A Psychoanalytic Approach to Abnormalities of Temperament

Certain personality defects noted during psychoanalytic therapy are expressions of temperament. Using a 72-item temperament index, the author analyzed 101 patients with respect to depressive, irritable, manic, paranoid and schizoid subscales. At least one such “temperament” was present in two-thirds of the borderline and in one-third of the neurotic patients. The temperament-positive borderline patients usually had a close relative with a schizophrenic or primary affective disorder. Several cases exhibiting temperament abnormalities are presented and modifications of analytic psychotherapy to deal more effectively with them are outlined.