ABSTRACT
In the two decades and more since Freud’s statement, researches into ego-psychology and infant care have greatly increased our knowledge of the nature of psychic traumata in infancy and childhood, and their effects on ego-development. This chapter discusses the Freud’s hypotheses of primary narcissism and the ego-ideal, and modern researches into ego-psychology, pathogenic functions of the ego-ideal in a schizoid male patient. It shows how the disturbance of his early infancy and childhood relation to his mother led to the defensive formation, through idealizations, of a highly organized secretive ego-ideal. The chapter describes the nature, functions and pathology of this ego-ideal, both in terms of his early development and his adult personality structure. The patient, a man in his early thirties, sought treatment because of obsessive brooding over religious concerns. In his physical appearance and mental preoccupations he presented a typical schizoid personality with depressive affectivity and obsessional character traits.
