ABSTRACT
This chapter demonstrates the case of a patient who frantically enacted the claustro-agoraphobic dilemma in Melanie Klein psychosomatic symptoms and her object relationships. The psychosomatic defensive structure was Ms. A's cave. It channeled thoughts and feelings into physical sensation, distracting her from unwelcome knowledge and protecting her with illusions of omnipotence from the awareness of her own vulnerability. Psychic knowledge and awareness became less terrifying, and the fear of breakdown faded. distress. The more the interpersonal aspect of the infant–mother dyad is attenuated, the more the baby's intrapsychic dependence on it, and on projective identification that increases as man grows ever more frantic for a response. Successful projective identification mitigates the baby's aloneness and helplessness. As the analysis advanced, Ms. A became more aware not only of her conscious feelings but also of her unconscious experiences of identification. Concurrently, she became more able to distinguish her own self from the internal "others."
