Am J Psychiatry 1987; 144:489-492
Copyright © 1987 by American Psychiatric Association
An effect of pharmacotherapy on the psychoanalytic process: case report of a modified analysis
HW Wylie Jr and ML Wylie
A woman who had appeared suitable for psychoanalysis was persistently
unable to develop an analyzable transference. Her history, as it unfolded
during analysis, suggested a form of atypical depression linked to a
neurochemical abnormality, which appeared to be related to her reluctance
to take the emotional risk involved in examining transference phenomena.
The analysis was modified by a trial of phenelzine. Changes within the
analysis and in the patient's private life after the drug trial ended
support the hypothesis that her affective vulnerability had inhibited her
ability to engage in analysis of transference before the administration of
the drug.
