La dissociation hystérique dans les textes de Janet et Freud avant 1911

Abstract

Before the introduction by Bleuler of the concept of Spaltung (translated into French as dissociation) in schizophrenia, Pierre Janet and Freud described this mechanism in hysterical states. In the present study, the different definitions of the word dissociation have been examined. In the studies of Janet, four functions in the mechanism of dissociation can be distinguished: disaggregation, in which the phenomena uncontrolled by the state of consciousness are separated from the psyche; reversible recomposition in which the dissociated representations recombine and may form a new personality; the suppression or hiding from oneself of the pathogenic traumatic memory; the beneficial effect of clinical intervention which aims to modifying the memory of the traumatic event, by representing it in a different light. In the texts written between 1892 and 1895, Freud considered the process of dissociation in hysterical states; it may indica te the mechanism by which certain representations are excluded from consciousness due to an intense affective involvement. In preference to the theory of degeneration, Freud favoured Breuer's notion, which was inspired by Moebius, of the hypnoid state. He distinguished two phases of this mechanism: dissociation ( Dissoziation in German) and splitting ( Spaltung) of consciousness; the latter state maintains those representations outside consciousness, which may provoke an effect that is comparable to a traumatism. In 1893, Freud introduced the notion of repression, which partly arises from the mechanisms of dissociation and splitting, but which does not fully replace them. It is important to differentiate between the mechanism of dissociation and that of repression; the former should be studied as a separate entity in its various pathological manifestations, with hysteria considered as the basis.