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.