Lavoro presentato al Centro di Psicoanalisi Romano il 15 maggio 1986

ABSTRACT

In this paper I have scanned findigs from infant experimental and observational research on normal and pathological development to discern patterns that appear analogous to findings observed in the borderline and narcissistic personality disorders. The suggested analogies have been discussed under five headings: 1. foreground-background relationship; 2. tension states; 3. regulation of assertiveness, sexual excitement and the sense of self; 4. separation and image retention, image extinction; and 5. sign-signal communication as an intermediate stage in informational exchange. The goal of this effort il to stimulate associations between our clincal experiences with adult patients and a new informational base provided by infant researchers. In the process some questions are raised about existing formulations. It is hoped that we can underline the need to subject existing and newly derives hypotheses to systematic study. It is only out of future studies that bridge the gap between the infant and the adult that we can fulfill the potential of the developmental conceptualizations of psychoanalysis.