My Paper in a New Book In German: “Trauma and Psychosis”

I have just received my copy of a new book published in Germany, in the German language, entitled “Trauma and Psychosis” (“Trauma und Psychose”), and published by Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht. The relationship between traumatic experiences and psychotic illness is particularly significant in the treatment of psychosis.  This book addresses issues relevant to this topic, starting with an examination of the influence of Theodor Meynert on Freud’s concepts, by Theodor Meissel, and moving on to my paper about the historical application of the medical diagnosis of “Schizophrenia” to survivors of the Holocaust. An earlier version of my paper in English was previously published by Kavod and can be accessed at this link.

It is an honor to be included in this prestigious publication, and particularly important for me to include in this professional publication in the German language the paper in which I addressed the most neglected of all survivors, those whose suffering led to the total destruction of the capacity to live a normal life. These survivors have been, for the most part, diagnosed as schizophrenic patients and therefore excluded from the narrative of surviving the Holocaust when, in fact, many of them have succumbed to psychotic functioning due to the traumatization and the loss of family and social support that they suffered because of the Holocaust. The inclusion of the testimonies of these survivors, for whom there will be no other witness, is a critical, tragically late addition to the literature about the impact of extreme genocidal trauma.

Other papers in the new book (in German) address the particular meaning of the frame in psychoanalytic treatment, by Marion Oliner; the relationship between aspects of family dynamics and the manifestation of psychosis, by Terje Neraal; psychotic functioning as a defensive adaptation among severely traumatized youth, by Birgit Riediger, and an in-depth case vignette by Stefan Reichard with discussions by Andrea Pavlik-Kellersmann and by Michael Dumpelmann.

                 Irit Felsen