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PRRC is a resource center for the psychiatric residents, featuring articles by Dr. Lida Prypchan.

PRRC will also provide a forum for psychiatric students to interchange opinions about being in a residency training program.

There are more men than women: Are you a Psychopath?

Photo by Steve Welch

by Lida Prypchan

The triple I is the answer:

Impulsiveness + Instability + Inability to Adapt to One’s Environment

Usually, one associates the sociopath (psychopathic or antisocial personality) with delinquency.  Many others associate it with sexual offenders.  There will be a few or many cases, but it is known that not every delinquent is a psychopath.  As a general rule, psychopaths are not held in psychiatric institutes for exhibiting psychopathic behavior, but rather for presenting another types of psychiatric problems that complicate his/her already unbalanced psyche, such as for example: nervous breakdown, depression, suicidal gestures, alcoholism and drug abuse, or a delusional episode.  But once they have resolved their immediate conflict, it becomes much more difficult to hold them in the institution, since the person who suffers this type of illness is a glib and persuasive speaker who is able to manipulate the group, leading them to revolt.  A typical example of this is observed in the movie “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” in which Jack Nicholson feigns being a psychopath.  He incites his fellow incarcerates to rebellion (plans escapes, steals a bus for a trip to the beach, etc.).  A psychopath, in general , is an ill person whose intellectual capacity, or rather, his/her intelligence,  is not affected by the illness: they have a normal IQ (average) or higher.

The characteristics of the psychopathic personality, from my point of view, are highly questionable.  I think that one can only make a proper diagnosis if one looks very carefully at his/her life history.  The classic texts of psychiatry define a sociopath as an individual who throughout his/her life shows serious difficulties with conforming to the rules of life that society imposes.  The ultimate cause of all of his/her social missteps is the "triple i": instability, impulsiveness, and an inability to adapt to their environment.  This "triple i" converts the sociopath's life into a closed circle.  As I understand it, since a sociopath is an individual who internally feels a deep  discomfort, a discomfort that is manifested in continual boredom, he/she puts into play his/her impulsiveness in order to break out of that tedium.  The sociopath then engages in excessive consumption of drugs and alcohol and becomes involved in dangerous activities.  But his/her instability impedes him or her from maintaining relationships and therefore the person becomes unable to adapt to his/her environment.

This illness is seen more in men than in women, especially those from dysfunctional families.  Statistics show that the probable causes of sociopathic behavior have a dual origin: genetic and environmental.  The genetic approach is based on the finding of a psychopathic family history: a noteworthy proportion of alcoholics and sociopaths among the men and hysteria in the women having been observed among family members.  Regarding the environmental approach, it has been observed that there are more sociopaths who come from unstable environments and lack education (abandoned children, broken families, the emotionally rejected, and the abused).

The childhood of a sociopath is characterized by a marked lack of discipline regarding both school and parents.  This behavior is particularly acute in the adolescent stage, in which the subject may even commit petty criminal acts.  In adulthood this behavior prevails ,but it is extended to almost every sphere of individual action.  The person has difficulty maintaining a stable state (instability), engages in fantasy business endeavors that end in failure, is a parasite regarding his wife or his family, or otherwise resorts to delinquency (theft, fraud, forgery of signatures, issuing bad checks, usurpation of titles and professions, use and possession of drugs, and heterosexual and homosexual prostitution that may implicitly entail the blackmail of the victim) .  His/her emotional life is equally unstable: separations, divorces, family abandonment , and ephemeral relationships.  In general, the person flees in the face of conflict and commitments to others.  He/she  is on a constant search for new adventures to distract him/her.  The person does not learn from his/her mistakes and inexorably falls again and again into the same patterns without experiencing pain or remorse (if he/she caused someone moral damage), and does not take preventive measures to avoid making the same errors.  The person is unable to maintain his/her achievements (he has difficulties in projecting the future).  The person does not endure his/her frustrations, and when suffering them reacts in an uncontrolled and disproportionate manner.  The person deceives him/herself and others, confusing fantasy with reality.  The person is more amoral than evil.  As I mentioned before, to me all of these characteristics seem very questionable.

I wonder: What triumph is lasting in life? Who does not make the same mistake various times? Is every drug addict a psychopath?  Since the almost excessive consumption of alcohol is so common in our country, is this is psycopathic trait?  Divorces and separations:  do they only occur in psychopaths?  Is this not just the way we now live?  For that reason, as I explained previously, only by combining many of these characteristics are we able to distinguish the psychopath from the stable individual of our era.

Aggression: …It just makes me want to…KILL…!

by Lida Prypchan

Aggression is a theme that concerns all those of us who live in a city. It concerns us because this attitude more than any other is the result of the depersonalization of city life. It is due to the hustle and bustle, the traffic, and the injustices. One of the most vivid examples of aggression right now is the attitude of people who drive a car. In our city, day after day, drivers jam their cars up against one another almost as if it’s a way of unloading their problems on to someone else. It’s almost impossible for a pedestrian to cross a street in peace. Nobody will let anybody pass, some smart ones weave in and out and blow their horns enough to burst your eardrums, some shout vulgarities and insults at others and nobody gives way to anyone. You no longer see what you used to see, a gentleman giving up his place in line to a lady, all that matters is getting there quickly. In a car, the danger lies in the fact that one doesn’t know the driver of the other car – he’s not even a human being, just an LTD or a Maverick. This explains the extremely churlish behavior of drivers. The worst aspect of human behavior is revealed at its maximum potential in the car. People have even been seen getting out of their cars and coming to fisticuffs. According to Konrad Lorenz, the result of imbalance becomes evident when a man is put in a little box – he is no longer human, but an engine with inert brute force.

Another root cause of aggression is the population explosion. This has been confirmed scientifically. Konrad Lorenz himself did a study on fish, which shows that the high rate of aggression is directly proportional to population growth. However, it is observed that if the population increases over and above a certain level, aggression paradoxically decreases. Thus, if there are reasonable numbers of fish, aggression is minimal, reaching its peak at a certain population level and then easing off when the population density is even higher. Next to the population explosion we should mention the technocratic explosion, which generates competition and as a result, anxiety, tension and aggression. The population explosion, which as I said above, is connected with the technocratic explosion, means that each man would benefit from an ever more specialized field of knowledge, in which he would have to be a complete expert in order to compete with everyone else. Ironically, this reminds one of the old joke about the specialist who acquires more and more knowledge about fewer and fewer things until finally he knows everything about nothing, and the one about the internist who know less and less about many things till finally he knows nothing about everything. We depend ever more on the expert. The small fraction of technical knowledge that a man can acquire fills up his time, overwhelms his life and his capacity to learn to such a point that he had no time to learn anything outside of his field. Here resides one of the greatest dangers of urbanization and the population explosion. In comparison, aggression would be a minor problem if we consider how mentally confined present day man has become.

FRANCES – WOMAN OF PASSION

by Lida Prypchan:

Frances is an excellent movie from every point of view.  Directed by Graeme Clifford, it deals with the tragic life of Hollywood actress Frances Farmer, magnificently portrayed by Jessica Lange.

The life of this actress, although depressing and disturbing, leaves a valuable message, for both family and society, as well as for us as individuals.  This is an interesting message for analysis, though before starting, I must comment that I found the title rather inadequate since it does not convey the profound psychological and social nature of the subject matter dealt with in this film. 

The plot evolves in the United States, in Seattle, Hollywood and Washington, and takes place around the year 1940.  Frances Farmer, a beautiful woman with an engaging personality, restless, impulsive, naïve and rebellious, spontaneous and intelligent, is the only daughter of a genial and permissive yet indifferent father and of a domineering, mentally disturbed mother who is unsympathetic in the extreme. A frustrated actress, her mother cannot stand being a “Mrs. Nobody”.  Hence, she projects her desire to become an actress on to her daughter, contributing greatly to the destruction of her life.

At the age of 16, Frances writes a paper on atheism, reads it at school and is repudiated by those present.  The only one who rises, applauding passionately, is her mother, possibly motivated by her need to stand out and be noticed through the person of her daughter.  At this time, and throughout Frances’ life, a journalist named Harry York is in love with her, ever present to share her difficulties.  We gather from this movie’s view of her life, that the one and only human being who ever truly loved and believed in her was this journalist.

Frances gets a contract in Hollywood.  Once again she is in the news.  She plays parts which, although mediocre, make her famous.  Her mother enjoys life and shines.  Frances breaks her Hollywood contract before it runs out, because she is offered an interesting part in a play.  She falls in love with the writer of the play, an intelligent man with whom she can hold a real conversation.  But he is married and abandons her, leaving only a short note with two miserable lines of explanation.  Then the director of the company informs her that she no longer has the part because they were able to get a rich actress who’s going to finance the play.  What conclusion can we draw from this episode?  That she was extremely naïve.  She didn’t for a moment stop to think that she was caught between two materialistic strangers in a corrupt medium, who did not care whom they deceived.  What could she expect, anyway, falling in love with a married man?  She could only hope to be his passionate lover on a temporary basis, without any claim on him.

She returns to Hollywood in a state of depression.  Stress, alcohol and amphetamines – this is how she passes her days.  On two occasions she is arrested.  The first, for hitting a policeman without apparent reason.  The second, for injuring a studio hairdresser who treated her with contempt.  This last episode costs her six months in prison, but before her sentence is finished, her mother gets the court’s permission to have her transferred to a private psychiatric clinic from which she flees with the journalist.  He proposes marriage to her, but she refuses.  She returns home and finds that she does not have any rights as a citizen under the law.  She tells her mother she would like to live in the country, but her mother denies her request, telling her that she must return to Hollywood.  They argue and Frances runs away.  The mother has her committed to a lunatic asylum (a state mental hospital).  There, one can see the crowding, the abuse, the now obsolete straitjacket, electorshock therapy without anesthesia, lobotomy (now no longer performed) and the inhumane trading of the sick women to sailors by the nurses.  What is important to note, is that psychiatry today does not even remotely resemble what it used to be. As it has changed drastically since 1952 with the discovery of neuroleptic drugs.  From that year, the use of straitjackets, lobotomies and insulin shock therapy declined.  As for electroshock, this continues to be used, but only in cases of endogenous depression which do not respond to treatment by antidepressants.  Nowadays, however, it is only used under anesthesia.

As a result of her lobotomy, Frances leaves the mental hospital deprived of her former passion for life.  Even though her mother has died, she returns to Hollywood, perhaps fulfilling that woman’s fateful intent.  She makes one last movie and at the age of 56, with nobody at her side, she dies.

Her life story demonstrates how family, instead of helping, may destroy a person such as Frances, who evidently suffered from behavioral disorders, possible an abnormality inherited from her mentally disturbed mother.

We see the error in her mother’s attitude toward life - to vehemently desire that her daughter should be what she herself could not be – an attitude which is certainly not uncommon in parents.

Frances’ life shows us that one can indeed be oneself, but that one must be intelligent about it and know the hows, the whens and the wheres.  Inexplicable, impulsive behavior and lack of control are in no way beneficial.

Such was Frances, a product of her heredity, of her frustrated and unsympathetic mother, and the hostile and harsh environment of Hollywood.  Frances, a hypersensitive, defenseless, unbalanced, troubled woman…a woman who died as she was born, alone.

Dostoyevsky and Psychoanalysis

by Lida Prypchan

Disciplines outside the scope of medicine, such as literature and art, have powerfully drawn the attention of psychoanalysis.  Artistic creation reflects the artist's inner world and his unconscious.  So psychoanalysis analyzes the work of an artist, applying the same criteria used to decipher the dreams of a patient.

The artist is, in and of himself, an unusual case, not only worthy of deep study, but he should also trigger admiration in us.  The artist is a different being, whose inner voice requires him to lead a life different from the one led by the common man.  He will suffer and enjoy his torment, that vital imperative that leads him to travel down unusual paths.  On this point, Freud believes that what makes the artist choose paths that are different from those of other people is sublimation; this is what channels the power of his libido along courses different from the usual in order to vent the tensions of their psychic contents.

Freud published a book called "Psychoanalysis of Art" in which he presents the analysis of the work of five artists, who are: Delusion and Dreams in "The Gradiva" by Jensen; "A Childhood Memory" of Leonardo da Vinci; "The Moses" of Michelangelo; A Childhood Memory of Goethe in "Poetry and Truth"; and "Dostoyevsky and Parricide".

In his book, Freud declares himself to be a layman in matters of art, a layman who feels more attracted by the qualities of the artwork than by its techniques.  He is attracted by them because he feels overpowered by them and what is intriguing to him is that they are beyond his comprehension.

At least he finds an explanation for this fascination, and this is what he calls "the intention of the artist."  By focusing on the artist, he believes that they are neurotics fleeing from an unsatisfactory reality and taking refuge in a fantasy world from which, unlike the mentally ill, they can find their way back.  For Freud, the sexuality of the artist has a great influence, but he knows to admit that this is not the only source of art and that psychoanalysis has not thrown any light on the technique of art as such.

DOSTOYEVSKY AND PARRICIDE

Freud distinguishes four facets in the rich personality of Dostoyevsky: the poet, the neurotic, the moralist and the sinner.  Of these, the last three are the ones accessible to psychoanalysis as it lays down its arms when faced with the first.

Regarding the first three, Freud studied various aspects of the Russian writer's life, which are: considering him a criminal, based on his literary production; his Oedipus complex and his desire to kill his father, which dwell deep within him; and the reaction that these desires produce in him: epilepsy, which, in this case, Freud defines as being of the affective type.

At first, Freud is tempted to consider him a criminal, but he encounters great resistance: Dostoyevsky harbors, unlike a criminal, a huge capacity for love and a great need for love; he is an extremely kind and humane man, even in circumstances in which he should feel hatred and revenge.  What moves Freud to think of Dostoyevsky as a criminal is his choice of literary topics, in which he prefers selfish, violent and murdering characters, as well as some real events from his life, one of which was having sexually abused a prepubescent girl.  His instinct for destruction appears as oriented in his life against himself, and creates a huge guilt complex in him.

Dostoyevsky's case is complicated by the presence of his neurosis.  Freud found that this is the basis of his epilepsy.  Dostoyevsky uses epilepsy as a means to redeem his parricidal desires.  This man, Dostoyevsky, is bisexual – according to this study – with an Oedipus complex.  Faced with this problem, two alternatives are proposed: kill the father in order to possess the mother, or play the female role in order to win over the father.  But they both lead to the same dead end, which is the punishment he would receive were he to be discovered: castration.  These desires create a guilt complex in him that manifests itself in his epileptic seizures, during which he felt a state similar to death.  This is what Freud deduces, basing himself inter alia on a peculiar fact: his attacks began in real life beginning at age 18, after the murder of his father.

HIS GREAT WORK:

THE BROTHERS KARAMAZOV

Here the aforementioned parricide is shown.  Two brothers: one of them commits the crime, and it is precisely this one that Dostoyevsky attributes his illness to, as if to admit that the neurotic and epileptic person in him was parricidal.

This great work continues with the report to the courts and in it, the famous mockery of Psychology, which is nothing but a cover-up of Dostoyevsky’s true intentions. His mockery is aimed at the courts!  He cannot be mocking Psychology as this is only important to the person who deeply desired the crime.

Dostoyevsky's sympathy with the offender goes far beyond compassion. For him, the criminal is like a savior: he takes upon himself the burden that otherwise others would have had to bear.  Moreover, one should be grateful to him since if he had not done it, one would have had to.

In short, Freud opines: "There is identification on the basis of identical murderous impulses."

It is beyond doubt, Freud is telling us, that his choice of literary topics was based on this identification and he used it to bequeath us his poetic confession.

Freud’s Psychoanalysis

by Lida Prypchan

Freud’s theories have had a great influence on the cultural life of this century, probably much greater than that of any other doctrinal system. The field where his ideas have encountered the greatest difficulties has been that of his own terrain, Psychiatry. Psychoanalysis is still polemical, although many of the current discoveries can be divided in two main groups: those with exclusive orientation or very preferentially psychoanalytic, and those that do not accept more than a few fragments of psychoanalysis, considering the rest to be an “interpretive fantasy.” To this latter group belong all the “official” European psychiatric schools (universities).

We can distinguish two aspects in psychoanalysis: psychoanalytic theory of the human psyche, normal and pathological, and the psychoanalytic technique as a psychotherapeutic method. Both are almost exclusive works of the portentous mind of a single man, of such originality and keen thinking that he was able to elaborate them against all the doctrines and scientific prejudices of his era. Although in recent decades certain theoretical aspects of the doctrine and those of the its practical application have been modified and completed, it was elaborated and set out by S. Freud in his books, published between 1910 and 1915.

Psychoanalytic Theory:

Psychoanalytic theory has five conceptual pillars: topographic, genetic, dynamic, economic and structural. The topographic concepts: contain the most important contribution of psychoanalysis to modern psychology: the discovery that psychic life is divided into conscious, preconscious and subconscious strata. The psychic contents of the subconscious have a large effect on the subject’s personality and behavior. They are not directly appreciable (the individual is not aware of his subconscious psychic life), but they can be divined and interpreted, through their symbolic modes of expression: dreams (the “real path” for exploring the subconscious, failed acts, mistakes and things forgotten) and neurotic symptoms. Genetic concepts: Freud demonstrated that the ultimate ethology of current behavioral disorders derive, in large part, from remote psychic conflicts from early childhood. The modes of response and human behavior are structured with the influence that all the incidents of their life have over their biological constitution. Their entire history plays a role in each new reaction and the modes of reacting vary over the course of normal development, and this development may be set at an intermediate phase or may regress to it due to the effect of affective traumas, thus giving way to neurotic symptoms. The analysis of these symptoms and the study of normal and neurotic children allowed him to elaborate the psychoanalytic theory of development and its stages, which are condensed in the theory of the development of the libido and its phases; all normal children pass through three phases of libido before the age of seven. The oral phase, which lasts from birth until age one and a half; in it, the essential sources of pleasure are centered in the mouth, the lips, the tongue and the stomach. The most pleasant activity is sucking, to which biting is later added. The skin, thermal sensations and bodily equilibrium are secondary sources of pleasure. In this phase, the child does not differentiate itself well from its surroundings, so its relationships with objects are basically narcissistic and pre-ambivalent self-criticisms. In life, they are manifested in pleasures associated with smoking, drinking and non-genital physical sexual activities. Between one and a half and three years of age they go through the anal phase, in which the greatest source of pleasure shifts to the anus, the rectum and the bladder, and the greatest sensual pleasures are those associated with the expulsion of feces and urine, and later with their retention. The phallic phase or genital phase ranges from three to seven years of age, and with it the reactive differences between the two sexes begin. In boys, the pleasant sensitivity of the penis begins and they go through a period of normal masturbation. Simultaneously they realize that girls do not have a penis and they interpret this as the consequence of a mutilation. They feel a sexual inclination toward their mother and in their actions of masturbation they associate their libidinous fantasies with her. Their feelings toward the father, in whom they see a more powerful rival, are charged with jealousy and hostility. The attraction towards the mother and the hostility and fear toward the father were christened by Freud with the name of the Oedipus complex and the feelings of guilt due to their love for the mother and the wishes of death for the father awaken castration anxiety, since this is imagined to be their punishment. The anxious fear of castration and the feelings of guilt inhibit their masturbation activities, which disappear along with the most intense sexual fantasies, entering the latency period. In girls, the basic conflictive situation arises from the discovery of their lack of a penis (penis envy complex), whose absence they reproach the mother about, from whom they detach in their affections, turning their love towards the father (during some time this conflict was called the “Electra complex,” but the name has ceased to be used, and the problem is referred to as the “female Oedipal complex”).

The sensitivity of the clitoris is awakened, which is the subject of masturbation, which later stops, with all the emotional tensions and the fantasies of the Oedipal complex, when faced with the fear of losing her parents’ love, and the girl thus enters her latency phase. The latency phase ranges from seven to twelve years. The resolution of the Oedipal conflict and the development of the superego (moral norms, concepts of good and bad, scale of values, etc.) shut off the sexual tendencies, and aggressive impulses appear. In this phase, great advances and efforts are being made in the field of learning and social relations begin outside the family environment (groups of friends, school). For the first time, there is admiration for individuals who do not belong to the family. With puberty and the instinctive impulses derived from their hormonal turbulence, the balance of the latency phase is upset and new conflicts appear, which last throughout adolescence (until twenty years of age), with alternate triumphs of the instinctive tendencies of the superego or of the sense of reality. In the spiritual realm, it is a stormy phase, with extreme positions of idealism, romanticism, yearning for knowledge and rebellious attitudes. Blessed are we, the youth who live off our dreams, although it is only in a phase of our life! God wishes many of us to live eternally carrying out those dreams and idealism, even though he bestows torment upon us and also gives us great joys. The dynamic concepts: these envelop the perpetual conflict between the instinctive tendencies, which urgently require satisfaction, and the “counter-instinctive forces” (the principle of reality and the superego), which are opposed to this demand for pleasure. The individual may renounce their instinctive gratification in exchange for salvaging their safety or self-esteem.

Life is a battlefield in which the principle of pleasure and the principle of reality are continually fighting. The structural concepts: these assume a series of hypotheses of the division of the human psyche. Independently from the three strata described above, conscious, preconscious and subconscious, within a person there are three groups of psychodynamic structures: the id, the ego and the superego. The id feeds on all the instinctive tendencies, its original basis is somatic and it is molded by environmental influences. The id operates on the level of the subconscious and responds automatically to the principle of pleasure; its instinctive tendencies seek immediate satisfaction, despite reality and its consequences. The ego, or self, is the control system of the psychic structure. It organizes and synthesizes thought, memory and judgment, words and ideas and the sense of time and space. The ego obeys the principle of reality, which means that it is capable of postponing and sacrificing obtaining a pleasure with the aim of achieving a greater one in the future. The superego is structured in a later stage of development, in the genital phase, at the expense of the resolution of the Oedipal conflict, of the facets of appreciation of the parents and punishments and the rewards derived from them. It contains the ethical norms, ideals and scale of values.

Critical Appreciation of Psychoanalysis:

All types of opinions exist in this polemical wasps’ nest, and they are almost always, are expressed with extremism and passion: A) Psychoanalysis, due to its duration, price, relatively elevated mental level required of the sick person and the number of people trained to practice it, must be reserved for certain special cases. B) Psychoanalysis goes beyond the purely curative mission that any treatment must have and attempts a total transformation of the personality, according to its sectarian criteria, for which in addition to futile it is morally disputable. C) Psychoanalysis will allow for an understanding of the subconscious, but it will not cure any sick person, its extraordinary duration being what allows spontaneous remissions to arise in these three years, falsely interpreted as the success of the analytical technique. D) The remaining psychotherapies and the biological treatments are those which only cure cases of spontaneous remission. Only psychoanalysis has authentic therapeutic efficacy, both regarding neurosis as well as psychosis. There is a little bit of truth in each of these impassioned points of view.

FREUD a Potential Literati

by Lida Prypchan

He passed on to another stage in his life in which decadent poetry began to attract his attention.

A Dalmatian poet was committed in a private mental ward, and went mad over a shadow. His beloved was a “queen of the screen” and she smiled at him from the screen. From then on he had no life and his desperate passion for the shadow of his beloved destroyed his existence. In the same mental ward there was a fairly peculiar character: he was a monster who must have spent a half a century dressed in light green. His life was spectacular: originally he was one of the richest men in the world; with that fortune in his hands, he decided to take up the most refined drugs of a rotting culture. He began to travel, to get to know the most varied ideologies that govern the world, he held impassioned conversations with artists, read an enormous number of books and, with all this maniacal dilapidation, acquired, after 7 years, a perverse nose for the most radical ideologies. After much getting around, his spirit sickened, overwhelmed by the world, but he bequeathed us some writings he wrote with green ink, giving us his impressions on the world in which we live.

I am talking about Gog, the character invented by the fabulous critic Giovanni Papini.

Gog delivered those writings in green ink to Giovanni Papini, who is a friend of the Dalmatian poet who is committed in the mental ward.

Giovanni Papini takes advantage of his character, that ungainly monster with the judgment of a genius.

In this book titled GOG, Giovanni Papini moves his ingenious character to Vienna to have him pay a visit to Sigmund Freud on his 70th birthday and, as a gift, he brings a beautiful Greek marble statue representing Narcissus. From the time he receives it, Freud is grateful to him for such a splendid gift and invites him to his house as a result. Once there, Freud begins to speak, and reveals to us the secret of his life.

Giovanni Papini creates the circumstances and puts the opinions that he deserves in Freud’s mouth. Let’s see, then, what this man with great judgment thinks about the creator of Psychoanalysis. I shall add some information that will enable a greater understanding of Freud’s life, though before this I would like to say that I present something.

He searches for a way to study the metal development of human beings and he creates Psychoanalysis. He creates his system, based on the method used by Goethe when he wrote: release. Goethe, in Werther, writes to free himself of his pain; literature to him was catharsis. In this way, Freud has his patients use this method to cure themselves: confession, while Freud remained as if a priest, listening, advising and hushing secrets. Soon he realized that the confessions of his sick patients constituted a marvelous repertoire of human documents. Documents which he kept for himself, while Zola was publishing novels.

Another stage of his life arrived in which decadent poetry began to attract his attention, above all the similarity that exists between dreams and works of art and the importance of symbolic language. At this time, Romanticism reigned, which had proclaimed the primacy of passion and set love aside. In his capacity as a psychiatric researcher and under the influence of the naturalist novelists, he gave love a less sentimental and mystical interpretation. He wanted to see the more repugnant, though more common, sides of human life: the beast in man; with a scalpel he set aside the hypocrisy of good manners and found sensuality deprived of any masks.

Later, he wanted to write his conclusions and this is the best proof of his literary talents. The way in which Freud writes leans towards the essay, the paradox, dramatism, and has nothing of the pedantic rigidness and technique of the true man of science. We cannot say that is books “are treatises on pathology.” His spontaneity and joy when writing is such that one feels how close he was to the works of imagination and there is irrefutable proof: those who have best captured Freudian ideas have been artists, especially writers.

All men of science have the propensity to let themselves be carried away by fantasy, but in the case of Freud we see how he traveled hand-in-hand with fantasy and how he translated the inspirations of modern literature into scientific theories.

And his intelligence made him overcome his destiny to accomplish his dream: to continue being a literati while in appearance continuing to be this type of doctor since he was in complete agreement with the opinions of Papini, and due to the happiness it caused me to find such an accurate opinion of the polemical researcher and discoverer of the psyche, so unknown until now.

The Illusions of Sigmund Freud: When Freud was in high school, all his teachers saw in him a young man with a great talent for art, especially for poetry and novels. But he was very conscious of the obstacles that held back his illusions of being a literati. He was from a poor family and poetry, according to testimony by the most celebrated contemporaries, paid little or too late. Moreover he was Hebrew, which placed him in conditions of manifest inferiority in an anti-Semitic monarchy. The exile and miserable end of Heine discouraged him. He chose Natural Sciences. He graduated as a doctor, though he never practiced this profession. Instead, he conceived the idea of transforming a branch of medicine - Psychiatry - into literature. Literati by instinct and vocation and doctor by force and out of necessity, he was a poet and novelist underneath the image of a man of science.

Freud and Art

by Lida Prypchan

The genesis and content of a number of disciplines or activities outside the scope of medicine has repeatedly been psychoanalyzed.  In this regard, the attention of psychoanalysts has addressed the history of religions, prehistory, mythology and, especially, literature and art.  In this task, what psychoanalysts seek is to explain the psychological motivations lurking in the works of an artist.

It is clear that artistic creation reflects the artist's inner world and, often, his unconscious.  From this point of view, nothing prevents their work from being analyzed using the same criteria that the therapist  uses to decipher the dreams of a patient.  In literature and contemporary visual arts, there are more or less avant-garde currents, such as Dada and Surrealism – which propose the incorporation of dream material into the artist's work.  Regarding other times, it is known that Freud was inspired by Greek tragedy in naming some of the complexes that he discovered (the Oedipus complex or the Electra complex), and this was because the Greek dramatists showed many of the major conflicts detected by contemporary psychoanalysis in the psychic life of patients.  Authors such as Dostoyevsky, Stendhal and Flaubert set out an adjoining theme in their novels, almost always the neurosis or psychosis faced daily by the modern psychoanalyst in his clinic.  Examples are: parricide, with all its oedipal and totemic burden in The Brothers Karamazov; the will to power, in Stendhal’s Red and Black; emotional and sexual frustration in the provincial Madame Bovary who ends up committing suicide.

Psychoanalysis of Artwork:

The artist exhibits similar cases that the psychoanalyst attempts to resolve in their clinics and analyzes them carefully, although without a therapeutic purpose, using for this the prevailing literary or plastic techniques in each period of the history of culture.

Psychoanalysis of the Artist:

This constitutes in itself an unusual case: Why would a man feel the imperative of artistic vocation, renounce what his peers call "a normal life" and dedicate himself to the task – difficult, problematic and  financially unrewarding – of creating a work with words, shapes or sounds?  Freud would say due to sublimation.  That is to say, channeling the energy of his libido along courses different from the usual, and in this way, discharging the conflictive nature of its psychic contents.  The artist is, in many cases, a neurotic who self-analyses himself and often obtains true healing through the spirit.  Or who, at least, compensates and balances the shortcomings of his psyche, avoiding having them lead to the domains of pathology.

Freud and Art:

Freud published five brief works dedicated to the psychoanalysis of art.  They are: "Delirium and Dreams in Jensen’s Gradiva"; "A Childhood Memory of Leonardo da Vinci"; "The Moses of Michelangelo”; "A Childhood Memory of Goethe in Poetry and Truth"; and "Dostoyevsky and Parricide".

Freud, at the beginning of “The Moses”, stated that he was ignorant in matters of art, although it attracted him greatly.  What called his attention the most was that the most impressive artistic creations were beyond our understanding and, in this respect, he concluded that what impressed us could only be the intention of the artist.

Some philosophers before Freud – Plato among them – had already studied the role of the unconscious in artistic creation.  It is often said that artists are dominated by a force beyond their will.  It is known that many poets write almost in a trance, as if they were hypnotized.

Others turn to alcohol or drugs with the intention of releasing the more profound contents of the unconscious.  Some scientists have come to consider the artist as crazy, classifying his works among the deliriums brought on by dementia.

According to Freud, the artist is a man who fails to completely satisfy his desires and who finds solace in creative invention.  In another paragraph he writes: "Artists, like neurotics, flee a reality that is hardly satisfactory to them and take refuge in a fantasy world, but – unlike the mentally ill – are able to find their way back."

Freud, however, recognized that sexuality is not the only source of art and that there are two different aspects of this, on which psychoanalysis does not shed any light: the skills of the artist and the technical  means he uses for his work.

Is it Brilliance, Protégée or Extremely Talented

by Lida Prypchan

Brilliance, protégée, or extremely talented are terms often  used with one who has high intellect or spectacular talents that defy what is considered the norm.  Not often do we see the term brilliance utilized outside of this arena.  There are however times when one takes pause to explore the extraordinary accomplishments which do not seem to fit perfectly inside the box as the world would have. We have seen this around the world, children completing their college education long before their counterparts complete their high school education. Musical talents which cause the world to take note, whether it be because of the age of the musician or their extraordinary abilities.   As we explore the phenomena of these abilities, it is possibly common thought to not include those who may have less than what would be considered normal intelligence or diagnosed with a disorder that give the connotation of being less than or different.

One such disorder that has been demonstrative of spectacular and creative abilities is Autism.  According to the American Autism Association describes Autism as “…childhood-onset developmental disorder…defined by a triad of deficits in social reciprocity, communication, and repetitive behaviors or interests, each of which can occur at different levels of severity?” (Association, 2013).  “Autistic people are often thought of as “disabled”, but maybe it is the non-autistic people who truly are disabled in understanding the brilliance that could

lie behind autism. ’(Wise, 2010).  Therefore, often thought as an anomaly when one who is considered “disabled” demonstrates creative abilities beyond what is often considered possible.  Szalavitz, M. (2012) wrote of a study conducted by Ruthsatz and. Urbacheight of eight (8) child prodigies finding considerable similarities, characteristics and high levels of autistic traits.  Additionally, Maia conveyed while there are obvious similarities with extraordinary talent and the autistic spectrum little research has been embarked upon to date (2012).   As we explore this phenomena, we will introduce Glenn Gould, his extraordinary abilities and controversy surrounding the possibilities of an autism diagnosis.

References

Association, A. A. (2013, October 20). American Autism Association . Retrieved from American Autism Association : http://www.myautism.org/what-is-autism

Szalavitz, M. (2012, July 10). What Genius and Autism Have in Common. Time.

Wise, Caitie. Forming pathways: a theoretical review of autism. Diss. 2010

Glenn Gould: An Avoidable Presence

by Lida Prypchan

Glenn Gould has been described in many different ways…. An article written by Tom Service described Glenn as a “wilfully idiotic genius.” (Service, 2012).  He was also described him as “An avoidable presence”, “ahead of his time, a prophet even.”  Service conveys that even thirty years after Gould’s passing, he continues to contribute to an amazed and confuse music arena because of his abilities that some believe were presented before their time.   Gould’s idiocies at times caused other’s to pause…  Gould could be found with an overcoat and gloves no matter the temperature,  once being arrested in Florida for being a vagrant (Holland, 2007) , his seating did not change,  he  carried the same  folding chair with him (Service, 2012) Steve Shelokhonov wrote “Gould played his piano which was technically adjusted to his touch.” (Shelokhonov, n.d.) Holland questioned Gould’s following, was it warranted 30 years after his death. He believed Gould and his music came to life after his passing. Gould was different, his style, his music, his creations challenged other musicians with his eccentric ways.   (Holland, 2007)

Debates continue years after Gould’s death, as to whether Gould was autistic and while some believe this to be true because of the idiocies of Gould’s behaviors, others dismiss the idea.  Timothy Mahoney, a music historian spent a vast amount of time studying Gould and his mannerism, concluding that Gould most likely was autistic, believing Asperger’s disorder most likely fit Gould and his eccentric style.  According to Mahoney   “people with AS demonstrate exceptional skill or talent in a specific area. But because of their high degree of functionality and their naiveté, they are often viewed as eccentric or odd.” (Maloney, 2012).

Have Not …

Francis Merson did not believe Gould was autistic.  In an article titled “Gould not Asperger Sufferer”, Merson believed there were other reasons for Gould’s eccentric behaviors identifying extreme phobias or an obsessive personality (Merson, 2011).  Steven Laurent a clinical psychologist did not believe Gould experience the primary symptoms related to Asperger’s Disorder, limited social interaction, he postulated that Gould’s weaknesses were common place.  Gould as a social person and often interacted with others for hours.   Additionally, Gould was intimately involved with women, thus baring speculation that Gould was Asexual.

One eccentric behavior was Gould’s insistent finger tapping.  Richard Beauchamp (2005).  While it was believed to be an odd behavior, Gould believed the constant finger tapping maintained his “agile finger technique.” Beauchamp believed Gould suffered from some psychiatric disorder, however, would not lend to Asperger’s (Beauchamp, 2005).  Gould would also immerse his hands into hot water prior to a performance (2005).

There are many differences of opinion regarding Gould and his mental health issues.  The reality of gentleman is… he was eccentric and while he displayed some odd behaviors, Glenn Gould was a brilliant musician and composer who will be listened to for years to come.  

References

Beauchamp, R. (2005). Glen Gould and Finger Tapping. Retrieved from musician and health : http://www.musicandhealth.co.uk/articles/tapping.html

Holland, B. (2007, November 24). New York Times. Retrieved from Music: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/24/arts/music/24goul.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Maloney, T. (2012, January 20). CBC. Retrieved from Digital Archives: http://www.cbc.ca/archives/categories/arts-entertainment/music/glenn-gould-variations-on-an-artist/a-rising-star.html

Merson, F. (2011, February 16). Glen Gould not Asperger's Sufferer. Limelight.

Service, T. (2012, September 20). The Guardian . Retrieved from The Guardian : http://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/sep/20/glenn-gould-wilfully-idiotic-genius

Shelokhonov, S. (n.d.). IMDb. Retrieved from Biography: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0332384/bio#overview

PAVLOV

by Lida Prypchan

An Alternative to Freud

The traditional mind-body dualism posited by classical psychology is accepted by psychoanalysis; however, there exists an alternative to this approach that is presented by the Russian biologist Pavlov, who rejected the independence of psychic contents regarding vegetative functions and strove to overcome this contradiction through his theory of conditioned reflexes.  Pavlov claimed, “the psychologist is an individual who walks in darkness, guided by a small flashlight that only illuminates limited areas... On the other hand, our objective research on nervous system activity of the higher animals will pave the way so psychologists can discover the underlying laws in the intricate labyrinth of this inner world called the psyche. "

A Life Dedicated to Research:

Ivan Petrovich Pavlov was born on September 14, 1849 in the district of Ryazan in a town that today, in honor of his memory, is named Pavlovo.  He was the son of a priest.  He studied at the Faculty of Natural Sciences, Biology Department, of the University of Leningrad.  He graduated and received his doctorate with a thesis on the functioning of the centrifugal nerves of the heart.  Among his studies and research are: “Studies on the Nerves Regulating Pancreatic Secretion,” “Imaginary Food,” “Lessons on the Functioning of the Principal Digestive Glands,” and “The Physiology of Digestion”  From 1902 and for the rest of his life, he devoted himself to the study of the nervous system activity of the higher animals.

Discoveries and Theories:

His made four main contributions to contemporary scientific thought: “The Theory of Conditioned Reflexes,” “The Concept of Dynamic Stereotypes,” “The Reflex of Biological Caution,” and “The Painless Childbirth System.”  They all correspond to the fundamental notion that the behavior of higher animals holds a close relationship to environmental stimuli.

Pavlov was a typical representative of the experimental method.  As a psychologist, his principal contribution was in the absolute scientific rigor that he knew how to apply to a discipline dominated by assumptions and speculations.  In short, he did it in the way that Freud, Darwin, and Einstein did or would have done. He was a thinker, not a scientist in the sense that is usually attributed to this word in this day and age.

Conditioned Reflexes:

These are the body's reaction to any external stimulus that is repeated various times under similar circumstances.  For example: the salivation caused in a hungry animal by the presence of an appetizing treat.  It is called “conditioned” because it not caused by the body, instead it is due to an external phenomenon.

The Experiment with Imaginary Food:

After the conditioned reflex of the dog’s salivation, Pavlov built laboratories isolated from the outside world and locked up a dog in said laboratories.  For several days, he fed the dog, accompanying each meal with sound from a metronome.  This was then repeated without providing the dog any food, which resulted in the animal secreting saliva as if it had the dish before it.

Dynamic Stereotypes:

For this, Pavlov locked up the dog in the laboratory and during the feeding would ring a bell while pricking the dog at the same time. The dog would secrete saliva and withdraw its paw.

Painless Childbirth:

Pavlov initiated this investigation, however, after his death it was his disciples who developed the concept of painless childbirth. They concluded that childbirth pains were just a conditioned reflex generated over centuries and whose precept was: “when you give birth, you will be in pain.”

When the woman is ready for childbirth, she is already so terrified that she behaves in an irrational manner and makes absurd movements that in turn are the true causes of the pain.  Consequently, it is necessary to educate the woman, teaching her the appropriate movements in order for her to abandon her neurotic attitude and give birth naturally.

Clearly, the psychological aspect of childbirth is important, but one must not forget the organic aspect of it that in one way or another produces pain.  Perhaps Pavlov thought that childbirth was an event where only the psychological part mattered, all the while forgetting the physical aspect of it.

Guilt is one of the most efficient methods that parents use for manipulating the actions of their children.  The tactic “you embarrassed us, what will the neighbors think?” is very useful.   The parent uses external forces to make the child feel bad for what he did and prevents him from thinking for himself.

The illness of a parent is a megafactory of guilt: “You’re making my blood pressure rise; you're going to kill me.”  It may even go so far as to make a child feel responsible for the death of one of his parents.

Sexual guilt imposed by parents is very common.  All sexual thoughts or behavior are fertile grounds for the cultivation of this feeling. “God forbids you from masturbating.  It’s bad.”

In the case of marriage, pressure is placed on one of the spouses using the phrase “If you love me” in order to manipulate the other regarding something he/she did.  It is as if love depends on a determined type of behavior.

Resentments, pronounced silences, and pained looks are good methods to provoke guilt in others.  

Children are not the only ones putting into practice methods that produce guilt in their parents.  With a tantrum in the supermarket, they can get the desired candy.  And if they are not given it, then it is the parents who are not good.

Children, of course, learn to use this behavior with their parents by observing how the adults, in their world, use it to get what they want.

School and the Feeling of Guilt:

Teachers are the superlative originators of guilt, and children, as they are already highly prone to suggestion, are also very easy to manipulate.

Messages like, “What a disappointment you are going to be for your mother. How can you make your parents suffer after all they have done for you?”

Other Institutions That Cause Guilt:

In our society, the practice of tipping does not reflect the service or whether the attention was of good quality, but instead on the degree of guilt felt by the beneficiary of the service.  Waiters and waitresses, taxi drivers, bellhops and other domestic workers have realized that most people cannot cope with the feelings of guilt caused by not behaving properly, and that they will give the established tip without it bearing any relationship to the quality of service received.  Thus, the ostentatious gesture of the outstretched hand along with the nasty comments produce the intended sense of guilt, and result in a big tip.

Weight-loss diets are an activity loaded with guilt.  If someone who is on a diet eats a candy or has chocolate ice cream, he will feel guilty for the rest of the day, recalling his moment of weakness.

Guilt and Sex:

According to psychologists, sex is the activity that produces the most guilt in our society.

Parents cause guilt in children for acts or thoughts related sex.  But adults are not far behind. People surreptitiously enter into theaters in which pornographic movies are screened so that others do not see how depraved they are.

Those who are manipulated with feelings of guilt are condemned to live in resentment, dominated and manipulated by the desires and whims of others.  One of the most common problems we face is not doing that which we want to do, instead, doing what others want us to do.  We must stand our ground regarding matters and firmly maintain belief in ourselves.

It goes against human nature to be repentant for something that, at one point in time, we decided for ourselves.

FEMALE SEXUALITY, A SOCIAL ISSUE

by Lida Prypchan

 

An understanding of female sexuality cannot be achieved by the anatomical observation of women.  It must be viewed in the light of social reality.

 

The most authentic and solid form of human participation in society is through productive work.  If we examine the level of women’s participation in productive work the elements of restriction become evident.  This situation can be explained by the following reasons, among others: firstly, history has been made by men and it is therefore they who determine how women may participate in society.  Secondly, the manner of women’s participation has been determined by the sectors of society that possess the means of production, which in turn create their own specific values within an ideology of domination.  This ideology provides for conformity in a total thought process that prevents men as well as women from truly understanding the critical situation that woman’s problem constitutes.  Thirdly, this ideology of domination perceives women as soft, weak, passive, who do not enjoy having to think and who are conformist, superficial, given to pleasure and frivolity.  This ideology of domination uses all its resources in order to reproduce this model, which permits the perpetuation of domination.  The so-called “feminine personality” has thus been created – and the social communications media impose this as much upon the minds of women as of men.  On the other hand, it has been established that biological differences between man and woman do not imply a condition of inequality on the part of woman.  Anger Egg expresses it thus: “Today one cannot accept any reason, either biological or psychological, that justifies a woman’s dependence on man, or her situation of disadvantage and inferiority.”  What happens is that this type of society proposes a model of a woman that both women as well as men have internalized.  This has resulted in a situation that generates a set of preconceptions, on a woman’s part, that she should behave according to the requirements she supposes men expect of her.  Men, consequently, share in this by completely assuming the role that society has assigned them.  We must accept the challenge of creating models that do not yet exist and invent new forms.  In short, we must get out of the mold and stop treating women as objects, a behavior mode that has come about as a result of our cultural, political and ideological conditioning.  This is not an individual task but a collective one.  A social change must come about to allow equal participation for both men and women.

Female liberation does not mean imitating men or falling into their same errors.  Whoever understands it this way is mistaken.  Female liberation involves a social change that does not exclude women from a fair wage, a change in the law that almost always protects and defends men, as well as in the social and family norms and customs that encourage sexual prejudice against women.

A MAN IN WHITE

by: Lida Prypchan

Man spends his days chasing after balls or hares, and that is the pleasure even of kings.  (Pascal)

If we analyzed everyday life with more objectivity, we would discover that there are many simple pleasures we don’t take into account when we weigh pleasant things against pain.  Simple pleasures such as being thirsty and finding water; being hungry and finding a bowl of soup; needing to urinate halfway through a trip and getting home in time; having an urgent need to defecate when waiting at the bank and finding the restrooms.  These last two mundane pleasures are taboo because of our unexpressed belief that, although we do those things, we don’t mention them, much less reveal the need to do them.  However, they are among the most essential aspects of each human being’s life.  It’s curious that in the Encyclopedia Britannica there is no entry for the term “scatology,” only for its etymological relative “eschatology,” i.e., the one that refers to the study of the doctrines dealing with the end of the world.

A man called Schurij dealt with this theme and wrote four books on it: one dealing with urine, one with bile, one with perspiration and the other with feces.  The book about perspiration doesn’t attract me in the least.  I’m content with the memory of the occasional violinists I have come across who certainly radiated an unmistakable and indescribable orchestral air of that nature. 

Pleasure and pain, like other simple ideas, can be neither described nor defined.  Experience is the only road that leads to knowledge about them.  Pleasures are neither good nor bad, since pleasure in itself is morally indifferent.  What could be classified as good or bad are the consequences of pleasure.  Instead of using judgmental terms such as “good” or “bad,” it would be preferable to substitute “inferior” or “superior” for them, because they are, in effect, pleasures of an inferior nature and others of a superior nature.  Hundreds of years ago the Chinese wrote in the I Ching, “True happiness should spring from one’s inner being.  But when one is empty inside, to the point of abandoning oneself to the attractions of the outside world, illusory happiness asserts itself from without.  This is what many call entertainment.  Those who, because of a lack of inner strength, feel the need for distraction will always find a way to entertain themselves.  Due to the emptiness of their nature, they will always act as a vacuum for outside pleasures, becoming even more lost.  In this case it is no longer a question of bad luck, misfortune or calamity.  They have lost control of their lives and whatever awaits them now depends on chance and external influences.”  One has to bow one’s head before such wisdom, because unfortunately in this century spiritual matters are of the least importance - the pace of life doesn’t seem to allow for them.  One has such a struggle just for material survival, that the little time remaining is dedicated to effortless pleasure.

I have been gradually getting away from my real objective, which was to write about the relationship between pleasure and alcoholism.  Two factors are fundamental: social conditioning and the search for pleasure, although pain should not be eliminated as a motive for drinking.  It’s a difficult chain to break, because the interests created by drinking generate such exorbitant profits.  The media respond to those interests because they translate into enormous profits for them too.  There may not be much to eat in a house, but there’s certainly a television and, who knows, maybe a VCR too, so people waste all their free time watching programs and commercials where there’s a girl dressed in black with white shoes getting out of a white car with a black chauffeur, and a man dressed in a white suit with black shoes who comes to pick her up.  Together they sit at a little table in the moonlight, while a blond man in a black tuxedo serves them a drink of the finest distilled whisky and she touches his hand and looks at him seductively, and at this moment the man dressed in white tastes his drink, throws out his chest and gives a roar like a lion, then stands up, takes the girl by the arm and gives her a kiss that leaves her in a daze.  Since the lady of the house has seen on TV how servant girls can make big leaps in rank if the right man falls in love with them, she is sure to swallow the whole commercial.