Narcissism and the Self: Dynamics of Self-Preservation in Social Interaction, Personality Structure, Subjective Experience, and Psychopathology

The book examines how coevolved intraspecific aggression and appeasement gestures can give rise to complex social, cultural, and psychopathological phenomena. It argues that the individual’s need regulate narcissistic supplies and maintain feelings of safety is the overriding determinant of human conduct and thought in mental health and illness.

Ralf-Peter Behrendt studied medicine and medical cybernetics at the Russian Medical State University in Moscow, Russia. He trained in psychiatry in Sheffield, UK, and has been working as a consultant in old age psychiatry since 2005. He has published several review articles and book chapters on the pathophysiology of hallucinations in schizophrenia and on mechanisms that underpin consciousness.