Psychosomatic medicine: The divergent legacies of Freud and Janet

Richard M. Gottlieb

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

29 Scopus citations

Abstract

A series of differing explanations of a puzzling case of psychosomatic illness introduces some reflections on a century's history of psychoanalytic interest in the mind-body problem. Freud and Janet explained the physical symptoms of hysteria using radically different models of the mind. Since then Janet's model, banished early on, has returned to haunt the castle of psychoanalysis. The enduring influence of Janet's model on subsequent thought in this field, especially that of Marty and de M'Uzan, Sifneos, LeDoux, and others, is traced, as is the influence of Freud's model on Groddeck, Alexander, McDougall, Fonagy, and others. It is argued that although these models are vastly different at one level of abstraction, at a higher level they share an important set of assumptions.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)857-881
Number of pages25
JournalJournal of the American Psychoanalytic Association
Volume51
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - 2003
Externally publishedYes

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