No. 502: The winners
Trevor Grove reports: Competitors were invited to compose the case notes of an imaginary patient under psychoanalysis, using a new ana- lytic symbolism derived from Alice in Wonder- land. . . . It might, of course, be argued that Dodgson was doing just that in writing Alice in the first place, being perfectly aware that his distrait, polymorphic little heroine was no more than a projection of his own feelings of insecurity and rebellion in the face of a non- sensically ordered world. A case for Alice as the first infant existentialist? Well, possibly, but not if you remember the monstrous flowering of no-nonsense Tory womanhood at the end of the trial scene. Jonathan Miller's extrapolation sug- gested that Alice's grim friends were none other than her ogrish uncles and aunts; but they are no less lunatic or frightening for being so-in fact a veritable catalogue of Victorian 'humours' and equally pertinent to the present day, as Robert Allan, who wins five guineas, makes clear : Case History cLo/1865 : Acute Carrollitis.
Causes: 1. Hatred of adopted child for being its mother's favourite (the Pig-and-Pepper Death-wish). 2. Preoccupation with sex (Rabbit- hole Obsession) due to fear of impotence (Flamingo-failure). 3. Frustration from repeated conversational rebuffs (the Caterpillar Oneup- manship Syndrome).
Symptoms: 1. Alternate phases of aggression and inferiority (the Laevodextro Mushroom Dilemma). 2. Anxiety-Neurosis at sight of Playing-cards (Decapitation-Trauma). 3. Over- stimulus of the Super-Ego (`Moral of That' Syn- drome). 4. Inability to recall (the Crocodile- Lobster Block). 5. Attribution of guilt to others after own bad behaviour (the Hatter Projec- tion). Note : Some signs of a more tolerant attitude were observed (the Caucus-Race Sublimation).
Treatment: 1. Free Association-the Bats- Cats Interaction, followed by the Tea-Party Probing. 2. Recall under Hypnosis-only par- tially successful (the Father William Relapse). Note : Some signs of Transference to the Ana- lyst had to be checked (The White-Rabbit Identification-see Causes, 2).
A good analysis from Martin Fagg on the Frog Footman Inner Inadequacy Compensation Factor, an honourable mention to D. Yellowlees and a further three guineas to Vera Telfer's re- volutionary interpretation of a very common condition: Patient appears to be suffering from matiy of the usual symptoms of maladjustment.
A. Garden-door angst, illustrated by: 1. Physically: Mushroom-attachment. 2. Men- tally : Pig-baby identification. 3. Orally: Verse 'substitution.
B. Repressions manifested in : 1. Dormouse phobia. 2. Lizard aversion. 3. Rabbit neurosis.
C. Projections: 1. Walrus-Carpenter anxiety transference to Oysters. 2. Knave of Hearts per- sonal guilt figure.
D. Reactions : 1. Six o'clock obsession indi- cative of desire to return to six months foetus stage. 2. Cheshire cat grin symbolic of un- willingness to face reality. 3. Death wish clear in repetition of `off with his head.'
- The Id is obviously deeply disturbed and the Ego seems to have little chance of retaining effective control except by sublimation, which may possibly be achieved with Dr Pakka Kard's treatment which has proved successful in simi- lar cases.
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