A developmental disorder of late adolescence

This paper discusses one type of psychological disorder commonly seen in late adolescents who have appeared well adjusted throughout their earlier adolescent years. The disorder comes to light when a web of established roles and relationships can no longer provide a sense of identity and substitute for genuine self-esteem. The loss of this defensive niche reveals the existence of significant developmental lags or deficits in self structure, self-object differentiation, and ego functions. These disorders typically reflect a complex mingling of oedipal-neurotic conflicts, immense difficulty with separation, and developmental-structural arrests. In the initial treatment relationship, the developmental deficits are most prominent. When they are addressed, a revival and reworking of earlier adolescent separation concerns becomes possible, and some developmental momentum is restored. Overall, these disorders require a conceptualization that can give full weight to the salience of self structural problems within basically neurotic personality organization.