Mania, loss and defense: a percept-genetic investigation

The defensive organization of manic states has been investigated with the Defense Mechanism Test-Separation Theme. A black and white stimulus portraying a mother figure who is leaving an infant alone was presented tachistoscopically, at increasing durations of exposure, to 22 inpatients who had had a manic episode and to 22 age- and sex-matched normal controls. The manic group was characterized by the following six major defense codings: (1) the infant is able to walk or run, (2) the mother is a rigid, inanimate being, (3) the mother is veiled or disguised, (4) the mother is protective or inviting, (5) the mother is seen as a male figure, and (6) colors are perceived in the colorless stimulus. Controls were more often coded for the denial of mother's actions (she enters the room, she opens a window, etc). The findings were discussed in the context of the pertinent percept-genetic and psychoanalytic literature.