The indissociable unity of psyche and soma: A view from the Paris Psychosomatic School

• Published in: International journal of psychoanalysis Vol. 87; no. 3; pp. 667 - 680
• Main Author: Aisenstein, Marilia
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Routledge 01.06.2006; Institute of Psychoanalysis; Institute of Psychoanalysis (British); Institute of Psycho-analysis
• Subjects: Adult; Biological and medical sciences; Brain Neoplasms - psychology; Cathexis; death drive; Dreams; Drive; Eros; Female; Freudian Theory; Glioma - psychology; Humans; Individual psychotherapy; mechanical functioning; Medical sciences; Mind-Body Relations, Metaphysical; Pleasure-Pain Principle; Psychoanalysis; Psychoanalytic Interpretation; Psychoanalytic Theory; Psychoanalytic Therapy; Psychology; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Psychophysiologic Disorders - psychology; Psychophysiologic Disorders - therapy; Psychosomatic symptoms; Psychotherapies. Psychological and clinical counseling; regression; Regression (Psychology); Repression, Psychology; Sick Role; soma; splitting; thought process; Treatments; Human; splitting; death drive; Analytical psychotherapy; Metapsychology; soma; Regression; Cathexis; Duality; Thought; Case study; Eros; mechanical functioning; Treatment; Psychosomatics; Young adult; Sexuality; Somatoform disorder; Cleavage; Drive; Woman; thought process; Somatic disease
• ISSN: 0020-7578; 1745-8315
• DOI: 10.1516/0VBX-1HGY-T86R-P5CB

Depending on whether or not psyche/soma is seen as singular or dual, one may construct different systems explaining man and the world, life and death. In the author's view, the discoveries of psychoanalysis offer a perfectly cogent and unique solution to the famous mind/body problem. In transferring the duality psyche/soma on to the duality of drives, psychoanalysis places the origin of the thought process in the body. In Beyond the pleasure principle, Freud discusses the drastic effect of a painful somatic illness on the distribution and modalities of the libido. He provides a starting point for the Paris Psychosomatic School's psychoanalytical approach to patients affl icted with somatic illnesses. To illustrate the technical implications of this theory the author relates two clinical cases.