Related Experiment Videos
Emptiness as defense in severe regressive states
1Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.
Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association
|January 1, 1989
Summary
Severely ill borderline patients experience "empty states" during stress, using primitive defenses to protect their psychic structure. These states involve disturbances in affect, cognition, object relations, and bodily experience.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Psychiatry
- Psychoanalysis
Background:
- Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is characterized by emotional instability and interpersonal difficulties.
- Severely ill patients with BPD often experience profound subjective distress, including feelings of emptiness.
Observation:
- This paper explores the phenomenon of "empty states" in severely ill borderline patients.
- These states manifest during periods of stressful regression, impacting affect, cognition, object relations, and bodily experience.
Findings:
- Empty states are viewed as complex defensive configurations.
- They protect the borderline psychic structure from aggressive object relations and prevent further regression.
- Patients utilize primitive defenses like projective identification, somatization, and acting out.
Implications:
- Understanding empty states is crucial for therapeutic interventions with severely ill borderline patients.
- The study highlights the role of primitive defenses and deviant object relations in maintaining these states.
- Recognizing and managing countertransference reactions is essential for clinicians working with this population.