Affect equivalent

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Somatization
Affect correlate Affect equivalent

Affect equivalent is a term from psychoanalysis and describes a defense process in which the connection between the feeling of fear and the resulting physical changes such as palpitations , muscle tension , sweating or other symptoms are dissolved. The patient is no longer aware of the conflicted feelings, but only the sensations of physical reactions as their equivalent. Different defense mechanisms such as B. affect isolation or intellectualization allow a common description of such processes under the term affect equivalent. This points to energetic and psychodynamic aspects, namely to the conversion of a psychic form of energy into a somatic form (or vice versa) according to the psychophysical correlation , see also the following chapter. Origin of the term .

Origin of the term

The term equivalent as a psychoenergetic designation and thus indirectly the later composition “affect equivalent” was introduced into psychiatric terminology by Wilhelm Griesinger (1817–1868), see the correspondence between Griesinger and Julius Robert von Mayer (1814–1878) about the mechanical heat equivalent . Klaus Dörner is of the opinion that the energetic idea of ​​Griesinger was decisive for his main work in 1845, alongside that of unitary psychosis and practical clinical observation. Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) used the notion of the equivalent first time in 1895 in his work on the demarcation of anxiety neurosis from neurasthenia . At that time he took over the term equivalent from Ewald Hecker , who used it to describe “rudiments of the anxiety attack”. These consisted of physical-vegetative symptoms such as heart cramps, shortness of breath, cravings and sweating. Hecker also referred to them as "masked anxiety states". According to Freud's short formula for the anxiety neurosis, this was triggered by everything "that prevents the somatic sexual tension from the psychic, interferes with its psychological processing". Freud had previously suggested the term conversion for the affective “conversion of sums of excitement into the physical” . However, it was not a question of physical-vegetative symptoms as in the case of the fear equivalent (affect equivalent), but rather those that emanate from the animal nervous system . However, this distinction was first made in 1950 by Franz Alexander (1891–1964), who differentiated between manifestation on organs with smooth and striated muscles .

meaning

The concept of the affect equivalent has given impetus to theories of the development of functional syndromes . Thereby the groups of expressive diseases were distinguished from the willingness diseases. If the vegetative phenomenon or symptom represents the unperceived affect , as is the case with readiness diseases, then there is a more chronic form with undirected, freely floating fear or dysfunction instead of fear. In the affects still perceived by the patient, as in the case of expressive diseases , the symptoms tend to be acute , with specifically oriented, i.e. H. object-related anxiety attacks. In this latter case, we do not speak of an affect equivalent but of an affect correlate .

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Thure von Uexküll , Rolf H. Adler, Jörg M. Herrmann: Psychosomatic Medicine. Models of medical thought and action , Elsevier, Munich, 6th edition, 2002, p. 30, ISBN 3-437-21830-1
  2. ^ William Thierry Preyer : R. v. Mayer. About the conservation of energy . Letters to W. Griesinger. Berlin 1889
  3. ^ Klaus Dörner : Citizens and Irre . On the social history and sociology of science in psychiatry. (1969) Fischer Taschenbuch, Bücher des Wissens, Frankfurt / M 1975, ISBN 3-436-02101-6 ; Page 315
  4. ^ Wilhelm Griesinger : Pathology and therapy of mental illnesses. Krabbe, Stuttgart 1845
  5. ↑ Sigmund Freud : About the justification to separate a certain symptom complex from neurasthenia as an "anxiety neurosis". [1895] in: Gesammelte Werke, Volume I (Studies on Hysteria - Early Writings on Neuroses), S. Fischer, Frankfurt / M, 3 1953, ISBN 3-10-022703-4 ; Stw. "Equivalent": Pages 316, 319
  6. ↑ Ewald Hecker : About larvae and abortive anxiety states in neurasthenia . Central sheet for neurology. Dec 1893
  7. ↑ Sigmund Freud: On the criticism of the "fear neurosis". [1895] in: Gesammelte Werke, Volume I (Studies on Hysteria - Early Writings on Neuroses), S. Fischer, Frankfurt / M, 3 1953, ISBN 3-10-022703-4 ; Stw. "Short formula for anxiety neurosis": Page 358
  8. ↑ Sigmund Freud: The defense neuropsychoses . [1894] In: Collected Works, Volume I, S. Fischer Verlag, Frankfurt / M 3 1953, ISBN 3-10-022703-4 ; Pages 63, 74
  9. ^ Franz Alexander : Psychosomatic medicine . Its principles and applications. Norton, New York 1950, 300 pages DNB-online Dt .: Psychosomatic Medicine . Basics and areas of application. De Gruyter, Berlin 1951
  10. ↑ a b Sven Olaf Hoffmann and Hochapfel, G .: Neurosenlehre, psychotherapeutic and psychosomatic medicine. [1999], Compact textbook, Schattauer, Stuttgart 6 2003, ISBN 3-7945-1960-4 ; (a) Re. “Franz Alexander's discovery of the vegetative neurosis”: Page 304 (b) Re. “Affect equivalent and vegetative dysfunction”: Page 254

literature

  • Christian Reimer, Ulrich Rüger: Psychodynamische Psychotherapien: Textbook of depth psychologically founded psychotherapy procedures , Springer, 2006, ISBN 3-540-25384-X
  • Fritzsche, Kurt; Wirsching, Michael: Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy , Springer 2006, ISBN 978-3-540-21877-7