ABSTRACT
This chapter illustrates by a dream some aspects of reparation, particularly in relation to internal objects. Reparative phantasies and activities resolve the anxieties of the depressive position. The acute intensity of depressive anxiety is mitigated by repeated experiences of loss and recovery of the object. Manic reparation is a defence in that its aim is to repair the object in such a way that guilt and loss are never experienced. The emphasis was on reparation done by magic, quickly, and on getting the box “exactly as before.” Manic reparation can never be completed, because, if it were complete, the object fully restored would again become lovable and esteemed, and free from the manic person’s omnipotent control and contempt. Reparation proper can hardly be considered a defence, since it is based on the recognition of psychic reality, the experiencing of the pain that this reality causes and the taking of appropriate action to relieve it in phantasy and reality.
