**\#️⃣ Tags:** #Psychology #Developmental > **🌱 Planted:** Wed 5 February 2025 --- When [[人 人 Sigmund Freud|Freud]] initially introduced the concept of narcissism, he spoke about it in a pathologising way. He believed that during our childhood development we become obsessed and in love with ourselves—what he called "primary narcissism"—but when this obsession persists into adulthood—what he called "secondary narcissism"—it becomes a psychological disturbance and therefore, a problem[^1]. [[Heinz Kohut]] later expanded on Freud's concept of narcissism by seeing it not as a flaw, pathology or something to be fixed, but rather as a normal and essential part of human development. He came to this belief when he experienced discrepancies between Freud's theory of narcissism and what he was experiencing with his patients in the real world. For example, he pointed out that it's impossible to love someone else unless we love ourselves first—now a common platitude that almost everyone knows—which was the opposite of what Freud believed[^2]. Where Freud saw narcissism as a stage of development to be outgrown, Kohut saw it as normal and essential for us to have a stable sense of self. Kohut recognised that [[We all have normal developmental needs]], and when these needs go unmet in childhood, they result in a [[✦ Narcissistic Wounding]]. This wounding manifests as [[✦ Defence Mechanisms]] and compensatory traits similar to the narcissistic characteristics described by Freud. --- **➡️ Next:** [[Narcissism exists on a spectrum, reflecting the development of our ego]] **⬅️ Back:** [[We all have normal developmental needs]] [^1]: [[On Narcissism — An Introduction by Sigmund Freud]] [^2]: [[The Analysis of the Self by Heinz Kohut]]