The critic-driven child can only think about the ways she is too much or not enough. The child’s unfolding sense of self [the healthy ego], finds no room to develop. Her identity virtually becomes the critic. The superego trumps the ego. In this process, the critic becomes increasingly virulent and eventually switches from the parents’ internalized voice: “You’re a bad boy/girl” to the first person: “I’m a bad boy/girl.” Over time, self-goading increasingly deteriorates: “I’m such a loser. I’m so pathetic… bad... ugly…worthless…stupid...defective.” This is unlike the soldier in combat who does
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