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Doctoral Thesis from Department of Psychology, Stockholm University 1992
In the summer issue 1993 of the IPA Newsletter, Robert S. Wallerstein presents his definition of psychoanalytic research, and states: “For psychoanalysis to grow as a science, it is now necessary to proceed beyond the informal clinical case study to more formal and systematized studies amendable to the usual canons of science.” The present doctoral thesis is a good example of how one may do exactly what Wallerstein recommends and at the same time qualify for an academic doctoral degree. Using small samples and clinical psychoanalytical methods in a critical way, the author has made a valuable contribution to our understanding of the impact which a severe and chronic mental disorder may have on the personality of those who are close to the patient. If also reminds us of the importance of the sibling relationship for development of the personality in general.
David Titelman observed some years ago when he was working in an adolescence unit in a mental hospital, that although many therapists were interested in the patient's family, they were not interested in the family members' experiences. He could also frequently see that the siblings themselves did not make things easy for the therapist. Many ostensibly well-functioning siblings would refuse to have anything to do either with the hospital or with their sick sibling. Some were frightened, some felt helpless or were ashamed of their sick sibling. Titelman also observed how the staff often had great problems in relating to the psychotic patients. When it was so difficult for the staff, how could the siblings manage to cope with the sick sibling? He set out to study this in a systematic psychoanalytical