Mainly about psychoanalysis and life, by John van den Berg

  This excerpt from Chapter 1 was written before hostage drama began. It now seems almost prophetic. Jacques was in his late thirties, and I was pleased that he'd recently found someone new, or so I'd picked up in a comment he'd posted on Facebook. It was someone I had not yet personally met, but I understood that she was an archaeologist as well, which to me sounded like a good match. He led me into his study where his laptop was open, with several notes and a diary lying beside it. I assumed he was writing an article about his visit to Israel, and more specifically about Qumran. I also knew that he'd recently done research about the Biblical Exodus, so I assumed he was writing something about that as well. "And where is that girl you met while you were in Israel?" I asked. "She was at Qumran, not so? By the way, I saw your recent article about the Scrolls in the Sunday Times , and also on Facebook. It was absolutely brilliant." Jacques nodde...

  OBSESSIONAL ANGER Some people have a tendency to be so angry that it keeps them awake at night. It frightens other people and may ruin relationships, and even land one in jail if the anger leads to violence. Many assault cases and murders are fuelled by it. Can something be done about this? Yes, psychoanalysis can be very effective in relieving you of your obsession. More effective even than group anger management sessions. But it takes work. It is of course true that we are born with an agressive instinct or drive – sometimes referred to as a part of our shadow-side, or of our death instinct – but knowing that will not really ease your toxic anger. Obsesional people are like powder kegs waiting to explode. It may also, but not necessarily always, lead to depression when your anger is suppressed and directed inward. Let me repeat, can something be done about this? Most definitely it can. To guide you in the right direction I'll quote from an essay by Freud: "A ca...

BLOWS AT THE HANDS OF SCIENCE During the course of centuries the naive hubris and self-love of men has had to submit to two major blows at the hands of science. The first was when they learnt that our earth was not the centre of the universe, but only a tiny fragment of a cosmic system of scarsely imaginable vastness. The second blow fell when biological research destroyed man's supposedly privileged place in creation and proved his descent from the animal kingdom and his ineradicable animal nature. This revaluation was not accomplished without the most violent opposition. But now human megalomania has suffered its third and most wounding blow from our psychoanalytical findings, which seek to prove that our ego is not even master in its own house, but has to contend itself with scanty information about what is going on in his unconscious mind. --------------------------- Freud, General Theory of the Neuroses , SE 16: 284-5 (paraphrased)  

 ABSENCE OF GRIEVING AFTER EXPERIENCING A LOSS Who doesn't know people who seem strained and brittle? It might be that earlier on in their lives they suffered the loss of a loved one, but never allowed themselves to properly grieve. In "Loss, Sadness and Depression," John Bowlby wrote: "A sceptic might ask how it is that we know a person is in a state of disordered mourning [i.e. he/she has a mental disorder] and not simply that they are unaffected by a loss and therefore have no cause to grieve? The answer is that there are tell-tale signs, more evident in some than in others. A sensitive observer notes that they are tense and often short-tempered. Consolation is neither sought nor welcomed. But they may have physical symptoms: headaches, palpitations, aches and pains. Insomnia is common, dreams unpleasant." ---------------------------------- John Bowlby, "Loss, Sadness and Depression," p.153, Volume 3 of "Attachment and Loss," Pen...

ARCHAIC MEMORIES AS SEEN BY FREUD AND JUNG Every so often someone claims that Jung discovered the "collective unconscious." I'm afraid that claim does not stand up to close scrutiny. As early as in "The Interpretation of Dreams" of 1900, (1) Freud observed that dreams may contain ancient motifs that do not refer to events in a patient's personal past, but rather appear to be about situations that must have occurred in mankind's distant, primeval past. (2) He did not, however, coin the phrase "the collective unconscious," and he would only broach such archaic material once he had dealt with a patient's personal past, including memories that had been repressed. Nor did he regard such material as being of a mystical nature.   In that respect, i.e. about mystycism, Jung had rather a different approach. Almost right from the start this son of a Protestant pastor would encourage his patients to tell him about the unusual visions they had se...