Reassociation of dreams. II. An LSD study of sexual conflicts in eczema and asthma.

Abstract

This second paper on the reassociation of dreams confirms 1. the value of reassociating a key dream (The Beetle Bug Dream) and 2. the use of lysergic acid diethyl amide (LSD) as an adjunct to psychoanalytic therapy. The patient (Joyce) was a young mother whose very severe eczema and asthma were accompanied by an incapacitating depression. The following summary of the three interviews indicate briefly the psychodynamic materials developed which helped Joyce uncover her confused sexual identifications and fear of lesbianism. In Interview 96 the initial Beetle Bug Dream was studied cautiously. On analysis the tentacles of the Beetle Bugs symbolically represented the hands of a man mauling a girl's skin. A sexual approach by a man is considered an attack. "Bugs get under the skin. If Jack (my husband) touches my skin, that spot itches." A second Beetle Bug is described. The special aspect of this unique Bug is that it was not threatening. This Bug is discussed in terms of the transference: the silent analyst and a father who responded to her childhood travail by silence are compared. Reassociation of the Beetle Bug Dream without LSD took place one year later. The session (Interview 235) lasted about 45 minutes and the verbatim recording occupied 12 typewritten pages. Free association led to the realization that the patient was programmed in part to identify with her father--a silent, passive individual. It was apparent that a psychological struggle for femininity, induced by the confused identification led to a threat of penetration by the sting of the Beetle Bug and, where a man was involved, penetration by the penis. Interview 236 (three days later) was conducted under LSD 25. The Beetle Bug Dream again formed the basis of this interview, which lasted four hours and occupied 46 pages of typewritten, verbatim material. A new feeling of independence from maternal influence is felt. "It used to be if I just thought of her, I could start scratching." The relationship with her husband is complicated by "deep, dark secrets." She is afraid of her husband. Her mother emphasized she was "one" with her father. Contact with aggressive males during adolescence, as well as seductive episodes were disturbing. In camp she feared that she might be a lesbian. This fear persisted into adult life. The threat of the Beetle Bug sting is developed further. Hostile feelings toward the penis are revealed in detail, The part of the penis in the vagina could be chopped off--the penis was what the sting of the Beetle Bug would be if it penetrated the skin. The bridegroom attacks the bride. An unwanted pregnancy is equivalent to the broken sting remaining in the skin. These revelations led to insight regarding unusual violent anger toward her child during toilet training. The data support the view that publication of verbatim recordings are a necessary condition for establishing psychoanalytic procedures as a basic science of medicine and of the validity of psychodynamic theory...