Intersubjectivity in the Death Instinct As a Source of Psychosis: Jean Laplanche's Version of Maternal Rejection of the Infant

Abstract

Addressing the infant-mother relationship, Laplanche posited that the maternal unconscious serves as an enigmatic message to the infant's unconscious. The infant is unable to translate violent maternal imprinting (immersion) of the life rejection, and the message generates a traumatic internal enigma. When this occurs, the infant's ego takes action to avoid collapse and to survive under the influence of a destructive object. Through a clinical presentation, the author argues that this particular psychosis begins when the infant's death instinct binds to primary narcissism to process the enigmatic trauma of maternal rejection. This dynamic uncovers the possibility of the intersubjective nature of the death instinct. The implications of the intersubjective influences of the analyst's own deadness and aliveness and the implications for the treatment of this psychosis are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• intersubjective
• death instinct
• Laplanche
• maternal rejection