Fitter Happier
2023

In psychiatry, on the other hand, the notion of personality makes any distinction between normal and pathological singularly difficult. Bleuler, for example, set up as two opposed poles of mental pathology the schizophrenia group, with its breakdown of contact with reality, and the manic-depressive group, or cyclical psychoses, with their exaggeration of affective reactions. But this definition seemed to define normal as well as morbid personalities. ... But, at the same time, the transition from normal reactions to morbid forms was not a matter of a precise analysis of the processes; it simply made possible a qualitative appreciation that opened the way to every kind of confusion. Whereas the idea of organic solidarity enables one to distinguish and to unite morbid damage and adapted response, the examina-tion of personality in mental pathology prevents such analyses.

Mental Illness and Psychology, 1954

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