Anaclisis: The interdependency between body and mind

Abstract

The body-mind question is examined from the aspect of continuity versus dichotomy. The concepts of body Ego, "use" of the body and psychosomatic illness offer, among others, the ground for the investigation of this question. Some aspects of a borderline patient's psychoanalysis are presented supporting the view of a functional continuity between body and mind both on the figurative and the functional level. The analysand's olfactory hallucination was regarded as condensation of the primal scene and manifestation of the body Ego. His bodily manifestations were not considered as solely regressive phenomena, rather they seem to constitute the underpinning of psychic functioning. The psychosomatic illness suggested an interdependency between body and mind via conflict and unconscious fantasy. The concept of anaclisis as denoting the functional continuity between body and mind seems to be of pivotal importance in the course of this psychoanalysis. © 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.