ABSTRACT
The problem of being nourished by poisons seems fathomless when confronted by cases in which a person's sense of "well-being and vitality spring from the same characteristics which give trouble". Bion has in mind mental illness so persistent that it is often attributed to inborn physical pathology. W. R. Bion writes of a "crux" that is reached if analysis progresses. The individual reaches a point where recognition of conflict between alternative methods of meeting personal problems becomes possible. Bion calls these alternative methods "transformations in hallucinosis" and "transformations in analysis". At the particular crux Bion has in mind, what is at stake is hallucinatory "solutions" to difficulties based on surplus envy, rivalry, hate, superiority versus analytic solutions based on cooperation, compassion, generosity, complementation. A kind of morality play evolves: hate versus love, superiority versus cooperation, envy versus generosity. The sense of superiority embedded in hallucinatory solutions draws on the sense of might in the person.
