Because a clear sense of identity is a necessary condition for adequate mental functioning, malformation of identity leads to discomfort with one s self and social maladjustment, reaching clinical proportions among the more fragile of us.

Madness expressed itself in degrees of mental impairment, the common symptoms of which were chronic discomfort in one s environment (social maladjustment), uncertainty about oneself, oscillation between self loathing and megalomania, and sometimes a complete loss of identity.