Gender: Sex Similarities and Differences and the Impact of Society on Gender", quotes Harvard psychiatrist Judith Herman:

"It is very tempting to take the side of the perpetrator. All the perpetrator asks is that the bystander do nothing. He appeals to the universal desire to see, hear, and speak no evil. The victim, on the contrary, asks the bystander to share the burden of pain. The victim demands action, engagement, and remembering."

But, more often, continued attempts to repress fearful memories result in psychosomatic illnesses (conversion). The victim wishes to forget the torture, to avoid re-experiencing the often life threatening abuse and to shield his human environment from the horrors. In conjunction with the victim's pervasive distrust, this is frequently interpreted as hypervigilance, or even paranoia. It seems that the victims can't win. Torture is forever.

Sam Vaknin

Serial Killers

2008-06-13T23:49:00.003-07:00

Countess Erszebet Bathory was a breathtakingly beautiful, unusually well-educated woman, married to a descendant of Vlad Dracula of Bram Stoker fame. In 1611, she was tried - though, being a noblewoman, not convicted - in Hungary for slaughtering 612 young girls. The true figure may have been 40-100, though the Countess recorded in her diary more than 610 girls and 50 bodies were found in her estate when it was raided.

The Countess was notorious as an inhuman sadist long before her hygienic fixation. She once ordered the mouth of a talkative servant sewn. It is rumoured that in her childhood she witnessed a gypsy being sewn into a horse's stomach and left to die.

The girls were not killed outright. They were kept in a dungeon and repeatedly pierced, prodded, pricked, and cut. The Countess may have bitten chunks of flesh off their bodies while alive. She is said to have bathed and showered in their blood in the mistaken belief that she could thus slow down the aging process.

Her servants were executed, their bodies burnt and their ashes scattered. Being royalty, she was merely confined to her bedroom until she died in 1614. For a hundred years after her death, by royal decree, mentioning her name in Hungary was a crime.

Cases like Barothy's give the lie to the assumption that serial killers are a modern - or even post-modern - phenomenon, a cultural-societal construct, a by-product of urban alienation, Althusserian interpellation, and media glamorization. Serial killers are, indeed, largely made, not born. But they are spawned by every culture and society, molded by the idiosyncrasies of every period as well as by their personal circumstances and genetic makeup.

Still, every crop of serial killers mirrors and reifies the pathologies of the milieu, the depravity of the Zeitgeist, and the malignancies of the Leitkultur. The choice of weapons, the identity and range of the victims, the methodology of murder, the disposal of the bodies, the geography, the sexual perversions and paraphilias - are all informed and inspired by the slayer's environment, upbringing, community, socialization, education, peer group, sexual orientation, religious convictions, and personal narrative. Movies like "Born Killers", "Man Bites Dog", "Copycat", and the Hannibal Lecter series captured this truth.

Serial killers are the quiddity and quintessence of malignant narcissism.

Yet, to some degree, we all are narcissists. Primary narcissism is a universal and inescapable developmental phase. Narcissistic traits are common and often culturally condoned. To this extent, serial killers are merely our reflection through a glass darkly.

In their book "Personality Disorders in Modern Life", Theodore Millon and Roger Davis attribute pathological narcissism to "a society that stresses individualism and self-gratification at the expense of community ... In an individualistic culture, the narcissist is 'God's gift to the world'. In a collectivist society, the narcissist is 'God's gift to the collective'".

Lasch described the narcissistic landscape thus (in "The Culture of Narcissism: American Life in an age of Diminishing Expectations", 1979):

"The new narcissist is haunted not by guilt but by anxiety. He seeks not to inflict his own certainties on others but to find a meaning in life. Liberated from the superstitions of the past, he doubts even the reality of his own existence ... His sexual attitudes are permissive rather than puritanical, even though his emancipation from ancient taboos brings him no sexual peace.

Fiercely competitive in his demand for approval and acclaim, he distrusts competition because he associates it unconsciously with an unbridled urge to destroy ... He (harbours) deeply antisocial impulses. He praises respect for rules and regulations in the secret belief that they do not apply to himself. Acquisitive in the sense that his cravings have no limits, he ... demands immediate gratification and lives in a state of restless, perpetually unsatisfied desire."

The narcissist's pronounced lack of empathy, off-handed exploitativeness, grandiose fantasies and uncompromising sense of entitlement make him treat all people as though they were objects (he "objectifies" people). The narcissist regards others as either useful conduits for and sources of narcissistic supply (attention, adulation, etc.) - or as extensions of himself.

Similarly, serial killers often mutilate their victims and abscond with trophies - usually, body parts. Some of them have been known to eat the organs they have ripped - an act of merging with the dead and assimilating them through digestion. They treat their victims as some children do their rag dolls.

Killing the victim - often capturing him or her on film before the murder - is a form of exerting unmitigated, absolute, and irreversible control over it. The serial killer aspires to "freeze time" in the still perfection that he has choreographed. The victim is motionless and defenseless. The killer attains long sought "object permanence". The victim is unlikely to run on the serial assassin, or vanish as earlier objects in the killer's life (e.g., his parents) have done.

In malignant narcissism, the true self of the narcissist is replaced by a false construct, imbued with omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence. The narcissist's thinking is magical and infantile. He feels immune to the consequences of his own actions. Yet, this very source of apparently superhuman fortitude is also the narcissist's Achilles heel.

The narcissist's personality is chaotic. His defense mechanisms are primitive. The whole edifice is precariously balanced on pillars of denial, splitting, projection, rationalization, and projective identification. Narcissistic injuries - life crises, such as abandonment, divorce, financial difficulties, incarceration, public opprobrium - can bring the whole thing tumbling down. The narcissist cannot afford to be rejected, spurned, insulted, hurt, resisted, criticized, or disagreed with.

Likewise, the serial killer is trying desperately to avoid a painful relationship with his object of desire. He is terrified of being abandoned or humiliated, exposed for what he is and then discarded. Many killers often have sex - the ultimate form of intimacy - with the corpses of their victims. Objectification and mutilation allow for unchallenged possession.

Devoid of the ability to empathize, permeated by haughty feelings of superiority and uniqueness, the narcissist cannot put himself in someone else's shoes, or even imagine what it means. The very experience of being human is alien to the narcissist whose invented False Self is always to the fore, cutting him off from the rich panoply of human emotions.

Thus, the narcissist believes that all people are narcissists. Many serial killers believe that killing is the way of the world. Everyone would kill if they could or were given the chance to do so. Such killers are convinced that they are more honest and open about their desires and, thus, morally superior. They hold others in contempt for being conforming hypocrites, cowed into submission by an overweening establishment or society.

The narcissist seeks to adapt society in general - and meaningful others in particular - to his needs. He regards himself as the epitome of perfection, a yardstick against which he measures everyone, a benchmark of excellence to be emulated. He acts the guru, the sage, the "psychotherapist", the "expert", the objective observer of human affairs. He diagnoses the "faults" and "pathologies" of people around him and "helps" them "improve", "change", "evolve", and "succeed" - i.e., conform to the narcissist's vision and wishes.

Serial killers also "improve" their victims - slain, intimate objects - by "purifying" them, removing "imperfections", depersonalizing and dehumanizing them. This type of killer saves its victims from degeneration and degradation, from evil and from sin, in short: from a fate worse than death.

The killer's megalomania manifests at this stage. He claims to possess, or have access to, higher knowledge and morality. The killer is a special being and the victim is "chosen" and should be grateful for it. The killer often finds the victim's ingratitude irritating, though sadly predictable.

In his seminal work, "Aberrations of Sexual Life" (originally: "Psychopathia Sexualis"), quoted in the book "Jack the Ripper" by Donald Rumbelow, Kraft-Ebbing offers this observation:

"The perverse urge in murders for pleasure does not solely aim at causing the victim pain and - most acute injury of all - death, but that the real meaning of the action consists in, to a certain extent, imitating, though perverted into a monstrous and ghastly form, the act of defloration. It is for this reason that an essential component ... is the employment of a sharp cutting weapon; the victim has to be pierced, slit, even chopped up ... The chief wounds are inflicted in the stomach region and, in many cases, the fatal cuts run from the vagina into the abdomen. In boys an artificial vagina is even made ... One can connect a fetishistic element too with this process of hacking ... inasmuch as parts of the body are removed and ... made into a collection."

Yet, the sexuality of the serial, psychopathic, killer is self-directed. His victims are props, extensions, aides, objects, and symbols. He interacts with them ritually and, either before or after the act, transforms his diseased inner dialog into a self-consistent extraneous catechism. The narcissist is equally auto-erotic. In the sexual act, he merely masturbates with other - living - people's bodies.

The narcissist's life is a giant repetition complex. In a doomed attempt to resolve early conflicts with significant others, the narcissist resorts to a restricted repertoire of coping strategies, defense mechanisms, and behaviors. He seeks to recreate his past in each and every new relationship and interaction. Inevitably, the narcissist is invariably confronted with the same outcomes. This recurrence only reinforces the narcissist's rigid reactive patterns and deep-set beliefs. It is a vicious, intractable, cycle.

Correspondingly, in some cases of serial killers, the murder ritual seemed to have recreated earlier conflicts with meaningful objects, such as parents, authority figures, or peers. The outcome of the replay is different to the original, though. This time, the killer dominates the situation.

The killings allow him to inflict abuse and trauma on others rather than be abused and traumatized. He outwits and taunts figures of authority - the police, for instance. As far as the killer is concerned, he is merely "getting back" at society for what it did to him. It is a form of poetic justice, a balancing of the books, and, therefore, a "good" thing. The murder is cathartic and allows the killer to release hitherto repressed and pathologically transformed aggression - in the form of hate, rage, and envy.

But repeated acts of escalating gore fail to alleviate the killer's overwhelming anxiety and depression. He seeks to vindicate his negative introjects and sadistic superego by being caught and punished. The serial killer tightens the proverbial noose around his neck by interacting with law enforcement agencies and the media and thus providing them with clues as to his identity and whereabouts. When apprehended, most serial assassins experience a great sense of relief.

Serial killers are not the only objectifiers - people who treat others as objects. To some extent, leaders of all sorts - political, military, or corporate - do the same. In a range of demanding professions - surgeons, medical doctors, judges, law enforcement agents - objectification efficiently fends off attendant horror and anxiety.

Yet, serial killers are different. They represent a dual failure - of their own development as full-fledged, productive individuals - and of the culture and society they grow in. In a pathologically narcissistic civilization - social anomies proliferate. Such societies breed malignant objectifiers - people devoid of empathy - also known as "narcissists".

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.

What is Narcissism?

2008-06-13T23:49:00.001-07:00

A 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.

Most narcissists (50-75%, according to the DSM IV-TR) are men.

The Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) is one of a "family" of personality disorders (known as "Cluster B"). Other members of Cluster B are Borderline PD, Antisocial PD and Histrionic PD.

NPD is often diagnosed with other mental health disorders ("co-morbidity") - or with substance abuse and impulsive and reckless behaviors ("dual diagnosis").

NPD is new (1980) mental health category in the Diagnostic and Statistics Manual (DSM).

There is only scant research regarding narcissism. But what there is has not demonstrated any ethnic, social, cultural, economic, genetic, or professional predilection to NPD.

It is estimated that 0.7-1% of the general population suffer from NPD.

Pathological narcissism was first described in detail by Freud. Other major contributors are: Klein, Horney, Kohut, Kernberg, Millon, Roningstam, Gunderson, Hare.

The onset of narcissism is in infancy, childhood and early adolescence. It is commonly attributed to childhood abuse and trauma inflicted by parents, authority figures, or even peers.

There is a whole range of narcissistic reactions - from the mild, reactive and transient to the permanent personality disorder.

Narcissistic Supply is outside attention - usually positive (adulation, affirmation, fame, celebrity) - used by the narcissist to regulate his labile sense of self-worth.

Narcissists are either "cerebral" (derive their narcissistic supply from their intelligence or academic achievements) - or "somatic" (derive their narcissistic supply from their physique, exercise, physical or sexual prowess and romantic or physical "conquests").

Narcissists are either "classic" - see definition below - or they are "compensatory", or "inverted" - see definitions here: "The Inverted Narcissist".

The classic narcissist is self-confident, the compensatory narcissist covers up in his haughty behaviour for a deep-seated deficit in self-esteem, and the inverted type is a co-dependent who caters to the emotional needs of a classic narcissist.

NPD is treated in talk therapy (psychodynamic or cognitive-behavioural). The prognosis for an adult narcissist is poor, though his adaptation to life and to others can improve with treatment. Medication is applied to side-effects and behaviours (such as mood or affect disorders and obsession-compulsion) - usually with some success.

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.

Click here to read the DSM-IV-TR diagnostic criteria for the Narcissistic Personality Disorder.

The international equivalent of the DSM is the ICD-10, Classification of Mental and Behavioural Disorders, published by the World Health Organization in Geneva (1992).

Click here to read the ICD-10 diagnostic criteria for the Narcissistic Personality Disorder.

The DSM defines NPD as "an all-pervasive pattern of grandiosity (in fantasy or behavior), need for admiration or adulation and lack of empathy, usually beginning by early adulthood and present in various contexts."

The ICD regards 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 DSM specifies nine diagnostic criteria. For NPD to be diagnosed, five (or more) of these criteria must be met.

(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 bold 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.

Proposed Amended Criteria for the Narcissistic Personality Disorder

Feels grandiose and self-important (e.g., exaggerates accomplishments, talents, skills, contacts, and personality traits to the point of lying, demands to be recognized 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.

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.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Neurologically Based

2008-06-06T02:53:00.000-07:00

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is a neurologically based disorder.
This position has become controversial as many would like to dismiss the diagnosis of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder altogether saying that there is no evidence of neurological differences, or that there are no medical tests to diagnose ADD ADHD, or that the diagnostic criteria is too broad. But the fact of the matter is that there are measurable neurological differences, and there are several good tests available to physicians and psychologists, available to diagnose the disorder.
For now we will simply report that there is a tremendous amount of research to support the statement that, indeed, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is a neurologically based condition. Much of this information is available at the ADHD Information Library for parents to read over.
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, often called ADD or ADHD, is a diagnostic label that we give to children and adults who have significant problems in four main areas of their lives:
Inattention -- people with ADHD are often easily distracted, and have trouble focusing on a task that is only moderately interesting.Impulsivity -- about 50% of those with ADHD are impulsive, they do or say things without thinking about the consequences first.Hyperactivity -- about 50% of those with ADHD are hyperactive. This means that they have excessive motor activity that is not directed toward any goal.Boredom -- people with ADHD are easily bored with mundane activities, like cleaning rooms or doing homework. Tasks must be exciting to capture attention.
Talk to your pediatrician or family practice physician if you think that your child has some of these problems. You can learn more about Attention Deficit Disorder at the ADD ADHD Information Library of NewIdeas.net.
By Douglas Cowan, Psy.D