title: Transformations of identity: referent location, agency, and levels of integration in the progress from potential self to existential identity.
abstract: The study traces the genesis of existential despair and empty depression in personality disordered individuals to the impact of a premature definition of the self in terms of an other-centered referent. Three aspects of identity are discussed: self identity, role identity, and existential identity. Their respective potential contribution to self-integration is examined.
authors.affiliation: McLean Hospital, Boston, MA.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: von Broembsen
mesh_terms: D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000523:psychology; D004532:Ego; D005086:Existentialism; D006801:Humans; D007063:Identity Crisis; D007389:Internal-External Control; D010553:Personality Development; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D011574:Psychoanalytic Theory; D011936:Reality Testing