Advanced Signal Processing

Freud began his clinical work and groundbreaking theories which would so influence the 20th Century, with the peculiar disorder of hysteria. In hysteria a physical symptom appears to have no biological cause but instead can be explained as a way of dealing with psychological distress or conflict. For example a symptom such as a facial twitch for which there is no organic reason is explained in psychoanalytic theory as the result of a wish that cannot be realized becoming unconscious but still pressing forward as a physical expression into a person's life. For instance a young man wishes to have an illicit affair with his friend's mother; the woman's husband intervenes and denounces him for his 'nerve'; the young man experiences the violent rebuke as 'a slap in the face'. The wish and prohibition against it become unconscious but insist on their presence by becoming an uncontrollable facial twitch. Psychoanalytic thinking is perfect for furnishing explanations such as these for the physical symptoms of hysteria, indeed this kind of Freudian storytelling is certainly superior to any other kind of perspective in understanding this peculiar condition. But for most other psychological problems psychoanalysis begins to appear a less credible means of understanding or treatment, and so this places hysteria at the centre of psychoanalysis and if hysteria no longer appears common or even important, then too the viability of psychoanalysis gets called into question. This background explains why the psychoanalyst Juliet Mitchell has chosen to devote her book to the study of hysteria, and in particular her contention that hysteria is not disappearing but just appears in different forms today compared to the hysterical paralyses of Freud's time. This is basically a covert way of reasserting the importance of psychoanalysis as a method for understanding patients and society, a vital task for Mitchell as her couch profession is in danger of being sidelined by scientific advances in psychiatry and psychology. Psychoanalysis, unlike psychiatry or psychology, devotes a huge effort to analysing the minutiae of life, in particular of childhood, in order to understand why we turn out as we do. This is in contrast to more biological approaches that prefer to focus on the brain, or psychological perspectives which explain behaviour from our immediate environment. Mitchell contends the attention seeking at the core of hysteria stems from our being aggrieved at being displaced by our siblings from the centre of our parents' fascination. She shows usefully that men are as vulnerable to hysteria as women, it just manifests in another way, but seems to neglect the point that one reason traditional hysteria - as linked to women - might be disappearing is simply the rise in power and freedom women have experienced recently. While scholarly and informative about wide areas of cultural theory and psychoanalysis, it is questionable exactly how relevant this book will be to most readers, who are not invested in becoming analysts themselves or understanding better their own therapists. Fascinating though the case histories are, like the watchmaker who begins to suffer pendulum spasms and swings his arms like a pendulum, exactly how representative they are of everyday experience is not directly confronted by Mitchell. After all, her clinical practice as a New York psychoanalyst would appear to be unrepresentative of everyday misery. But if you do know someone who is hysterical or if you want to understand your own hysteria better, this book would be a sophisticated place to look for a deeper insight into the condition. Review by RAJ PERSAUD Editor's note: Dr Raj Persaud is a consultant psychiatrist at The Maudsley Hospital in London. (Kirkus UK)