Inner space: its constriction in anxiety states and narcissistic personality

Our sense of existence has a spatial component ( Heidegger 1962, p. 123). For example, descriptions of affect depend upon words such as "high" and "low." Moreover, one's sense of the volume of inner space is mutable. Although experiences of inner space are with us all the time, they are relatively neglected from a theoretical and therapeutic point of view. This paper concerns the possibility that the perceived dimensions of inner space vary with one's mode of thought, which, in turn, changes according to one's relationship with the sensory environment. The most important elements of this environment are clearly social. Constriction of personal space seems to be characteristic of anxiety states and of the narcissistic personality. Some therapeutic implications of this idea are discussed.