The Journal of Abnormal Psychology, vol 10 | Page 8

to her husband's
dissatisfaction until she convinced him that her pain and disability were marked. It was
evident that despite the controversies and quarrels that prevailed in the household, her
husband sincerely loved her, for he stayed away from his work during the three weeks of
her illness to act as her nurse. Moreover, he spent his earnings quite freely in consulting
various physicians in order to cure her.
It was shown from what both the patient and her husband said, and from the whole
history of their marital life, that she had used as a weapon, though not with definite
conscious purpose, for the gaining of her point in whatever quarrel came up, symptoms
that are usually called hysterical; that is to say, vomiting, fainting spells and pains
without definite physical cause. This method usually assured her victory by playing upon
her husband's alarm and concern as well as by causing him intense dissatisfaction. With
the advent of a disagreement which could not be settled her way by her usual symptoms,
there followed, not by any means through her volition or conscious purpose, more severe
symptoms; namely, spastic paralysis and aphonia, which, in a general way, were
suggested by her patient. There seems to have been, and there undoubtedly was, a sexual
element entering into this last quarrel; namely, that she was jealous of the woman who
lived downstairs, though without any proof of her husband's infidelity.
Both patient and her husband finally agreed to the physician's statement that the
symptoms were directly referable to the quarrels, although both claimed that it had never
occurred to them before, a fact made evident by their questions and objections. No
psychoanalysis was possible in this case, for the man and woman belong to that class of
people who feel that they are cured when their symptoms are relieved. It may be argued,

without any possibility of contradiction, that a psychoanalysis would have revealed a
deeper reaching mechanism and that a closer relationship and connection between the
paralysis and other symptoms with the past sexual experiences of the patient could have
been established. This last claim may be doubted, however, for there is always a gap
between the alleged "conversion" of mental states into physical symptoms, and this gap
can in no case be bridged over even by Freud's own accounts. The conversion always
remains as a mere statement and is a logical connection between the appearance of
physical symptoms and the so-called conflicts; in other words, it is an explanation and
not a FACT. Compared with the complex Freudian mechanism, with its repressions,
compressions, censors, dreams, etc., the conception of hysterical symptoms as a marital
weapon as comparable with the tears of more normal women seems very simple and
probably too simple. In fact, it does not explain the hysteria, it merely gives a USE for its
symptoms, and the writer is driven back to the statement that the neuropathic person is
characterized by his or her bizarre and prolonged emotional reactions, which, in turn,
brings us back to a defect ab origine. And the Freudians, starting out to prove that the
experiences of the individual ALONE cause hysteria, by pushing back the TIME of those
experiences to INFANCY (and lately to foetal life), have proved the contrary, that is, the
inborn nature of the disease.

THE ANALYSIS OF A NIGHTMARE
BY RAYMOND BELLAMY
Professor of Education, Emory and Henry College, Emory, Va.
A FEW nights ago I experienced a very interesting nightmare, and, immediately on
awakening, I got up and recorded it, analyzing it as fully as I was able. This is the first
nightmare I have had for several years, and I never was especially addicted to them. Two
years ago I made an introductory study of dreams,[1] and at that time dreamed profusely,
but recently I have been dreaming very rarely, and when I do dream the experiences are
not at all vivid. I use the term "nightmare" in a somewhat popular sense to mean a painful
or frightful dream accompanied by physical disturbances, such as heart flutter and
disturbances of breathing, and followed on awakening by a certain amount of the painful
emotion which was a part of the dream. Accepting this definition, the experience which I
have to relate was a typical nightmare. A few words of explanation are necessary to give
the proper setting for the experience. At present I am teaching in the summer school at
this place and my wife is visiting her folks; during her absence, in order to keep from
getting too lonesome, I invited one of the young men in the summer school to come and
room with me and keep me company. With this as an explanation, I shall copy the
original account of the dream as nearly as