Meetings of the New York Psychoanalytic Society

DISCUSSION: Dr. Maurits Katan's discussion, read by Dr. Annie Reich, first referred to that aspect of the paper which aims at furnishing objective proof that the content of Schreber's hypochondriacal delusions may contain further elaborations of the stimulation he received in childhood. This acquisition of new data about Schreber's father and his peculiar methods, granted their traumatic effect on Schreber's development, leaves us uninformed as before about how Schreber reacted to them and, hence, leaves undisclosed the infantile neurosis and its relationship to the prepsychotic state. Katan next pointed out the wide gap that exists between the knowledge of the methods applied by Schreber's father and the final outcome, the psychosis. We are at a loss in our attempt to understand why Schreber's childhood memories could return only as psychotic ideas; the long series of intricate psychological processes involved remains unrevealed. Katan objected to the speculative rather than deductive approach in attempting to explain the psychosis. As in any analysis where the patient is practically the only source of material used, in Schreber's case too the deductive approach should be followed. As in other analyses, we are no better informed about the inner experiences when we take recourse to material from outside sources.

Dr. Phyllis Greenacre considered the discovery of the new material important and did not think the author had implied the whole explanation of Schreber's psychosis. She spoke of the effects of restraints, both physical and moral, which she had observed in patients, and was impressed with how such effects differed according to the way in which the restraint had been applied: in a neutral way, to meet the reality of illness, in anger, or with a degree of seductiveness. She thought some connection existed between Schreber's 'miracled-up' delusional experiences and the inspirational experiences of some artists and mystics, as well as certain religious e