ABSTRACT
A psychoanalytic approach to the theory and treatment of psychosis has been discussed in the literature since Freud's early writings. In “Further Remarks on the Neuro-Psychosis of Defence” (1896) Freud reported a case of chronic paranoia. At that time, before the development of an instinct theory, he described paranoia as proceeding from the repression of distressing memories, and the symptoms were determined in their form by the content of what had been repressed. These ideas were later modified by Freud especially with the introduction of instinct theory.
