Narcissistic mortification
Encyclopedia
Narcissistic mortification is a term first used by Sigmund Freud
in his last book, Moses and Monotheism
, with respect to early injuries to the ego/self. It has recently been defined as 'the primitive terror of self dissolution, triggered by the sudden exposure of one's sense of a defective self...death by embarrassment
'.
The concept has been widely employed in ego psychology
; and also contributed to the roots of self psychology
.
developed the concept of narcissistic mortification in connection with what he termed 'the "mechanism of orality"' and the child's early fantasies of omnipotence
: 'the inevitable assaults life makes on this illusion...automatically provokes fury, since it offends his sense of omnipotence'. For Bergler, 'the narcissistic mortification suffered in this very early period continues to act as a stimulus throughout his life'.
Anna Freud
used the term in connection with her exploration of the defence mechanism
of "altruistic surrender". In the case of a governess who 'lives wholly in the lives of other people....Anna traces the governess's problem back to her early family life and finds there "a narcissistic mortification", a disappointment with herself, which prevented her from living her own life'.
First in collaboration, and then in an independent series of articles, Ludwig Eidelberg subsequently expanded on the concept in the fifties and sixties. Eidelberg defined narcissistic mortification as occurring when 'a sudden loss of control over external or internal reality...produces the painful emotional experience of terror'.
He also stressed how for many patients simply 'to have a neurotic symptom was to be narcissistically mortified'.
- is more or less synonymous with mortification or humiliation
'. Kohut considered that 'if the grandiosity
of the narcissistic self has been insufficiently modified...then the adult ego will tend to vacillate between an irrational overestimation of the self and feelings of inferiority and will react with narcissistic mortification to the thwarting of its ambitions'.
and narcissistic character structure
'.
With the 'analytic encounter...given an innovative form by Libbey in her "Narcissistic States..."', her argument stresses that 'change arises in a particular state of transition; not a state of absolute dependency, as in Winnicott, but in the confrontation with mortifying and paralyzing bursts of shame - an overwhelming experience of object loss'.
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud , born Sigismund Schlomo Freud , was an Austrian neurologist who founded the discipline of psychoanalysis...
in his last book, Moses and Monotheism
Moses and Monotheism
Moses and Monotheism, 1939 by Sigmund Freud, ISBN 978-0394700144 is a book where Freud hypothesizes that Moses was not Jewish, but actually born into Ancient Egyptian nobility and was perhaps a follower of Akhenaten, an ancient Egyptian monotheist, or perhaps Akhenaten himself...
, with respect to early injuries to the ego/self. It has recently been defined as 'the primitive terror of self dissolution, triggered by the sudden exposure of one's sense of a defective self...death by embarrassment
Embarrassment
Embarrassment is an emotional state of intense discomfort with oneself, experienced upon having a socially unacceptable act or condition witnessed by or revealed to others. Usually some amount of loss of honour or dignity is involved, but how much and the type depends on the embarrassing situation...
'.
The concept has been widely employed in ego psychology
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 construct called the ego to explain how that is done...
; and also contributed to the roots of self psychology
Self psychology
Self Psychology is a school of psychoanalytic theory and therapy created by Heinz Kohut and developed in the United States at the Chicago Institute for Psychoanalysis. Self psychology explains psychopathology as being the result of disrupted or unmet developmental needs...
.
Early developments: Bergler, Anna Freud, and Eidelberg
Edmund BerglerEdmund Bergler
Edmund Bergler was an American psychoanalyst.-Biography:Bergler, an Austrian Jew, fled the Nazis in 1937-38 and lived in New York City. He wrote 25 psychology books along with 273 articles that were published in leading professional journals...
developed the concept of narcissistic mortification in connection with what he termed 'the "mechanism of orality"' and the child's early fantasies of omnipotence
Omnipotence
Omnipotence is unlimited power. Monotheistic religions generally attribute omnipotence to only the deity of whichever faith is being addressed...
: 'the inevitable assaults life makes on this illusion...automatically provokes fury, since it offends his sense of omnipotence'. For Bergler, 'the narcissistic mortification suffered in this very early period continues to act as a stimulus throughout his life'.
Anna Freud
Anna Freud
Anna Freud was the sixth and last child of Sigmund and Martha Freud. Born in Vienna, she followed the path of her father and contributed to the newly born field of psychoanalysis...
used the term in connection with her exploration of the defence mechanism
Defence mechanism
In Freudian psychoanalytic theory, defence mechanisms are unconscious psychological strategies brought into play by various entities to cope with reality and to maintain self-image. Healthy persons normally use different defences throughout life...
of "altruistic surrender". In the case of a governess who 'lives wholly in the lives of other people....Anna traces the governess's problem back to her early family life and finds there "a narcissistic mortification", a disappointment with herself, which prevented her from living her own life'.
First in collaboration, and then in an independent series of articles, Ludwig Eidelberg subsequently expanded on the concept in the fifties and sixties. Eidelberg defined narcissistic mortification as occurring when 'a sudden loss of control over external or internal reality...produces the painful emotional experience of terror'.
He also stressed how for many patients simply 'to have a neurotic symptom was to be narcissistically mortified'.
Kohut and self psychology
For Kohut, 'narcissistic injury - the root cause of what Kohut calls narcissistic personality disorderNarcissistic personality disorder
Narcissistic personality disorder is a personality disorder in which the individual is described as being excessively preoccupied with issues of personal adequacy, power, prestige and vanity...
- is more or less synonymous with mortification or humiliation
Humiliation
Humiliation is the abasement of pride, which creates mortification or leads to a state of being humbled or reduced to lowliness or submission. It can be brought about through bullying, intimidation, physical or mental mistreatment or trickery, or by embarrassment if a person is revealed to have...
'. Kohut considered that 'if the grandiosity
Grandiosity
Grandiosity is chiefly associated with narcissistic personality disorder, but also commonly features in manic or hypomanic episodes of bipolar disorder....
of the narcissistic self has been insufficiently modified...then the adult ego will tend to vacillate between an irrational overestimation of the self and feelings of inferiority and will react with narcissistic mortification to the thwarting of its ambitions'.
Object relations theory
Unlike ego psychologists, object relations theorists have generally not used the language of narcissistic mortification to describe early infantile woundings, but a rather different [post-Kleinian] vocabulary. However, the twenty-first century has seen something of a rapprochement in this regard. On the one hand, object relations theorists have found analogies between the way 'Freud tended to emphasize a kind of ego sensitivity, narcissistic humiliation..."mortification"' and certain 'aspects of Bion's "nameless dread", Winnicott's "primitive agonies"...the original state of breakdown'. On the other hand, ego psychologists have been increasingly prepared to see narcissistic mortification itself as occurring in a context of early relations to objects.In the 21st century
The concept has recently been brought into renewed prominence by Mary Libbey, who believes 'the intolerable nature of mortification underlies narcissistic defencesNarcissistic defences
"Narcissistic defences have been defined as those processes whereby the idealized aspects of the self are preserved and the limitations of the self and [of] others denied"....
and narcissistic character structure
Character structure
A character structure is a system of relatively permanent traits that are manifested in the specific ways that an individual relates and reacts to others, to various kinds of stimuli, and to the environment...
'.
With the 'analytic encounter...given an innovative form by Libbey in her "Narcissistic States..."', her argument stresses that 'change arises in a particular state of transition; not a state of absolute dependency, as in Winnicott, but in the confrontation with mortifying and paralyzing bursts of shame - an overwhelming experience of object loss'.