An experimental study of psychoanalytic theories of depression

This study involves an application of a new methodology, subliminal psychodynamic activation, which can be used to experimentally test psychoanalytic "dynamic" propositions. It was found that with a sample of neurotically depressed female patients, there was a significant decrease in depression-related responses following the stimulation of a symbiotic gratification fantasy ("Mommy and I are one"). Subliminal symbiotic stimulation had been shown previously in studies with different populations (schizophrenics, homosexuals, phobics, alcoholics and overeaters) to have similar ameliorative effects. The current results point to the importance of symbiotic dynamics and the relationship dependent on a dominant other, rather than to the retroflexion of aggression in neurotic depression. This is in keeping with the formulations of Arieti (1959), Bemporad (1953), Horowitz (1980), and the senior author (Slipp, 1977). Hypotheses regarding the effects of stimulating fantasies involving success were not supported by the primary data, although secondary data (from correlational analyses) did provide some indirect support for the senior author's hypothesis. The "Autonomous Succeed" message ("Succeed for myself") did not reverse the depressive mood, possibly because autonomy was equated with abandonment. Relatively differentiated depressives tended to respond to the "Exploitative Succeed" ("Succeed for Father or Mother") messages with a decrease in depression, while depressives with a low level of self-object differentiation tended to respond with an increase in depression. For more differentiated depressives, performing for and giving over a part of the self to another is an adaptive style that insures the dependent relationship and bolsters the patient's weak self-image. However, with poorly differentiated depressives, giving over to another raises the threat of total annihilation, since the self is already diminished. These secondary data can be viewed, however, as only suggestive and need to be pursued in future studies. The results on symbiosis in this study add to the growing literature (summarized in Silverman, 1976, 1980) indicating that subliminal psychodynamic activation is a useful technique for investigating psychoanalytic formulations in the laboratory. It was Freud's overriding hope that psychoanalysis be firmly rooted as a behavioral science and this technique seems most promising as contributing toward that end.