Sam Vaknin, Narcissism And God

Dr. Sam Vaknin got into trouble for white-collar crime; after which he made a name for himself by publicizing – in quite a well-written manner – the concept of the narcissistic personality disorder, which he believed had lead him to white-collar crime.

Whether consciously contrived or not, his modus operandi was quite a brilliant one. He got to have fame and redemption at the same time. I see absolutely nothing wrong with either goal, and if they are achieved honestly then they are to the credit of the person who has achieved them.

Now I have scored quite high on the narcissistic dimension (while being very low on the sociopathic dimension). There were any number of people who wanted me to work on my personality or my self-esteem; but I rejected that approach. Instead I have been working – I believe with the help of God – on my character, which is a much more fundamental source of thought and action. The result has been someone whom most people I knew saw as a bad person becoming what most people I know see as a good person. God has been teaching me honesty, responsibility, compassion, humility, diligence, courage. All of which were things that I have lacked.

In the film “I, Psychopath,” Mr. Vaknin came across as aggressive and testy. Whereas many people who know me now see me as a gentle person. I was not always a gentle person. There were times in my life when I acted like a complete asshole. If God can fix me, then God can fix anyone else.

Psychiatry does not know at this time how to rightfully treat many of these disorders, so it does the next best thing and claim these people to be hopeless cases. When someone calls you a hopeless case, all it means is that he has nothing useful to offer you. The correct solution is to avoid such people and look for insight and guidance elsewhere. And probably the best place to look for such a thing is from God. If Jesus could turn Matthew and Paul into good people, then no case is hopeless. And the correct solution in such cases is to avoid the psychologists who believe such things and go instead to the church.

Ironically, what I have been doing has been working. These days most people I know see me as a good guy. So I advocate bypassing the people who see you as hopeless and can only torture you our of that consideration. Instead go to God. In my experience God does not reject people. Instead God sees what you could be. And then God helps you become what you can and should be, whatever you happen to be at the time.

As for Dr. Vaknin, the biggest problem is his hypocrisy. He has been getting both redemption and fame; but he appears to see fame as a narcissistic goal, and he appears to see narcissism as incurable. I do not know if he has improved through his experiences. What I do know is that damning people is wrong. And I recommend a solution that redeems everyone and gives everyone – even narcissists – a chance at being good people and doing the right things with their lives.