Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dlnhk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T12:55:44.469Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter 14 - Narcissistic Difficulties, a Trans-Diagnostic Presentation Requiring a System-Wide Approach

from Applications of Psychodynamic Psychotherapy with Accompanying Case Study Description for Each Presentation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 August 2023

Adam Polnay
Affiliation:
The State Hospital, Carstairs and Royal Edinburgh Hospital, Edinburgh
Victoria Barker
Affiliation:
East London NHS Foundation Trust, London
David Bell
Affiliation:
British Psychoanalytic Society
Allan Beveridge
Affiliation:
Royal College of Psychiatrists, London
Adam Burley
Affiliation:
Rivers Centre, Edinburgh
Allyson Lumsden
Affiliation:
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde
C. Susan Mizen
Affiliation:
Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust, Exeter
Lauren Wilson
Affiliation:
Royal Edinburgh Hospital, Edinburgh
Get access

Summary

This chapter describes two types of projective identification, acquisitive and attributive, which dominate relating towards self and other in the most severe and complex interpersonal difficulties commonly diagnosed as ‘personality disorder’. These difficulties are defined in psychoanalytic terms as narcissistic. These two forms of projective identification result in a distorted psychosomatic sense of what belongs to whom in the internal world, relating to others and relating to the body. This leads to complex somatic symptoms such as eating disorders and psychosomatic presentations. They also drive the pattern of service use: acquisitive projective identification leading to a pattern of medical or mental health hospitalisation and a requirement for 24-hour care; and attributive projective identification resulting in disengagement and denial of need. The chapter describes the patterns of interpersonal engagement and conflict commonly found in those with the most severe and complex problems in inpatient settings. Furthermore, a psychodynamic formulation is provided to aid teams in understanding these interpersonal dynamics, provide clarity in planning long-erm care, and to identify adaptations of technique required in psychotherapeutic work.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Freud, S. The Ego and the Id, Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Vol. 19. London: Hogarth Press and the Institute of Psycho-Analysis; 1923.Google Scholar
Britton, R. Narcissism and narcissistic disorders. Sex, Death, and the Superego. Experiences in Psychoanalysis. London: Routledge; 2003.Google Scholar
Mizen, CS. Neuroscience, mind and meaning: an attempt at synthesis in a Relational Affective Hypothesis. Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy. 2015 Oct 2;29(4):363–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
International Classification of Diseases 11th ed.; ICD-11; World Health Organization, 2019Google Scholar
Zanarini, MC, Frankenburg, FR, Khera, GS et al.. Treatment histories of borderline inpatients. Comprehensive Psychiatry. 2001 Mar 1;42(2):144–50.Google Scholar
National Institute for Clinical Excellence. Borderline personality disorder: recognition and management. Clinical guideline. Published 28 January 2009Google Scholar
Lewis, KL, Fanaian, M, Kotze, B et al. Mental health presentations to acute psychiatric services: 3-year study of prevalence and readmission risk for personality disorders compared with psychotic, affective, substance or other disorders. BJPsych Open. 2019 Jan;5(1).Google Scholar
Skodol, A, Stein, M, Hermann, R. Borderline Personality Disorder: Epidemiology, Pathogenesis, Clinical Features, Course, Assessment, and Diagnosis. UpToDate. Waltham, MA: UpToDate. 2019.Google Scholar
Cassin, SE, von Ranson, KM. Personality and eating disorders: a decade in review. Clinical psychology review. 2005 Nov 1;25(7):895916.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sansone, RA, Farukhi, S, Wiederman, MW. Utilization of primary care physicians in borderline personality. General Hospital Psychiatry. 2011 Jul 1;33(4):343–6.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Crimlisk, HL, Bhatia, K, Cope, H et al. Slater revisited: 6 year follow up study of patients with medically unexplained motor symptoms. BMJ. 1998 Feb 14;316(7131):582–6.Google Scholar
Bowden‐Jones, O, Iqbal, MZ, Tyrer, P et al. Cosmic Study Team. Prevalence of personality disorder in alcohol and drug services and associated comorbidity. Addiction. 2004 Oct;99(10):1306–14.Google Scholar
Dudas, RB, Lovejoy, C, Cassidy, S et al. The overlap between autistic spectrum conditions and borderline personality disorder. PLoS ONE, 2017[Sep][8], Vol 12[9][e0184447].CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fowler, JC, Clapp, JD, Madan, A et al. A naturalistic longitudinal study of extended inpatient treatment for adults with borderline personality disorder: an examination of treatment response, remission and deterioration. Journal of Affective Disorders. 2018 Aug 1;235:323–3.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Menzies, IE. A case-study in the functioning of social systems as a defence against anxiety: a report on a study of the nursing service of a general hospital. Human Relations. 1960 May;13(2):95121.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Freud, S. The Ego and the Id, Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Vol. 19. London: Hogarth Press and the Institute of Psycho-Analysis; 1923.Google Scholar
Freud, S. On narcissism: an introduction. Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Vol. 19. London: Hogarth Press; 1957.Google Scholar
Rey, H. Universals of Psychoanalysis in the Treatment of Psychotic and Borderline States. Free Association Books; 1994.Google Scholar
Winnicott, DW. The theory of the parent-infant relationship. International Journal of Psychoanalysis 1960 41:585–95.Google Scholar
Fonagy, P, Gergely, G, Target, M. The parent–infant dyad and the construction of the subjective self. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. 2007 Mar;48(3–4):288328.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Britton, R. Narcissistic problems in sharing space. In Sex, Death and the Superego. Experiences in psychoanalysis. Karnac; 2003.Google Scholar
Trevarthen, C, Hubley, P. Secondary intersubjectivity: confidence, confiding and acts of meaning in the first year. In Lock, A, ed. Action Gesture and Symbol: The Emergence of Language. London Academic Press; 1978. pp. 183229.Google Scholar
Tronick, EZ. Emotions and emotional communication in infants. Parent-Infant Psychodynamics. 2018 Nov 9:3553.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stern, DN. The Interpersonal World of the Infant: A View from Psychoanalysis and Developmental Psychology. Routledge; 2018 Apr 19.Google Scholar
Hobson, P. The Cradle of Thought: Exploring the Origins of Thinking, Pan Books; 2004.Google Scholar
Brazelton, TB, Tronick, E, Adamson, L et al. Early mother-infant reciprocity. Parent-infant Interaction. 1975;33(137–154): 122.Google Scholar
Hobson, JA, Hobson, RP. Identification: The missing link between joint attention and imitation? Development and Psychopathology. 2007 Apr;19(2):411–31.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ruocco, AC. The neuropsychology of borderline personality disorder: a meta-analysis and review. Psychiatry Research. 2005 Dec 15;137(3):191202.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Derks, YP, Westerhof, GJ, Bohlmeijer, ET. A meta-analysis on the association between emotional awareness and borderline personality pathology. Journal of Personality Disorders. 2017 Jun;31(3):362–84.Google Scholar
Segal, H. Notes on symbol formation. International Journal of Psychoanalysis 1957 38:391397.Google Scholar
Rosenfeld, H. Impasse and Interpretation – Therapeutic and Anti-Therapeutic Factors in the Psychoanalytic Treatment of Psychotic, Borderline, and Neurotic Patients. London: Routledge; 1987Google Scholar
Mizen, CS. The self and alien selves in psyche and soma. Journal of Analytical Psychology (in press).Google Scholar
Mizen, CS. Narcissistic disorder and the failure of symbolisation: a Relational Affective Hypothesis. Medical Hypotheses. 2014 Sep 1;83(3):254–62.Google Scholar
Mizen, CS. Towards a Relational Affective Theory of personality disorder. Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy. 2014 Oct 2;28(4):357–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mizen, CS. (2019) Business Case for Devon Partnership NHS Trust Personality Disorder Service.Google Scholar
Haigh, R, Harrison, T, Johnson, R et al. Psychologically informed environments and the “Enabling Environments” initiative. Housing, Care and Support. 2012 Mar 9.Google Scholar
Haigh, R. The quintessence of a therapeutic environment. Therapeutic Communities: The International Journal of Therapeutic Communities. 2013 34(1):615.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hinshelwood, RD. Psychodynamic formulation in assessment for psychotherapy. British Journal of Psychotherapy. 1991 Dec;8(2):166–74.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×