Borderline states in french psychoanalytical studies

Abstract

Following a brief introduction to retrace its history along with a terminological clarification, the classical psychopathological tableau of borderline organizations described by Kernberg is summarized in its clinical, structural and genetic dimensions. After the different contemporary psychodynamic schools are mentioned, the major French-language psychoanalytic works concerning both adults (Bergeret, Green) and children and adolescents (Diatkine, Mises, Jeammet) are presented, The theoretical specificity of French psychoanalysis is emphasized in its particular interest which concerns drive as much as object relations, the intrapsychic and the intersubjective realms. A present-day synthesis (Brusset, Chabert) is proposed, which concerns three main problem configurations: borderline pathology and the difficulty of interiority, object-loss anxiety, and the particularities of the oedipal conflict and masochism. The weight of psychosocial and modern cultural modifications upon the changes in psychopathology are mentioned.