EI: Obsession, Hysteria, and Dissociation
Emotional Intelligence 1st: Anxiety Inferred
WE have divided neurotic disorders into two classes as applied to emotional intelligence:
those in which anxiety is actually experienced by the sufferer, and those in which
anxiety is not experienced but is inferred to explain the neurotic symptoms.
In the last chapter, we discussed those disorders in which anxiety is manifest:
phobia, traumatic stress disorder, panic disorder, and generalized anxiety
disorder. In this chapter, we will discuss those neurotic disorders in
which underlying anxiety has often been inferred to be the cause of the
symptoms.
We will discuss three types of disorders effecting emotional intelligence.
First are the obsessive-compulsive
disorders in which the individual is plagued with uncontrollable, repulsive
thoughts and engages in seemingly senseless rituals. An obsessive-compulsive
may think that he left the gas stove on and get out of bed to check it
twenty times during the night, or he may have continual thoughts of killing
his children and keep all knives and sharp objects out of his own reach. The
second disorder is the somatoform disorder that is sometimes called hysterical
conversion. This disorder is characterized by a loss of physical functioning
not due to any physical disorder but apparently resulting from
psychological conflict. An individual may, for no biological reason, suddenly
become blind, deaf, paralyzed, or suffer excruciating pain as a result of
psychological stress. The third kind of disorder consists of the dissociative
disorders, in which the individual's very identity is fragmented. Among
these are amnesia, in which an individual suddenly loses the memory of
who he is and multiple personality, in which more than one personality
exists in the same individual, each with a relatively rich and stable life of its
own.
In contrast to the disorders in the last chapter, anxiety is not usually felt
by the victims of these three types of disorders. Obsessive-compulsives
sometimes feel anxiety, but if their compulsion is frequent and fast enough
they can ward off anxiety altogether. Individuals with somatoform and dissociative
disorders usually feel little anxiety.
In fact, they may be surprisingly indifferent to their symptoms.
But when psychoanalytic clinicians and researchers look at the conflicts that
precede these disorders, they often infer that the symptoms are an attempt to
harness underlying anxiety that otherwise threatens to overwhelm the individual.
For example, a man who believes
he caused the paralysis of his friend may himself unconsciously
assume the symptoms of paralysis; or a teenager who is plagued with unresolvable
troubles at home and in school may forget who he is, wander to a
new city, and assume a new identity. We begin our discussion of these disorders
with obsessions and compulsions.
Emotional intelligence Notes:
We had a great time away, thank you. Just what we needed. Sounds like you guys did as well, with the exception of the loss of power and cleaning in the dark! Thanks for your efforts there.
Okay, thanks for letting me know about these early May guests. When I looked at the online booking calendar for May, it showed the cabin being booked from the 3rd to the 12th straight. I am guessing the calendar automatically booked off the night of the 5th as you have a 2-night minimum? Or, perhaps for another reason?
How will I know when guests are arriving/leaving when looking at long booked-out periods already on the calendar, such as what is already reserved in July? Could you clarify for me? Certainly any new bookings I can make a note of when you send me the bookings. But as with this early May booking, multiple previous bookings just show up as one long booked period on the calendar with no detail of comings and goings. If you peek at July, you'll see what I mean.
Anyway, appreciate your thoughts and ideas about this.
WE have divided neurotic disorders into two classes as applied to emotional intelligence:
those in which anxiety is actually experienced by the sufferer, and those in which
anxiety is not experienced but is inferred to explain the neurotic symptoms.
In the last chapter, we discussed those disorders in which anxiety is manifest:
phobia, traumatic stress disorder, panic disorder, and generalized anxiety
disorder. In this chapter, we will discuss those neurotic disorders in
which underlying anxiety has often been inferred to be the cause of the
symptoms.
We will discuss three types of disorders effecting emotional intelligence.
First are the obsessive-compulsive
disorders in which the individual is plagued with uncontrollable, repulsive
thoughts and engages in seemingly senseless rituals. An obsessive-compulsive
may think that he left the gas stove on and get out of bed to check it
twenty times during the night, or he may have continual thoughts of killing
his children and keep all knives and sharp objects out of his own reach. The
second disorder is the somatoform disorder that is sometimes called hysterical
conversion. This disorder is characterized by a loss of physical functioning
not due to any physical disorder but apparently resulting from
psychological conflict. An individual may, for no biological reason, suddenly
become blind, deaf, paralyzed, or suffer excruciating pain as a result of
psychological stress. The third kind of disorder consists of the dissociative
disorders, in which the individual's very identity is fragmented. Among
these are amnesia, in which an individual suddenly loses the memory of
who he is and multiple personality, in which more than one personality
exists in the same individual, each with a relatively rich and stable life of its
own.
In contrast to the disorders in the last chapter, anxiety is not usually felt
by the victims of these three types of disorders. Obsessive-compulsives
sometimes feel anxiety, but if their compulsion is frequent and fast enough
they can ward off anxiety altogether. Individuals with somatoform and dissociative
disorders usually feel little anxiety.
In fact, they may be surprisingly indifferent to their symptoms.
But when psychoanalytic clinicians and researchers look at the conflicts that
precede these disorders, they often infer that the symptoms are an attempt to
harness underlying anxiety that otherwise threatens to overwhelm the individual.
For example, a man who believes
he caused the paralysis of his friend may himself unconsciously
assume the symptoms of paralysis; or a teenager who is plagued with unresolvable
troubles at home and in school may forget who he is, wander to a
new city, and assume a new identity. We begin our discussion of these disorders
with obsessions and compulsions.
Emotional intelligence Notes:
We had a great time away, thank you. Just what we needed. Sounds like you guys did as well, with the exception of the loss of power and cleaning in the dark! Thanks for your efforts there.
Okay, thanks for letting me know about these early May guests. When I looked at the online booking calendar for May, it showed the cabin being booked from the 3rd to the 12th straight. I am guessing the calendar automatically booked off the night of the 5th as you have a 2-night minimum? Or, perhaps for another reason?
How will I know when guests are arriving/leaving when looking at long booked-out periods already on the calendar, such as what is already reserved in July? Could you clarify for me? Certainly any new bookings I can make a note of when you send me the bookings. But as with this early May booking, multiple previous bookings just show up as one long booked period on the calendar with no detail of comings and goings. If you peek at July, you'll see what I mean.
Anyway, appreciate your thoughts and ideas about this.