ABSTRACT
Stroke patients without body schema disorders drew portraits with fewer details of clothing and omitted both hands or the mouth more often than normal subjects. These patients very often spoke about their current difficulties in terms of the gaze. They were reluctant to look at themselves in the mirror or to be seen by some of their relatives and would sometimes express envy and aggressiveness towards the able-bodied. They might use impersonal pronouns (‘you’, ‘one’) instead of ‘I’ when speaking of the condition of disability, pain and dependence they were in. This shift from ‘I’ to ‘one’ might indicate a discordance between the patients’ imaginary and symbolic identifications. Surprisingly, these patients did not often spontaneously speak of their paralysed limbs. These features of self-portraits and discourse are characteristic of a non-specific narcissistic injury.
