Gamma elements as protomental representations: Suggestions for expanding W. R. Bion's theory of elements

W. R. Bion developed various models and theories to describe the formation of mental representations. This article introduces an expansion of the model of alpha and beta elements by a new category, termed "gamma elements". Despite being transformable, gamma elements are characterized by an excessive feeling of reality, such that the subject must evacuate them. We are dealing here with visions, pseudohallucinations, scenarios in nightmares that are as terrible as they are sensorily charged, flashbacks, or overwhelming physical feelings interspersed with hypochondriacal anxieties. Using the "theory of maternal semiotics" (Kristeva), the author traces how the child's projectiles, i.e. beta experiences projected into the maternal container, are transformed into alpha and gamma elements. In this respect, gamma elements are more or less precise indicators of the analytic process: they indicate the extent to which the analysand is capable of enduring and transforming frustrating experiences in the here-and-now. The expansion of Bion's model of elements, therefore, has direct clinical relevance, in that gamma elements can be understood both as imaginative creations and as indications of disorganizing processes.