Final fantasy 7

The P1 ego state.

As mentioned in the previous post, Final fantasy 1, the fantasy stage of child development and the development of the P1 ego state are closely linked.



Reference
Pam Levin, 1974. Becoming the way we are. Berkeley: Transactional publications

She states that when people develop problems about this stage they can often have a scary, sinister and demonic quality about them. Children can report nightmares and can have a particular interest in magic.

Levin refers to this stage of development as the Supernatural Child lasting from 3 to 6 years of age. The stage of fantasy and magic and scary things. Witches, potions, spells, dragons, flying broomsticks are all part of this magical, devilish, scary and a bit of fun part of the personality which TA theory would say is the P1 part of the personality. We all know magicians fake it but there is still that part of us that likes to see some magic in action.

This part of the personality is engaged with things like the Harry Potter stories. It can also be found in Batman with characters like the Penguin, the Riddler and the Joker. They are presented as mischievous, irreverent and yet appealing characters.



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Two other pieces of research state:

Bouldin, P.
An investigation of the fantasy predisposition and fantasy style of children with imaginary companions. The Journal of Genetic Psychology, 2006, 167(1), 17 - 29.

According to Piaget (1962) (Play, dreams, and imitation in childhood. New York: Norton.) fantasy play, daydreaming and dreaming all evolve from the same mental process.

Children who engage in extensive fantasy play tend to be more imaginative. Thus they have an imaginative predisposition.

Children with imaginary friends were more predisposed to engage in fantasy than those children who did not have such friends. (Mean age of children in study was 6 years old)

Children with imaginary friends:
1. Reported they daydreamed more often
2. Daydreamed when alone
3. Felt they could almost see and hear the contents of their daydreams in front of them.

These children are able to create vivid mental images and tend to use these in times of solitude. And more likely to play solitary games with a mythical theme. They are seen as having enriched fantasy lives and are seen as highly imaginative.



Heuvelman, L.R. & Graybill, D.
Assessment of children’s fantasies with the Make A Picture Story: Validity and norms. Journal of Personality Assessment, 1990, 55, 578 - 592.

The younger the child the more fanciful the fantasy

Behaviourally aggressive children tended to have more aggressive fantasies but it is also noted that normal children also make frequent use of violence and aggression in their fantasies. Thus caution must be taken when children display violent fantasises to assume this is a sign of potential aggressive behaviour problems.

Children rarely will have nude figures in their fantasies.

Children will generally have child figures in their fantasies and usually select those of the same sex as the child.

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The schizoid personality

The DSM notes of the schizoid personality, “Excessive daydreaming is often present”. Based on the research above one can begin to identify those children who have the potential to develop the schizoid personality. For instance those children with fantasy involving imaginary friends.

Once identified one can then adjust their parenting style to make sure the schizoid personality development remains within the normal range. Some key features of the schizoid structure are as such:

Core decision
The world is scary so withdraw from it (people) and don’t show any of your feelings

Other injunctions
Don’t show your feelings
Don’t be close
Don’t belong
Don’t get your needs met

Ego states
Commonly high in Conforming Child ego state as ‘rocking the boat’ will attract attention and make people focus on them which is scary. The “withdrawn Child ego state” best describes them. They have little desire for social interaction. Often good thinkers and so they can be high in Adult ego state. The quiet achiever is a common style for them and thus they make good employees. Low Free Child ego state as that involves the expression of feelings and can also attract attention. They can give the appearance of being cold or aloof.
They in particular find it difficult to express anger (and assertion which is a derivative of anger). So Rebellious Child ego state is not often used. This can make them appear indecisive and not clear in their goals. Often present is a lack of social skills.




The demon or lillith.
Other than schizoid personality problems, the P1 stage of development (3 - 6 years of age) can result in the formation of the demon or lillth part of the personality

Consider this quote from Eric Berne who wrote about the demon in his book, ‘What do you say after you say hello’.

He stated, “The demon is the jester in human existence and the joker in psychotherapy.... No matter how well the therapist plans his psychotherapy, the patient always has the upper hand. At the point when the therapist thinks he has the four aces, Jeder plays his joker, and the demon wins the pot. Then he skips merrily off, leaving the doctor to leaf through the deck trying to figure out what happened. Even if he is ready for it, there may be little he can do..... The demon first appears in the high chair, when Jeder scatters his food on the floor with a merry glint, waiting to see what his parents will do. If they make friends with it, it will go onto later mischief, and then perhaps into humorous fun and jokes. If they beat it down, it will lurk surly in the background, ready to leap out at an unguarded moment and scramble his life as it originally scrambled his food.” (Pp 122 - 123).

Berne, E. 1972. What Do You Say After You Say Hello? Bantam: New York.


A fixation at the P1 stage of development can result in this type of behaviour becoming prominent in the personality.



Graffiti

Final fantasy 5

Definition of daydreams (Fantasy)

In final fantasy 2 I looked at what daydreams are. Part of that was to distinguish them from memory and I concluded

Thus we have three main characteristics of fantasy:
1. It is a cognitive process
2. It involves creative thought
3. It causes some change in mood or leads to some kind of psychological advantage

Comments by Kahless, Roses and KYLady have now added to this definition thus providing a more comprehensive understanding of the subject. Some of the comments made were:

“The other way I use fantasy is to explore how I would feel about something. Sometimes I imagine a particular event happening, like a bereavement (which is quite a common one of late) and then I play out in my mind how I would behave and how I would act. I think through what I would say and how I would feel. So sometimes fantasy can be a training ground?”

and

“I practice golf in my imagination all the time. A boring meeting is the perfect time to play at least 9 holes”. (end quotes)



I need at this juncture to distinguish between thinking and daydreaming. The two examples to me show some kind of mental exercise for some kind of gain. Sports psychologists also use this kind of thing. They counsel the sports person to imagine themselves winning the race. As I develop this work on daydreaming I would exclude these from my definition of daydreams. The daydreams I am talking about are driven by the unconscious just like sleeping dreams are. Thus we have a fourth aspect of daydreams:

4. They are expressions of the unconscious or they arise from the unconscious.

People can engage in all sorts of mental tasks as KYLady and Kahless demonstrate above. They are not daydreaming because they are not expressions of the unconscious. I see the need to make this distinction because it allows us to keep daydreaming and sleep dreaming as psychologically similar processes. If we restrict the definition of daydreaming as I suggest then they remain useful in therapy particularly with diagnosis. Or one can use daydreams in the same way one would do sleep dream work in therapy. If we include mental activity that is not an expression of the unconscious then the concept of daydreams looses some of its therapeutic applications.

As with sleep dreams, daydreams will arise spontaneously driven by what is in the unconscious. Initially one does not plan the daydream. After a daydream has been created the individual may repeat the same sort of daydream theme over and over. This is reported by Kahless when she says:

“I used to day-dream being a secret agent, or a fireman, or Lara Croft”

and when I discuss the man who reported

“A 27 year old male reports that when he gets very down he will create visual scenarios (fantasies) in his mind. Typically he does this when he goes to bed at night. They are very violent and always involve him getting hurt. For instance he imagines himself being stabbed or shot by someone else or he will imagine himself shooting, stabbing or cutting himself with big knives. In essence we have fantasised self harm.”(end quote)



Thus the content and theme of the daydream arises spontaneously from the unconscious. Once developed the person often repeats the same daydream theme with minor changes to players and scenarios. It is the theme of the daydream that the therapist is interested in because this is what gives the insight into the unconscious.

Once created the person may use the daydream for a variety of psychological reasons some of which I described in final fantasy 4 and will add to in final fantasy 6. For instance as a source of strokes, as a defence mechanism, to maintain schizoid withdrawal or narcissistic self aggrandisement.

Graffiti

Final fantasy 3

Functions of fantasy

Dream and daydream (fantasy)
In terms of personality structure night dreams and day dreams (fantasy) are somewhat similar. In dreams (night) the Parent and Adult ego states are almost completely decommissioned and cease to influence the personality at all.



With the Parent and Adult decommissioned the conscious is gone and the person is left only with their unconscious. This is why Freud used dream interpretation, when asleep the unconscious can gain expression free from any conscious control. Thus it provided an important way of understanding the unconscious.

In daydreams or fantasy the Parent and Adult are also decommissioned but to a lesser extent than when asleep. Thus it also affords an opportunity to understand the unconscious as well.

Obviously in a daydream the content is under conscious control unlike a night time dream, at least initially. Sometimes daydreams may start at one point and end up at an unexpected point for the dreamer. Also daydreams are a 100% personal event. No one will ever know about them unless they are told of the content. Whilst a group of people have some Parent ego state restrictions about fantasy content as was described in Final fantasy 2, for most the content is completely uninhibited. Anything can be fantasised and thus the unconscious desires, conflicts and so forth are given a wide range of expression. Like they are in night time dreams. There are very few other circumstances where the unconscious is given such freedom of expression as in fantasy and dreaming.

One advantage that fantasy interpretation has over dream interpretation is that it tends to be more literal. As there is some level of conscious control the images created in daydreams they are more obviously related to the psychological forces behind them. In dreams the images created as less obviously related to the psychological content behind them.

Types of day dreams (Temporary)
Self soothing
Wish fulfilment
Self aggrandisement
Defence mechanism
Reflection of current issues - conflict, sexual, aggressive, etc.

Sometimes day dreams can serve a number of these reasons at once.


Zena warrior princess

An example is provided by Kahless who says:

“My day dreams generally revolve around me performing a heroic but fatal deed.

I used to day-dream being a secret agent, or a fireman, or Lara Croft.

These days I am just me. This very morning I day-dreamed that I was at work, in a meeting and armed gun-men stormed in. They said they would release everyone if someone volunteered to play russian roulette. I volunteered. I looked them in the eye and said "come on then fuckers."

I fantasise aka day-dream, a lot.

In real life, people around me say I am courageous. I think I am and I am not. Sometimes I like to just plain put my head in the sand.

Maybe this links into my blog name and my avatar.

Kahless - a Klingon warrior
and a lion who maybe from the Wizard of Oz.” (end quote)


Watch this space

Graffiti