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The term <i>[[narcissistic ]] elation</i> was coined by Béla Grunberger (1971/1979) to describe the [[state ]] of prenatal beatitude, which according to him characterizes the [[life ]] of the fetus: a state of megalomaniacal [[happiness ]] amounting to a perfect [[homeostasis]], devoid of [[needs ]] or desires. The [[ideal ]] here is bliss experienced in absolute [[withdrawal ]] from the [[object ]] and from the [[outside ]] [[world]]. Narcissistic elation is at once the [[memory ]] of this unique and privileged state of elation; a [[sense ]] of well-[[being ]] of [[completeness ]] and omnipotence linked to that memory, and pride in having experienced this state, pride in its ([[illusory]]) oneness.Narcissistic elation is characteristic of an object [[relationship ]] that is played out, in its [[negative ]] version, as a state of splendid [[isolation]], and, in its positive version, as a desperate quest for fusion with the [[other]], for a [[mirror]]-[[image ]] relationship. It involves a [[return ]] to paradise lost and all that is attached to this [[idea]]: fusion, [[self]]-[[love]], [[megalomania]], omnipotence, immortality, and invulnerability.After [[birth]], the [[infant ]] continues to [[enjoy ]] the protonarcissistic [[existence ]] as before, and this is reinforced by the fact that [[people ]] around it, in [[particular ]] the [[mother]], meet all its needs and wishes. This state of [[illusion ]] is soon compromised, however, as inevitable frustrations begin to occur. The traces of this state of elation and megalomania, based on the notions of [[harmony ]] and omnipotence, nevertheless provide a source of [[psychic ]] [[energy ]] that will remain [[active ]] throughout life. The [[child]], and later the [[adult]], will seek to preserve and return to this narcissistic mode of being, notably through [[music]], passionate love, or mystical ecstasy. Perhaps, after all, what fascinated [[Narcissus ]] was the sight—beyond his own reflection—of the amniotic water, and the deep, [[regressive ]] promise of happiness that it held out.Following an initial period of elation known as the "honeymoon," [[psychoanalytic ]] [[treatment ]] must succeed in bringing together the narcissistic elements of the self by integrating [[them ]] into [[interpretations ]] of [[reality]]: ego-[[libido ]] and object-libido must arrive at a satisfactory compromise.