Zombie states: reconsidering the relationship between life and death instincts.
Bruce Reis
The Psychoanalytic Quarterly April 2011 DOI: 10.1002/j.2167-4086.2011.tb00086.x (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that when the dialectical relation of life and death instincts becomes dissociated, 'zombie states' result, in which individuals inhabit deadness as if it were full aliveness. A clinical vignette illustrates countertransference difficulties tied to dichotomizing psychic aliveness and deadness, and the powerful contagion the author attributes to 'zombie states.' |
Abstract
Where the dialectical relation of life and death instincts has become dissociated, zombie states result-in which individuals inhabit deadness as if it were a full experience of aliveness. Bypassing reservations about the speculative nature of these instincts, this paper reconsiders their relation in order to highlight certain types of clinical phenomenology that could otherwise be lost to current ways of conceptualizing aliveness and deadness. A clinical vignette illustrates particular countertransference difficulties associated with dichotomizing issues of psychic aliveness and deadness, as well as the powerful contagion associated with what the author terms zombie states.