A Reader's Guide To Pierre Janet: A Neglected Intellectual Heritage

A century ago there occurred a peak of interest in dissociation and the dissociative disorders, then labeled hysteria. The most important scientific and clinical investigator of this subject was Pierre Janet (1859-1947), whose early body of work is reviewed here. The evolution of his dissociation theory and its major principles are traced throughout his writings. Janet's introduction of the term "subconscious" and his concept of the existence of consciousness outside of personal awareness are explained. The viability and relevance of dissociation as the underlying phenomenon in a wide range of disorders is presented. It is proposed that Janet's theory and methodology of psychological analysis and dynamic psychotherapy are cogent and relevant for today's students and practitioners. A century ago, Pierre Janet (1859-1947) became France's most important student of dissociation and hysteria. At that time, hysteria included a broad range of disorders now categorized in the DSM-III-R (American Psychiatric Association, 1987) as dissociative, somatization, conversion, borderline personality, and post-traumatic stress disorders. Through extensive study, observation and experiments using hypnosis in the treatment of hysteria, Janet discovered that dissociation was the underlying characteristic mechanism present in each of these disorders. Unfortunately, his view of the importance of dissociation in hysteria and its treatment were abandoned when hypnosis fell into disrepute. This retreat from hypnosis at the end of the nineteenth century coincided with the publication and popularity of Freud's early psychoanalytic studies. Historically, Janet's considerable body of work was neglected in favor of the rising popularity and acceptance of Freud's psychoanalytical observations and conceptualizations. Today, renewed clinical and scientific interest in dissociation and the dissociative disorders calls for reexamining the experimental, clinical, and theoretical observations made in psychiatry during the past century. While many psycho-analytically-oriented clinicians restrict their historical interest to the study of Breuer and Freud (1895), others have searched for the original sources in French psychiatry, especially those of Pierre Janet. Their efforts have been hampered by the difficulty of obtaining the original publications in French, and by the scarcity of these works translated in English translation.