ABSTRACT
In 1968, the author presented a paper built around clinical experiences and infant observations "concerned with the primal function of the skin of the baby and of its primal objects in relation to the most primitive binding together of parts of the personality not as yet differentiated from parts of the body". The catastrophic anxiety of falling-into-space, the dead-end, haunts every demand for change and engenders a deep conservatism and demand for sameness, stability and support from the outside world. This may be masked where a second-skin formation is a prominent feature of character, but sudden collapse under stress reveals the flawed personality, well-adjusted as it may appear to be. In author's experience, such patients in analysis require a slow firmly contained process with prolonged working through of each step forward in their development.
