Simon Rogoff
@drsimonrogoff.bsky.social
Clinical psychologist writing about the links between narcissism, trauma, celebrity and leadership. Simonrogoff.substack.com
#psychology #narcissism #trauma
#psychology #narcissism #trauma
On Friday i was on Andrew Sullivan’s Weekly Dish podcast to talk about narcissism, fame and power. The conversation took some unexpectedly personal turns.
December 23, 2025 at 6:07 PM
On Friday i was on Andrew Sullivan’s Weekly Dish podcast to talk about narcissism, fame and power. The conversation took some unexpectedly personal turns.
Reposted by Simon Rogoff
Out today: Andrew Sullivan and I head to head about narcissism, fame, trauma an power.
open.substack.com/pub/andrewsu...
open.substack.com/pub/andrewsu...
Simon Rogoff On Narcissism And Power
He details the psychological condition via Churchill, Trump, Diddy, Lennon, and Chaplin. Listen now on the Dishcast.
open.substack.com
December 19, 2025 at 7:08 PM
Out today: Andrew Sullivan and I head to head about narcissism, fame, trauma an power.
open.substack.com/pub/andrewsu...
open.substack.com/pub/andrewsu...
Out today: Andrew Sullivan and I head to head about narcissism, fame, trauma an power.
open.substack.com/pub/andrewsu...
open.substack.com/pub/andrewsu...
Simon Rogoff On Narcissism And Power
He details the psychological condition via Churchill, Trump, Diddy, Lennon, and Chaplin. Listen now on the Dishcast.
open.substack.com
December 19, 2025 at 7:08 PM
Out today: Andrew Sullivan and I head to head about narcissism, fame, trauma an power.
open.substack.com/pub/andrewsu...
open.substack.com/pub/andrewsu...
This new article is not about the health impacts of dissociation. It is about how the narcissistic perpetrator makes use of their own dissociation in order to carry on doing what they are doing. My case study is a famous man. His name is Dorian Gray and he lives in Victorian London. Link in profile.
December 3, 2025 at 12:51 PM
This new article is not about the health impacts of dissociation. It is about how the narcissistic perpetrator makes use of their own dissociation in order to carry on doing what they are doing. My case study is a famous man. His name is Dorian Gray and he lives in Victorian London. Link in profile.
Reposted by Simon Rogoff
Ive now reached a small milestone in my narcissism experiment. In order to explore real details in the lives of people who live by narcissistic strategies in the extreme, ive looked at 15 icons. My last post is an index with links and reflections. Link in profile.
November 10, 2025 at 7:51 AM
Ive now reached a small milestone in my narcissism experiment. In order to explore real details in the lives of people who live by narcissistic strategies in the extreme, ive looked at 15 icons. My last post is an index with links and reflections. Link in profile.
Ive now reached a small milestone in my narcissism experiment. In order to explore real details in the lives of people who live by narcissistic strategies in the extreme, ive looked at 15 icons. My last post is an index with links and reflections. Link in profile.
November 10, 2025 at 7:51 AM
Ive now reached a small milestone in my narcissism experiment. In order to explore real details in the lives of people who live by narcissistic strategies in the extreme, ive looked at 15 icons. My last post is an index with links and reflections. Link in profile.
Reposted by Simon Rogoff
What is the narrative of the iconic world leader’s start in life? Is it filled with resources and confidence? The life of Winston Churchill exposes a different set of drivers for the pursuit of power and success. My icon no 15 part B is published (link in profile).
October 6, 2025 at 3:41 PM
What is the narrative of the iconic world leader’s start in life? Is it filled with resources and confidence? The life of Winston Churchill exposes a different set of drivers for the pursuit of power and success. My icon no 15 part B is published (link in profile).
Reposted by Simon Rogoff
The celebrity sex-offender playbook: chapters 1-3 is posted. Link in profile.
October 20, 2025 at 7:56 PM
The celebrity sex-offender playbook: chapters 1-3 is posted. Link in profile.
The celebrity sex-offender playbook: chapters 1-3 is posted. Link in profile.
October 20, 2025 at 7:56 PM
The celebrity sex-offender playbook: chapters 1-3 is posted. Link in profile.
What is the narrative of the iconic world leader’s start in life? Is it filled with resources and confidence? The life of Winston Churchill exposes a different set of drivers for the pursuit of power and success. My icon no 15 part B is published (link in profile).
October 6, 2025 at 3:41 PM
What is the narrative of the iconic world leader’s start in life? Is it filled with resources and confidence? The life of Winston Churchill exposes a different set of drivers for the pursuit of power and success. My icon no 15 part B is published (link in profile).
In my free series about narcissism, trauma and celebrity, i am looking at the connections between narcissism, trauma and power. My icon number 15: Sir Winston Churchill. Link in profile.
September 24, 2025 at 5:04 PM
In my free series about narcissism, trauma and celebrity, i am looking at the connections between narcissism, trauma and power. My icon number 15: Sir Winston Churchill. Link in profile.
Is narcissism really a mental health problem?
open.substack.com/pub/simonrog...
open.substack.com/pub/simonrog...
Is narcissism really a mental health problem?
Narcissism, as it reaches its peak, can bring success. Narcissism, at its most severe, can provoke human performance that for a century will be celebrated. Narcissism as it peaks can mark a person out...
open.substack.com
September 8, 2025 at 10:12 PM
Is narcissism really a mental health problem?
open.substack.com/pub/simonrog...
open.substack.com/pub/simonrog...
My new article is about being raised by wolves - metaphorical and, well actual.
open.substack.com/pub/simonrog...
open.substack.com/pub/simonrog...
Raised by wolves
When I talk with survivors of difficult families, some come to understand that they have been scape goated, gaslit, shamed, or worse. Some grew up in a household where there was just little human curi...
open.substack.com
July 28, 2025 at 6:13 PM
My new article is about being raised by wolves - metaphorical and, well actual.
open.substack.com/pub/simonrog...
open.substack.com/pub/simonrog...
Secrets of the iconic role part B is posted. Part A looked at an iconic actor and an iconic singer. Part B looks at a comedian and an intellectual. How are these roles, for each, intimately linked to childhood trauma? And why? Link in profile.
July 17, 2025 at 7:33 PM
Secrets of the iconic role part B is posted. Part A looked at an iconic actor and an iconic singer. Part B looks at a comedian and an intellectual. How are these roles, for each, intimately linked to childhood trauma? And why? Link in profile.
What is the magic ingredient behind the role that takes an actor or singer’s talent to a completely new level? What is the secret behind the career-defining role? This two-part article looks at four iconic roles with links to childhood pain. Link in profile.
July 2, 2025 at 5:54 PM
What is the magic ingredient behind the role that takes an actor or singer’s talent to a completely new level? What is the secret behind the career-defining role? This two-part article looks at four iconic roles with links to childhood pain. Link in profile.
The idea of ‘good character’ had to go. But what was it replaced with? My new article ‘Ideas and their Containers’ looks at character, ethics and Aristotle. Substack link in profile.
June 16, 2025 at 10:08 PM
The idea of ‘good character’ had to go. But what was it replaced with? My new article ‘Ideas and their Containers’ looks at character, ethics and Aristotle. Substack link in profile.
To the distant observer, it is clear that the demonstrators in LA are not intent on “burning down” the city. From a distance, it is pretty clear they have nothing against LA itself. But what Trump has to believe is that LA is burning. The burning LA is just a new strongman oppertunity.
June 13, 2025 at 7:41 AM
To the distant observer, it is clear that the demonstrators in LA are not intent on “burning down” the city. From a distance, it is pretty clear they have nothing against LA itself. But what Trump has to believe is that LA is burning. The burning LA is just a new strongman oppertunity.
The map of narcissism is descended from freudian ideas. But what happens if we take this map and look into the childhood of Freud himself? Icon no 14 part B is posted (link in profile).
June 2, 2025 at 10:47 AM
The map of narcissism is descended from freudian ideas. But what happens if we take this map and look into the childhood of Freud himself? Icon no 14 part B is posted (link in profile).
So the man who excessively uses the word ‘fake’ to describe others, when elected as leader of tge free world, broadcasts fake documentaries from the White House oval office. The thing that makes me sad, as a psychologist, is that psychology has a handle on this. And yet here we are.
May 23, 2025 at 7:52 AM
So the man who excessively uses the word ‘fake’ to describe others, when elected as leader of tge free world, broadcasts fake documentaries from the White House oval office. The thing that makes me sad, as a psychologist, is that psychology has a handle on this. And yet here we are.
Freud wrote On Narcissism: An Introduction, in 1914. He pioneered the modern concept I am working with here. But what happens if we take a look at Freud the man through the lens of narcissism, the concept that he himself pioneered?
open.substack.com/pub/simonrog...
open.substack.com/pub/simonrog...
Icon no 14: Sigmund Freud
Freud wrote On Narcissism: An Introduction, in 1914. He pioneered the modern concept I am working with here. But what happens if we take a look at Freud the man through the lens of narcissism, the con...
open.substack.com
May 19, 2025 at 8:29 PM
Freud wrote On Narcissism: An Introduction, in 1914. He pioneered the modern concept I am working with here. But what happens if we take a look at Freud the man through the lens of narcissism, the concept that he himself pioneered?
open.substack.com/pub/simonrog...
open.substack.com/pub/simonrog...
Reposted by Simon Rogoff
My new article, Hitler and the Clown, looks at a unique moment in cinema history: The Great Dictator (1940). The joke of the film was that the comic actor Chaplin and Hitler, apart from their trade mark moustaches, could not be any more different. The truth was quite different. Link in profile.
May 6, 2025 at 11:55 AM
My new article, Hitler and the Clown, looks at a unique moment in cinema history: The Great Dictator (1940). The joke of the film was that the comic actor Chaplin and Hitler, apart from their trade mark moustaches, could not be any more different. The truth was quite different. Link in profile.
My new article, Hitler and the Clown, looks at a unique moment in cinema history: The Great Dictator (1940). The joke of the film was that the comic actor Chaplin and Hitler, apart from their trade mark moustaches, could not be any more different. The truth was quite different. Link in profile.
May 6, 2025 at 11:55 AM
My new article, Hitler and the Clown, looks at a unique moment in cinema history: The Great Dictator (1940). The joke of the film was that the comic actor Chaplin and Hitler, apart from their trade mark moustaches, could not be any more different. The truth was quite different. Link in profile.
The BBC have published their investigation into a newsreader’s fall from grace:
“The perception was that senior management would turn a blind eye to poor behaviours when productions were award-winning or attracting large audiences."
Link to my article about this:
open.substack.com/pub/simonrog...
“The perception was that senior management would turn a blind eye to poor behaviours when productions were award-winning or attracting large audiences."
Link to my article about this:
open.substack.com/pub/simonrog...
The celebrity fall from grace: Does the newsreader threaten an established narrative?
Of the entertainers, it was the rock star who first fell from grace. It was a long time ago. We were shocked, but then we realised that he had been on the road. He had performed night after night. And...
open.substack.com
April 28, 2025 at 11:51 AM
The BBC have published their investigation into a newsreader’s fall from grace:
“The perception was that senior management would turn a blind eye to poor behaviours when productions were award-winning or attracting large audiences."
Link to my article about this:
open.substack.com/pub/simonrog...
“The perception was that senior management would turn a blind eye to poor behaviours when productions were award-winning or attracting large audiences."
Link to my article about this:
open.substack.com/pub/simonrog...
My new article focusses not on icons but on everyday narcissism. And on a neglected aspect of narcissism: self-neglect.
simonrogoff.substack.com/p/everyday-s...
simonrogoff.substack.com/p/everyday-s...
Everyday self-care for the everyday narcissist
I am most often writing about extreme cases of narcissism. Its performance face can lead some to a life of iconic fame. But there is a continuum. In this article I’m going to look more at everyday nar...
simonrogoff.substack.com
April 21, 2025 at 9:02 PM
My new article focusses not on icons but on everyday narcissism. And on a neglected aspect of narcissism: self-neglect.
simonrogoff.substack.com/p/everyday-s...
simonrogoff.substack.com/p/everyday-s...
In narcissism, appearing on screen can offer respite and rewards. A persona develops - a mask that can never fall. Or almost never. My new article looks for moments in TV history when the mask and persona broke down. The glitches.
open.substack.com/pub/simonrog...
open.substack.com/pub/simonrog...
Glitches
Narcissism theory paints a picture of a persona, or mask on the one hand, and an authentic vulnerable emotional self on the other. On the screen, we get used to seeing well developed charismatic perso...
open.substack.com
April 7, 2025 at 12:45 PM
In narcissism, appearing on screen can offer respite and rewards. A persona develops - a mask that can never fall. Or almost never. My new article looks for moments in TV history when the mask and persona broke down. The glitches.
open.substack.com/pub/simonrog...
open.substack.com/pub/simonrog...