Article
The American Journal of Psychoanalysis (2008) 68, 139–147. doi:10.1057/ajp.2008.1
Definition, Foundation and Meaning of Illness: Locating Georg Groddeck in the History of Medicine
Paper presented at the Clinical Sándor Ferenczi Conference, August 2–6, 2006, Baden-Baden, Germany.
Aleksandar Dimitrijevic1
Correspondence: Aleksandar Dimitrijevic, MA, Faculty of Philosophy, Department of Psychology, University of Belgrade, Cika Ljubina 18-20, Belgrade 11 000, Serbia. e-mail: adimitrij@ptt.yu
1Aleksandar Dimitrijevic, MA, lecturer at the Department of Psychology, Belgrade University, Serbia. He is also in training with the Belgrade Psychoanalytical Society and works as a psychotherapist in private practice.
Abstract
The paper reviews and discusses Groddeck's conception of illness. I first argue that Groddeck was a late Romanticist as much as he was a "wild" psychoanalyst. Then I use Groddeck's scattered formulations regarding definition, foundation, and meaning of illness in order to articulate them in the form of more explicit scientific statements. Finally, I suggest that Groddeck's theory of illness is fundamentally different from current medical conceptions, which, nevertheless, does not make our dialogue with him either less useful or indeed less necessary. It is through an investigation of Groddeck's therapeutic attitude and the spirit of his work that psychoanalysis and medicine can build foundations of bold, innovative, and healing future.
Keywords:
Groddeck, theory of illness, romantic medicine, the It, mutuality
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