Robert Kaplan1. 1. The Liaison Clinic, Wollongong, New South Wales 2500, Australia. rkaplan@bigpond.com
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To review the famous case of Anna O. (the index case of psychoanalysis) as seen by each generation, in the light of current knowledge and thinking. CONCLUSIONS: The case was neither a catharsis nor a cure as described. Historical research has revealed a significantly different outcome, shedding new light on the motives of the chief protagonists, Breuer and Freud. No less interesting but greatly neglected is the life of Bertha Pappenheim, the real identity of Anna O.
OBJECTIVE: To review the famous case of Anna O. (the index case of psychoanalysis) as seen by each generation, in the light of current knowledge and thinking. CONCLUSIONS: The case was neither a catharsis nor a cure as described. Historical research has revealed a significantly different outcome, shedding new light on the motives of the chief protagonists, Breuer and Freud. No less interesting but greatly neglected is the life of Bertha Pappenheim, the real identity of Anna O.