This ego ideal contains rules for good behaviour and standards of excellence toward which the ego has to strive. When the child cannot bear ambivalence between the real self and the ego ideal and defenses are used too often, it is called pathologic.
The ego ideal encompasses guidelines for acceptable behavior and lofty goals that the ego aims to attain. If a child is unable to cope with the tension between their true nature and the idealized ego, and resorts to excessive defense mechanisms, it is considered an unhealthy state.