Superego distortions and self-attack

Abstract

Some people demand an unachievable level of self-perfection, and experience extremely harsh self-criticism when they inevitably fall short of this impossibly high standard. As a result of early trauma or neglect, patients who have internalized part-objects that are particularly responsive to aggression also appear to lack supportive introjects which could normally serve to counterbalance innate aggressivity. The resultant superego malformations are overly harsh and charged with self-destructive intent. Self-attack may range from guilt-ridden self-loathing to physical assault on the body. Suicide is viewed as restorative and survivable. Treatment interventions include superego analysis as a way to identify internalized self-attack, disentangle organized self-destructive elements and support counter-balancing forces for affect tolerance.

Keywords:

• superego
• suicide
• self-attack
• destructive narcissism
• aggression

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Mark J. Goldblatt

Mark J. Goldblatt. Faculty member of the Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute, Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, Clinical Associate at McLean Hospital, Belmont, Massachusetts, and a member of the Boston Suicide Study Group.

Benjamin Herbstman

Benjamin J. Herbstman. Clinical Instructor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Assistant Psychiatrist at McLean Hospital, candidate at the Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute, and member of the Boston Suicide Study Group.

John T. Maltsberger

John T. Maltsberger. Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, and affiliated with the Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute, the Massachusetts General Hospital, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and McLean Hospital in Massachusetts. Member of the Boston Suicide Study Group.