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Vol. 42 No. 2 (2022)
Revista Portuguesa de Psicanálise

Clínicas

Um diálogo entre a psicanálise e a psiquiatria de ligação sobre a ansiedade de morte: A propósito de um caso clínico

https://doi.org/10.51356/rpp.422a5

Published 2023-04-08

  • Pedro Almeida

Pedro Almeida
Hospital Magalhães Lemos

Abstract

Death anxiety has been an aspect little addressed in psychoanalytic theory throughout its history. However, there has recently been a renewed interest in this theme, which is materialized by a nascent movement of approximation between psychoanalytic thinking and Liaison Psychiatry acting in Palliative Care. In order to validate this integrative effort, we present the case of a 32-year- -old woman diagnosed with gastric adenocarcinoma in July / 2019 and followed by Liaison Psychiatry at a General Hospital between October / 2019 and November / 2019, the date of her death. A reflection is made on the patient’s anxiety about death, which, in the last month, was accompanied by the expression of affections that were intolerable, causing an impact on the technicians due to the associated disruptive behaviors. From a psychoanalytic perspective, it is intended to demonstrate the importance of this anxiety being contained within the therapeutic relationship and the need for supervision that attends to the countertransference and the unconscious identifications established between the technicians and the patient. For this, some concepts from Wilfred Bion’s work are considered relevant in the understanding and management of the case, such as alpha-function, projective identification, continent-content model, among others.

Keywords

Anxiety, Death, Psychoanalysis, Palliative

PDF (Português)

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