title: Symbiotic psychosis and the need for fame.
abstract: This paper attempts to synthesize Tartakoff's concept of the Nobel Prize complex (a constellation of personality traits found in some achievement-oriented neurotics) with the symbiotic syndrome which Mahler noted among certain psychotic patients. The performance-oriented symbiotic syndrome formulated in this paper is found in patients whose pathology ranges from the normal to the psychotic. The familial constellation involved in this performance-oriented symbiosis consists of an obessive, successful father; a depressed, hysterical, unfulfilled mother; and a child who is made to take the father's place in the household. The mother exploits the child by offering attention only when he achieves or performs in such a way as to fulfill her narcissistic strivings and bolster her self-esteem. The father is often involved in a similar symbiotic relationship with his own mother and therefore sanctions his wife and son's dyadic relationship.
mesh_terms: D000124:Achievement; D003193:Compulsive Personality Disorder; D003863:Depression / Q000235:genetics; D006040:Goals; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009813:Oedipus Complex; D009863:Only Child; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010551:Personality; D011574:Psychoanalytic Theory; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000235:genetics