Psychoanalysis and the Treatment of the Psychoses

Abstract

Psychoanalysis is not regarded as having a significant part to play in the treatment of the psychoses. This view has been strengthened by the ease with which the phenothiazine and other drugs may bring many psychotic symptoms under control. Nevertheless, there are psychiatrists who believe that psychoanalysis, in its classical form or suitably modified, can benefit patients suffering from psychoses. The issues which have been raised by these claims are still the subject of controversy among psychiatrists and psychoanalysts. This paper is not concerned with details of the different kinds of analytical treatment which may be recommended for patients. Such an account would be inappropriate in the circumstances of current psychiatric practice in the United Kingdom. Instead attention will be focused on the way in which psychoanalysis can be integrated into therapeutic regimes presently employed in mental hospitals.