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January 29, 1952. SOME CLINICAL ASPECTS OF THE PATHOLOGY OF NARCISSISTIC OBJECT CHOICE IN WOMEN. Annie Reich, M.D.
Defining narcissism as the cathexis of self with libido, Dr. Reich elaborates the gradual process of finding external libidinal objects and the normal shifting of libido from the self to the object in infancy. The term narcissistic is appropriate when 1, body cathexis is predominant and is treated like a love object; 2, a fixation has occurred on a level in which the differentiation between ego and object is very diffuse, and primary identifications prevail instead of object love; 3, infantile ideas of, or longing for, omnipotence are either not outgrown or regressively revived, and problems of regulation of self-esteem are predominant; 4, a condition of narcissistic want exists, which was caused by a narcissistic injury.
Discussing the libidinal changes which take place at the end of the activephallic phase of attachment to one's mother, there are cited cases who, under the impact of the final acceptance of castration, withdraw libidinal interest from the disappointing objects (mother, clitoris, etc.) to their own bodies, and who thereby overcompensate for the narcissistic injury of castration by an overvaluation of the self. When this is combined with sexual fantasies about the body, the dominant sexual aim of this period is exhibitionism of the body as a phallus by which objects are to be pleased or seduced. If this technique of undoing the feeling of castration is unsuccessful, unconscious masculine longings may persist, giving rise to feelings of inferiority and unrealizable ideals. Such conflicts may be solved in some instances by falling in love with a man who represents what the woman originally wanted to be, thus undoing a state of narcissistic want. Many normal women love men who represent their externalized former identifications.
Dr. Reich discusses the distinctions between identification and object love, and between the formation of the