ABSTRACT
Spielrein’s medical dissertation is an analysis of the patient Frau M., a complex case of paranoid dementia. Spielrein first relates the description by the patient’s husband regarding his wife’s emotional decline into insanity that led to her hospitalization. Arranged by various subject categories, she then classifies the content of the patient’s statements and sometimes confused utterances, seeking clues for interpretation. Spielrein substantiates her interpretation through extensive reference to emerging psychoanalytic theories of her time while building on them.
