Lavallée, Guy

Vision, Thought, Narcissism: What Happens When “Everything Is Visual?” - 2004.


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Here we will try to posit the relationships between vision, thought, spoken or “signed” languages and narcissism in adolescence, such as they are revealed by deaf-muteness. For any deaf person, vision is the object of an over-investment that is both saving and problematic. Its importance need not be stressed, but its preponderance raises some questions. The theory of the “visual envelope of the ego” enables us to posit the theoretical issues, and some excerpts from the psychotherapy of a hearing-impaired adolescent bear witness to the clinical issues: narcissistic suffering and the suffering of the thought process.