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.
Part Two of the psychoanalytic research study on the psychogenic factors in bronchial asthma consists of a series of protocols of analyzed cases. The material contained in this volume formed the basis for the conclusions stated in Part One previously issued. The work is the result of a four-year investigation by the staff of the Institute for Psychoanalysis of Chicago in collaboration with a group of internists and allergists. Altogether eleven analysts contributed case reports to the present volume.
The analyses were often brief and because of individual factors, economic and otherwise, could frequently not be brought to a completely successful conclusion. Some patients became symptom-free and most of the remaining were improved. However, the reaction-formations and personality traits of asthmatic patients were uniformly disclosed in the analyzed group.
The outstanding feature appeared to be the dependence of the asthmatic patient to the mother or maternal surrogate. The asthmatic attack was shown to be the conscious reaction against the emergence of forbidden sexual wishes and consequent fear of loss of love for which the patient is in great need. Frequently during analytical sessions, wheezing or frank asthmatic attacks occurred, invariably when acute erotic temptation arose. It was frequently demonstrated that separation from home produced a cessation of seizures. Thus, in this group, the physical symptom of allergy was a neurotic reaction to basic underlying psychical conflicts.
No attempt was made in the adult patient for a prolonged investigation into the infantile oral, anal and urethral erotic fixations. Such tendencies were partially observed in the analyzed children presented in the latter portion of the book. However, the particular circumstances of this group of cases precluded such a study. It was interesting to note the presence of other forms of allergy and the changing clinical picture associated with the progress of the analysis. As a rule, treatment