Biomaterial Database

Narcissistic personality disorder in an identical twin. 1975

P H Ackerman

An identical twin with a narcissistic personality disturbance was analyzed. Clinical and metapsychological issues were discussed. Phenomena of narcissistic pathology and twinship clarify one another. Persistence of the twin as a need-satisfying, mirroring, idealized object interferes with the maternal symbiosis, and the separation-individuation experience. If any object, be it twin, mother, nurse or sibling, retards individuation, there may be instability of the self-representation as well as faulty development of ego and superego structures. Confusing and primitive identifications, as occur in twinship, impair the more stabilizing identifications of the oedipal period, and promote narcissistic character malformation.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007062	Identification, Psychological	A process by which an individual unconsciously endeavors to pattern himself after another. This process is also important in the development of the personality, particularly the superego or conscience, which is modeled largely on the behavior of adult significant others.	Identification (Psychology),Identification, Psychology,Identifications (Psychology),Identifications, Psychological,Identifications, Psychology,Psychological Identification,Psychological Identifications,Psychology Identification,Psychology Identifications
D007207	Individuation	A process of differentiation having for its goal the development of the individual personality.	Individuations
D009034	Mother-Child Relations	Interaction between a mother and child.	Mother-Child Interaction,Mother-Child Relationship,Mother-Infant Interaction,Mother-Infant Relations,Interaction, Mother-Child,Interaction, Mother-Infant,Interactions, Mother-Child,Interactions, Mother-Infant,Mother Child Interaction,Mother Child Relations,Mother Child Relationship,Mother Infant Interaction,Mother Infant Relations,Mother-Child Interactions,Mother-Child Relation,Mother-Child Relationships,Mother-Infant Interactions,Mother-Infant Relation,Relation, Mother-Child,Relation, Mother-Infant,Relations, Mother-Child,Relations, Mother-Infant,Relationship, Mother-Child,Relationships, Mother-Child
D009289	Narcissism	A psychoanalytic term meaning self-love.	Narcissisms
D009769	Object Attachment	Emotional attachment to someone or something in the environment.	Bonding (Psychology),Bonds, Emotional,Emotional Bonds,Object Relations,Symbiotic Relations (Psychology),Bonding, Psychological,Object Relationship,Psychological Bonding,Attachment, Object,Attachments, Object,Bond, Emotional,Bondings (Psychology),Emotional Bond,Object Attachments,Object Relation,Object Relationships,Relation, Object,Relation, Symbiotic (Psychology),Relations, Object,Relations, Symbiotic (Psychology),Relationship, Object,Relationships, Object,Symbiotic Relation (Psychology)
D010553	Personality Development	Growth of habitual patterns of behavior in childhood and adolescence.	Development, Personality
D010554	Personality Disorders	A major deviation from normal patterns of behavior.	Avoidant Personality Disorder,Impulse-Ridden Personality,Inadequate Personality,Avoidant Personality Disorders,Impulse Ridden Personality,Personality Disorder,Personality Disorder, Avoidant,Personality Disorders, Avoidant,Personality, Impulse-Ridden,Personality, Inadequate
D011247	Pregnancy	The status during which female mammals carry their developing young (EMBRYOS or FETUSES) in utero before birth, beginning from FERTILIZATION to BIRTH.	Gestation,Pregnancies
D011385	Projection	A defense mechanism, operating unconsciously, whereby that which is emotionally unacceptable in the self is rejected and attributed (projected) to others.
D011575	Psychoanalytic Therapy	A form of psychiatric treatment, based on Freudian principles, which seeks to eliminate or diminish the undesirable effects of unconscious conflicts by making the patient aware of their existence, origin, and inappropriate expression in current emotions and behavior.	Balint Psychoanalytic Therapy,Psychoanalytic Therapy, Balint,Psychoanalytical Therapy,Therapy, Balint Psychoanalytic,Therapy, Psychoanalytic,Psychoanalytic Therapies,Psychoanalytical Therapies,Therapies, Psychoanalytic,Therapies, Psychoanalytical,Therapy, Psychoanalytical