In this paper, I have presented the assumption that some symptom pictures such as attachment to pain, the masochistic character, the negative therapeutic reaction, a basic depressive response, and anhedonia are rooted in a prevalence of organismic distress during the symbiotic phase.

Neuroscientists taught us that early experiences are associated with the neuronal structuring of the developing brain, which then affects concurrent or subsequent reactions. In particular I followed Ginsburg's (1982) assumption of a neuronally, genetically given aggressive drive potential which influences and is influenced by early experiences, and which can interact with other gene potentials.