ON THOSE WRECKED BY SUCCESS - A INQUIRY CLINICAL

Freud's description of those wrecked by success outlines conflicted oe dipal triumph as the central underlying dynamic in this character type . It does not distinguish those patients who avoid success from those driven to achieve and then wreck their success. We present a complex p icture that we believe is prototypic of patients who destroy their suc cess. A clinical case illustrates our point of view. We emphasize the developmental problems we believe typical of patients who dramatically wreck the success they achieve. We hope to extend rather than replace Freud's landmark contribution to our understanding of this type of ch aracter pathology.