Freud's notion that character is formed from precipitates of "abandoned object cathexes" is linked to his earlier work, Beyond the Pleasure Principle, in which the phylogenetic basis for this concept is set forth. The author views the "abandoned object cathexes" as "unmourned libidinal losses," which form a "dead zone" protecting the ego from being assailed by further insults. Our perceptions are shaped by lost love objects with which we have identified and which we have been unable to mourn. Mogensen suggests that one role of the therapist is to help the patient to identify these repressed love objects which both form character and limit one's vision, thus instigating a mourning process.