Defense and resistance in the psychoanalytic process.

"Defense" and "resistance" are usually regarded as two separate and distinct concepts, the first belonging to psychic functioning in general and the second to therapy, yet this distinction is far from constant. Clinical observations indicate a frequent overlapping of these two mental functions or positions. A patient's behavior may convey the meaning of either or both concepts, and a position or response that one assumes to bespeak resistance may reveal defense instead.

Autodestruction and nonexistence: two distinct aspects of the death drive.

The concept of the death drive is more frequently employed by European than by American psychoanalysts, although it is not unanimously accepted even by the former. In recent years there have been attempts to disconnect the longstanding theoretical link between the drive and aggression, in keeping with the observations of various nondestructive components of the death drive. A hitherto unmentioned aspect of this drive is the yearning for nonexistence, a shadow-like counterpoise to life, expressed by two analysands.