According to the
psychoanalytic
PsychoanalysisFrom Greek: + . is a set of theories and therapeutic techniques"What is psychoanalysis? Of course, one is supposed to answer that it is many things — a theory, a research method, a therapy, a body of knowledge. In what might be ...
explanation of
psychosomatic illness
A somatic symptom disorder, formerly known as a somatoform disorder,(2013) dsm5.org. Retrieved April 8, 2014. is any mental disorder that manifests as physical symptoms that suggest illness or injury, but cannot be explained fully by a general ...
, organ language is the
bodily expression of an
unconscious
Unconscious may refer to:
Physiology
* Unconsciousness, the lack of consciousness or responsiveness to people and other environmental stimuli
Psychology
* Unconscious mind, the mind operating well outside the attention of the conscious mind a ...
conflict
Conflict may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Films
* ''Conflict'' (1921 film), an American silent film directed by Stuart Paton
* ''Conflict'' (1936 film), an American boxing film starring John Wayne
* ''Conflict'' (1937 film) ...
as a form of symbolic communication. It is also called organ-speech, a term that
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating psychopathology, pathologies explained as originatin ...
uses in his 1915 essay "The Unconscious" attributing its coinage to
Victor Tausk.
History
In 1915
Freud
Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies explained as originating in conflicts ...
wrote:
Definition
According to the
American Psychiatric Association
The American Psychiatric Association (APA) is the main professional organization of psychiatrists and trainee psychiatrists in the United States, and the largest psychiatric organization in the world. It has more than 37,000 members are invol ...
,
In other words, the target
organ
Organ may refer to:
Biology
* Organ (biology), a part of an organism
Musical instruments
* Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone
** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument
** Hammond ...
,
tissue or somatic function would be semantically related to the
repressed
"Repressed" is a single by Apocalyptica, released on 19 May 2006. The title song features Max Cavalera (Soulfly and Sepultura) and Matt Tuck ( Bullet for my Valentine) on vocals. It's mostly sung in English and Portuguese, which parts in the las ...
mental content.
Further examples: "difficulty in swallowing may represent an unpalatable situation; an asthmatic episode may symbolize a load on the chest; itching may simbolize irritation or that 'something has gotten under the person's skin'."
Divergences with the psychiatric paradigm
Psychiatry
Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of mental disorders. These include various maladaptations related to mood, behaviour, cognition, and perceptions. See glossary of psychiatry.
Initial p ...
not influenced by such psychoanalytic ideas rejects both the semantic correlation with the target organ and that the cause is an unconscious conflict. If anything,
psychosomatizations are due to
stress affecting a "constitutional" target organ, correlated by
hereditary
Heredity, also called inheritance or biological inheritance, is the passing on of traits from parents to their offspring; either through asexual reproduction or sexual reproduction, the offspring cells or organisms acquire the genetic infor ...
factors.
See also
*
Conversion disorder
Conversion disorder (CD), or functional neurologic symptom disorder, is a diagnostic category used in some psychiatric classification systems. It is sometimes applied to patients who present with neurological symptoms, such as numbness, blindnes ...
*
Somatization disorder
Somatization disorder is a mental and behavioral disorder characterized by recurring, multiple, and current, clinically significant complaints about somatic symptoms. It was recognized in the DSM-IV-TR classification system, but in the latest ver ...
References
Further reading
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Organ language
Freudian psychology
Mind–body interventions
Psychodynamics
Psychoanalytic terminology
Psychoanalytic theory
Somatic psychology