ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the case studies of Patty and Carol. R. Hinshelwood states that the depressive position enables the object to be loved despite its faults but in the paranoid position awareness of bad parts in the object cause the ego to abruptly shift the object into a persecutor. Melanie Klein and many of her followers have investigated the depressive position and written about the various issues that arise. If depressive anxieties become too overwhelming, it is common for paranoid, manic, or obsessive defences to be utilized. Klein stated that paranoid anxiety deforms ego integration and cancels out depressive capacities. In 1948, Klein wrote about the regression to paranoid-schizoid conflicts when depressive concerns are too difficult. In order to better understand the complexity and the emotional trauma that occurs in this sudden psychic intersection of the paranoid and depressive modes, the writings of Joan Riviere are indispensable.
