The relationship between psychoanalysis and schizophrenia
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Updated: Sep 26, 2026

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Published on: September 8, 2021
1Richardnlucas1@aol.com
Abstract:
In this article, the author considers psychoanalysts' current attitudes towards schizophrenia. After early optimism of a psychoanalytic approach, interest has waned, other than in the field of first-onset psychosis. This was because of poor outcome figures and regarding schizophrenia as now having a biological, rather than psychological, base. The author argues that there is a paradox, because only psychoanalysis offers a framework for relating to psychotic patients in a way that helps them to make sense of their experiences. A framework is described, with clinical examples, to illustrate the application of analytic thinking to patients with schizophrenia. Psychoanalysis needs to revitalize its attitude to psychosis, as it has a significant contribution to make within general psychiatry, not least in the training of the next generation of psychiatrists.
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