ABSTRACT
By applying psychoanalysis to the study of psychotic breakdown, Freud opened up a whole new avenue of understanding. However, Freud's major conclusion from his encounter with the case was that psychoanalysis can provide an understanding of psychosis as well as neurosis. In 1924, Freud differentiated between neurosis and psychosis as follows: in a neurosis the ego, in its dependence on reality, suppresses a piece of the id (of instinctual life), whereas in a psychosis, this same ego, in the service of the id, withdraws from a piece of reality. Following from Freud, who regarded neurosis as an illness which can be cured, Jacques Lacan saw it as a structure which cannot be altered. Klein thought that envy was heavily implicated in neurosis and psychosis. She believed that both neurosis and psychosis are parts of each individual's mental make-up. Psychoanalytic studies of childhood development, and clinical work with adults, throw light on the origins of psychosis and neurosis.
