Affect, attachment, memory: contributions toward psychobiologic integration.

Recent decades have seen a marked expansion in knowledge regarding human neurophysiology, and psychiatry is currently challenged with the task of integrating this information with a psychodynamic understanding of emotional life. In this paper we review portions of the relevant literature regarding the basic brain functions of affect, memory, and attachment, and we consider the implications of these data for integrated psychobiologic conceptualizations of emotional dysfunction and its treatment. In particular, data from these three areas of study point to the possibility that implicit memory of the early attachment relationship, communicated via the language of affect, is an enduring neural structure that influences both emotional self-regulation and behavior related to relatedness.

Abuse of monoamine oxidase inhibitors.

Monoamine oxidase inhibitors, like other antidepressants, generally are considered free of risk for abuse. There is, however, some evidence that MAOIs possess dependence and abuse potential for some patients. We will review the available literature and describe three current cases.

The hysterical personality disorder: a proposed clarification of a diagnostic dilemma.

This paper reviews the marked confusion surrounding the diagnosis of the hysterical personality disorder, which has resulted from the use of vague and at times contradictory criteria in making this diagnosis. It is recommended that the diagnosis be based exclusively on psychodynamic characteristics, and a specific psychodynamic formulation is offered for this disorder. The formulation is examined from the perspectives of genetic development, drive organization, and ego and superego organization.