DISSOCIATION
PSYCHOLOGY
Edited by Paul Budding
“We have to thank the French Psychopathologists, Pierre
Janet in particular, for our knowledge today of the extreme
dissociability of consciousness.”
(Jung, 1934/1948, par: 202)
“Jung repeatedly referred to Janet (whose lectures
he had attended in Paris during the winter semester
(1902-1903). The influence of Psychological
Automatism can be seen from Jung‟s way of
considering the human mind as comprising a number
of sub-personalities (Janet‟s „simultaneous
psychological existences‟). What Jung called a
„complex‟ was originally nothing but the equivalent of
Janet‟s „subconscious fixed idea.”
(Ellenberger 1970, p406)
“Janet influenced Jung as a Clinician and as a depth
psychologist to a much greater extent than did Freud.”
(Douglas in Eisendrath & Dawson, 1997, p26)
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Introduction
In this paper we will be selecting material from Jungian writers
(and occasionally from sources outside of the Depth Psychology
community) in order to clarify the theory of Dissociation
Psychology.
We will be using the work of Carl Jung (1875-1961) as our
primary material. Other writings we will use include those of the
pioneer of dissociation psychology, Pierre Janet, and the analyst
and author John Haule. Haule (more than anyone else) has
endeavoured to show that Jung belongs to the French school of
psychology. We start with an extract from Haule in part 1 which
looks briefly into the context of Jung‟s dissociationist stance.
However we are not primarily concerned with the context
therefore the bulk of this essay is devoted to the actual theory of
complex and dissociation psychology as presented by Carl Jung.
Therefore part 2 (titled „Dissociation Psychology‟) is by far the
largest part of this text.
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Part 1: Context
The following is extracted from the preface of John Haule‟s book
„Jung in the 21st Century‟.
“In Henri Ellenberger's publication in 1970 of The Discovery of the
Unconscious, […] Freud, Jung, Adler, and Janet were placed in historical
context, and it came out that Jung had always belonged more to the
French-English-Swiss- American tradition in psychology that paid
attention to natural and "artificial" (i.e., hypnotic) dissociations in the
human psyche. They were the so-called "French School" of psychology
that Jung had always claimed to belong to, investigators who were
fascinated by the discovery (a) that all of us have simultaneous conflicting
sub- personalities; (b) that each subpersonality lives in a different world,
remembers a different past and strives for a different future; and (c) that
some of these subpersonalities seem capable of knowing things that
appear to be impossible (telepathy, clairvoyance, etc.).” (Haule, 2010,
preface)
Below: Extracted from Part 2 of Helen Epstein‟s „Reading Jung‟s
Redbook‟. Epstein is a writer. She writes about psychoanalysis
and trauma. For example she published the paper „Narrative and
Memoir in Psychoanalysis‟ in the Journal „Psychoanalytical
Perspectives‟. She is also the author of six (non-fiction) books
including „Children of the Holocaust‟, a ground-breaking book on
intergenerational trauma experienced by families of the
Holocaust.
“In 1900, at 25, Jung was an assistant staff physician and psychiatric
trainee of Dr. Eugen Bleuler, working with severely disturbed patients at
the Burghölzli, the world-famous insane asylum and university clinic of
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Zurich. His medical dissertation “On the Psychology and Pathology of so-
called Occult Phenomena,” inspired by the research of French-Swiss
psychologist Theodore Flournoy, was accepted a year later.
The volume‟s editor, Sonu Shamdasani, does not give us a sense of what
Jung was like at the time but his biographers, Ronald Hayman and
Deirdre Bair both portray him as a tall, blond, loud, self-confident figure,
who aroused strong competitive feelings among his peers, partly because
of his blunt and out-sized personality, partly because he was a favorite of
Burghölzli‟s director Eugen Bleuler.
Bleuler took a special interest in Jung‟s research in word association, long,
rigorously controlled experiments demonstrating the role of the
unconscious that some regard as his most important contribution to
psychoanalysis.
Pierre Janet, one of Jung's intellectual mentors.
Bleuler and Flournoy both initially served as Jung‟s intellectual mentors
yet, in 1902, Jung chose to study with a third, Pierre Janet [1859 –
1947], in Paris. [Jung attended] Janet‟s lectures and [worked] in his
laboratory…” (Epstein, Nov 23rd 2009)
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Jung‟s positive references to Pierre Janet are scattered
throughout his Collected Works. Jung advises his readers to read
the writings of Janet so that they are aware of what complexes
are. (Jung, 1954, par 383) And he also advises reading Janet (as
well as Flournoy and Prince) so that the reader will be aware of
“multiple personalities” and the premises that his work is built upon.
(Jung, 1939a, par 490)
It is recommended here, that for more background and context
you read Monahan’s ‘C. G. Jung: Freud’s Heir or Janet’s? The
Influence upon Jung of Janet’s Dissociationism.’ Also… John R.
Haules ‘From Sommanbulism to the Archetypes: The French routes
of Jung’s split with Freud.’ And… Ellenbergers book ‘The Discovery
of the Unconscious.’
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Part 2: Dissociation Psychology
Extracted from Monahan, 2009, „C.G. Jung: Freud‟s heir or
Janet‟s? The influence upon Jung of Janet‟s dissociationism‟
Page 36: Richard Noll “was perhaps the first to apply Jungian concepts
specifically to the clinical study of dissociative disorders. For him, “Jung is
heretofore unrecognized pioneer in the study of dissociation. Jung‟s
“complex theory” is one of the earliest and remains the most
comprehensive theoretical framework for understanding the
phenomenology of multiple personality.” (Noll, 1989, p353). Noll goes on
to make the crucial point […] that whilst for Janet psychic dissociability is
always a pathological phenomenon, „Jung posits that the “dissociability of
the psyche” is a fundamental process of the psyche that extends the
continuum from “normal” mental functioning to “abnormal mental states”
(Noll, 1989, p354). Noll then suggests a series of „major points of
correspondence between recent research on multiple personality and
Jung‟s complex theory‟, including aetiology (i.e., traumatic events), the
autonomous nature of complexes/alternate personalities [and]
therapeutic approaches.”
The unconsciousness of all subpersonalities means that it requires tools
such as hypnosis to demonstrate it. But as Jung writes: “The psychic
double is a commoner phenomenon than one would expect, although it
seldom reaches a degree of intensity that would entitle one to speak of a
double personality.” (Jung, 1924, par 227)
Extracted from Jung, 1928, „Mental Disease and the Psyche‟
Par 498: “… schizophrenia has a “psychology,” i.e., a psychic causality
and finality, just as normal mental life has, though with this important
difference: whereas in the healthy person the ego is the subject of his
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experience, in the schizophrenic the ego is only one of the experiencing
subjects. In other words, in schizophrenia the normal subject has split
into a plurality of subjects, or into a plurality of autonomous complexes.”
Par 499: “The simplest form of schizophrenia, of the splitting of the
personality, is paranoia, the classic persecution-mania […] it consists in a
simple doubling of the personality, which in milder cases is still held
together by the identity of the two ego‟s [The Second personality/second
ego is normally unconscious and is created by the first ego consciousness
through repression resulting in the creation of unconscious complexes
that threaten to dissociate the conscious psyche at some point] The
patient strikes us as at first as completely normal; he may hold office, be
in a lucrative position, we suspect nothing. We converse normally with
him, and at some point we let fall the word “Freemason.” Suddenly the
jovial face before us changes, a piercing look full of abysmal mistrust and
inhuman fanaticism meets us from his eye. He has become a hunted,
dangerous animal, surrounded by invisible enemies: the other ego has
risen to the surface”.
Par 500: “What has happened? Obviously at some time or other the idea
of being a persecuted victim gained the upper hand, became autonomous,
and formed a second subject which at times completely replaces the
healthy ego. It is characteristic that neither of the two subjects can fully
experience the other, although the two personalities are not separated by
a belt of unconsciousness as they are in hysterical dissociation of the
personality. They know each other intimately, but they have no valid
arguments against one another. The healthy ego cannot counter the
affectivity of the other, for at least half its affectivity has gone over into
its opposite number. It is so-to-speak, paralysed”.
Par 503: “In some such way – naturally with endless variations – not
only does paranoia arise, but also the paranoid form of schizophrenia
characterized by delusions and hallucinations…” [I quoted Jung here
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because he is being clear about categorizing psychological illnesses in the
sense of distinguishing paranoia from paranoid schizophrenia.]
Extracted from Jung, 1939b, „The Psychogenesis of Schizophrenia‟
Par 505: “Dissociation is “…a psychic condition in which a train of
thought is not carried through to its logical conclusion, or is interrupted by
strange contents that are insufficiently inhibited… if you study the
association tests of neurotics you will find that their normal associations
are disturbed by the spontaneous intervention of complex contents typical
of abaissement.”
Par 508: “The picture of a personality dissociation in schizophrenia is
quite different [from neurotic dissociation]. The split-off figures assume
banal, grotesque, or highly exaggerated names and characters, and are
often objectionable in many other ways. They do not, moreover,
cooperate with the patient‟s consciousness. They are not tactful and they
have no respect for sentimental values. On the contrary, they break in
and make a disturbance at any time, they torment the ego in a hundred
ways; all are objectionable and shocking, either in their noisy and
impertinent behaviour or in their grotesque cruelty and obscenity. There
is an apparent chaos of incoherent visions, voices, and characters, all of
an overwhelmingly strange and incomprehensible nature. If there is a
drama at all, it is certainly far beyond the patient‟s understanding. In
most cases it transcends even the physician‟s comprehension, so much so
that he is inclined to suspect the mental sanity of anybody who sees more
than plain madness in the ravings of a lunatic”.
Par 509: “The autonomous figures have broken away from the control of
the ego so thoroughly that their original participation in the patient‟s
mental make-up has vanished. The abaissement has reached a degree
unheard of in the sphere of neurosis. An hysterical dissociation is bridged
over by a unity of personality which still functions, whereas in
schizophrenia the very foundations of the personality are impaired”.
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Par 510: “The abaissement
(1) Causes the loss of whole regions of normally controlled contents.
(2) Produces split-off fragments of the personality.
(3) Hinders normal trains of thought from being consistently carried
through and completed.
(4) Decreases the responsibility and the adequate reaction of the ego.
(5) Causes incomplete realizations and thus gives rise to insufficient and
inadequate emotional reactions.
(6) Lowers the threshold of consciousness, thereby allowing normally
inhibited contents of the unconscious to enter consciousness in the form
of autonomous invasions”.
Par 511: “We find all these effects of abaissement in neurosis as well as
in schizophrenia. But in neurosis the unity of personality is at least
potentially preserved, whereas in schizophrenia it is almost irreparably
damaged. Because of this fundamental injury the cleavage between
dissociated psychic elements amounts to a real destruction of their former
connections.”
Par 515: “Neuroses are specific consequences of an abaissement; as a
rule they arise from a habitual or chronic form of it. Where they appear to
be the effect of an acute form, a more or less latent psychological
disposition always existed prior to the abaissement, so that the latter is
no more than a conditional cause.”
Par 516: “Now there is no doubt that an abaissement which leads to a
neurosis is produced either by exclusively psychological factors or by
these in conjunction with other, perhaps more physical, conditions. Any
abaissement, particularly one that leads to a neurosis, means in itself that
there is a weakening of the supreme control. A neurosis is a relative
dissociation, [My bolding] a conflict between the ego and a resistant
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force based upon unconscious contents. These contents have more or less
lost their connection with the psychic totality. They form themselves into
fragments, and the loss of them means the depotentiation of the
conscious personality. The intense conflict, on the other hand, expresses
an equally intense desire to re-establish the severed connection. There is
no co-operation, but at least there is a violent conflict, which functions
instead of a positive connection. Every neurotic fights for the maintenance
and supremacy of his ego-consciousness and for the subjugation of the
resistant unconscious forces. But a patient who allows himself to be
swayed by the intrusion of strange contents from the unconscious, a
patient who does not fight, who even identifies with the morbid elements,
immediately exposes himself to the suspicion of schizophrenia. His
abaissement has reached a fatal, extreme degree, when the ego loses all
power to resist the onslaught of an apparently more powerful
unconscious.”
Par 519: Jung says that often when a person crosses the line from
relative neurotic dissociation to absolute psychotic dissociation… it
amounts to… “an attack of weakness […] it is often just a sudden panic
[…] and then all the suppressed material [wells] up and [drowns] him.”
Par 528: “The primitive valuation of insanity […] lays stress on a special
characteristic which we should not overlook: it ascribes personality,
initiative, and wilful intention to the unconscious – […] a true
interpretation of the obvious facts. From the primitive standpoint it is
perfectly clear that the unconscious, of its own violation, has taken
possession of the ego. According to this view it is not the ego that is
enfeebled; on the contrary, it is the unconscious that is strengthened
through the presence of a demon. The primitive, therefore, does not seek
the cause of insanity in a primary weakness of consciousness but rather in
an inordinate strength of the unconscious.
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Par 529: “I must admit it is exceedingly difficult to decide the intricate
question of whether it is a matter of a primacy weakness and
corresponding dissociability of consciousness, or of the primary strength
of the unconscious”. [I must interrupt Jung‟s flow here… and say that… it
is the ego‟s repression of material that results in the establishment of a
number 2 unconscious shadow personality. As soon as this No 2
unconscious shadow personality is created so too are its unconscious
complexes that await triggering. Nevertheless I keep par 528 and 529 in
just to show how non-modern thinkers might view it]
Par 530: “It should not be overlooked that many patients seem quite
capable of exhibiting a modern and sufficiently developed consciousness,
sometimes of a particularly concentrated, rational, obstinate kind.
However, one must quickly add that such a consciousness shows early
signs of a defensive nature. This is a symptom of weakness, not of
strength.”
Par 539: Naturally enough, Jung thinks milder cases are easier to cure
than extreme cases. Nevertheless he says that “Even if I am not very
hopeful about a patient, I try to give him as much psychology as he can
stand because I have seen plenty of cases where the later attacks were
less severe, and the prognosis was better, as a result of increased
psychological understanding.”
Par 579: “whereas, in the normal and neurotic, the acute affect passes
comparatively quickly, and the chronic affect impairs the general
orientation of consciousness and its adaptability in ways that are barely
perceptible, the schizophrenic complex has an incomparably more
powerful effect. Its expressions become fixed, its relative autonomy
becomes absolute, and it takes possession of the conscious mind so
completely that it alienates and destroys the personality.”
Van der Kolk and Vand der Hart, 1989, write academic papers
concerning Dissociation Psychology. And they say that for Janet
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post-traumatic-stress leads to “fatigue and exhaustion which have
considerable impact on his [i.e., the sufferers] emotions.”
Par 200: Jung, 1934/1948: From A Review of the Complex Theory:
“Everyone knows nowadays that people "have complexes." What is not so
well known, though far more important theoretically, is that complexes
can have us.” Until the sufferer relates to the complex he will never
recover.
Page 316: Eisendrath & Dawson: “Jung used the word “ego” to
describe two significantly different phenomena: (1) to define that complex
to which the sense of “I” is attached, at whose core is the archetype of
the Self; and (2) as the center of consciousness. Jung inferred a
dialectical relationship between the ego and other complexes of the
unconscious. This relationship, while depicted in dreams, is unconscious.”
In his essay titled „Concerning Rebirth‟, 1940/1950, Jung writes:
Par 213 & 214: Often „loss of soul‟ (dissociation) “occurs suddenly and
manifests itself in a general malaise. The phenomena is closely connected
with the nature of primitive consciousness, which lacks the firm coherence
of our own. Complicated exercises are needed if he is to pull himself
together for any activity that is conscious and intentional and not just
emotional and instinctive. Our consciousness is safer and more
dependable in this respect; but occasionally something similar can happen
to civilized man, only he does not describe it as “loss of soul” but as
“abaissement du niveau mental” [i.e., dissociation] Janet‟s apt term for
this phenomenon. It is a slackening of the tensity of consciousness, which
might be compared to a low barometric reading, presaging bad weather.
The tonus has given way, and this is felt subjectively as listlessness,
moroseness, and depression. One no longer has any wish or courage to
face the tasks of the day. One feels like lead because no part of one‟s
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body seems willing to move, and this is due to the fact that one no longer
has any disposable energy. This well-known phenomenon corresponds to
the primitive‟s loss of soul. The listlessness and paralysis of will can go so
far that the whole individual parts of the personality make themselves
independent and thus escape from the control of the conscious mind […
ultimately dissociation …] may lead to the development of an essentially
negative personality.”
Jung, 1935, extracts from the Tavistock Lectures: On the Theory
and Practice of Analytical Psychology
Par 149: The complex “has a sort of body, a certain amount of its own
physiology. It can upset the stomach. It upsets the breathing, it disturbs
the heart – in short, it behaves like a partial personality. For instance,
when you want to say or do something and unfortunately a complex
interferes with this intention, then you say or do something different from
what you intended. You are simply interrupted, and your best intention
gets upset by the complex, exactly as if you had been interfered with by a
human being or by circumstances from outside.”
Par 151: “Complexes are autonomous groups of associations that have a
tendency to move by themselves, to live their own life apart from our
intentions. I hold that our personal unconscious as well as the collective
unconscious, consists of an indefinite, because unknown, number of
complexes or fragment personalities.”
Others whose field is dissociation have said the following:
“Dissociation is described as "a disruption in the usually integrated
functions of consciousness, memory, identity, or perception of the
environment. The disturbance may be sudden or gradual, transient or
13
chronic" (American Psychiatric Association, 1994, p477). Posttraumatic
Stress Disorder (PTSD) may be conceptualized as part of a dissociative
spectrum in which recall/re-experiencing of the trauma (flashbacks)
alternates with numbing (detachment or dissociation), and avoidance”
(Turkus, 1992; also see Briere, Evan, Runtz, & Wall, 1988; Carlson &
Rosser-Hogan, 1991; Goodwin & Reynolds, 1987; Jaschke & Spiegel,
1992; Kuch & Cox, 1992; Mellman, Randolph, Brawman-Mintzer, Flores, &
Milanes,1992; Roszell, McFall, & Malas, 1991; Shalev, Schreiber, & Galai,
1993; Southwick, Yehuda, & Giller, 1993).
Concerning Pierre Janet‟s work
“The Trauma-Induced emotion is a pathological phenomenon that leads
to exhaustion of the individual, that is, a weakening of her or his
psychological energies, or moral tension and force. This weakening of
mental tension and force causes a diminuation of psychological synthesis,
thereby facilitating the formation of fixed ideas. This process is called
desaggregation or dissociation.”
(Janet,P, in Moskowitz, A, Shafer, I, & Dorahy, M. J, 2008, p46)
Extracts from Monahan, 2009
“I suggest that it would be difficult for anyone with a reasonable
acquaintance with Jung‟s works not to notice the striking similarities
between Janet‟s formulations concerning „I idée fixe and Jung‟s concept of
the complex.” (p40) Monahan goes on to quote two dissociation
clinicians and writers (Van der Hart & Friedman) concerning the
definition of Janet‟s idée fixe. (Note in this paper we have
referenced Van der Hart‟s & Friedman‟s original text.)
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“Fixed ideas (idees dixes) are thoughts or mental images with take on
exaggerated proportions, have a high emotional charge, and in hysterical
patients, become isolated from the habitual personality, or personal
consciousness… when dominating consciousness, they serve as the basis
for behaviour. These ideas also manifest themselves in what we now term
flashbacks or intrusive thoughts. Janet considered them dissociative
phenomena.” (Van der Hart & Friedman, 1989, p14)
Monahan compares Van der Hart‟s & Friedman‟s quote with one of
Jung‟s own definitions of the complex: (Again we have referenced
the original source, i.e. Jung‟s 1934/48 Review of the Complex
Theory.)
Par 201: “What then, scientifically speaking, is a „feeling-toned complex‟?
It is the image of a certain psychic situation which is strongly accentuated
emotionally and is, moreover, incompatible with the habitual attitude of
consciousness. This image has a powerful inner coherence, it has its own
wholeness and, in addition, a relatively high degree of autonomy, so that
it is subject to the control of the conscious mind to only a limited extent,
and there behaves like an animated foreign body in the sphere of
consciousness.”
Monahan points out that “the similarities [between Jung‟s description of
dissociation and Janet‟s description] are glaring: high affective charge,
inner coherence, isolation from habitual consciousness, interference with
that consciousness, autonomy.” (Monahan, p40 & 41)
Janet was Jung‟s teacher for a term… he was also the first person
to coin the terms “dissociation” and “subconscious”. Much of what
we now know about dissociation, sub personalities, hypnosis,
possession, and post-traumatic stress disorder is thanks to Janet
as he was a pioneer in these related fields. Therefore much of
Janet‟s dissociation psychology is found within Carl Jung‟s work…
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i.e., Jung‟s Complex Psychology. Where Janet refers to “fixed
ideas” Jung refers to “complexes”.
Jung‟s term of “complexes” became mainstream following the
scientific association test that validated Janet‟s fixed ideas. Jung
of course went further than Janet in his theory of archetypes.
Jung argues that archetypes are projected out into the external
world as symbols in religions and hero‟s and devils onto other
people. In this paper we are advocating the term sub-
personalities as opposed to archetypes as we think they link up
perfectly with the dissociation psychology findings of Janet and
Jung.
It is important to be aware of the fact that Janet was primarily
interested in pathological dissociation. Most of his patients were
traumatised and schizophrenic… of course schizophrenia can be
brought on by post-traumatic stress. Jung on the other hand was
interested in all spectrums of dissociation.
Janet‟s main tool that he used in order to make his discoveries
was hypnosis. The Jungian writer John R. Haule says that Janet
saw hypnosis as a form of dissociation. Haule quotes Janet as
saying "Hypnotism may be defined as the momentary transformation of
the mental state of an individual, artificially induced by a second person,
and sufficing to bring about dissociations of personal memory" (Janet,
1919/1976, p291). Again, we used the original source (Janet as opposed
to Haule) for referencing there. Haule clarifies Janet… "Dissociation" is the
key word in the definition; he means the phenomenon that we presently
see as diagnostic of multiple personality, that is, the simultaneous
development of subpersonalities, parallel memories, in complete
ignorance one of another.” (Haule, October 1986) This is one of the
points we are trying to make clear in this paper… that no matter
how important you think a healthy ego is (and a healthy ego is
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important in the author of this paper‟s mind!)… nevertheless
there are sub personalities in each and everyone of us.
An example of hypnosis can be given here. The hypnotist puts someone
into a hypnotic state. While hypnotised the hypnotist says that when
awakened the individual will point to the sky every-time he hears a
hand-clap. The hypnotist awakens the individual who remembers
nothing that has happened while hypnotised. Yet on the sound of a
handclapping he automatically points to the sky. While hypnotised it
was the unconscious psyche that was listening as the conscious mind
slept. In Paula Monahan‟s essay in the first ever International Journal of
Jungian Studies she describes hypnosis the same way as we just have:
“How else could a person hypnotized and instructed to carry out certain
actions after being woken from the hypnotic state, possibly „remember‟ to
carry out the given instructions? The information had to be stored
somewhere in the person‟s psyche […yet…] a hypnotized person [is]
absolutely unable to recall what […] happened whilst under hypnosis once
roused from the „somnambulistic‟ state. Instructions given under hypnosis
would be duly carried out (even days later) without the previously
hypnotized subject having any idea as to why he or she felt impelled to
perform the action in question.” (Monahan, 2009 p38)
Janet was the first to discover fixed ideas (complexes) and their
ordering or layering in the unconscious psyche. Van der Hart and
Friedman write that “Stratified fixed ideas result from traumata in the
patient‟s life history which were sustained prior to the one which causes
the full-blown hysterical or dissociative disorder. We experience this in
treatment when the removal of a primary fixed idea is replaced by
another fixed idea rather than by the complete elimination of the patient‟s
problem.” (van der Hart & Friedman, p10 & 11) When one of these
fixed ideas surface of their own accord into the conscious psyche,
consciousness cannot control the material and is subsequently
dissociated.
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Peter Bob (p311) writes “Several authors point to the fact that
experiences under hypnosis support the view that something similar to
multiple personality may also be present in people who have not been
given this diagnosis. […] The human psychic system may thus be
understood as an ordered system of complexes. […] The complex which
most often dominates was called the ego complex by Jung, and in
multiple personality it corresponds to the primary personality. Other
personalities, called secondary, correspond to other complexes. Multiple
personality thus may be considered as a structural model of the
dissociated human personality.” (2003)
Finally Andrew Samuels writes that “The ego has been moved away
from the center of the theoretical and the therapeutic projects of
psychoanalysis […] The deposing of the ego has created a space for what
might be called “sub-personalities”. Jung‟s theory of complexes, which he
referred to as “splinter psyches”, fills out such a theory of dissociation.”
(Samuels in Eisendrath & Dawson, 1997, p5 & 6)
Extracted from American Psychiatric Association, 2000,
„Dissociative Identity Disorder‟ (formerly Multiple Personality
Disorder)
Diagnostic Features
“The essential feature of Dissociative Identity Disorder is the presence of
two or more distinct identities or personality states […] that recurrently
take control of behaviour. […] There is an inability to recall important
personal information, the extent of which is too great to be explained by
ordinary forgetfulness. […] The disturbance is not due to the direct
physiological effects of a substance or a general medical condition. […] In
children, the symptoms cannot be attributed to imaginary playmates or
other fantasy play.
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Dissociative Identity Disorder reflects a failure to integrate
various aspects of identity, memory, and consciousness. [My
bolding/underlining]Each personality state may be experienced as if it has
a distinct personal history, self-image, and identity, including a separate
name. Usually there is a primary identity that carries the individual‟s
given name and is passive, dependent, guilty, and depressed. The
alternate identities frequently have different names and characteristics
that contrast with the primary identity (e.g., are hostile, controlling, and
self-destructive). Particular identities may emerge in specific
circumstances and may differ in reported age and gender, vocabulary,
general knowledge, or predominant affect. Alternate identities are
experienced as taking control in sequence, one at the expense of the
other, and may deny knowledge of one another, be critical of one
another, or appear to be in open conflict. Occasionally, one or more
powerful identities allocate time to the others. Aggressive or hostile
identities may at times interrupt activities or place the others in
uncomfortable situations.” (p526)
Extracted from Salman, 1997, „The Creative Psyche: Jung‟s Major
Contributions‟
Page 61 & 62) “While testing normal subjects using a “word association
test” in which subjects responded with associations to stimulus words
(CW 2), he found the presence of internal, unconscious distractions which
interfered with associations to the test words. These internal distractions
were called feeling-toned complexes of ideas, complexes for short. This
work had great bearing on the status of psychoanalysis in the scientific
community at that time, yielding empirical indications that an
“association” could be disturbed purely from within. Otherwise, critics
argued, patients in analysis produced associations, but these were shaped
by the analysts responses. (Kerr, 1993). Then Jung provided
experimental verification of specific indicators, namely complexes, which
he argued were responsible for many associations.
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The word association test suggested the presence of many types of
complex. […] For Jung the psyche was inherently dissociable, with
complexes and archetypal contents personified and functioning
autonomously as complete secondary systems. He conceived of there
being numerous secondary selves […]
This radical view is now being investigated vigorously in contemporary
research on trauma, dissociative disorders, and multiple personality
disorders, where many of Jung‟s ideas are being confirmed. And his
thinking on the nature of dissociative phenomena was far-
reaching: in his doctoral dissertation, Jung (CW 1) first suggested
that in some cases the tendency of the psyche to dissociate might
be a positive mechanism. He had studied a spirit medium, and
found that the personality of the medium‟s spirit guide was more
integrated than that of the medium herself. This “secondary”
personality was superior to the primary one. [My bolding]. From this
observation, Jung began to formulate a most important idea: the
teological orientation toward symptomology.”
What I hope that the reader takes from the Sherry Salman extract
(above) is that dissociation is often necessary. Some people
desperately need to learn to listen to the prompts from the
unconscious. Of course, if they do not take the hint and if they
continually repress the messages from their unconscious psyche…
then they will attain a painfully dissociable psychological mindset.
Those who react properly to dissociation attain a healthy
conscious/unconscious dialogue and a healthy mindset. So
repression is a bad idea, especially repeated repression. Repeated
repression results in a psyche that uses repression forever as a
tool. And when you repress you create complexes. And when what
you repress (and when what you avoid)… fails to be avoided…
then the complexes are triggered and your conscious mind is
dissociated by your unconscious complexes.
20
Conclusion
“The present day shows with appalling clarity how little able people
are to let the other man‟s argument count, although this capacity is
a fundamental and indispensible condition for any human
community. Everyone who proposes to come to terms with himself
must reckon with this basic problem. For to the degree that he does
not admit the validity of the other person, he denies the „other‟
within himself the right to exist and vice-versa. The capacity for
inner dialogue is a touchstone for outer objectivity”
(Jung 1916 par: 187, „The transcendent function‟)
While this paper does not flesh-out the implications of
sub/multiple personality it is hoped that there will be a quality
paper written that does precisely that.
Nevertheless we can think of a specific psychological illness that
can be worked through thanks to the logic outlined in this paper.
That illness is „paranoia‟. According to the American Psychiatric
Association (2000) Paranoid Personality Disorder is defined as
follows: “…a pattern of pervasive distrust and suspiciousness of others
such that their motives are interpreted as malevolent. This pattern begins
by early adulthood and is present in a variety of contexts. Individuals with
this disorder assume that other people will exploit, harm, or deceive
them, even if no evidence exists to support this expectation. […] They
suspect on the basis of little or no evidence that others are plotting
against them and may attack them suddenly, at any time and without
reason. They often feel that they have been deeply and irreversibly
injured by another person or persons even when there is no objective
evidence for this. They are preoccupied with unjustified doubts about the
21
loyalty or trustworthiness of their friends and associates, whose actions
are minutely scrutinized for evidence of hostile intentions. Any perceived
deviation from trustworthiness or loyalty serves to support their
underlying assumptions.” (p690)
In Concerning Rebirth Jung defines paranoia as “identity of the ego-
personality with a complex,” as something similar to an extreme state of
possession. (Jung, 1940/1950, par: 220).
An individual suffering from paranoia will experience frequent
dissociations due to the fixed idea being triggered over-and-over
again and engulfing their conscious psyche. The paranoid person
often makes chance happenings that occur in their life fit the
narrative of their paranoia. Each time this occurs they experience
yet another dissociation. The following Jungian thought is
relevant in relation to paranoia:
“In the course of development the archetypal figures become tamed by
being incarnated in and through actual relationships to actual persons;
these persons come gradually to be perceived with more or less accuracy
in terms of their actual nature and character. In other words, they
become more humanized. Perceptions become more appropriate, less
ruthless, more compassionate; the archetypal projections are withdrawn,
and the capacity for truth emerges. And then both the paradisal and the
terrifying worlds begin to recede.”
(Gordon 1993, p303)
AFFECTION/NICE FEELING can still remain (following withdrawl
of projections) so long as they are subjected to scrutiny
concerning possession, strong attachment, and of course so long
as it is not an identification to falsehood. (Differentiation is
another important psychological disposition required for health.
22
Certainly the paranoid personality is failing to differentiate.) Non
projection is on the side of truth and reality. Naturally, it will
depend on ones level of maturity and knowledge, whether or not
someone needs to give a greater voice to their unconscious or
whether someone needs to allow things to more-or-less settle as
they are now. The psychology outlined in this paper rightly implies
that (for relative neurotic dissociation) people need to close the
gap between conscious and unconscious. That is always what one
needs to do. It is psychologically very important to give the
unconscious a hearing but consciousness must decide in the end.
Problems arise when the unconscious voice is simply repressed
thus forming a complex that will inevitably dissociate
consciousness at some point in the future.
23
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