ABSTRACT
Pierre Janet's works on conversion disorders or dissociative disorders has mainly fallen to the wayside in favour of Freud's works. In the first part of this paper, Janet's conception of hysteria is discussed and his place in French psychiatry described. Different aspects of Janet's diathesis-stress approach are presented (particularly the pathogenic concept of fixed ideas), which refer not only to a conception of hysteria but also to traumatic (stress) disorders and other psychological disturbances. The second part of the paper details the varieties of Janetian therapeutic treatments of these disorders: the "liquidation" of fixed ideas by hypnosis and suggestion, confrontation techniques, which resemble contemporary cognitive behavioural approaches, and special cognitive ("logagogic") interventions. Finally, we discuss the various treatment strategies based on psychoeconomic considerations such as physical or psycho-phyical therapies, psychoeducation, treatment through rest, and simplification of life for dealing with basic disturbances of psychic disorders.
Subject(s)
Conversion Disorder/psychology , Conversion Disorder/therapy , Dissociative Disorders/psychology , Dissociative Disorders/therapy , Psychotherapy/methods , Abreaction , Behavior Therapy/methods , Character , Cognitive Behavioral Therapy/methods , Conversion Disorder/diagnosis , Culture , Dissociative Disorders/diagnosis , Freudian Theory , Humans , Hysteria/diagnosis , Hysteria/psychology , Hysteria/therapy , Life Change Events , Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic/diagnosis , Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic/psychology , Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic/therapyABSTRACT
Pierre Janet (1859-1947) is one of those more or less forgotten authors whose approach differed significantly from Freud's psychoanalysis. In the first part of this paper, Janet's conception of hysteria is discussed and his place in French psychiatry described. Different aspects of Janet's diathesis-stress-approach are presented (particularly his important pathogenic concept of fixed ideas) which refer not only to a conception of hysteria, but also to traumatic (stress) disorders and other psychological disturbances. The second part of the paper details the varieties of Janetian therapeutic treatments for these disorders: the 'liquidation' of fixed ideas by hypnosis and suggestion, confrontation techniques which resemble contemporary cognitive behavioural approaches, and special cognitive ("logagogic") interventions. Finally, we also discuss the various treatment strategies Janet proposes for dealing with symptoms, such as asthenic or depressive states, from his psycho-economic perspective.
Subject(s)
Conversion Disorder/history , Dissociative Disorders/history , Hysteria/history , Psychotherapy/history , Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic/history , France , History, 19th Century , History, 20th Century , HumansABSTRACT
Janet's conceptions of the subconscious are restrictively conceived but show important differentiations which are discussed in detail. First, an outline of Janet's conception of consciousness is presented as well as of the terms of psychic synthesis and the notion of the field of consciousness. This is defined as a system of elementary or relatively elementary psychic phenomena which are connected with the personal ego in a given moment. Herbart's conception of the relation of conscious and unconscious psychic phenomena is analysed. Concerning Janet's psychology of tendencies, several kinds of subconsciousness are distinguished: dissociative subconsciousness, habit formation, adaptation, psychological automatism, dispositional subconsciousness and threshold-related subconsciousness or subliminal consciousness. The problem of dissociative subconsciousness caused by fixed ideas is discussed, and adaptation, habitualization and psychic automatism are described, all notions which are important for the conception of dissociative subconsciousness. Janet's understanding of double personality is outlined. Finally, the problem of the threshold of consciousness is explained.
Subject(s)
Mental Disorders/psychology , Psychological Theory , Psychology/history , Unconscious, Psychology , Dissociative Disorders/psychology , France , History, 19th Century , History, 20th Century , Humans , Personality Disorders/psychologyABSTRACT
Janet's conceptions of the subconscious are restrictively conceived but show important differentiations which are discussed in detail. First, an outline of Janet's conception of consciousness is presented, then the terms of psychic synthesis and the notion of field of consciousness which is defined as a system of elementary or relatively elementary psychic phenomena, which are in a given moment in connection with the personal ego. Herbart's conception of the relation of conscious and unconscious psychic phenomena are analysed. Concerning Janet's psychology of tendencies several kinds of subconsciousness are distinguished: Dissociative subconsciousness, habit formation, adaptation, and psychological automatism, dispositional subconsciousness and threshold related subconsciouness or subliminal consciousness. The problem of dissociative subconsciousness caused by fixed ideas is discussed; then adaptation, habitualisation and psychic automatism as notions which are important for a conception of dissociative subconsciousness are described. Janet's understanding of double personality is outlined. Finally, the problem of a threshold of consciousness is explained.
Subject(s)
Psychoanalytic Theory , Unconscious, Psychology , Consciousness , France , History, 19th Century , History, 20th Century , Humans , PersonalityABSTRACT
This article describes Janet's concept of psychological trauma and the formation of rigid thought complexes (fixed ideas). This concept forms the basis for Janet's functional nosology of the neuroses, and is related to his dynamic psychology of conduct or action. It can be viewed as an early self-regulation model, because it contains a stratified bio-, socio-, and psycho-genetic hierarchy of behavioral "tendencies" that produce a more or less adaptive act by means of two hypothesized intervening variables: psychological force and psychological tension. Fixed ideas are viewed within this framework as an outcome of deficient processes of adaptation to psychological trauma. The article closes by pointing out affinities between Janet's psychological concept and modern cognitive and behavioral therapies.
Subject(s)
Dissociative Disorders/psychology , Psychological Theory , Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic/psychology , Thinking , Affect , France , History, 19th Century , History, 20th Century , Humans , Social Control, InformalABSTRACT
A review of interpretations of "suffering" was presented after an etymological clarification of the term "consolation". The review begins with an examination of concepts of consolation in the early Greek and Roman antiquity continues with late Greek and Roman antiquity, the early and late Middle Ages, the epochs of Humanism and Reformation and the time after Reformation until to the present. Concerning concepts of consolation in the present the conception of the movement "Biblical Therapeutic Pastoral Care", Viktor Frankl's "Logotherapy" and Viktor Emil von Gebsattel's "Anthropologic Psychotherapy" are discussed. Finally, some essential features of general conceptions of consolation are presented.
Subject(s)
Religion and Medicine , Stress, Psychological/history , Greek World/history , History, 15th Century , History, 16th Century , History, 17th Century , History, 18th Century , History, 19th Century , History, 20th Century , History, Ancient , History, Medieval , Humans , Philosophy, Medical/history , Physician-Patient Relations , Roman World/historyABSTRACT
A conceptual analysis of basic notions of addictiology, i.e., Euphoria, Ecstasy, Inebriation, Abuse, Dependence, and Addiction was presented. Three different forms of dependence were distinguished: purely psychic, psycho-physiological, and purely somatic dependence. Two kinds of addiction were differentiated, i.e. appetitive and deprivative addiction. The conceptual requirements of addiction were discussed. Keeping these in mind some ethical problems of drug therapy and psychotherapy were explained. Criteria for the assessment of therapeutic approaches are suggested: effectiveness, side effects, economic, ethic, and esthetic valuation.
Subject(s)
Behavior, Addictive/classification , Substance-Related Disorders/classification , Behavior, Addictive/physiopathology , Behavior, Addictive/psychology , Behavior, Addictive/rehabilitation , Ethics, Medical , Humans , Psychotherapy , Psychotropic Drugs/therapeutic use , Substance-Related Disorders/physiopathology , Substance-Related Disorders/psychology , Substance-Related Disorders/rehabilitation , Terminology as TopicABSTRACT
The concise curriculum vitae of the founder of existential analysis is followed by an exact comparison of the polarity (homo natura versus homo cultura) between Binswanger and Freud. Then the five stages in the development of (Existential Daseinsanalysis Analysis) are described: the stage of learning, of practice, of criticism, of the alternative to psychoanalysis, and of reconciliation. The criticism is aimed especially at Freud's naturalism and at the concept of drive. These concepts are opposed by ontoanalytic doctrines derived from Heidegger's ontoanalysis. The differences are further exemplified by the comparison of the existentialanalytical and the psychoanalytical view of the unconscious. A presentation of the treatment of a "hysterical phobia," which is first explained in psychoanalytic terms and later in existentialanalytic terminology (mainly concerning the world-projects) makes the difference between the two schools of thought explicit.
Subject(s)
Existentialism/history , Interpersonal Relations , Psychoanalysis/history , Austria , History, 19th Century , History, 20th Century , Hysteria/history , Hysteria/psychology , Hysteria/therapy , Phobic Disorders/history , Phobic Disorders/psychology , Phobic Disorders/therapy , Switzerland , Terminology as Topic , Unconscious, PsychologyABSTRACT
The meaning of the term "logagogy" is elucidated, and logagogic practices are outlined in the history of medicine. It is shown how the traditional medicine of India, Ayurveda, shows signs of logagogic practices (sattvavajaya), and that not only Ayurveda but also the famous Greek physician Galenus emphasize a philosophical approach to medicine. As Galenus's logagogic practices have their roots in the tradition of practical philosophy in Greek antiquity, the most important Greek schools of thought that are relevant to logagogic approaches are sketched. It is shown that the Stoics created a rationalistic system emphasizing the importance of the logos for human beings, and that Epicurus made advances in psychoeducation and cognitive reframing that are important for logagogic practices. These logagogic approaches of antiquity have been taken up by modern counseling in philosophical practices. The article closes with an outline of a clinical logagogy.
