ABSTRACT
The person with a “porous personality” may correspond, in part, to the concept of “highly sensitive person”, and M. Eigen’s account of the “sensitive self”, as well as Heinz Kohut’s description of narcissistically vulnerable people who are easily upset and wounded by seemingly small slights, criticisms, or rejections by others. These wounding events could be so subtle that their impact might seem puzzling. A crucial period for the development of disturbance in response to this vulnerability seems to be primary school, from age seven. At this time, children are becoming more concerned with the peer group, and rejections and other narcissistic wounds experienced within peer social life take on greater significance. The “porous personality” has struggled with this sensitivity and vulnerability from the beginning. Some develop what is recognised relatively easily as overt autistic spectrum qualities, such as extreme shyness, social avoidance, preference for routine and predictability, and aversion to strong emotions.
