Narcissistic neurosis is a term introduced by
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud ( ; ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating psychopathology, pathologies seen as originating fro ...
to distinguish the class of
neuroses characterised by their lack of
object relations
Object relations theory is a school of thought in psychoanalytic theory and psychoanalysis centered around theories of stages of ego development. Its concerns include the relation of the psyche to others in childhood and the exploration of re ...
and their fixation upon the early stage of libidinal
narcissism
Narcissism is a self-centered personality style characterized as having an excessive preoccupation with oneself and one's own needs, often at the expense of others. Narcissism, named after the Greek mythological figure ''Narcissus'', has evolv ...
. The term is less current in contemporary psychoanalysis, but still a focus for analytic controversy.
Freud considered such neurosis as impervious to psychoanalytic treatment, as opposed to the
transference neurosis
Transference neurosis is a term that Sigmund Freud introduced in 1914 to describe a new form of the analysand's infantile neurosis that develops during the psychoanalytic process. Based on Dora's case history, Freud suggested that during therapy ...
where an emotional connection to the analyst was by contrast possible.
Freud's changing ideas
Freud originally applied the term "narcissistic neurosis" to a range of disorders, including perversion, depression, and
psychosis
In psychopathology, psychosis is a condition in which a person is unable to distinguish, in their experience of life, between what is and is not real. Examples of psychotic symptoms are delusions, hallucinations, and disorganized or inco ...
. In the 1920s, however, he came to single out "illnesses which are based on a conflict between the ego and the
super-ego
In psychoanalytic theory, the id, ego, and superego are three distinct, interacting agents in the psychic apparatus, outlined in Sigmund Freud's structural model of the psyche. The three agents are theoretical constructs that Freud employed t ...
... we would set aside the name of 'narcissistic psycho-neuroses' for disorders of that kind"—
melancholia
Melancholia or melancholy (from ',Burton, Bk. I, p. 147 meaning black bile) is a concept found throughout ancient, medieval, and premodern medicine in Europe that describes a condition characterized by markedly depressed mood, bodily complain ...
being the outstanding example.
About the same time, in the wake of the work of
Karl Abraham
Karl Abraham (; 3 May 1877 – 25 December 1925) was an influential German psychoanalyst, and a collaborator of Sigmund Freud, who called him his 'best pupil'.
Life
Abraham was born in Bremen, Germany. His parents were Nathan Abraham, a Jewish ...
, he began to modify to a degree his view on the inaccessibility of narcissistic neurosis to analytic treatment. However his late lectures from the thirties confirmed his opinion of the unsuitability of narcissistic and psychotic conditions for treatment "to a greater or less extent"; as did his posthumous 'Outline of Psychoanalysis'.
Later developments
From the twenties onwards, Freud's views of the inaccessibility of the narcissistic neuroses to analytic influence had been challenged, first by
Melanie Klein
Melanie Klein (; ; Reizes; 30 March 1882 – 22 September 1960) was an Austrian-British author and psychoanalysis, psychoanalyst known for her work in child analysis. She was the primary figure in the development of object relations theory. Kl ...
, and then by object relations theorists more broadly.
While classical analysts like
Robert Waelder
Robert Waelder (1900–1967) was a noted Austrian psychoanalyst and member of the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society. Waelder studied under Anna Freud and Hermann Nunberg. He was known for his work bringing together psychoanalysis and politics and wro ...
would maintain Freud's delimiting standpoint into the sixties, eventually even within
ego psychology
Ego psychology is a school of psychoanalysis rooted in Sigmund Freud's structural id-ego-superego model of the mind.
An individual interacts with the external world as well as responds to internal forces. Many psychoanalysts use a theoretical c ...
challenges to the 'off-limits' view of what were increasingly seen as
borderline disorders emerged.
Relational psychoanalysis
Relational psychoanalysis is a school of psychoanalysis in the United States that emphasizes the role of real and imagined relationships with others in mental disorder and psychotherapy. 'Relational psychoanalysis is a relatively new and evolving ...
, like
Heinz Kohut
Heinz Kohut (; May 3, 1913 – October 8, 1981) was an Austrian-born American psychoanalyst best known for his development of self psychology, an influential school of thought within psychodynamic/psychoanalytic theory which helped transform the ...
, would also take a more positive approach to narcissistic neurosis, emphasising the need for a partial or initial participation in the narcissistic illusions.
In retrospect, Freud's caution may be seen as a result of his unwillingness to work with the
negative transference Negative transference is the psychoanalytic term for the transference of negative and hostile feelings, rather than positive ones, onto a therapist (or other emotional object).
Freud's preference
In his pioneering studies of transference phenomena, ...
, unlike the post-Kleinians.
[Quinodoz, p. 129]
See also
*
Charles Brenner
*
Paul Federn
Paul Federn (; October 13, 1871 – May 4, 1950) was an Austrian-American psychologist. Federn is largely remembered for his theories involving ego psychology and therapeutic treatment of psychosis.
Life and career
Federn was born in Vienna int ...
*
Transference
Transference () is a phenomenon within psychotherapy in which repetitions of old feelings, attitudes, desires, or fantasies that someone displaces are subconsciously projected onto a here-and-now person. Traditionally, it had solely co ...
References
Further reading
*
Karl Abraham
Karl Abraham (; 3 May 1877 – 25 December 1925) was an influential German psychoanalyst, and a collaborator of Sigmund Freud, who called him his 'best pupil'.
Life
Abraham was born in Bremen, Germany. His parents were Nathan Abraham, a Jewish ...
, ''Selected Papers on Psycho-Analysis'' (New York 1979)
External links
Narcissistic neurosis
{{Narcissism
Psychoanalytic terminology
Freudian psychology
Narcissism