ABSTRACT
I. Deficits in Basic Mental Functions Essential mental functions (also called autonomous ego functions)1 that you want
to see in a healthy adult person include Abstraction, Integration, Reality functions, and Self-preservation. ere are about 23 others, but we will not bother with those until Chapter 6. ese main four, AIRS, are critical to the functioning of any human being. A person who lacks these functions is likely to be psychotic or nearpsychotic. If people possess all four of these functions intact, they most likely are not psychotic.
