238 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 175 



pattern.™ This inference becomes a near certainty once it is realized that John 

 began to seek closer ties with various father figures only after the death of the 

 father figure who had played so decisive a role during the psychologically criti- 

 cal years of his life. 



As can be seen, John was extraordinarily successful in achieving a great 

 variety of neurotic-oedipal objectives through a rigorous and even excessive 

 compliance with certain social regulations that seek to frustrate oedipal striv- 

 ings and to loosen the bonds between a man and his mother, and was able to do 

 so more than once. Moreover, in his last, and most durable, union, he managed 

 to gi-atify these forbidden strivings even more successfully than in his earlier 

 one. These findings suggest that we are dealing with a genuine psychological 

 pattern and not with mere "coincidences." The subtlety of the maneuvers 

 whereby John achieved forbidden ends through an overcompliance with the rules 

 that forbid these very ends will not startle the psychiatrist, who is accustomed 

 to the subtle and devious ways in which symptomatic behavior effects com- 

 promises between forbidden unconscious strivings and the rigid rules of the 

 superego. 



Psychotic episode: 



John's delicately poised and extremely complex symptomatic compromises 

 were eventually disrupted by certain external occurrences. These events 

 threatened one of his most vulnerable spots, which, until then, had not been 

 subjected to any kind of trauma. 



Predisposing situational factors. — Although John's last union appears to be 

 a permanent one, and is characterized by a great deal of mutual devotion and 

 tenderness, the young spouses experienced a series of severe disappointments 

 related to one of the basic aspects of their union. These events greatly dis- 

 tressed John, who, for no good reason, felt that he was personally responsible 

 for them. Unfortunately it is not possible to state the nature of these dis- 

 appointments, without revealing John's identity. Suffice it to say that these 

 disappointments were extremely threatening to John's self-definition as a Mo- 

 have man, and were, moreover, inextricably intertwined with a variety of 

 oedipal problems and also with the more threatening aspects of his identifica- 

 tion with his mother and with the most important father figure in his life. It 

 is also possible that he viewed this series of disappointments as a punishment 

 for a quite minimal derelection that he committed in another, slightly similar 

 context. 



Precipitating factors. — While John was still convalescing from a rather serious 

 physical illness, he carelessly and quite unnecessarily overexerted himself and 

 had a brief relapse. While he was convalescing from his relapse, he and his 

 wife once more had to endure a major disappointment, which caused John's 

 wife to become desperately ill at a time when John — himself still a convales- 

 cent — was obliged to work extremely hard. Being devoted to his wife, John 

 hardly slept at all for several days; he worked hard all day and nursed his 

 sick wife all night long. As a result of worry, overexertion, and insuflScient 

 sleep, John, who was at that time still convalescing from his own recent illness, 

 lost his appetite, and became quite cranky. In brief, by the time John's wife 

 was beyond danger, John was utterly exhausted physically and depleted psycho- 

 logically. Nonetheless, due to the exigencies of the season, he continued to work 

 extremely hard, though he was occasionally almost in a daze and, by his own 

 admission, did not even know at times where he was. Finally several members 

 of the kin group, who noticed his condition, pressured him into taking some 

 rest. Unfortunately, by this time the prolonged physical and emotional strain 



'° A comparable example Is marriage with the employer's daughter. 



