A misinterpreted psychoanalyst: Herbert Silberer and his theory of symbol-formation

The primary aim of this article is to give a more detailed exposition of the cultural, personal, and theoretical contexts in which the Viennese psychoanalyst, Herbert Silberer's theories were born. When assessing the broader picture that this approach offers, it can be concluded that Silberer was an innovative thinker who inspired several of his contemporaries. Recognized in many respects by the society and scholars of this time, he represented quite a different viewpoint that was significantly influenced by several forms of Western esoteric thinking. Yet his main aim was to contribute to the field of psychoanalysis and develop a theory in which rationalistic psychoanalytic interpretations were combined with nonreductive approaches to mystical experiences. Silberer's name is frequently mentioned in a specific context in which his tragic suicide is emphasized rather than his innovations. Upon evaluating the materials recording Silberer's private life, it seems very likely that his suicide was not triggered by the criticism of Freud alone. Silberer's family affairs, his relationship with his father, and his financial and professional struggles could have all contributed to his tragic decision. This paper contends that Silberer's oeuvre deserves greater attention and must be evaluated based upon its own merit.     

A common representational system governed by Weber's law: nonverbal numerical similarity judgments in 6-year-olds and rhesus macaques

This study compared nonverbal numerical processing in 6-year-olds with that in nonhuman animals using a numerical bisection task. In the study, 16 children were trained on a delayed match-to-sample paradigm to match exemplars of two anchor numerosities. Children were then required to indicate whether a sample intermediate to the anchor values was closer to the small anchor value or the large anchor value. For two sets of anchor values with the same ratio, the probability of choosing the larger anchor value increased systematically with sample number, and the psychometric functions superimposed when plotted on a logarithmic scale. The psychometric functions produced by the children also superimposed with the psychometric functions produced by rhesus monkeys in an analogous previous experiment. These examples of superimposition demonstrate that nonverbal number representations, even in children who have acquired the verbal counting system, are modulated by Weber's law.     

Genders and sexualities in individuation: theoretical and clinical explorations

Abstract :  Gender assignment, as a key aspect of identity and cultural position, has existed throughout recorded time and across all cultures. An individual's biological sex and particular cultural milieu has a profound effect on their sense of themselves as a gendered being. Sexuality is a more recent marker in identity formation. In the last few decades there has emerged a great deal of interest in the psychology of gender formation, in the interplay of biological sex, culture, brain development, and attachment experiences in the formation of gender identities. Queer theory in its post-modern deconstructionist thinking has suggested that gender is a socially 'constructed' concept having no biological or psychological precursors or realities. Contemporary developmental psychoanalysis is bridging the gap between concepts of gender as purely biological and gender as non-existent. In this paper I explore the emergence of same-sex desire at mid-life, presenting two case histories with extensive dream material. The impact of sexual desire on gender identities is examined through the lenses of culture, dynamic systems theory, neuroscience, and depth psychology. The use of dream analysis as a window into the body/mind movement of gender emergence reflects my sense of gender as a fluidly shifting reality of mind, neither hardwired nor fictional.     

The distressed (Type D) and Five-Factor Models of personality in young,healthy adults and their association with emotional inhibition and distress

The distressed (Type D) personality (the combination of negative affectivity and social inhibition traits) has been associated with adverse health outcomes. This study investigated the validity of the Type D construct against the Five-Factor Model (FFM) of personality, and its association with emotional control and distress. In total 498 university students (mean age 28.9 ± 8.4 years) completed the Type D scale (DS14), and measurements for the FFM of personality, emotional control, anxiety, depression and stress. The construct validity of the Icelandic DS14 was confirmed. The Type D components negative affectivity and social inhibition were strongly associated with neuroticism and extraversion of the FFM (r = 0.82 and r = −0.67, respectively). Negative affectivity also correlated with rehearsal/rumination (r = 0.58) and social inhibition with emotional inhibition (r = 0.54), indicative of emotional control. Type D personality (40% of sample) was associated with higher levels of anxiety, depression and stress. The Type D personality components were associated with the FFM of personality, emotional control and emotional distress. Importantly, social and emotional inhibition were closely related, providing novel information about the presence of emotional inhibition within the social inhibition trait.     

The feigenbaum scenario in a unified science of life and mind

In exploring the possibilities for creating a model of the creative cosmos, it is important to seek mathematical models that can express the common relationships unifying the sciences of matter, life and mind. Current candidates for such all embracing mathematical models come from the burgeoning fields of non‐linear dynamics that are described under varying labels as Chaos Theory, Self‐Organization Theory and Adaptive Complexity Theory. In this paper we will limit ourselves to only one mathematical model called, “The Feigenbaum Scenario.” A major virtue of The Feigenbaum Scenario is that it is relatively easy to understand by non‐mathematicians and it has led to new depths of profound understanding in a wide variety of the physical and biological sciences. Everything from purely mechanical systems, fluid dynamics and the weather to the patterns of biological growth in nature and the dynamics of heart, hormone and brain rhythms have been found to exhibit aspects of the Feigenbaum scenario. We explore the possibility that the Feigenbaum scenario can be extended to experiences of mind, sensation, perception and human behavior as well. We conclude that a major function of consciousness may be to transform the non‐linear, irrational, unconscious and difficult to predict dynamics of unconscious nature into the more linear, rational and predictable psycho‐dynamics that make human experience and social life possible.     

Neuroscience,mind and meaning: an attempt at synthesis in a Relational Affective Hypothesis

This paper sets out a falsifiable Relational Affective Hypothesis, describing a neurological and relational pathway, through which affect and sensations arising from the interior of the body are translated, in a relational context, into language and a capacity for symbolisation. It describes the role of psychodynamic defences in narcissistic disorder, which can result in collapse in the function of this pathway. The hypothesis arose from clinical psychodynamic work with patients with severe and complex narcissistic disorders. They are characterised as severe, because they are at high risk of completed suicide and so are commonly treated in locked units, and complex because of their anorexic and bulimic eating patterns, tendency towards somatisation and the co-occurrence of autistic difficulties. A more or less profound failure of symbolisation is a feature common to these presentations. This interdisciplinary thinking offers a perspective on brain and psychological development, taking into account the complex interplay between genetic, environmental, relational and dynamic influences. It can be tested empirically and has implications for psychoanalytic thinking, psychiatry and neuroscience.     

Perversion from the medical-legal perspective

Abstract

The medical-legal view of perversion is strictly concerned with the sexual aspect. This is the result of a controversial historical process full of moralism with respect to sexuality. Psychoanalysis questions this reductionist view, offering itself as instrument of special importance in the characterization of perversion as a complex of structures in human beings.

Alves KC und Prado de Sousa S. Perversion aus der medizin-rechtlichen Perspektive

Die medizin-rechtliche Sicht der Perversion ist strikt mit dem sexuellen Aspekt befaßt. Dies ist das Ergebnis eines kontrovers historischen Prozesses, der ganz mit Moralismus im Hinblick auf Sexualität angefüllt ist. Psychoanalyse stellt diese reduktionistische Sicht in Frage und bietet sich selbst als Instrument von besonderer Bedeutung an, die Perversion als einen Komplex von Strukturen bei Menschen zu charakterisieren.

Alves KC y Prado de Sousa. Perversión desde la perspectiva médico-legal.

El punto de vista médico-legal de la perversión esta estrictamente relacionado con el aspecto sexual. Este es el resultado de un proceso controvertido moral histórico con respecto a la sexualidad. El Psicoanálisis cuestiona este punto de vista reduccionista, ofreciéndose como instrumento de especial importancia en la caracterización de la perversión como una complejidad estructural en los seres humanos.     

Social trauma: The pathogenic effects of untoward social conditions

Abstract

Psychoanalysis has traditionally overlooked the fact that unsuitable and damaging life conditions, originating in the social milieu, play a part in the pathogenesis of emotional suffering and mental disorders. Nonetheless, the self establishes an object relation with the social system, as well as with the non-human environment. This is expected to act as a container–contained relationship. Whenever the community and its institutions fail to act as a container for individuals and groups, this generates a trauma, which can be compared with the baby's experience of a failure in mothering. Such failures can be classified in several categories. The first is when the social system fails to contain, nurture, care for, and protect individuals, as in the case of the lack of assistance and compassion towards the victims of poverty, disease, natural catastrophe, social turmoil, economic crisis, violence, or war. The second category occurs when there is a blatant attack, on the part of the authorities or privileged social groups, on minorities, or even on the bulk of the population, as in the case of social repression, war—both internal and external—racism, genocide, or persecution. The third is when there is a perversion of the social system, which feigns to uphold current social values and laws while actually breaking them, as in the case of corruption, chicanery, and mendacity on the part of the authorities. One recent example of this is the impeachment process against the Chief of Government of Mexico City. The author approaches this problem by exploring the consequences of such experiences for the development and functioning of personality structure and personal relations, as well as their repercussions for individuals living together in the community and for the necessary relation between them and the authorities.     

Identity in the asphalt jungle

We present a study of 40 youngsters who live and work in the streets of Mexico City and who have abandoned their homes for significant periods of time. They seek out their own means of survival from a very young age. In many cases they have children of their own already as teenagers. The Seminario de Sociopsicoanálisis was invited to take part in a project aimed at facilitating the access of these children to graphic arts, artistic creation and therapeutic listening. This article presents our principal findings of the children's everyday life conditions, their work and their dreams, based on data obtained from social character questionnaires – with which therapeutic intervention in this project began. Vignettes of two case studies are also presented. The interviews were complemented by data gathered in weekly sessions attended by the youngsters on a voluntary bases. The sessions attested to both the narcissistic, aggressive impulsiveness of these youngsters and the vital effort they make toward their own recovery and toward establishing affective emotional ties with instructors and therapists. We found that socio‐psychoanalytic methods could be used successfully to expand the scope of psychoanalytic theoretic postulates about character to a non‐clinical, disadvantaged population. By analyzing the content of the psychoanalytically guided interviews we were able to recognize the central, distinctive motive, which leads these youngsters to run away from home and forge their own sense of identity.