The Symbiosis Concept and the Commencement of Normal and Pathological Ego Functioning and Object Relations: II. Developments Subsequent to Infancy and Pathological Processes

A territorial symbiotic relationship is proposed as a prerequisite for normal adult adaptation, and as an enduring feature of normal adult personalities. It is described as the foundation for creative efforts to master the strange and unfamiliar which lead to structural enrichment of the personality, and to territorial affiliations with society and culture. It is also described as the necessary substrate for the internal dialogue with mother which is required for the development of ambivalent whole-object relations and tripartite structuralization of the psyche. Some of the developmental issues and processes linking infantile symbiotic territoriality with adult territorial adaptation are discussed, and some of the vicissitudes of territorial adaptation throughout the normal life cycle are described. Finally, the primitive personality disorders (narcissistic and borderline) are hypothesized to be outcomes of perversions of the normal infantile symbiotic bond in which a pathological destructive introject has been substituted for the symbiotic representation, and dissociated pathological centres of introjection (possessed) and projection (possessor) have developed.