ABSTRACT

Erik had a cold and distant mother who was stern and disciplinary. His father had died young after a protracted illness. He is both a moral and a sexual masochist. Experience teaches that moral and sexual masochism can appear in one and the same individual, although that is certainly not always the case. He always obeyed and never rebelled against his mother, except for the one time when, as an adolescent on an alcoholic binge, he threatened to murder her, whereupon he was turned out of the house and placed elsewhere. Generally, Erik vents his rage by projecting aggression onto the other person. He is always the weak-willed victim, while anyone else whom he deals with is the executioner and evildoer. Erik lacks initiative and self-confidence, his sense of self-worth is extremely low. He struggles with his intense need for constant attention, which he wrests from his partner at all costs.