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Part II    Psychodynamic Theories258
awoman tocareforthem, doteonthem, andadmire them; theyfeelsomewhat anx-
iousanddepressed when theirneeds arenotfulfilled. Thiscondition isrelatively 
normal anddoesnotgreatly interfere withtheirdaily life.
With incestuous symbiosis, however, people areinseparable from thehostper-
son;theirpersonalities areblended withtheother person andtheirindividual identi -
tiesarelost.Incestuous symbiosis originates ininfancy asanatural attachment to
themothering one.Theattachment ismore crucial andfundamental thananysexual 
interest thatmaydevelop during theOedipal period. Fromm disagreed withFreud 
insuggesting thatattachment tothemother restsontheneed forsecurity andnot
forsex.“Sexual strivings arenotthecause ofthefixation tomother, buttheresult ”
(Fromm, 1964, p.99).
People living inincestuous symbiotic relationships feelextremely anxious and
frightened ifthatrelationship isthreatened. They believe thattheycannot livewith-
outtheirmother substitute. (The hostneed notbeanother human—it canbeafam-
ily,abusiness, achurch, oranation.) Theincestuous orientation distorts reasoning 
powers, destroys thecapacity forauthentic love,andprevents people from achieving 
independence andintegrity.
Some pathologic individuals possess allthree personality disorders; thatis,
theyareattracted todeath (necrophilia), takepleasure indestroying those whom 
theyregard asinferiors (malignant narcissism), andpossess aneurotic symbiotic rela-
tionship withtheirmother ormother substitute (incestuous symbiosis). Such people 
formed what Fromm called thesyndrome of decay. Hecontrasted these pathological 
people withthose whoaremarked bythesyndrome of growth, which ismade upof
theopposite qualities: namely, biophilia, love,andpositive freedom. Asshown in
Figure 8.1,boththesyndrome ofdecay andthesyndrome ofgrowth areextreme 
forms ofdevelopment; most people haveaverage psychological health.Necrophilia     Biophilia 
Incestuous symbiosis Positive freedom Syndrome
of
decaySyndrome
of
growthAverage
development
Average
developmentLove of others Narcissism
FIGURE 8.1  Three pathological orientations—necrophilia, narcissism, and incestuous 
symbiosis—converge to form the syndrome of decay, whereas three healthy orientations—biophilia, 
love of others, and positive freedom—converge in the syndrome of growth. Most people have 
average development and are motivated by neither the syndrome of decay nor the syndrome of 
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