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Zapparoli is one of those psychoanalysts whose originality does not stem from the ignorance, repression or distortion of Freud's works, but rather from his own deeply pondered considerations, which, though they do partly draw on support from Freud (and from detailed knowledge of important work on psychosis), are based on many years of first hand experience with ‘real’ psychotics and the ‘personnel’ surrounding them. The result has been a series of relatively brief, though in depth, studies of considerable interest to the general reader as well as the specialist.
This is not the first time Zapparoli has dealt with problems that, while taking clinical material and the psychiatric care environment as their starting point, adopt a general approach to a specific theme. He did this in 1979 on new theories of fear and boredom, and in 1987 on the theme of secrets. It is well known that, although the ‘normal’ contains the ‘pathological’ (in the twofold sense of understanding and containing), the correct investigation of the latter can make a more significant contribution to the understanding of the former than vice versa.
The themes of betrayal and paranoia studied in the book under review are both of considerable topical interest. The word ‘paranoia’, borrowed from psychiatry, has now entered everyday vocabulary, with the general meaning of individual or group inclination to excessive suspicion or distrust of others. A slightly morbid connotation contributes more to the opacity than transparence of the concept. If the image of a continuous cline from ‘normal’ to ‘neurotic’ (leaving aside certain vague generalizations such as ‘we are all neurotic’) has had more positive than negative effects, the same cannot be said about a supposedly analogous continuity from ‘normal’ to ‘psychotic’.