Psychosis for Psychoanalysis

In the 19th century, psychiatry designated psychosis as a mental illness. Psychosis is better known to people as madness. In this text, you will learn more about the concept of psychosis for psychoanalysis.

See also: the personality for psychoanalysis.

Freud states that psychosis would be the result of the conflict between the Ego and the external world. The ego fails to remain true to the external world and tries to silence the id; thus the I is defeated by the Id and consequently removed from reality, thus arises psychosis according to Sigmund Freud.

The first stage of psychosis would be the removal of the Self from reality and the second would be repairing the damage caused and reestablishing relations with reality.

In his text “Neurosis and Psychosis” Freud emphasizes psychosis as being given by the absence of the inscription of castration and the non-existence of the subject. Psychosis would then be of two types: paranoia and schizophrenia. Schizophrenia would be marked by a retreat at the level of autoeroticism (produced in the absence of external stimuli) and paranoia would be an interruption at the level of narcissism.

Schizophrenia would not be a brain disorder, but a disturbance of the unconscious, a form of psychosis where there would be a total loss of participation in the external world.

After some time psychoanalysts emerged saying that schizophrenia would be the result of repressive mothers. For example, in 1948, Frieda came up with the term “schizophrenic mother”, in other words, mothers who, through upbringing, make their children become schizophrenic.

According to Winnicott, it is essential that the mother-baby relationship be healthy, considering that in the first year of life there is no separation of the “me” and the “not me”. It is not enough for the mother to be good enough, there must be an interaction between the mother and the environment aimed at forming the baby’s psyche, if this does not occur, a deficiency is established, generating great anxiety in the baby that will give rise to psychosis.

In the same way that reestablishment and stability may occur to the psychotic subject, it may also occur that there is an increase in anguish and the feeling of invasion.

A psychotic does not cease to be psychotic, just as a neurotic does not cease to be neurotic, so according to Lacan there is no reason for the analyst not to assist a psychotic patient. The analyst must not retreat. It is through listening that one can minimize the isolation that occurs in psychosis.

“The neurotic builds a castle in the air. The psychotic lives in him” (Jerome Lawrence).

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