A Few Preliminary Theoretical and Clinical Remarks for a Lacanian Conceptualization of Supplementary Devices

On Helene Deutsch’s “As If Personalities” and Moritz Katan’s “Pre-Psychosis” This presentation deals with Helene Deutsch’s and Moritz Katan’s work, who respectively developed the theoretico-clinical entities of “as if personality” and “prepsychosis”. It underlines the support those notions may have provided for Lacan’s subsequent conceptualization of “suppleance”. As it happens, the former didn’t hesitate to diagnose apparently “normal” subjects with psychosis, whereas the latter observed prepsychotic attempts of “untriggered” subjects to compensate for the lack of oedipal triangulation. Apprehending “untriggered” psychotic structures opens up to the role of “non introjective” identifications enabling subjects to maintain psychical stability, be it fragile, during a sometimes long period and/or in spite of circumstances prone to trigger-off the psychosis. Studying the relationship between the notions of “as if” personality, prepsychosis, compensation and (imaginary) “suppleance” points out their similarities and discrepancies. Moreover, it contributes to outline therapeutic perspectives: helping the subject to build up a system enabling him to delay the onset of psychosis.