Guillaumin discerns three levels of defense in depression. Defenses can be classified according to their goal of repairing an internal deficit, e.g., by idealization or a sort of internal anaclitic relationship; there can be an attempt to borrow from external objects, whether an individual or a group; or there might be a massive attempt to control and diminish internal stimuli, as in hypomania or depersonalization. Guillaumin sees a hierarchy in these defenses. He submits the hypothesis that the preconscious, or more accurately its malfunctioning,