Psychic skin: psychotic defences, borderline process and delusions

Area of Science:

• Psychoanalysis
• Clinical Psychology
• Psychopathology

Background:

• The concept of psychic skin is applied to analytic work with personality disorders and psychoses.
• Psychotic episodes involve breaches in the ego's defensive psychic skin, releasing unconscious forces.
• Patients with schizophrenia may adopt archetypal personas as secondary psychic skins.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the function of archetypal identifications as secondary psychic skins in psychosis.
• To demonstrate how these "second skins" can protect the self and preserve life.
• To contrast psychotic identifications with narcissistic and borderline self-defenses.

Main Methods:

• Clinical case examples are used to illustrate the concept.
• Psychoanalytic theory, specifically the concept of psychic skin, is applied.
• Comparative analysis of psychotic, narcissistic, and borderline defenses is conducted.

Main Results:

• Inflated archetypal personas can serve as secondary psychic skins, shielding the denuded self in psychosis.
• These "second skins" prevent external intrusion and preserve life until the self can emerge.
• Psychotic identifications differ from "thin-skinned" or "thick-skinned" narcissism and borderline self-defenses.

Conclusions:

• Archetypal identifications can function as vital protective mechanisms in psychosis.
• Understanding these secondary psychic skins is crucial for analytic work with severe personality disorders.
• Jung's personal experience offers a contrast in averting psychotic breakdown.