ABSTRACT
In Chapter 3 Freud’s case of Ernst Lanzer, aka the “Rat Man,” was reviewed in order to demonstrate that Lanzer was psychotic. Freud attempted to use him to illustrate his theory of neurosis and the idea that neurotic symptoms are the consequence of symptomatic return of repressed conflicts related to infantile drives. By contrast, the case material clearly demonstrates that his psychosis was the manifestation of primordial conscious mentation employed in situations in which it was socio-culturally inappropriate and maladaptive.
