1. INTRODUCTION
“Tell me where is fancy bred…?”Men have always wondered about the peculiarity of the human being and about the very time the human psychic reality begins, like Shakespeare in the aforementioned line did. Numerous theories have been featuring the history of Western thought so far. Some theories have defined the human being as divided into evil and good while others, such as the Judeo-christian tradition, have recognized in humans the original nothingness. Yet, in accordance with the Western logos,the classic psychoanalysis have considered the newborn as polymorphic perverse and all humans as characterized by animality which can be controlled through reason only. In 1972, the psychiatrist Massimo Fagioli published the revolutionary “Death Instinct and Knowledge”. This is the first of the four books through which Fagioli explains the fundamentals of the Human Birth Theory. Specifically, Fagioli theorized that at human birth the creation of thought takes place as a consequence of the cerebral matter reaction, through the retina, to the light stimulus previously absent in utero. The newborn reacts to the light stimulus with the “Disappearance Fantasy”, namely the capability to imagine.Consequently, the human psychic reality emerges. In our opinion, the human birth theory represents a revolutionary thought since it provides a new view of the human birth as healthy and equal for all the individuals.
2. OBJECTIVES
The present work aims to present the mechanisms underlying the Disappearance Fantasy and its psychotherapeutic implications. This scientific discovery revolutionizes the vision of the human being as well as the understanding of the mind physiology and the etiopathogenesis of mental disease. Through a perspicuous and methodic clinical practice based on these principles, Fagioli shows the existence and possibility of a cure aiming to heal from mental diseases.
3. METHODS
When and how does human psychic reality begin? According to Fagioli’s theory, at birth the light activates the cerebral matter by stimulating the retina. This reaction allows the newborn to make a fantasy, known as the first human thought.Indeed, the newborn makes the excessively stimulating external environment disappear and simultaneously makes the memory of the fetal skin sensation in contact with the amniotic fluid appear as a non-material reality. This first mental activity, the Disappearance Fantasy, consists of the annulment pulsion against the non-human reality and the vitality, which in turn originates from the fetus reaction during the passage through the birth canal. Thus, the newborn is able to realize,as an intuition, the existence of other human beings leading him or her to seek and reach the breast. In the context of the relation with the breast, when the newborn ends every breastfeeding as well as at weaning, two scenarios may occur. If the new born finds an accordance with the object-breast in terms of psychic qualities, he or she will realize an inner image by making the relation with the physical object disappear and transforming it into a valid psychic image. Conversely, repeat disappointing experiences may lead the newborn to annul the object-breast resulting in an inner psychic void which in turn may cause mental illness.Also, Fagioli theorized that the unconscious thought emerging at birth is recreated in the human dream activity.Accordingly, dreams represent an image-based language. The comprehension and interpretation of dreams may lead to the knowledge of this peculiar language. In the psychotherapeutic setting, the interpretation of the unconscious dimension should represent the fundamental tool aiming to transform the psychic dynamics of the patient. Yet, due to his or her intuition and receptivity originating from the capability of imagine, the psychotherapist will be able to repeatedly interpret the annulment pulsion of the patient. Therefore, psychotherapy will lead the patient to increase his or her vitality which inturn counteracts the annulment pulsion destructivity. Indeed, the Disappearance Fantasy will gradually replace the annulment pulsion. Eventually, the patient will be able to address the Disappearance Fantasy towards his or her pathological psychic dimensions resulting in the emergence of new and healthier relationship dynamics.
4. CONCLUSION
To conclude, the human birth theory based on the Disappearance Fantasy as the origin of the human thought at birth,represents a revolutionary scientific discovery. As psychodynamic psychotherapy advanced students, the present work contributes to both a personal and a professional confrontation with this such a genial and rigorous theory. Through Fagioli’s theorization, we can conclude that a perspicuous and methodic clinical practice as well as a cure, aiming to heal from mental illness, exists. In addition, the human birth theory may provide psychotherapists with an original perspective for the realization of a human and professional identity as well as representing the foundation of a new anthropology.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
- Fagioli, M. (2017). Istinto di morte e conoscenza. L’Asino d’oro edizioni
- Fagioli, M. (2019). Left 2016-2017. L’Asino d’oro edizioni
- Laplace, J., Pontalis, B. (2010). Enciclopedia della psicoanalisi, tra. it. 9° ed. a cura di Fuà, G., Bari, Editori Laterza, ( Ed. or.1967)
