Inflation and Deflation

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Two sides of the same problem. Inflation: feeling like you've figured it all out, like you're special, like normal rules don't apply to you. Deflation: feeling worthless, crushed, like you'll never be enough. Both are what happens when your everyday self gets confused about its relationship to something bigger.

THE FULL DEPTH

The two poles of the ego's disturbed relationship to the Self. Inflation: the ego identifies WITH the Self ('I am God,' 'I have all the answers,' 'I am the Hero'). Deflation: the ego is crushed BY the Self ('I am nothing,' 'I'm worthless,' 'I can't do anything'). Both are ego-Self boundary failures. Health is the ego in relationship to the Self, neither identified with it nor crushed by it.

IN PRACTICE

You finish a powerful meditation and feel omnipotent: inflation. You compare yourself to someone you admire and feel utterly inadequate: deflation. You give an amazing speech and briefly feel like you've transcended ordinary humanity: inflation. You get harsh feedback and feel like you should never have tried: deflation. The cycle between these two states IS the ego learning to hold its proper relationship to the Self. Both poles are dangerous. Both are necessary teachers.

HOW TO RECOGNIZE IT

  • · Inflation: grandiosity, certainty, identification with an archetype, feeling 'chosen' or 'special,' messianic thinking
  • · Deflation: worthlessness, helplessness, comparing self negatively to others, paralysis, impostor syndrome at its most intense
  • · Dreams of flying too high (inflation) or falling (deflation)
  • · Dreams of being king/god (inflation) or being worthless/invisible (deflation)
  • · Rapid oscillation between the two: grandiosity followed by collapse

IN DREAMS, LOOK FOR

FlyingFallingTowersun

CONNECTED CONCEPTS

  • The Ego: Inflation and deflation are both ego-state disturbances.
  • The Self: Both are caused by the ego's failure to maintain proper boundaries with the Self.
  • The Persona: Inflation often accompanies Persona success; deflation accompanies Persona failure.
  • The Puer Aeternus (Eternal Youth): The Puer is especially prone to inflation (identifying with potential) followed by deflation (confronted with actuality).

Jung: Two Essays on Analytical Psychology (1928) · Aion (1951)