Wednesday, April 11, 2012

GW Psychiatric Treatment: Letter to Psychiatrist 2/22/94

TO:       Suzanne M. Pitts, MD
FROM: Gary Freedman
DATE:   February 22, 1994
RE:        Masson/Eissler Additions
______________________________

I have added some material to the Masson/Eissler paper.

The example of Masson's (deceptively reality-appropriate) ego splitting is either devilishly clever or additional evidence of my "tendency to attach a negative meaning to even trivial events."

Also, I was interested to read that after his break with Freud, Wilhelm Fliess developed the paranoid delusion that Freud planned to kill him (See N.Y. Times, August 25, 1981) [the infamous Jeffrey Masson interview that figured in Masson's termination from the Freud Archives]).  (Compare Akin Gump's delusion that I was potentially violent).  I plan to include this material concerning Fliess' paranoia in the section on the Freud/Fliess relationship, which will provide symmetry with the attached material concerning Fliess/paranoia/repetition compulsion in the Masson termination section.

With respect to the issue of symmetry, note the following parallel in the paper:

(1) Fliess' act of vetoing a dream from Freud's Interpretation of Dreams, and
(2) Freud Archives Board member to Masson: "You should have been more discreet."

1 comment:

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