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Diegophrenia and genius

Diegophrenia and genius Twenty-eighth Annual Karen Horney Lecture Alexander Wolf The infant looks to its mother for love. When maternal love is given freely, the infant develops normally. When he is severely denied love, as by maternal psychosis, he suppresses the perceptions of his own ego and func- tions with the distorted perceptions of his mother. Her hallucinations and delusions become the reality for him, instead of his own views and judg- ment. Her unreal world becomes incorporated and superimposed as an oppressive negative ego, while his own becomes largely suppressed in an attempt to win or retain the motheffs love and approval or to avoid her anger. He operates then with two egos: one, his suppressed ego and the other, the ego of the introjected mother. He suffers from a split ego, and his predominant symptom is ambivalence. And he is ambivalent about every- thing. He ambivalates between being good and bad. He submits and rebels. He says yes and no. He is heterosexual and homosexual. He alternates between neurosis and psychosis. He is clear and unclear. He is reasonable and unreasonable, rational and irrational. He is diegophrenic. Because the diegophrenogenic mother is persecutory from birth on, the most serious damage http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png The American Journal of Psychoanalysis Springer Journals

Diegophrenia and genius

Wolf, Alexander
The American Journal of Psychoanalysis , Volume 40 (3): 14 – Sep 1, 1980
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References (13)

Publisher
Springer Journals
Copyright
1980 Association for the Advancement of Psychoanalysis
ISSN
0002-9548
eISSN
1573-6741
DOI
10.1007/BF01252205
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Twenty-eighth Annual Karen Horney Lecture Alexander Wolf The infant looks to its mother for love. When maternal love is given freely, the infant develops normally. When he is severely denied love, as by maternal psychosis, he suppresses the perceptions of his own ego and func- tions with the distorted perceptions of his mother. Her hallucinations and delusions become the reality for him, instead of his own views and judg- ment. Her unreal world becomes incorporated and superimposed as an oppressive negative ego, while his own becomes largely suppressed in an attempt to win or retain the motheffs love and approval or to avoid her anger. He operates then with two egos: one, his suppressed ego and the other, the ego of the introjected mother. He suffers from a split ego, and his predominant symptom is ambivalence. And he is ambivalent about every- thing. He ambivalates between being good and bad. He submits and rebels. He says yes and no. He is heterosexual and homosexual. He alternates between neurosis and psychosis. He is clear and unclear. He is reasonable and unreasonable, rational and irrational. He is diegophrenic. Because the diegophrenogenic mother is persecutory from birth on, the most serious damage

Journal

The American Journal of Psychoanalysis – Springer Journals

Published: Sep 1, 1980

Keywords: Clinical Psychology; Psychotherapy; Psychoanalysis

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