Das „Ding“

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Das „Als-Ob“ in Molekularphysik

Annalen der Philosophie -     

“Das Ding”: Excessive Existence: Discussion of “Melancholic Psychosis”

Derek Hook’s (this issue) excellent paper provides illustrations of complex Lacanian concepts through the relatively rare presentation of Lacanian case material. His paper lends itself to reading Freud with Lacan. This reply to his paper engages such a reading to show that the idea of the over present object emphasised by Lacan is prefigured in Freud in his 1917 paper on Mourning and Melancholia. My reply to Hook affirms the additional clinical themes he introduces and indicates that these themes would be anticipated if, as Lacan argues, melancholia is seen to be underpinned by a psychotic structure. Finally, the reply argues for a resurrection of the Lacanian notion of Das Ding, as it connotes differently to objet a despite overlaps in meaning and the fact that in later Lacan the term Das Ding was dropped.     

Das „Good Lives Model“ (GLM)

The central idea of the good lives model (GLM) is that new criminal offences can be prevented above all by virtue of a satisfying way of life in the wake of the criminal offence. One important rehabilitation strategy is to support clients in this way of life. The aim of the article is to provide a concise overview of the criteria that define this kind of life from the point of view of the GLM, to evaluate the relationship of criminal behavior with regard to these criteria and to point out ways how the rehabilitation model can be fruitfully applied in practical and therapeutic terms. The article closes with a critical evaluation of the rehabilitation model.     

Das Konstrukt „sexuelle Sucht“ im Zusammenhang mit forensisch psychiatrischen Fragestellungen

The construct of sexual addiction is still of great importance for forensic psychiatry in German-speaking countries. The aim of this article is to examine the concept in relation to the forensic psychiatric topic in more detail. Given the different historical developments in German and Anglo-American countries, definitions of hypersexuality as opposed to diagnostic categories and etiological considerations are presented. A central topic for forensic psychiatry is in the context of the assessment of self-control and criminal responsibility as well as a dynamic risk factor and thus also as a target for therapy. Finally, problem areas of the construct are discussed.     

„Das Auge ist’s, was die Taten verwandelt. Das neugeborene Auge verwandelt die alte Tat“

A few Leitmotifs of a lifetime dedicated to psychoanalytic work are presented: The a priori assumption of psychoanalysis is that everything psychical — whether in patients or in ourselves, in culture and society, or in the religions — can preferentially be understood as expression of conflict and complementarity: that everything in inner life may best be studied as struggle between opposites and of how these polarities gradually complement each other. Almost everything can become acceptable if it is being interpreted as conflict. This has to happen in very specific and concrete terms, for psychoanalysis is the art of the specific. The universally valid is scientifically very important, but in clinical work it remains empty unless filled with specific experiential content. The antithesis between inner and external reality, between subjectivity and objectivity, between understanding and explaining, determines all psychoanalytic discourse. A modern version of this antithesis pits the narrative character of how we work with our patients and report about this work, against the ever increasing pressure to express everything in numbers, in diagrams, in percentages — i.e., the tension between the qualitative and the quantitative, between the time flow of the biography (its narration) and the timelessness of what is counted. Another Leitmotif is the basic attitude and motto of “exploring instead of judging”, entailing the systematic superego analysis, especially the work on the superego transference. An important element of problematic, even noxious countertransference is the therapist’s acting out of a superego attitude, e.g. in form of confrontative (“drive oriented”) interpretations that are experienced by the patient as reproach. A cliché contradicted by experience is that of the almost exclusive value of transference interpretations. Clinical work shows that interpretations outside the transference may also be of great help and importance; in particular, the exploration of issues in current relationships outside of treatment may have an emotional urgency that may make them ideal for recognition and working through of unconscious conflicts. The central question always remains: What do we best focus upon if we want to bring the unconscious conflicts closer to resolution.     

„Bluttaten“ und „schizophrene Politik“

Background

The role of printed media in the maintenance of stigmatization has been a subject of debate for several years now. As for stigmatization of schizophrenia, previous research has frequently focused on stereotypes in newspaper articles and the metaphoric use of the word “schizophrenic” for something contradictory, aloof or ridiculous.

Aim

The objective of this study was to quantify the frequency of stigmatizing articles with regard to the specific type of stigmatizing content in German broadsheets and tabloids.

Material and methods

A total of 391 articles extracted from the entirety of all issues of the Süddeutsche Zeitung, Spiegel, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and the tabloid BILD from 2011 were content-analyzed for stereotypes, false statements and metaphoric use of schizophrenia.

Results

Stigmatizing elements were prevalent in each newspaper (40.4–66.7?%). Among broadsheets the metaphoric use constituted the predominant form of stigmatization, whereas depictions of persons with schizophrenia as dangerous and unpredictable prevailed in the tabloid BILD.

Conclusion

Metaphoric use and blatant discrimination are still highly prevalent in German newspapers. While metaphoric use may be stopped by renaming the disorder schizophrenia, further efforts are needed to raise awareness for and ultimately prevent the reification of stereotypes in printed media.     

„FreiRaum“

Zusammenfassung  Ein Blick in die kunsttherapeutische Praxis und Theorie ergibt weiterhin — nach einer vieljährigen Entwicklungs- und Etablierungsgeschichte in unterschiedlichsten Praxisfeldern in Deutschland — ein sehr buntes und vielfältiges Bild. Diese Vielfalt bezieht sich auf die Vorgehensweisen, die Arbeitsfelder und die zugrunde liegenden Theorien. Sie birgt viele Chancen eines individuellen Freiraums und macht die Kunsttherapie zu einem wertvollen Teil des therapeutischen Angebots in Medizin, Psychotherapie und Pädagogik. Gleichzeitig erschwert die Vielfalt den Versuch einer systematischen Erfassung der verschiedenen Facetten. Unser Augenmerk bei der Sichtung wichtiger Grundorientierungen und Konzepte von Kunsttherapie liegt dabei besonders auf den Potentialen der bildenden Kunst in der therapeutischen Beziehung.

Diagnose „Gesundheit“

In the early days of psychotherapy diagnoses were seen as unnecessary and even not helpful. After psychotherapy has become a method of medical treatment diagnoses are necessary in order to justify reimbursement of treatment by health insurance. Diagnoses are also useful to guide treatment, help communication between professionals and morbidity statistics. Diagnoses can have negative effects, such as simplification of complex problems, aggravation of normal life experiences or stigmatization and labelling. Therefore, diagnoses should be made when a person is suffering from an illness in order to avoid underrecognition and undertreatment. Similarly, the diagnosis “healthy” is important when no disease is present but only a normal problem in everyday life. To say that a person is healthy is an important and difficult task in all areas in medicine. Therapists must not only know the criteria for illnesses but also those for the spectrum of healthy problems in normal life. This can be done when the psychopathological assessment is professionally precise and makes a differentiation between signs of illness and other negative feelings. Also, normal life events must not be directly translated into illness states. Furthermore, therapists must be aware of their diagnostic preferences and bias. In the training of psychotherapists recognition of healthy states should get as much attention as the diagnosis of illnesses.     

„Insightfulness Assessment“

In this article a new method of Oppenheim and Koren-Karie (2002) is presented for the assessment of the insightfulness of parents regarding their children’s inner world. Parental insightfulness involves the capacity to see things from the child’s point of view, and is based on a) insight into the child’s motives, b) a complex view of the child and c) openness to new information about the child. Insightfulness is seen as the capacity underlying sensitive and positive parenting and providing the context for secure child-parent attachment. In the assessment of insightfulness parents view video segments of their interactions with their children and are subsequently interviewed regarding their children’s and their own thoughts and feelings during the segments. Interviews are transcribed, rated in 10 scales and subsequently classified into 1 of 4 groups. The first of the four groups indicates insightfulness while the remaining three indicate a lack of insightfulness.     

Die „Seelenkulturrevolution“

In this paper the work of the author as a psychoanalytic training therapist and supervisor at a counselling centre in a Chinese metropolis will be described. In the first part her experiences with adults of the age cohort 25–35 years will be described, the second generation after the Cultural Revolution. Special attention is devoted to biographically relevant life stages such as childhood, education and marriage in a transient society between a system of traditional Confucian values and that of the new capitalism. The second part of the paper focuses on culture-specific characteristics of a collectivist society from a psychoanalytic perspective, such as setting limits, saving face, empathy, transference and sexuality.     

„Homo ambivalens“

For many individuals, under the present social conditions the processes of constituting, developing and articulating the self, i.e. a dynamic personal identity, imply experience of ambivalences. The reference to ambivalences is also an important topic in the social diagnostics of a “globalized postmodernity” and its contradictions. Psychotherapy has accumulated a rich stock of knowledge about the analysis of ambivalences and ways to deal with them. This wisdom can be used to stimulate the repeatedly claimed interdisciplinary discourses between psychotherapy and social, cultural and biological sciences. For this purpose a concept of human nature (“Menschenbild”), labelled “homo ambivalens” is proposed. This concept is to be thought of as a general heuristic orientation. It postulates not only the ability of human beings to experience and reflect ambivalences but also to judge them in an ambivalent way, namely as disturbances and burdens as well as possibilities for openness, creativity and freedom.