The Psychodynamic Model

The psychodynamic model forms the foundation for understanding mental disorders. It explains how the different agencies of the psyche interact - and what happens when this interplay is disrupted.

The Three Agencies of the Psyche

SUPEREGO

Conscience, norms, imagos - shaped by parents and environment. Partly conscious, partly unconscious.

EGO

The personality itself. Partly conscious, partly unconscious.

ID

The drives and impulses of a person. Entirely unconscious.

The Basic Human Drives

Humans possess three basic drives:

Drive	Function
Hunger	Food intake
Thirst	Fluid intake
Sleep	Regeneration

Vital

Every drive or impulse is charged with energy. Since there is no dormant energy, it has the urge to be released - and must be restrained or regulated by the EGO. Any unsatisfied drive can lead to death.

The Six Impulses

Impulses are those forces that drive us to do something specific:

Self-preservation instinct

The fundamental drive for survival

Sexual drive

Reproduction and sexuality

Nurturing instinct

Care for offspring

Power drive

Striving for influence and control

Desire for dominance

Striving for supremacy

Greed

Striving for possessions

The Functions of the EGO

The EGO has three main tasks:

1. Establishing relationships with the external world (through the Self), with the ID and with the SUPEREGO
2. Managing the demands and dangers of these reality factors
3. Mediating between the external world and the ID, the external world and the SUPEREGO, the SUPEREGO and the ID

Conscious EGO Functions

• Perception and memory
• Thinking
• Planning
• Learning

Unconscious EGO Functions

• Defense against the ID (ID impulses, drives, urges)
• Defense against the SUPEREGO
• Coping with the external world (EGO drives)

The EGO as a Complex Unit

A Visual Metaphor

Imagine the EGO as a complex, interconnected unit - the personality. This EGO develops slowly over the years, and it needs a chance to do so through mother, father, caregivers and social environment.

What happens when this chance is missing?

If the EGO does not get the chance to develop, only fragments (broken pieces) can form, which are disconnected and do not create a complex unit.

The optimal separation process from caregivers

The Spirit Level Analogy

Imagine (for a healthy person) a complete, whole spirit level that is perfectly balanced:

• The EGO would be exactly horizontal
• The Self is defined through the EGO
• If the EGO is balanced, the Self is also balanced
• If the EGO tips, the Self tips too

The Self and Its Components

The Self encompasses:

1. Self-image - How do I see myself?
2. Self-awareness - Who am I?
3. Self-esteem - What am I worth to myself and others?
4. Social self - Comparison with others’ perception (How do others see me?)

This complex is compared with a pillar of the SUPEREGO: the ego ideal and ideal self. The difference is called the ego discrepancy.

Consequence of a Tilted EGO

If the EGO is tilted (the spirit level hangs crooked) and the Self has sunk to the basement, the ego discrepancy increases. The Self is then in terrible shape - just as the person with borderline sees and perceives themselves during devaluation.

The 16 Defense Mechanisms of the EGO

Over time, humans develop defense mechanisms that protect the EGO. They sit between the ID and the SUPEREGO as a buffer zone. Without them, the EGO would be literally torn apart.

Primitive Defenses

1. Splitting Early stage of defense mechanisms (baby to 4 years). Can only divide into good and bad. Applied as long as no complete EGO is available.

2. Projection Transferring disapproval of one’s own inadequacies or immoral desires onto other people.

3. Regression Retreat to an earlier developmental stage with primitive reactions and a low level of aspiration.

Intermediate Defenses

4. Compensation Concealing a weakness by overemphasizing a character trait. Frustration in one area is compensated by excessive gratification in another.

5. Denial Protection from unpleasant reality by refusing to accept it.

6. Displacement Discharging accumulated hostile feelings onto objects that are less dangerous than the original triggers.

7. Emotional isolation Avoiding traumatic experiences by retreating into passivity.

8. Fantasy Satisfying frustrated desires through imaginary fulfillment (e.g., daydreams).

Mature Defenses

9. Identification Increasing self-esteem through identification with another person or institution.

10. Introjection Incorporating external values into the EGO structure so that the person no longer has to experience them as an external threat.

11. Isolation Separating emotional reactions from anxiety-laden situations.

12. Rationalization Attempting to convince oneself that one’s behavior is rationally justified.

13. Reaction formation Avoiding anxiety-laden situations by overemphasizing opposite behaviors.

14. Repression Preventing unwanted impulses from entering consciousness.

15. Sublimation Satisfying unfulfilled desires through socially acceptable substitute actions.

16. Undoing Seeking atonement for immoral desires and actions.

According to Freud

The excessive use of the same defense mechanisms constitutes neurosis. Neurotics expend a large portion of their energy redirecting unacceptable parts of their psyche - leaving little energy for a productive life.

EGO Strength

The EGO structure and its interconnections

The EGO, together with its defense mechanisms, contains EGO strength - the degree to which the EGO has the drives (ID) under control.

EGO strength refers to:

• The degree of integration, stability and flexibility of the person
• The degree of proximity to reality and drive satisfaction in social relationships
• The degree of symptomatic expressions of intrapersonal dysfunctions

EGO Disorder

The EGO disorder (as in borderline personality disorder) refers to a disturbance of EGO functions where the synthesis between ID and SUPEREGO and the boundary with the external world are disrupted.

The Self in Detail

Self-Image (Self-Concept)

The self-image contains the cognitions and feelings one has about oneself. It arises from:

• Self-observation of one’s own experiences and actions
• Various forms of evaluation by others (praise, blame, appreciation, devaluation)

Ego Discrepancy

Definition

The ego discrepancy is the difference between self-image and ideal self. The greater the ego discrepancy, the lower the self-esteem.

The striving to reduce the ego discrepancy means self-actualization.

Narcissistic Imbalance

The smaller the ego discrepancy, but the more pathological (overvalued, unrealistic) the ego ideal:

• The more disturbed introspection and self-knowledge become
• The more inflated the self-esteem becomes (grandiose self-concept)
• The more narcissistic the person presents

Self-Esteem and Inferiority

Self-esteem is a disposition of the Self through which a person experiences themselves as a bearer of value. Its negation is the sense of inferiority.

Significance of Inferiority

The sense of inferiority has significant influence on the development of psychological suffering (neuroses, depression). Depending on EGO stability, various factors can contribute:

• Endogenous factors (from within): e.g., physical limitations
• Exogenous factors (from outside): overly strict/lenient upbringing, relationship catastrophes, unemployment

The ID

The ID lies in the unconscious and contains the drives and impulses. These are enormous energies that make us do what we do (want to) or should.

Pleasure Principle

The ID strives for the immediate and complete discharge of its drive energies - very clearly visible in borderline personality disorder through its immediate drive gratification.

The SUPEREGO

The structure of the SUPEREGO and its pillars

The SUPEREGO consists of three pillars:

Pillar I: Conscience

• Mature conscience - fully developed moral judgment
• Oedipal conscience - shaped by parental imagos and role models
• Archaic conscience - primordial, irreducible

Pillar II: Ego Ideal

• Ego ideal and ideal objects - who I want to be, role models
• Role models - later caregivers
• Parental imago - the primal image of parents

Pillar III: Ideal Self

• Ideal self - the ideal self-image
• Grandiose fantasies - shaped by parental imagos and role models
• Archaic grandiose self - early omnipotence fantasies

Functions of the SUPEREGO

The SUPEREGO has assumed the function of a judge and guardian:

• Establishing a value system (duties, demands, commandments, prohibitions)
• Aligning behavior according to this value system
• Eliminating non-conforming behaviors through self-criticism and drive restriction

Unconditional Fulfillment

The SUPEREGO demands unconditional fulfillment from the EGO and prompts it to defend against incompatible ID impulses.

The Internalized Object

The internalized objects (internalized parental images) are significantly involved in the development of the SUPEREGO:

1. Primary caregivers (parental imago)
2. Secondary caregivers (role models: grandparents, aunts, uncles)
3. The totality of both

Lack of Good Objects

If there is a lack of “good internalized objects,” the conscience is formed too rigidly, or the grandiose fantasies are shaped too unrealistically - with later dysfunctions in the psychological domain as a consequence.

The Three Operating Principles

ID: Pleasure Principle

Strives for the immediate and complete discharge of drive energies and maximum pleasure.

EGO: Reality Principle

Transforms the drive impulses originating from the ID into ethical and social demands.

SUPEREGO: Morality Principle

Acts according to moral and ethical norms (commandments and prohibitions).

The Psychodynamic Model in Borderline

What Is Different in Borderline

The person with borderline has not fully developed their protective mechanisms. They have only two options:

1. The two “wagons” (ID and SUPEREGO) crash into them, and their EGO fragments fly everywhere
2. They step out of themselves and dissociate (“This isn’t happening to me, that’s someone else, that’s not me”)

The Fragmented EGO Structure

The EGO structure after therapeutic treatment

In borderline personality disorder:

• The EGO is not formed as a complex unit but consists of fragments
• These fragments are disconnected
• The defense mechanisms are primitive (mainly splitting rather than repression)
• The energies from ID and SUPEREGO collide without restraint

The Self in Borderline

• The Self is unstable and alternates between extremes
• During idealization: inflated self-image (fused with the other person)
• During devaluation: devastating self-image (“in the basement”)
• The ego discrepancy fluctuates massively

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Disorder-Specific Models

Further Reading

This basic understanding of the psychodynamic model is essential for understanding the disorder-specific models:

• Psychodynamic Model - Healthy Personality - The detailed foundation
• Psychodynamic Model - Borderline - The fragmented EGO structure
• Psychodynamic Model - Narcissism - The inflated Self
• Psychodynamic Model - Dependent Personality - The weak Self
• Psychodynamic Model - ADHD - Impulse control problems
• Psychodynamic Model - Depression - The sunken Self
• After a Borderline Relationship - What happens to partners

As well as for understanding splitting and the other defense mechanisms in borderline personality disorder.