Transference, language, and affect in the treatment of bulimarexia

Bulimarexic patients in analysis seem to defend against the transference. For them, defending against the transference is the transference. They believe that the analyst does not intend to listen to them. They do not believe in the communicative function of words. Their words are used as weapons to attack the analyst, or as a decoy to avoid self-revelation. They treat the analyst's words with sarcasm and disbelief while fearing the penetrating power of his/her words. This description suggests a disturbance of the communicative function of language. This paper explores the probable genetic and dynamic sources of this disturbance. The clinical evidence suggests a disturbance of the wish to communicate at the oral and anal stages. The patient's language develops normally at the level of linguistic competence. It fails, however, to connect with the affective components of the sense of self and therefore interferes with the verbalization of subjective experience.