ABSTRACT
Although the patient’s suicidal plans appeared to be in deadly earnest, analysis was attempted on the assumption that mitigation of his grandiose perfectionism might allow for a tolerable adaptation. Hope for such relief was based on the calculation that the grandiosity would prove to be a regressive response to disillusionments with important figures, most recently with his former therapist. Optimism was also justified by the patient’s response to the deep intervention during the diagnostic period that interpreted the contemplated fantasy of suicide as a last desperate effort to create an unspoiled work of art. His response was that he needed at least one person who would look upon his efforts with approval.
