LIVING IN THE PAST: THE NEUROTIC PERSONALITY
Journal Title: Acta Neuropsychologica - Year 2003, Vol 1, Issue 2
Abstract
The basic function of personality is to enable the individual to adapt to the anticipated state of affairs. In order for this to be successful, it is necessary to maintain an orientation toward the future. This requires, however, that the individual first come to terms with what has already happened. Obtaining control over past events, facts, or experiences from one's own life is of fundamental importance in the process of growth, but it is seldom an easy task. In the case of a past-oriented personality, it is not possible at all. The individual's actions in such case do not result from his/her intentions, but are caused or controlled by something that has happened at some point in the past. In the absence of psychological distance, the individual functions as a prisoner of his/her own past, or rather, of his/her own vision of that past. This kind of fixation ultimately pushes the personality into neurosis, which leads to an impoverishment of the personality and its gradual involution. This is manifested in the impairment of the personality's programming system, which is based on emotional attitudes, knowledge, and self-assigned tasks. The specific modifications that occur precisely in these areas make it impossible for the neurotic individual to develop a coherent vision of the future as anything other than an endless repetition of the past, or to adapt to changing circumstances
Authors and Affiliations
Marta Moritz
Keywords
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