Citation

de Kernier N. Dialogue 2008; 182(4): 89-103.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2008)

DOI

10.3917/dia.182.0089

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Privacy is something that is conquered by teenagers. When the construction of a private space is in jeopardy, self-attack may be the reaction to an unbearable experience of intrusion. Armel's case, a 14 year-old that was hospitalized after a suicide attempt by ingesting medicine, shows that it is very important to consider parental imagos in order to understand the meaning of a self-destructive gesture. The suicide attempt may be addressed indirectly to parents who are felt to be intrusive, when the relationship hovers on being incestuous. The encroachment of territories and a tendency to confuse both the teenager's and the parents' narcissism hampers the identification process and the process of becoming a subject. In this context, the private space which is threatened by infringement is alternatively a hermetically sealed fortress or a porous space.

Language: fr

Keywords

Adolescence; Privacy; Intrusion; Suicidal gesture