Overview

Dissociation is a key defensive strategy employed by developing and developed psyches in the face of terrifying events. These events, known as traumata, can leave a vulnerable ego with little recourse but to create a perceived safe haven deep within the psyche where one might hide from a threatening person or environment. This place of solace then becomes a habitual escape from a hostile world when the ego feels threatened. As time passes and the child continues to develop, the child who fears the worst of the world and its inhabitants is at a disadvantage, unable to face its challenges head on due to fear that one is not up to the task; and so there is retreat. This pattern of retreat prevents the ego and all of its varied components from starting anew and objectively perceiving any others as existentially separate from the self or even from perceiving distinct self-states within the self. Instead, one responds to all objects as if they were the original introjected object as if they are actually a part of him or her. And so the child is in repose, frozen deep within the self. These missed cues set the stage for an imposing drama defined by a pattern of protective defenses beginning with the safety-seeking routine of dissociation, passing through stages of projection and projective identification, re-introjection, and commencing in a grand finale of re-traumatization that leaves him or her once again convinced of the terror that defines the epic tragedy that is life. Using lenses provided by trauma theory, Psychoanalytic study, and Neuropsychology this dissertation will examine the role that dissociation plays in keeping a person not merely a victim of past trauma but one who lives in a constant battle with the elements that more often than not, get the best of the person each time.

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9781091289369

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