title: The indissociable unity of psyche and soma: a view from the Paris Psychosomatic School.
abstract: Depending on whether or not psyche/soma is seen as singular or dual, one may construct different systems explaining man and the world, life and death. In the author's view, the discoveries of psychoanalysis offer a perfectly cogent and unique solution to the famous mind/body problem. In transferring the duality psyche/soma on to the duality of drives, psychoanalysis places the origin of the thought process in the body. In Beyond the pleasure principle, Freud discusses the drastic effect of a painful somatic illness on the distribution and modalities of the libido. He provides a starting point for the Paris Psychosomatic School's psychoanalytical approach to patients afflicted with somatic illnesses. To illustrate the technical implications of this theory the author relates two clinical cases.
authors.affiliation: Paris Psychosomatic School, 72 rue d'Assas, F-75006 Paris, France. mariliaais@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Marilia
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aisenstein
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology; D002409:Cathexis; D004325:Dreams; D004328:Drive; D005260:Female; D005619:Freudian Theory; D005910:Glioma / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D019222:Mind-Body Relations, Metaphysical; D010990:Pleasure-Pain Principle; D011573:Psychoanalytic Interpretation; D011574:Psychoanalytic Theory; D011575:Psychoanalytic Therapy; D011602:Psychophysiologic Disorders / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D012043:Regression, Psychology; D012094:Repression, Psychology; D012803:Sick Role