著者

根本 真弓

出版者

京都大学大学院教育学研究科

雑誌

京都大学大学院教育学研究科紀要 (ISSN:13452142)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.54, pp.491-504, 2008-03-31

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A sense of loneliness exists in clients with psychiatric symptoms and psychological problems. Their sense of loneliness is considered linked to both the pathology of their psychiatric disorders -- such as schizophrenia or depression -- and their creation of new world views, such as new insights and discoveries. In this study, the author discusses the human experience of loneliness based on psychotherapy sessions In clinical practice with a client. When people experience true loneliness, they attempt to avoid it by linking to imaginary objects generated by the unconscious, thereby defending themselves from the anxiety and fear caused by loneliness. The imaginary objects, as transitional objects, also have a function in linking the objective and subjective worlds. The author discusses the importance of; (1) 'linking' to internal and external objects just as an embryo is connected to the mother's womb by an umbilical cord, and (2) 'being surrounded' by the environment (i.e., people, Nature) just as an embryo is surrounded in amniotic fluid in the womb, to protect it from destructive loneliness and help in returning to reality from the imaginary world.