The four antinomies of the death instinct1

Matte Blanco examines four paradoxical positions that arise out of Freud's writings on the death instinct. He notes that death is not a content known to the unconscious. Furthermore, the absence of time and space in the unconscious means that the conditions necessary for any process such as instinct are similarly absent. Matte Blanco demonstrates the way in which the antinomies that he explores can be explained in terms of the logics that obtain in the unconscious, and he suggests that the concept of the death instinct is one of the most profound expressions of the relationship between the modes that underlie conscious and unconscious logic.     

The basic traumatic situation in the analytical relationship1

The author attempts to develop a concept of psychic trauma which would comply with the nucleus of this Freudian notion, that is, an excess of excitations that cannot be processed by the mental apparatus, but which would also consider the functions and the crucial role of objects in the constitution of the psychism and in traumatic conditions, as well as taking into account the methodological positioning according to which the analytical relationship is the sole possible locus of observation, inference and intervention by the psychoanalyst. He considers as a basic or minimal traumatic psychoanalytical situation that in which a magnitude or quality of emotions exceeds the capacity for containment of the psychoanalytical pair, to the point of generating a period or area of dementalisation in the psyche of one or both of the participants, of requiring analytical work on the matter and promoting a signifi cant positive or negative change in the relationship. Availing himself of Bion's theory about the alpha function and the metapsychological conceptions of Freud and Green concerning psychic representations, he presents two theoretical formulations relating to this traumatic situation, utilising them according to the ‘altered focus’ model proposed by Bion. He presents three clinical examples to illustrate the concept and the relevant theoretical formulations.     

Affect and the therapeutic action of psychoanalysis1

In connection with controversial IJP articles by Stern et al. and Fonagy on the interpretation of the repressed and the recovery of past memories, the author maintains that the affect that is inherent in positive transference is at the heart of therapeutic action. Points of view put forward in the controversy (based on neurobiological knowledge) are related to Freudian metapsychology, as well as to their precursors whose scope was necessarily limited by a lack of access to more recent scientific discoveries. The author demonstrates metapsychological elements of therapeutic action inherent in the intersubjective relationship, especially identification, manifested in introjection and empathy. He describes cognitive development as spontaneously blossoming from the affective nucleus, and he explains the neuroscientic bases of this step forward. The classic (interpretative) psychoanalytic method makes up the cognitive superstructure necessary for the organisation of the mind that has sprung from the affective substructure. As a primary factor in psychic change, interpretation is limited in effectiveness to pathologies arising from the verbal phase, related to explicit memories, with no effect in the pre‐verbal phase where implicit memories are to be found. Interpretation the method used to the exclusion of all others for a century is only partial; when used in isolation it does not meet the demands of modern broad‐spectrum psychoanalysis, as the clinical material presented illustrates.     

Why perversion?: False love and the perverse pact1

In this paper, the author works with the awareness that perversion is a socially, historically and theologically loaded term, at the same time as it may be the latest frontier in psychoanalysis, both clinically, and in relation to contemporary art and culture which emphasize the perverse. Positioning itself against tendencies to deny the existence of a category of perversion or, inversely, to abuse it for the power that accrues from the act of diagnosing, she also points to other liabilities in the history of the treatment of this term, such as the narrowing down of perversion to the exclusively sexual domain, or, alternatively, the overextension of it to polymorphously erotic practices that enhance sexual excitement. The paradoxes of perversion and the difficulties of distinguishing the perverse from the non‐perverse are addressed. The case is also made that, in order to understand perversion, one must unlink it from the narrow notion of sexual practice and see what is involved on a deeper level an approach initiated when psychoanalysis turned to perversion as a defense against psychotic anxieties, and began considering the necessary place of perversion in the transference countertransference. Two features common to both sexual and non‐sexual perverse relations are the seductive and bribing aspects of perversion, and its means‐ends reversal. Perversion is a haven for the disguising of hatred and suspicion as excitement and (false) love. Displaced child and beating father, entitled child and seductive mother, are both prototypes of psychoanalytic refiection on parents who excite, deceive and corrupt their children and establish perverse pacts with them. The notion of the perverse pact is foregrounded in Alice's analysis, where first the resurrection and then the dismantling of such a pact were effected through various analytic means.     

Variations on the concept of traumatism: Traumatism,traumatic, trauma1

In this paper, the author outlines Freud's fundamental hypotheses concerning the concept of traumatism, then goes on to differentiate three notions (French being a particularly apposite language for such a venture): ‘traumatism’, ‘traumatic’ (in a substantive sense) and ‘trauma’. These three terms correspond to the three turning points in Freud's theory with respect to the concept of traumatism (1895‐97, 1920, 1938). The author evokes also the developments that are due to Ferenczi, particularly in his later writings (1928‐33), where he defi ned and discussed the question of ‘trauma’ in contemporary clinical practice; the author goes on to explore the different variations on this theme as regards mental functioning. He then defi nes, from a metapsychological point of view, the differences between ‘traumatisms’ that have been ‘worked over by secondary processes’, organised and governed by the pleasure‐unpleasure principle (‘traumatism’) and ‘early’ or ‘primary traumatisms’, which interfere with the process of binding the instinctual drives (‘trauma’); states of mind infl uenced by a traumatic imprint (‘traumatic’) are looked upon as belonging to both categories of the above mentioned traumatisms. The author illustrates his hypotheses with a clinical example.     

REDUCTIONISM AND HOLISM,CHANCE AND SELECTION,MECHANISM AND MIND

Abstract. Despite its rich and deepening panoply of empirical support, evolutionary theory continues to generate widespread concern. Some of this concern can be attributed to misunderstandings of the original concept, some to unfamiliarity with its current trajectories, and some to strongly held fears that it strips the human of cherished attributes. In this essay I seek to deconstruct such misunderstandings, lift up current concepts of what evolution entails, and address some of the existential issues it generates.     

Born lucky? The relationship between feeling lucky and month of birth

Research suggests that season of birth is associated with several psychiatric and neurological disorders, and also with adult monoamine neurotransmitter turnover. Personality traits are modulated in part by neurotransmitters; and population studies show season of birth variations in adult personality traits such as novelty seeking. Also, neurotransmitters are involved in suicidal behavior; and studies have found season of birth associations with suicide methods. The present general population survey was conducted via the Internet, and involved 29,584 self-selected participants (51.6% women) from 67 countries. For those born in the UK (75.6%), we investigated the relationship between season of birth, the participant’s belief in being a lucky person, and personality attributes related to this belief. In both genders and in all age groups, birth during the summer half-year was associated with significantly higher belief in being lucky, as compared to birth during the winter half-year, with a maximum around birth in May and a minimum around birth in November. Women scored significantly higher on listening to intuition and employing techniques to improve intuition, in perseverence, believing in positive long-term outcomes, and chatting to strangers. Men scored significantly higher on feeling lucky, not worrying or dwelling on failures, and expecting good things in life.     

Identity styles and causality orientations: in search of the motivational underpinnings of the identity exploration process

This study examines relationships between constructs based on two perspectives on the development of self‐governance, namely Self‐Determination Theory (SDT; Deci & Ryan, 2000) and Berzonsky's (1990) identity style model. Theoretically predictable relationships are found between the three causality orientations defined by SDT (autonomous, controlled, and impersonal) and the three identity styles proposed by Berzonsky (informational, normative, diffuse–avoidant) in a sample of Belgian late adolescents. An autonomous causality orientation is positively related to an informational identity style and negatively related to a diffuse–avoidant style. A controlled orientation is positively associated with a normative identity style, and an impersonal orientation is positively related to a diffuse–avoidant identity style. Participants' gender does not moderate these relationships. The findings suggest that the causality orientations late adolescents employ may play an important role in how actively and thoroughly they explore identity‐relevant issues. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Behavioral profile of L‐655,708, a selective ligand for the benzodiazepine site of GABA‐A receptors which contain the α5 subunit,in social encounters between male mice

GABA‐A receptor is a transmembrane hetero‐oligomeric protein which consists of five subunits, the combination of which confers unique pharmacological properties to the receptor. It is well‐known that the GABAergic system is involved in the modulation of aggression. However, the role of α5/GABA‐A receptors has not been explored. In this study, we examined the effect of L‐655,708 (0.625‐5 mg/kg), a selective ligand for the benzodiazepine site of GABA‐A receptors which contain the α5 subunit, on agonistic behavior elicited by isolation in male mice. Individually housed mice were exposed to an anosmic “standard opponent” 30 min after drug administration, and the encounters were videotaped and evaluated using an ethologically based analysis. L‐655,708 (5 mg/kg) exhibited an ethopharmacological profile characterized by a marked reduction of the time spent in offensive behavior (threat and attack) without affecting immobility, accompanied by a significant increase of avoidance/flee and nonsocial exploration behaviors, suggesting that the antiaggressive effect of the drug is unselective. Overall, this behavioral profile might indicate the existence of an anxiogenic‐like activity of L‐655,708 in mice. Aggr. Behav. 30:319–325, 2004. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.