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Sam Vaknin

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Shmuel Vaknin (more commonly known as Sam Vaknin) was born in April 1961 in Qiryat-Yam, Haifa, Israel.[1][2][3] He is primarily a journalist and author, writing extensively on various subjects such as history, philosophy, politics, finance and mental health.[2] Vaknin is Editor-In-Chief of Global Politician.[4] He also writes regularly for other publications, such as the International Analyst Network[5] and the Los Angeles Chronicle.[6]

Vaknin has been living in Skopje, Macedonia, since 1996[7] and is married to Macedonian[8] Lidija Rangelovska,[9] the owner of Narcissus Publications[10] who publish much of his work.

Career

Vaknin worked in the City of London, and was a self-made millionaire. He was aware that he had difficulties in his relationship with his fiancée, and that he had mood swings. In 1985 he sought help from a psychiatrist, who diagnosed him with narcissistic personality disorder (NPD). Vaknin did not accept the diagnosis at the time.[11] Vaknin's engagement broke up and he moved back to Israel, becoming the owner of Israel’s largest stock exchange brokerage house.[11] He was President of the Israeli Chapter of the Unification Church's Professors for World Peace Academy.[2]

In Israel in 1995 he was found guilty on three counts of stock fraud, along with two other men, Dov Landau and Nissim Avioz. Vaknin was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment and a fine of 50,000 Shekels (about $12,000).[1][12][13] Vaknin served his sentence in a prison near Tel Aviv. In 1996—as a condition of parole—he agreed to a mental health evaluation, which noted various personality disorders. According to Vaknin "I was borderline schizoid, but the most dominant was NPD", and on this occasion he accepted the diagnosis, as "it was a relief to know what I had".[11]

Between 2001 and 2003, Vaknin was Senior Business Correspondent for United Press International.[2][14] He has also written extensively for Central Europe Review about political issues in the Balkans,[15] as well as for the Middle East Times.[16][2]

Until a few weeks prior to the September 2002 election, Sam Vaknin served as an advisor to the Macedonia's Ministry of Finance.[17]

Vaknin and narcissism

Vaknin has a prolific online presence, writing on topics relating mainly to narcissism, and to a lesser extent psychopathy[18], even though he is in no way qualified to do so[19]. Vaknin claims to be a "self-aware narcissist." This is unusual, as narcissists normally lack self-awareness of their condition. Vaknin claims to be thereby able to give a rare "insider's view" perspective. However, the documentary I, Psychopath conclusively proved him to be a psychopath (antisocial personality disorder) instead of a narcissist. [20]

Vaknin's theories on narcissism appear mainly on the internet or in his book, Malignant Self-Love, which is advertised as a self-help book and an accurate description of the Narcissistic personality disorder[21]. Vaknin himself does not consider it to be either:

"The book was never intended to help anyone. Above all, it was meant to attract attention and adulation (narcissistic supply) to its author, myself. Being in a guru-like status is the ultimate narcissistic experience. Had I not also been a misanthrope and a schizoid, I might have actually enjoyed it. The book is imbued with an acerbic and vitriolic self-hatred, replete with diatribes and Jeremiads and glaring warnings regarding narcissists and their despicable behaviour."[22]

Nonetheless, Vaknin's work on narcissism is respected and acknowledged by journalists.[11][23]

Theories and ideas

At the core of his ideas about narcissism lies the claim that it is impossible "to resuscitate [a narcissist's true self] through therapy".[24]. In other words, he claims that narcissists are not real people, because their "true self", the core of their personality, is lost and has been replaced by delusions of grandeur which manifest in a "false self". Therefore, they cannot be healed because do not exist as real persons, only as reflections. [25] "The False Self replaces the narcissist's True Self and is intended to shield him from hurt and narcissistic injury by self-imputing omnipotence...The narcissist pretends that his False Self is real and demands that others affirm this confabulation",[26] meanwhile keeping his real-life imperfect true self under wraps. [27]

He has acknowledged that this contradicts the view of the vast majority of qualified academics. [28]

Apart from this, Vaknin's contributions are relatively minor:

  • Vaknin extends the concept of narcissistic supply, and introduces further concepts such as primary narcissistic supply and secondary narcissistic supply.[29]
  • He distinguishes between cerebral and somatic narcissists. They either generate their narcissistic supply by applying their bodies or by applying their minds. He considers himself to be a cerebral narcissist.[30]
  • He calls narcissistic co-dependents "inverted narcissists".[31]

He also claims to have invented and popularized the term "narcissistic supply"[32], however, it was first used in 1938 by psychoanalyst Otto Fenichel in describing the way in which a narcissistic individual "requires a 'narcissistic supply' from the environment in the same way as the infant requires an external supply of food".[33] The term was popularized by psychoanalyst Otto Kernberg as part of his description of what he called the malignant narcissist. Kernberg referred to the coldness in a such narcissist's relationships as the "tendency to disregard others except in temporary idealization of narcissistic supply" and he suggested that this was a feature which distinguished pathological from normal narcissism.[34]

Vaknin also introduced the claim that Barack Obama is a narcissist in 2008, and since then that idea has been widely adopted by other commentators who criticise Obama and his policies.[35][36]

Film appearances

In 2007, Vaknin appeared in the Channel 4 documentary Egomania.[37]

In 2009, Vaknin was the subject of the documentary film I, Psychopath, directed by Ian Walker.[20]

Wikipedia

In 2006, Vaknin questioned the validity of the online, freely-editable encyclopedia Wikipedia. He claims that it is not an encyclopedia, is anarchic and lacking in the proper screening of contributions and facts that ensure quality. Due to all of this, Vaknin claims that Wikipedia will implode on itself. Criticisms include anyone's ability to edit Wikipedia—regardless of the level of knowledge or expertise that person has in the subject—together with issues of copyright and anonymous editing by Wikipedia themselves. His comments have reportedly attracted the interest of Wikipedia's hierarchy.[38][39][40][41][42]

Publications

Vaknin has written about 30 books including:[43]

  • "Bakasha me-Isha Ahuva" - "Requesting my Loved One", Yedioth Aharonot Miskal-Prose, Tel-Aviv, 1997
  • (with Nikola Gruevski) Macedonian Economy on a Crossroads, Skopje, NIP Noval Literatura, 1998. ISBN 9989-610-01-0
  • "Malignant Self Love - Narcissism Revisited", Narcissus Publications, Prague, 1999[44]
  • "After the Rain - How the West Lost the East" Narcissus Publications in association with Central Europe Review/CEENMI, 2000[45]
  • Russian Roulette - Russia's Economy In Putin's Era (2003) ISBN 9989-929-31-9

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Vaknin, Sam. Narcissism List Archive - Number 17 Accessed Oct 30, 2010
  2. ^ a b c d e Vaknin, Sam. Curriculum Vitae. Accessed Oct 30, 2010
  3. ^ Sam Vaknin - in his own words Accessed Oct 30, 2010
  4. ^ Global Politician Editors
  5. ^ International Analyst Network
  6. ^ Los Angeles Chronicle
  7. ^ Hall, Tim. New Narc City: Sam Vaknin and the Narcissism of Wall Street New York Press Tuesday February 18, 2003 Accessed Oct 30, 2010
  8. ^ Deliso, Chris. Expat Life in Macedonia Some Have Found a Way to Live and Even Thrive Accessed Oct 30, 2010
  9. ^ Vaknin, Sam. The Adrenaline Junkie Accessed Oct 30, 2010
  10. ^ Vaknin, Sam. Publisher detail on homepage Accessed Oct 30, 2010
  11. ^ a b c d Tempany, Adrian (September 4, 2010). "When narcissism becomes pathological". Financial Times. Retrieved 2010-11-14.
  12. ^ Gordon, Evelyn. Jerusalem Post, June 14, 1996, Supreme Court rejects appeal of three stock manipulators, Accessed Oct 30, 2010
  13. ^ Rosenfeld, Jose. Jerusalem Post, July 27, 1995, BUSINESS BRIEFS, Accessed Oct 30, 2010
  14. ^ Vaknin, Sam UPI: Commentary: The morality of Child labor, Accessed Oct 30, 2010
  15. ^ Central Europe Review. Author Archive: Sam Vaknin. Accessed Oct 30, 2010
  16. ^ Vaknin, Sam, Middle East Times: The axis of oil, Accessed Oct 30, 2010.
  17. ^ How to Take Down a Government, Part I, by Christopher Deliso Accessed Oct 30, 2010
  18. ^ Sam Vaknin website
  19. ^ http://samvak.tripod.com/disclaimer.html
  20. ^ a b I, Psychopath CBC Newsworld May 20, 2009 Accessed Oct 30, 2010
  21. ^ http://www.amazon.com/Malignant-Self-love-Narcissism-Sam-Vaknin/dp/8023833847
  22. ^ E-mail Exchange in Preparation for an Interview Granted to Bob Goodman of "Natterbox": http://samvak.tripod.com/archive17.html
  23. ^ Yvonne Roberts The monster in the mirror The Sunday Times September 16, 2007
  24. ^ Samuel Vaknin/Lidija Rangelovska Malignant Self-Love (2003) p. 187-8
  25. ^ http://samvak.tripod.com/journal12.html
  26. ^ Vaknin S The Dual Role of the Narcissist's False Self
  27. ^ http://samvak.tripod.com/faq48.html
  28. ^ http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/5ff67be2-b636-11df-a784-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1DD9m1Bdz
  29. ^ Vaknin, Sam Narcissists, Narcissistic Supply and Sources of Supply
  30. ^ Vaknin, Sam The Cerebral vs. the Somatic Narcissist
  31. ^ Vaknin, Sam The Inverted Narcissist
  32. ^ http://www.narcissistic-abuse.com/rebuttal.html
  33. ^ Fenichel, Otto (1938). "The Drive to Amass Wealth". Psychoanalytic Quarterly. 7: 69–95.
  34. ^ Kernberg, Otto F. (1974). "Contrasting Viewpoints Regarding the Nature and Psychoanalytic Treatment of Narcissistic Personalities: A Preliminary Communication". Journal of the American Psychoanalytical Association. 22: 255–67.
  35. ^ Barack Obama - Narcissist or Merely Narcissistic? Global Politician 8/13/2008
  36. ^ James Lewis Obama's Malignant Narcissism American Thinker March 04, 2010
  37. ^ Woolaston, Sam Last night's TV The Guardian, Tuesday February 6, 2007 Accessed Oct 30, 2010
  38. ^ Wikipedia and the Credibility of Online Information by Sam Vaknin Global Politician 2/5/2006
  39. ^ The New Dark Ages by Sam Vaknin Global Politician 5/20/2006
  40. ^ Thoughts on the Internet's Founding Myths by Sam Vaknin Global Politician 6/15/2006
  41. ^ The Six Sins of Wikipedia American Chronicle, July 2, 2006
  42. ^ The Wikipedia Cult California Chronicle
  43. ^ Project Gutenberg - books by Sam Vaknin
  44. ^ Roberts, David. Narcissistic Personality Disorder - online conference transcript. Accessed Oct 30, 2010
  45. ^ Central Europe Review Accessed Oct 30, 2010

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