Influences on Freud's Mourning and Melancholia and its contextual validity.

This article critically evaluates S. Freud's (1917) Mourning and Melancholia and challenges both the celebratory and reactionary views that treat this essay as an ahistorical and decontextualized "foundation-stone" of depression. Although many biographies have been written on Freud, the possible influences on his thinking in the area grief and depression have not been examined. Moreover, no reviews have investigated Freud's understanding of mourning and melancholia from the perspective of his own experiences with these difficulties. Following a brief overview of Freud's seminal paper, the historical psychiatric views on depression and the influences on Freud's conceptualization of mourning and melancholia are briefly discussed. Finally, an exegesis of the contextual validity of this model is presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Recent reformulations of Freud's development and abandonment of his seduction theory: Historical/scientific clarification or a continued assault on truth?

It is well known that, as part of Freud's early work with "hysteria," he reported making discoveries of sexual abuse that he interpreted first as genuine but subsequently as fantasy. Several writers now argue that Freud never made such discoveries; rather that he lied about them, only inferred abuse from his patients' symptoms, or suggested false memories to his clients. The present authors evaluate Freud's original work and these recent claims and conclude that (a) they are not new and are similar to the original reaction that Freud received; (b) the assertion that Freud did not make discoveries of abuse is unwarranted; and (c) these recent writers frequently have supported their positions by misrepresenting what Freud actually wrote, ignoring evidence that contradicted their position, failing to consider obvious and more plausible explanations for Freud's behavior, and going beyond the available data and stating with certainty what cannot be determined. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Anxiety disorder and Freud''s disease

OBJECTIVE: The author examined Freud's chest pains and arrhythmia beginning in late 1893 according to the new available data and modern psychiatry. METHOD: Published studies and recent findings were reviewed. The major works of Freud were also considered. Among the issues examined are clinical features, comorbidity, boundaries with others disorders. RESULTS: The findings of this review provided support for the dual diagnosis of panic disorder without agoraphobia and nicotine dependence. CONCLUSIONS: Freud's scientific learning was wide-ranging and his scientific ambition vast. During this period (1893-1897) Freud laid the foundations for the theory of anxiety. He referred to the conditions caused by the dammed-up libido as the actual neuroses. Although the work of Freud has the same aim as the modern DSM-IV, the classification of the Austrian author reflects a different tradition. A discrepancy exists between "anxiety neurosis" (Freud) and "anxiety disorder" (DSM-IV).     

Freud and disability.

Reviewed several books about Freud's work and Psychological Abstracts to provide an analysis of Freud's writings and theories as related to persons with physical disabilities and identify references to disability by Freud and pertinent supportive literature. Although Freud wrote very little about disability per se, many of his ideas can be applied directly to understanding attitudes toward disability and adjustment to disability processes. The relevance of concepts such as castration anxiety, fear of loss of love, ego strength, secondary gain, and the death instinct are specifically discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Freud's relevance for contemporary psychoanalytic technique.

It is argued that Freud's influence on contemporary technique is best seen by separating Freud as a hermeneuticist from Freud as a natural scientist. Freud's hermeneutic work is elucidated by a depiction of his earliest model of technique and its application in The Interpretation of Dreams. The division of the latter work into the first 6 chapters as a hermeneutic and the last chapter as a metapsychology is used to show not only the split but the conflict in Freud between his hermeneutic of the mind and his attempt to found psychoanalysis as a natural science. It is shown that the shift in analytic thinking from the primacy of drives to the growth and transformation of the self has maintained interpretation as a necessary, although insufficient, condition for the therapeutic action of psychoanalysis and that interpretation continues to bear the stamp of Freud's hermeneutic of the mind. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Freud, civilization, religion, and stoicism.

Freud's debt to stoicism has been seldom discussed. His attitude toward science had a distinct ethical slant taken from the ancient world, via Freud's humanistic education. Freud's method involved detachment but did not imply moral coldness and indifference any more than stoicism did. The stoics wanted to be therapists of the mind just as physicians cared for the body. For both Freud and the stoics, reason was in battle with the passions and required clear sight to have a chance of prevailing over them. In contrasting religious worldviews with the scientific approach, Freud failed to see his own approach as ethical. Freud made extensive forays at individual and collective levels but in the years since Freud's death, the psychoanalytic vision has narrowed. At 150 years after his birth, the authors can still admire Freud's exceptional ethical courage and recognize that if psychoanalysis is to survive, it needs to regain his cultural range and spirit of critical inquiry. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sigmund Freud and Minna Bernays: Primal curiosity, primal scenes, primal fantasies--And prevarication.

Attacks on Freud's theories on sexuality began when Freud launched his studies on hysteria in the last decade of the 19th century and are still ongoing. The latest cavil is embedded in a sensation exploded in the summer of 2006 by Franz Maciejewski of Heidelberg, Germany. It was publicized in front-page reportage by New York Times columnist Ralph Blumenthal (2006): "A Century-Old Swiss Hotel Log Hints at an Illicit Desire That Dr. Freud Didn't Repress," additionally editorialized as adequate "to impugn [Freud's] reputation" (p. A4). In this article, arguments ad hominem, bordering on Freud-bashing, concerning Freud as a person and his relationship with his sister-in-law Minna Bernays, are separated from arguments ad rem, regarding the merits of Freud's theory of the Oedipus complex. The evidence presented by Maciejewski is found to be flawed and to not rise above the level of conjecture. Similarly, his construction that the alleged sexual affair between Freud and his sister-in-law was tantamount to incest, and thus source of theory of the Oedipus complex, has no standing either. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The historical evolution of PTSD diagnostic criteria: from Freud to DSM-IV

The present study examined the evolution of the diagnostic criteria from the early writings of Sigmund Freud to the current DSM-IV. Freud's original model of neurosis, known as Seduction Theory, was a post-traumatic paradigm which placed emphasis on external stressor events. In 1897, due to a confluence of factors, he shifted his paradigm to stress intrapsychic fantasy as the focus of analytic treatment for traumatic neurosis. Freud's thinking influenced both the DSM-I and II classification of stress response syndromes as transient reactive processes. However, it is evident from his lectures in 1917-1918 that he understood the interrelatedness of what today is the four diagnostic categories in the DSM-IV.     

What Freud called "the psychology for neurologists" and the many questions it raises.

Freud wrote his Psychology for Neurologists (which Strachey called A Scientific Project) in 1895. He wrote it in a feverish state within a month, yet quickly buried it. His intensity in writing it and in suppressing it has not been explained, but intriguing hints about it from Freud's correspondence with Fliess are discussed here. The work remains, however, foreshadowing many of Freud's important psychological concepts. Further, although it is often dismissed because of archaic neurological ideas, many neurological guesses that Freud presented in Psychology for Neurologists are in keeping with neuroscience of today. Aspects of mechanisms of the brain, understanding dreams, developmental perspectives and clinical ramifications all relate to what Freud said in this draft for a monograph. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Freud's legacy--is it still with us?

Unconscious processes of mind are a fact of life, both as phenomenon and as explanatory concept and were recognized before Freud. But it was Freud who not only put "the unconscious" on the map but also operationalized it in a new way--as a dynamic unconscious, laying down the foundation of a science of the unconscious, his Copernican revolution. The new science first provided a dual purpose method: investigating the emotional and ideational manifestations of disordered human behavior and psychological conflict and healing those disorders. In becoming a general psychoanalytic psychology, it played an important role in unraveling the dynamics of sexuality in the individual and society, literature and the arts, and in group dynamics in peace and war. The author emphasizes hitherto unacknowledged aspects: (1) The distinction between a theory of method and a theory of disorder; and (2) The role of interpersonal, or dyadic, dynamics in Freud's method, completing the largely monadic or intrapersonal focus in Freud. The author also discusses critiques of Freud's method both within and without psychonalysis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Wolf Man's subjective experience of his treatment with Freud.

Little is known about how Freud actually conducted a treatment. However, from Serge Pankejeff's (the Wolf Man's) subjective experience of his treatment with Freud, as reported in his memoirs and published interviews, one can gain a unique perspective on Freud's technique and the therapeutic action of this technique. The purpose of this article is to extract from Pankejeff's subjective experience of Freud those aspects of their work together that were most memorable and meaningful for the patient. Freud's work with Pankejeff has been severely criticized for breaching his own technical recommendations. However, the authors suggest that, in fact, it was these very controversial interventions that were experienced by Pankejeff as most therapeutic. Furthermore, the authors propose that Freud extracted from Pankejeff's symptoms those features that confirmed his theory of infantile sexuality and, in so doing, overlooked Pankejeff's grief and depression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Meeting Freud's family.

Reviews the book, Meeting Freud's family by Paul Roazen (see record 1993-99040-000). Over the years, Roazen has built a reputation as an expert on Freud. This is not a view to which many Freud scholars would be inclined to subscribe, but their opinions do not reach the general educated public to any appreciable extent. For most people, anything written about Freud that is thought to carry authority is considered informed comment on the psychoanalytic discipline itself. Roazen's new book is likely to be seized on for further enlightenment and, in view of its title, for inside information. "This book," he tells us, "is an attempt to re-create--based on my understanding of the place of psychoanalysis in intellectual history--the world of Freud's family life" (p. 16). What he wants to report is "the whole ambience surrounding these, people, and how their lives said something special about Freud" (p. 16). He wants to do this on the basis of personal interviews. The family Roazen met were two of Freud's daughters, Anna Freud (in 1965) and Mathilda (Hollitscher) Freud (1966), and one son, Oliver Freud (1966). Anna Freud granted him two interviews; the others appear to have seen him on only one occasion. He also interviewed Martin Freud's estranged wife, Esti, in the spring and summer of 1966. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Freud's narrow escape and the discovery of transference.

Contends that Freud discovered transference in connection with material derived from his treatment of Emma Eckstein. The last chapter of Studies on Hysteria by J. Breuer and S. Freud (1895) in which Freud's 1st published use of the term transference occurs, can be read as a working through of the crisis that occurred when Eckstein nearly died. This concept, it is argued, explained Freud's patient's disturbed feelings toward him as a "false connection" and thereby helped to free him of feelings of personal involvement in her libidinal demands. The story of the troubled circumstances under which Freud discovered transference provides insight into the defensive nature of the concept. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dream analysis by mail: An American woman seeks Freud's advice.

When a young American woman who had a disturbing dream that continued to occupy her daily thoughts, she wrote to Sigmund Freud, sending him an account of her dream and asking for his help. This article reprints the 1927 letter to Freud and his reply, neither of which has been published before. The exchange of letters is discussed in the context of the popularity of psychology and psychoanalysis in America in the 1920s and in the context of Freud's letter writing habits and his life in 1927. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A Silent Antipode: The Making and Breaking of Psychoanalyst Wilhelm Stekel.

Wilhelm Stekel, one of Freud's earliest followers, was expelled from the psychoanalytic movement in 1912 ostensibly because he did not know how to behave himself. Although he remained active as a psychoanalyst, his post-1912 work was mostly neglected, and consequently his historic import is seriously undervalued. The author reviews recent literature, reexamines the Freud-Stekel break, and focuses on Stekel's role as silent antipode. Freud's reference to an unnamed individual in his 1907 Gradiva paper (S. Freud, 1907/1959b)-commonly believed to be Jung-is now identified as Stekel. This not-unimportant correction of the historical record begins the exploration of a hitherto-undocumented antagonistic dialogue between Stekel and Freud. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Freud as Pegasus yoked to the plough.

In a letter to Fliess at the time of Freud's father's death, Freud referred to himself as "Pegasus yoked to the plough." Meanings condensed in this phrase have remained unexamined for over 30 years. Part I identifies and analyzes references embedded in the phrase and proposes an interpretation: Important early experiences, stirred up by his father's death, were grasped momentarily and expressed in an image from a poem by Schiller (1796). I believe that in writing the phrase, Freud revealed a well-kept secret: that his early experiences included maternal seduction and the primal scene. Part II examines the fate of the memories of these traumatic experiences and discusses the implication of their repression for Freud's rejection of the Seduction Theory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A return to the source: Rereading Freud in the midst of contemporary trauma theory.

In the current, often contentious, climate that surrounds childhood sexual trauma and its relation to adult forms of psychopathology, Freud's theorizing has received a great deal of attention. There has been much discussion and speculation about the role sexual trauma played in his thinking about psychopathology. While some theorists suggest that Freud overlooked and even suppressed his patients' reports of sexual trauma when he moved from his "seduction" theory to his "fantasy" theory, others suggest that his revision was an extension, rather than a reversal, of his early theorizing. This article will review in detail the development and revisions of Freud's thinking. It will also suggest areas of agreement between Freud's thinking and some contemporary trauma theory, as well as point to areas of divergence. The therapeutic implications of adopting some versions of contemporary trauma theory will also be developed. The aim is to stimulate further discussion about this issue in terms of its theoretical and therapeutic implications. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Why Freud failed: Some implications for neurophysiology and sociobiology.

Many parallels have recently been drawn between Freud's early work and the goals of the contemporary neurophysiology of mind and sociobiology. In this article it is argued that the portrayal of Freud as a reductionist and a biological determinist is incorrect. As a consequence, so is the perceived alignment of Freud with neurophysiology and sociobiology. But it is also true that, in his early work, Freud faced many of the same problems and issues that confront those interested in theories of mind and of human nature, and an understanding of how Freud faced these issues may inform our increasing interest in views of mind and behavior emanating from the life sciences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Clinical interaction and the analysis of meaning: A new psychoanalytic theory.

Reviews the book, Clinical interaction and the analysis of meaning: A new psychoanalytic theory by T. Dorpat and M. Miller (see record 1992-98407-000). This text views psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic psychotherapy from the perspective of the newly proposed concept of "Meaning Analysis." The authors purport to advance psychoanalytic theory and technique by taking a fresh perspective on two important aspects of analytic encounter: the interaction between the analyst and analysand (therapist and patient) and how interactions in this relationship affect transference and countertransference. This book also examines the analysis of meaning and how treatment can assist in the understanding and reconstruction of client beliefs. The authors present a reanalysis of Freud's theory and the goal of the book is to elucidate the "flaws" in his work. The reviewer believes that many readers will be intrigued by the criticisms of Freud and the blending of more recent research into analytic models. This book is recommended for both analytically oriented therapists and interested readers who want to learn more about analytic treatment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A bit more light on Ferenczi and Freud.

Further explores issues stressed by L. Aron and J. Frankel (see record 1994-41100-001) in commenting on J. K. Tabin's (see record 1994-05584-001) article on Freud's motivation for rethinking his seduction theory. The author presents material that confirms Freud's priority in citing the relationship between splitting of the ego and childhood sexual trauma; that describes signs of Ferenczi's considerable emotional difficulty during the last period of his life; and that shows that Freud's referring to Ferenczi as paranoid was a reaction to Ferenczi's hostility to him, significantly predating their public theoretical differences. An important aspect of the last matter is Ferenczi's explanation of his hostility: Freud never helped him with the negative transference that underlay his idealization of Freud. Freud defended himself by saying that negative transference was not understood when he treated Ferenczi. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)