From Bodily Representations to Object Disinvestment: Analysis of The Narcissistic Withdrawal of Deaf Adolescents in Cameroon

The puberty period for deaf adolescent requires psychic and physical reorganisation (body experienced, body spoken) as well as in their emotional relationships. The aim is to analyze the unconscious psychic processes in hearing impaired adolescents in order to better understand the issues of libidinal investments and the quality of bodily representations. Three clinical interviews and three Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) as a projective test were conducted with three adolescents met at the National Rehabilitation Center for Persons with Disabilities -Etoug-Ebe (CNRPH) in Yaoundé, Cameroon. The results show that bodily experiences and representations seem to function as vulnerabilities for these hearing-impaired adolescents. When interacting with family and peers, there is a disinvestment in objects in favour of an overinvestment in narcissism (narcissistic withdrawal).