Managing the violent patient.

Episodic dyscontrol (rage) was diagnosed from the clinical history, electroencephalographic findings, and response to oral treatment with phenobarbital in 3 dogs. Clinical features included a mood change heralding aggressive incidents, explosive aggression directed at people or objects, and a postaggressive phase characterized by lethargy and lack of responsiveness. Abnormal electroencephalographic findings included spike activity in the temporal recordings. All 3 dogs responded well to anticonvulsant medication with phenobarbital.

Aggression↗

PubMed1992

Medical anthropology and the depths of human experience: contributions from psychoanalytic anthropology.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Aggression↗

PubMed1992

The selfobject function of weapons: a self psychology examination.

Weapons serve a variety of functions, both for individuals and for society. One such function is that of a selfobject for narcissistically vulnerable persons. This selfobject function allows the damaged self to maintain cohesion and to offset feelings of vulnerability and powerlessness. Because the weapon allows the personality to feel in control and to exert dominance over others, it may come to be viewed in an idealized manner. This is very similar to the idealizing selfobject transference described by Kohut. Weapons are more likely to become selfobjects for those personalities suffering from some degree of self pathology. The selfobject function of weapons, however, may have significance beyond individual psychopathology. Groups of individuals, societies, and even nations may utilize weapons to counter feelings of vulnerability and to diminish fragmentation of the group's collective self. Their destructive potential may be unleashed in response to an intense narcissistic injury and narcissistic rage. The importance of weapons can thus be better understood by examining them within the context of self psychology.

Aggression↗