Meetings of the Psychoanalytic Association of New York

DISCUSSION: Dr. Louis Kaywin complimented Dr. Schneer on his attempt to form a unifying theory which would illuminate and explain the complexities involved in suicidal behavior. Rather than Dr. Schneer's conceptualization of aggression in energic terms, however, he thinks of aggression as a complex behavior, probably instigated by the self in an attempt to rid oneself of noxious and threatening awareness. Thus, a conception of part of the self in 'negative' terms is important for the understanding of suicidal behavior.

Dr. Harold Surchin agreed with Dr. Schneer that there is an anlage, a central core for suicidal behavior. The primary narcissistic aims of early life are to secure affection and supplies, and the outcome may be a constant quest for assurance of narcissistic supplies, or the opposite, a need for utter independence. Failure of either need satisfaction with its profound narcissistic injury leads to a depressive constellation. He noted that in the process in which the triadic constellation of aggression, narcissistic object choice, and failure of splitting with regressive fusion