Time and the Garden of Eden Illusion
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8971403 |
|---|---|
| Authors | J F Steiner (0000-0002-6514-6057, British Psychoanalytical Society, corresponding author), John Steiner (British Psychoanalytical Society, London, UK) |
| Year | 2018 |
| Volume | 99 |
| Issue | 6 |
| Pages | 1274-1287 |
| Publication date | 2018-11-02 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The International Journal of Psychoanalysis (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0020-7578 • E-ISSN: 1745-8315 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/00207578.2018.1556072 |
| OpenAlex | W2911211640 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 7 |
| References cited | 10 |
This article explores the timelessness of idealised psychic retreats and then describes the traumatic impact of time as the patient emerges from the retreat to face reality. The Garden of Eden Illusion involves a retreat where time stands still. Everything is perfect but nothing changes, there is no development, no frustration, no losses and no passion. When the patient confronts the real world, he is introduced to the facts of life and, for each of these facts, time is significant. If the trauma of disillusion is too abrupt or the pain of waiting too severe, defences are mounted against the impact of reality. These involve misrepresentations of the facts of life in which experiences that involve time are repudiated in favour of instant solutions based on omnipotence. These misrepresentations of reality easily become erotised to create perverse scenarios with an addictive quality that are particularly resistant to change. It is possible to delineate Narcissistic Perversions, Oedipal Perversions and Romantic Perversions as defences against time in relation to each of Money-Kyrle’s facts of life
Aesthetics · Art · Cognitive psychology · Epistemology · Face (sociological concept · Fantasy · Illusion · Instant · Literature · Narcissism · Nothing · Omnipotence · Passion · Psychic · Psychoanalysis · Romance · Historical Psychiatry and Medical Practices · Medicine · Mental Health and Psychiatry · Philosophy · Psychology · Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications · Social Psychology
A theory of psychic retreats
“Someday...” and “If Only...” Fantasies
The Ideal and The Real in Klein and Milton
Overcoming obstacles in analysis
Illusion, Disillusion, and Irony in Psychoanalysis
The Use and Abuse of Omnipotence in the Journey of the Hero
Seeing and being seen
The International Journal of Psychoanalysis
Siblings
| Unique citing works | 7 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,17 |
| Citation span | 2020 - 2025 (6) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 7 |