In Western society the relationship between one generation and the next is modulated by an implicit narcissistic pact. The characteristics of this pact were well described by Piera Aulagnier and, before her, by Sigmund Freud himself, in On narcissism: an Introduction. There Freud described the attitude of parents toward their children. Parents hope that all the laws of nature and society (which limited their own narcissism) will be abrogated for their children. In other words, death, the renouncement of pleasure, and other restrictions will not affect their little ones. Today the "laws of nature and society" are very different from those in Freud's time. In Western societies, children have truly become "[Their] Majesty the Baby." What relationship can be seen between this new narcissistic pact and the more recent forms of psychopathology that characterize Western society today? Do borderline condition and epidemic depression have some relationship with this current cultural and social condition in childhood?
Psychopathology; depression; narcissism; borderline