Abstract:
A notable category in the panorama of borderline cases, sexual addiction is a psychopathological condition in which the sexual act acquires an irrepressible and harmful content, despite the sex addict’s intellectual understanding and possible rationalizations about the problem. This article aims to investigate the primacy of the splitting defense mechanism in the engendering of sexual addiction, based on a metapsychological review and the presentation of two clinical vignettes. The pseudo-repair character of sexual activity stands out, which, without success, would aim to mend the cracks in the system of a split ego, hindered in its integrative and erotic capacities.
Keywords:
splitting; sexual addiction; borderline cases; metapsychology; psychoanalysis