Bear Man: The Multiple Roles of Identification in Traumatically Induced Compromise Formations

This is a case history of Will, who suffered from a higher level narcissistic character disorder with oedipal conflicts marked by an intense castration anxiety (Rothstein, 1979; Kernberg, 1980, 1984; Meissner, 1985). As a clinical contribution, the case sheds further light on the complex roles of identification as a compromise formation in trauma, and it reveals the functioning of primary etiological agents in a related, multiform death fantasy (in fact, such a multiform fantasy is an intricate constellation of compromise formations).

While primarily dealing with clinical issues involved in the analysis of a narcissistic personality disorder, the present essay has an implicitly secondary aim that demands immediate justification. My additional intent is to defend the case history itself, which, in the intemperate world of publication, risks becoming an endangered species. This fact won notable attention when the editors of the International Journal of Psychoanalysis (Tuckett and Haley, 1990), after asking for case reports, received only twenty-six submissions from the pool of over 9000 members in the International Psychoanalytic Association (Tuckett, 1991). The paucity of submissions was of such note that it continued to cause concern even four years later (Tuckett, 1994).

By virtue of its exceptional length, my case history might also serve to counteract a certain waning of the case history as an expository genre. It is regrettable that the editorial policy of our leading analytic journals has