Paranoia: A Part of Most Analyses

Abstract

Paranoid defenses appear during most analyses, sometimes with great intensity, but often subtly, and require specific analytic attention. Preoedipal conflicts, inner fears around passivity, narcissistic injury and rage, and subsequent masochistic and projective defenses lie at the core of these patients' pathology. In addition, specific cognitive, object-relational, and affective distortions reflecting multiple developmental levels emerge during analysis. A case vignette is provided to demonstrate the analysis of a neurotic patient without borderline features who showed prominent paranoid formation.