Restitutional Functions of Symbol and Myth in Strindberg's Inferno

We are here together to honor the memory of Dr. Frieda Fromm-Reichmann, to try to assure that the vast good she did in her lifetime continues to live after her. Frieda was an extraordinary and memorable person. Among my many cherished memories of her is an indelible image of her climbing the podium...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Psychiatry (Washington, D.C.) D.C.), 2009-06, Vol.72 (2), p.117-129
Main Author: Burnham, Donald L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult and adolescent clinical studies
Attitudes
Behavior
Biological and medical sciences
Clinical medicine
Colleges & universities
Cultural change
Dementia
Essays
Meaning
Medical sciences
Memory
Mental disorders
Openness
Personal relationships
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Psychoses
Schizophrenia
Strindberg, August (1849-1912)
Citations: Items that this one cites
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Summary:We are here together to honor the memory of Dr. Frieda Fromm-Reichmann, to try to assure that the vast good she did in her lifetime continues to live after her. Frieda was an extraordinary and memorable person. Among my many cherished memories of her is an indelible image of her climbing the podium steps carrying her notes and several pictures almost larger than herself. These were to illustrate her lectures in a course she called "The Assets of the Mentally Handicapped." They included, for instance, prints of paintings by van Gogh. A principal purpose of this course was to present her staunch conviction that it was a grievous error to view severe mental illness, particularly schizophrenia, only as a loss, defect, or deficiency of mind as suggested by the earlier diagnostic term dementia praecox. She contended with great cogency that it was not simply a matter of the schizophrenic person's lacking normal mental capacities but that he often possessed qualities of mind not available to the so-called normal, average person. She pointed to the schizophrenic person's special sensitivity to nuances of meaning, his freedom to deviate from conventional stereotyped views of reality, and his openness to new perceptions of similarities and connections overlooked by others. She emphasized a striving to discover and to create fresh patterns of meaning.
ISSN:0033-2747
1943-281X
DOI:10.1521/psyc.2009.72.2.117