Synopsis

The threshold that Melanie Klein found to exist between the paranoid-schizoid and the depressive positions is the site of series of transformations - extremely inducing murder or suicide - in which habitual forms of discourse break down. WR Bion defined the series of transformations as a state of catastrophic change: it is comparable to the stage in rites of passage, as described by Arnold van Gennep, in which initiates undergo an experience of psychic eclipse.

Reviews

Every major discipline, including psychoanalysis, needs the stimulus of an excellent mind, standing away from the centre of professional gravity, commenting on that discipline. Eric Rhode‘s new book Psychotic Metaphysics makes just such a contribution with the depth and scholarliness we by now expect from him.

Anton Obholzer. Psychiatrist, a Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, and a Child and Adult Psychoanalyst. Former Chief Executive Tavistock and Portman Trust