DEFICIENCY OF EGO BOUNDARIES AS A FACTOR OF VIOLATIONS OF MENTALIZATION AND INNER DISCOURSE IN THE CASE OF SELF-ALIENATION

The paper presents the author’s approach to the understanding of the duality of self-alienation as the protection and adaptation and its relation with the specifics of mentalization and personality inner discourse. Such duality is determined by the quality of self-boundaries. The goal of the study is to clarify the nature of the relationships between the stability of self-boundaries and self-alienation. The author identified the complex determinateness of self-alienation phenomenon: firstly, by the duality of the human Self and, secondly, by its distancing or rejection of Non-Self and the dialogue with it. The disturbances in the exchange of information and energy between the Self and the Non-Self correlate with the changes in the stability of their boundaries and distort the processes of mentalization, which creates the ground for self-alienation. The author identified and systematized the content-functional relations of mentalization disorders, the stability of Self-boundary and its dialogue with Non-Self. The adaptive self-alienation is a response to the self-preservation threat and reflects the choice of self-change, protective self-alienation, and the choice of self-preservation becomes actual in the case of the threat of Self-destruction. The study empirically identified various trends in the relationships between the stability of Self-boundaries and self-alienation. Strong boundaries are more characterized by self-alienation, Self monologue, the lack of mentalization, pseudo- and compartmentalization, adaptive “false Self” vegetativeness or adventurism. With thin boundaries, the protective self-alienation with the experience of impotence prevails, the possibilities of mentalization and the ability of a person to self-determination and self-change are reduced or suppressed. The author concludes on the necessity of the balance of protective and adaptive self-alienation, and its relationship with changes in the Self-boundaries stability should be taken into account when delivering psychological aid.