giant-subscribe-png-with-logo

Tag: Mental Health

Is It Natural to Kill Our Parents? Dark Psychology of Parricide (with Maureen Callahan, The Nerve)

Parricide is a rare but deeply disturbing act that challenges our understanding of family, identity, and human nature. Far from being simply a shocking headline, it is rooted in complex psychological, social, and evolutionary factors. Recognizing these dynamics is essential not only for comprehending such tragedies but also for prevention and healing.
By exploring parricide through historical, psychological, and familial lenses, we gain a deeper understanding of the dark, often invisible struggles within families. This knowledge urges us to look beyond sensational headlines and reflect on the profound human pain that underlies such acts — a pain that demands empathy, attention, and action. Is It Natural to Kill Our Parents? Dark Psychology of Parricide (with Maureen Callahan, The Nerve)

Read More »
12.02.2026

Forgotten Revolutionary: Sullivan’s Interpersonal Theory

Harry Stack Sullivan’s interpersonal theory remains a powerful framework for understanding human psychology as an inherently social phenomenon. His revolutionary ideas challenge the isolated individual model and highlight the vital role of relationships in shaping our minds and lives.
By redefining mental illness as difficulties in living and emphasizing the therapeutic potential of human connection, Sullivan offers a hopeful and pragmatic approach to mental health—one that continues to inspire clinicians and theorists today. Forgotten Revolutionary: Sullivan’s Interpersonal Theory

Read More »
12.02.2026

Shameful Core of Covert Narcissist: Inferior Vulnerability Compensated

The video explored the role of shame in narcissism, distinguishing between grandiose (overt) and vulnerable (covert) narcissistic types, with shame being significantly more prevalent and impactful in vulnerable narcissism. It highlighted that vulnerable narcissists experience intense shame, linked to feelings of inferiority, failure, and negative self-evaluation, whereas grandiose narcissists suppress or deny shame through defensive mechanisms. The discussion incorporated psychoanalytic and social psychology theories, emphasizing shame’s critical role in the development, manifestation, and regulation of narcissistic behaviors and its implications for clinical diagnosis and treatment. Shameful Core of Covert Narcissist: Inferior Vulnerability Compensated

Read More »
02.11.2025

How Your Partner Infects You with Mental Illness (Nature vs. Nurture Debate)

The video explored the nature versus nurture debate in mental health, emphasizing how spousal correlation studies challenge the traditional genetic predisposition model by demonstrating that mental illnesses can be behaviorally and relationally contagious through long-term interpersonal relationships. Large-scale research across cultures reveals that partners tend to develop similar psychiatric conditions over time, suggesting environmental factors and contagion play a significant role in determining the specific type of mental illness. The discussion highlighted that while genetics may influence general vulnerability to mental illness, the particular disorders one develops are primarily shaped by the environment and intimate relationships.

Read More »
11.10.2025
Mental Illness

Spousal Correlation of Mental Illness (EXCERPT)

The discussion focused on assortative mating, where individuals tend to select partners with similar mental health predispositions, leading to couples sharing comparable psychiatric conditions. It was highlighted that while genetics determine the general susceptibility to mental illness, the specific type of mental disorder developed is influenced by the partner and the environment, demonstrating a contagion effect. This insight challenges the notion of fixed genetic inheritance for specific mental illnesses, emphasizing the role of interpersonal dynamics in the development of psychiatric conditions.

Read More »
09.10.2025

Narcissist: When Defenses Crumble, Shame Overwhelms: Narcissistic Mortification, Pt. 2 (Compilation)

In this comprehensive discussion, Sam Vaknin explains narcissistic motification as a severe psychological event distinct from narcissistic injury, characterized by public humiliation that dismantles the narcissist’s defenses and leads to profound shame, grief, and potential suicidal ideation. He describes the stages following motification, including internal and external attributions of blame, and how these affect the narcissist’s behavior, often resulting in vindictive actions to restore grandiosity. Additionally, Vaknin explores the dynamics of narcissistic relationships, highlighting key behaviors such as hoovering, approach-avoidance cycles, and the complex interplay of intimacy, control, and abandonment within shared fantasies.

Read More »
08.10.2025

Your Defensive Identification with the Aggressor (Abuser)

The psychological concept of “identifying with the aggressor,” where victims of abuse unconsciously adopt traits and behaviors of their abusers as a defense mechanism to cope with trauma and gain a sense of control. This process, rooted in childhood development and psychoanalytic theory, often leads to maladaptive coping, perpetuates the cycle of abuse, and results in long-term negative mental health impacts. Despite being a survival strategy, this identification does not protect victims but exacerbates victimization, causing internal conflict and complicating recovery.

Read More »
03.10.2025

Healthy Self-regulation vs. Dysregulation

Sam Vaknin explores the concept of self-regulation, emphasizing that it primarily concerns controlling behavior rather than internal processes, and highlights its significance in goal attainment and impulse control. He critiques the traditional notion of the “self” in self-regulation, noting the fluidity of identity and the social context’s role, and discusses the challenges posed by impulse control disorders and emotional dysregulation, especially in conditions like borderline personality disorder. The talk also touches on the distinction between self-regulation and self-management, the biological basis of impulses, and behavioral therapy’s role in developing regulatory strategies.

Read More »
01.10.2025

Narcissism at Its Best (Trailer of Documentary by Peter Kolakowski)

The speaker expressed a strong critical view of the creators of modern technology, particularly social media and artificial intelligence, labeling them as mentally ill and motivated by rejecting reality. They argued that social media platforms are designed to isolate individuals by reducing intimacy and exploiting loneliness for profit, employing psychological tactics to keep users engaged and disconnected from real-life relationships. The discussion highlighted concerns about the negative social impact of tech companies driven by profit at the expense of human connection. Narcissism.

Read More »
21.09.2025

Solastalgia: Healing Shared Fantasy, Narcissistic Abuse

Sam Vaknin detailed the concept of narcissistic abuse as creating a dystopian, alienating environment that sets victims up for failure and emotional distress, coining the term “solstalgia” to describe the unique psychological pain caused by such oppressive environments. He related solstalgia, originally defined as distress from environmental changes, to the toxic psychosocial dynamics within narcissistic relationships, emphasizing its impact on mental health and the potential for therapeutic intervention. The discussion highlighted recent research on solstalgia’s links to complex trauma and proposed expanding its application beyond environmental issues to better understand and treat victims of narcissistic abuse.

Read More »
20.09.2025

Social Share

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
WhatsApp
Email
Tags

Most Popular