Full text unavailable

You do not currently have permission to view the full text for this document. Please sign in to an account with an active subscription or contact support.

JCP 9(2):227-234 (2000)

Neurotic Symptoms as Motor Hallucinations: A Contribution to the Theory of Symptom Formation and a Commentary on the Paper by Mark J. Adair

Author: Norman M. Margolis MD

Abstract

When the editors invited me to discuss Dr. Adair's paper, they suggested that this could also provide the opportunity for me to elaborate on some passing remarks I made about the relationship between symptoms and hallucinations in an earlier communication (1998). By coincidence, at that very time, they were reviewing Dr. Adair's paper for publication.

Although the main thrust of my paper lay in a different direction, it did contain a detailed case report describing the development and interpretation of a transference neurosis which was relevant to the issues raised by Dr. Adair. This transference neurosis repetitively manifested itself in a particular dynamic sequence: the acting out of a transference impulse immediately followed by a specific autonomic conversion symptom, highly idiosyncratic to this patient.1

In my paper, after discussing the genetic, dynamic, and transfer-ential aspects of the patient's acting out, I turned to an analytic examination of her idiosyncratic symptom, beginning my discussion with the following comments:

In trying to fathom her (conversion) symptom, I was very much guided by Freud's constant reminder of the similarities between dreams and
Unfortunately, just because it was so highly idiosyncratic, the case could not be published lest the patient be identified.
Page 227
symptom formation, in that both are considered to be disguised manifestations of a wish fulfilled. And, although Freud never put it this way, I believe his implication was that, just as the dream represents the wish fulfilled in the form of a sensory/visual hallucination, in a parallel way the symptom represents the wish fulfilled as a motor hallucination … but this aside carries us in a direction I cannot pursue at the moment. The major point I want to emphasize is that in pursuing the dream/symptom correlation, I hypothesize that the (characteristics of her conversion were) somehow a suitable means of representation whereby a whole complex of wishes, fears, and punishments could

JCP 9(2):227-234 (2000)

Neurotic Symptoms as Motor Hallucinations: A Contribution to the Theory of Symptom Formation and a Commentary on the Paper by Mark J. Adair

Author: Norman M. Margolis MD

Abstract

In trying to fathom her (conversion) symptom, I was very much guided by Freud's constant reminder of the similarities between dreams and
Unfortunately, just because it was so highly idiosyncratic, the case could not be published lest the patient be identified.
Page 227
symptom formation, in that both are considered to be disguised manifestations of a wish fulfilled. And, although Freud never put it this way, I believe his implication was that, just as the dream represents the wish fulfilled in the form of a sensory/visual hallucination, in a parallel way the symptom represents the wish fulfilled as a motor hallucination … but this aside carries us in a direction I cannot pursue at the moment. The major point I want to emphasize is that in pursuing the dream/symptom correlation, I hypothesize that the (characteristics of her conversion were) somehow a suitable means of representation whereby a whole complex of wishes, fears, and punishments could