On early alienation from the self

Drawing from the description in the literature and my observations, alienation from the self may be seen to be the forerunner of the formation of an idealized (false) self-image. Starting from the premise that the formation of the idealized image starts during the process of separation and individuation, the development of at least some alienation from the self would have to occur, at the latest, during this period and probably much earlier. The clinical evidence cited in this paper strongly implies that early alienation from the self occurs as a disturbance of the earliest days of the attachment phase of infant development; the evidence also implies that the disturbance is more severe the more of his real self the infant has to sacrifice in order to accommodate himself to his mother's needs. The greater the disparity between his mother's and his own needs, the more blindness to his own needs the child must develop in order to form a self-image acceptable to both his mother and himself. The consequence of this repression in earliest childhood of his real feelings, self-awareness, and self-expression is the formation of basic anxiety and of functional illness in general. However, the details of the development of these functional disturbances as consequences of early alienation from the self need much further exploration and clinical confirmation.