Splitting: A defense mechanism

Have you ever found it hard to hold onto two seemingly contradicting ideas, thoughts, or feelings? Ambivalence can be challenging to hold and is something that we all wrestle with. An easy way to organize the complexities of our world is to “split” things, typically into “all good” or “all bad” categories. Psychoanalytically, this defense mechanism is one of the earliest ones we utilize in infancy and is a normal part of development. Nestled in our defensive repertoires, this defense mechanism can be employed throughout various stages of our life. Colloquially, this has become known as “black and white thinking” and is often referred to as such in cognitive-behavioral approaches. As we progress through our development, we learn that what we represented as “all bad” or “all good” can actually be one in the same. We develop a multifaceted, integrated, and nuanced view of our feelings, thoughts, selves, and others. Nonetheless, when we experience anxiety, instability, or threats to our self-esteem, we rely on our defense mechanisms to help us navigate and reduce conflictual thoughts and feelings.

This defense mechanism, while not limited to a diagnosis, is frequently associated with individuals who have Borderline Personality Disorder. In fact, one of the criteria for this diagnosis in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) is “A pattern of unstable and intense interpersonal relationships characterized by alternating between extremes of idealization and devaluation.” This can be understood through the lens of “splitting.” When we navigate the intricacies of interpersonal relationships, it can be incredibly difficult and challenging to love who we hate and hate who we love. Splitting thus becomes a comforting way to organize complexity and facilitates predictability and a sense of control.

This concept of “splitting” was the inspiration behind the design of this coat. The coat is “split” with black and white paneling. To further elucidate the dichotomy that occurs between categories of “all good” and “all bad,” each panel is topstitched around the edge further securing the “borders” of the panels so that why they might “touch,” they are distinct, separated from one another. While the outer component of the coat represents “splitting” as it occurs, the lining, in grey, represents the integration and synthesization of good and bad, black and white. The capacity to integrate and hold ambivalent attitudes is initially an internal process which later translates to outward behaviors and experiences. As such, the lining also symbolizes the beginnings of psychic growth. Ultimately, while splitting can be organizing and lead to a sense of control and prediction, nuance and complexity makes up the inner fabric of our world.

References

American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.)

Dean, A. C. (2004). Splitting in normal and pathological populations from the perspective of Predictive Control Theory: A reconceptualization. Theory and Psychology, 14, 29–55

Freud, S. (1941). Splitting of the ego in the defensive process. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 22, 65–68. (Original work published 1938.)

Kernberg, O.F. (1975). Borderline Conditions and Pathological Narcissism, New York, Jason Aronson.

Klein, M. (1946). Notes on some schizoid mechanisms. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 27, 99–110.

Mahler. (1968). On human symbiosis and the vicissitudes of individuation. New York: International Universities Press.

Rangell, L. (1982). The self in psychoanalytic theory. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 30(4), 863-891.