Reflections on the Problem of Psychic Trauma

Discussion of psychic trauma has been handicapped by colloquial use of the term which broadens its application to a point where it undermines its psychoanalytic usefulness. The problem is compounded by a blurring of distinctions between what can properly be called the traumatic neurosis and what is often referred to as traumatic anxiety. This sometimes results in hybrid concepts in which earlier and important precisions are lost. Furthermore, it seems possible that our understanding of the trauma concept has not been made easier by the hypothesis of a breakthrough of the barrier against internal stimuli—a notion that risks confusion with an untimely breakthrough of the repression barrier. This is not to say that the notion should be abandoned without further consideration.

Further thought needs to be given to the posttraumatic neuroticlike states. Although these have been understood in terms of trauma as "organizer," this term is used by both Kennedy and myself in a descriptive sense. This does not obviate the necessity for greater metapsychological clarity in the further study of these conditions. That task still lies ahead.