Some conceptual and technical aspects of the actual neurosis

The idea of the actual neurosis is approached as a problem of the transformation of the meaning of terminology by developments in psychoanalytic thought. However, unlike most concepts, the transformation of the meaning of the actual neurosis presents a special problem because this concept refers to issues at the boundaries of psychoanalysis. Three meanings of the actual neurosis are discussed: the actual neurosis as a diagnostic entity, as an infantile core of the psychoneurosis and as observable states in the clinical situation. Certain controversies having to do with technical points of view on the various meanings of the concepts are reviewed. The danger of over-technologizing the clinical situation in deference to actual-neurotic states is stressed.