In the foregoing I have suggested that the difference in identificatory styles may have a primary importance in accounting for depression and grief. These styles may be grossly contrasted as a relatively non-discriminatory, all-or-none transient introject, superego type in the case of depression, and a relatively discriminatory, better coordinated and thus more enduring ego type in the case of grief. The two styles depend on whether crucial early identifications were relatively enforced or relatively optional.

Enforced identification implies originally a passive response in a threatening or even traumatic situation. However, the all-or-none style of identification may subsequently undergo a change of function to become a characteristic defence against the anxiety of separateness. In the service of such a defence, it becomes the partially opted introjective style of the depressive individual.