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THE ALLERGIC OBJECT RELATIONSHIP 1

By
PIERRE MARTY, PARIS

I have provisionally given the name allergic cation. The impression given by these patients
object relationship to the kind of relationships is by no means misleading, and their identifica-
encountered in patients suffering from well- tion with the physician can only facilitate his
known allergic conditions, especially asthma or understanding of them.
eczema. The fundamental nature of such The understanding of the object due to
relationships, being specific as well as frequent, merging with it seems thus to result from real
places them in the same category of theoretical confusion on the part of the subject: from the
and practical importance as other systems of outset he is unable to delimit the boundaries
object relationships, such as those recently which actually distinguish, separate, and differen-
described by Bouvet. tiate him from his object. Therefore, one could
The allergic object relationship, which clearly speak of a 'host-guest' object." The subject
distinguishes it from typically neurotic relation- dwells in the object as the object dwells in
ships, lies in the subject's incessant endeavour to him.
come as near as possible to the object until he , I like to be stroked', said a woman patient,
merges with it, as it were in an indistinct mass. adding: 'That is certainly why I love cats,' I
The allergic object relationship comprises two remarked that in that case it would be she who
active phases: first the finding of the object, and liked to stroke. She replied: 'Yes, but cats rub
secondly the control of it. themselves and stroke you when you stroke
The taking up and utilizing of the object is them.' Here again the massive process of
immediate, complete, and violent, and bears the identification includes the projection.
mark of a most archaic character. It is a deep The patient seems unable to keep himself
and boundless identification of the subject with separate from his object. His fusion with it is
his object; an undifferentiated confusion. inevitable. This feeling, analogous to a sponge
During the first minutes of the interview the which absorbs and retains, was expressed by a
allergic patient often makes a series of slips young woman patient: 'I always want to be
which show that he is confusing the physician's part of my surroundings', she said. 'I want to
personality with his own. He will say for feel that I belong where I am,'
instance: 'I have come to see you because you Thus, while the analyst is in contact with
are suffering from asthma,' Here we apparently these patients, his every newly perceived trait is
have a mechanism of projection of which the adopted by them: they lose themselves, as it
effect is incomparably more extensive than that were, in the analyst's personality and visibly
with which we are familiar in the neuroses and enjoy doing this.
psychoses: it is more than just a part of a It follows that the patient's understanding of
complete identification with the object. The the object depends on the circumstances. Every
patient, who is generally keenly intuitive, object he encounters, be it human, animal,
quickly gets to know what the physician wants vegetable, or inanimate, is cathected in a very
and does his best to supply it in a phase of short time as a 'host-guest' object. It can,
triumphant identification. In a sentence such however, be as quickly de-cathected and
as 'You certainly wish me to tell you about abandoned for another 'host-guest' object,
your mother', the slip 'your mother' is a depending on the degree in space and time of
projection which is part and parcel of a process the interruption and restoration of contact.
of participation essentially pertaining to identifi- A woman suffering from eczema says: 'I
1 Paper read before the 20th Congress of the Inter- • In French ' hote ' means both • host' and ' guest'
national Psycho-Analytical Association, Paris, July- (Translator's note.)
August, 1957.
98
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THE ALLERGIC OBJECT RELATIONSHIP 99

cannot live within myself, but only united with of her. The mother complied and the little girl
another person. When alone I have the impres- felt her thirst quenched.
sion I am living through an intermediate phase So far we have been using the word' identifi-
between two happy moments.' And she gives cation' in two different senses.
the following definition of these intervals devoid The first designates the dynamics of the
of objects: 'At such moments one must be allergic object relationship in its totality. It is
content with what one finds.' synonymous with fusion. Such complete
In this perpetual, fundamental phase of identification is seen when a patient says: 'You
massive and immediate identification certain have got a nice suit on today and I feel better.'
objects maintain, nevertheless, a particular value The second sense is more precise: it designates
for the subject. These permanent ' host-guest' the selection and incorporation of a single
objects have to be managed. quality of the object. In this case the mechanism
The management of them necessitates a of identification is very similar to projection. A
prolonged spatio-temporal contact which is not patient might say for instance: 'You would
sufficient in itself. This brings us to the second not persuade me that you are not my age.'
phase of the allergic object relationship, i.e. the In psycho-analytical literature the term
adequate control of the object. , identification' is often used in a third, still more
The control of the object is a lengthy and restricted, sense: the term meaning the posses-
subtle process. It consists of the establishment sion of a good object (i.e. an object whose bad
of initial identification. It is a gradual fusion qualities have already been eliminated) by the
in which the barriers as well as the differences subject. In this case, the subject's aggressive
between subject and object tend progressively to projections no longer exist and the object can be
fade away. assimilated. This constitutes a fruitful assimila-
As a woman with eczema put it: 'What tion such as one observes at the decisive
bothers me is that the boundaries between moments of successful analyses.
myself and others vanish. This is perhaps why But the allergic patient has not yet reached
I seek physical contact. If I touch someone this stage. For him distinctions between good
else's skin I become merged with him; I remove and bad objects are of little importance. He
the barriers.' cares little about what the object is or whether
Yet presumably impediments to identification it be good or bad: he is simply seeking to be
do exist. They arise from the fact that the one with the object.
object's qualities are so different from those of Here is a striking example given by a woman
the subject. Hence, these difficulties are partly patient: 'If I were to play cards,' she said, 'I
overcome through the mechanisms of projection should immediately lay down my hand in front
and identification resulting from the same of me. The others would dispose of it as they
processes outlined in the simple perception of wished. I should not even need to be there.
the object. This would spare me the trouble of keeping in
In a sense the subject exercises a double mind what was going on.' Here we have
activity due to the obliteration of the boundaries The desire to re-fuse with objects.
between the object and himself: on the one The lack of differentiation between partner
hand, a projective activity by which the subject and opponent.
tends to endow the object with his own qualities; The absence of initiative other than that
on the other, an identifying activity by which necessary for finding objects.
the subject endows himself with the qualities of It is noteworthy that the patient's proposal to
the object. lay her cards on the table is particularly useful
. This double activity binds the subject firmly to the physician, since the patient willingly
to his object and it transforms the object into an allows him to see them, and this often happens.
undifferentiated mass. It fully satisfies the The following point is important. The
subject and, furthermore, can provide him with absence of the fear of bad objects is not as deep
many advantages. as it would at first seem to be. In general, the
During childhood one of my patients had allergic patient will only accept' a newly found
suffered from an intestinal illness which led the object if he can transform it into a ' host-guest'
physician to forbid all liquids. On one occasion object, and that depends on certain qualities
when she was very thirsty she asked her mother inherent in the object coming within that which
if she would drink a glass of cold water in front constitutes an ideal of himself. This ideal
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100 PIERRE MARTY

naturally includes characteristic neurotic forma- The meaning of the words he uses as well as
tions resulting from numerous fixations. In my the relative consciousness of what he does not
experience with allergic patients (it may be, take to be a suitable' host-guest' object shows
however, that in my analyses and interviews I the regression of the allergic patient and the
have not come across all types) I noticed that narrowing of his field of social interest.
in all cases pregenital fixations predominated. , If 1 can identify myself with somebody,' said
These fixations modify to a certain extent the a woman patient, , 1 remain in that person. The
object relationship which 1 have been describing rest does not count much, it is an obligation
in its pure form. Hence the phenomenon of the rather than a disturbance.'
sponge: 'I want to feel that 1 belong where 1 Cathected objects can be of any sort; they
am ' is not absolute, and allergic patients cannot can be human, animal, vegetable, or inanimate.
always ' belong' where they are. Relationships can be established on all levels:
To sum up: the interpenetration of the sensory, motor, phantasy, and intellectual. And
subject and the object occurs at first as an as the allergic reactions of these patients show, a
active, violent, and massive grasping of the relationship can sometimes be established at a
object and then, more smoothly, as a gradual deeper emotional level.
control of the object. These relationships all show that the allergic
In this way the subject tends to bring about a patient is seeking to merge with a mother who,
perfect fusion with the object, but the fusion however, is not exactly his since she is partly
can only be accomplished within certain limits, idealized by the patient.
compatible with the ideal which the subject sets Thus the allergic ego is, theoretically, very
for himself. weak: controlling objects is its principal
Thus the allergic patient lives in an agitated activity. It is inconsistent, has apparently no
state because of his need to merge with the existence of its own, and its essential value
objects he encounters and because of his choice resides in the value of the objects found and
of certain objects which are manageable insofar cathected. 'I am constantly in the place of
as they are almost perfect' host-guest' objects. others,' reports one patient, ' hence 1 can never
He identifies himself with each object present do them any harm.'
and can only detach himself by means of Yet the enormous capacity of allergic patients
identification with a new object. to substitute one object for another, the relative
It follows that the substitution of an object ease with which they take over a new object,
cancels the control of a previous one. However, give value to it, make of it a ' host-guest' object
one cannot speak of the instability of object and keep the former object in the background as
relationships in allergy, since the system of a relief object, constitute the major mechanisms
object relationships remains the same despite which often mask the weakness and radical
the variation of objects; that is, all objects are inconsistency of their egos. The value of this
treated alike, namely penetrated, and a number theoretical understanding becomes doubtful,
of former and controlled objects are still readily however, when we consider that some of these
available. These former objects which pre- patients succeed in everything and can often
viously motivated an interpenetration are still easily get themselves out of difficult situations.
relied on. The subject makes use of them as I shall now discuss the aspect of regression.
relief-objects to counterbalance the vicissitudes Needless to say regression occurs in allergy as
of his relationships. much as in neuroses when cathected objects
Clinically, the permanence of the desire for suddenly disappear, as for instance through the
identification, the perpetual seeking of control- death of a parent. Yet the special nature of
lable objects, the wide variety of objects which allergic object relationship implies that two
can be and are made use of, the brutal abandon- other more specific events can set the mechanism
ment of what seemed to be ' everything' to the of regression in motion.
subject in favour of something else which in its The first such event occurs when an already
turn becomes 'everything' (this is what the cathected object suddenly reveals a new quality
children of allergic patients tell better than which is beyond the subject's capacity for
anyone else) and, finally, the ease of the projec- identification. As a patient once put it: • When
tions; these are the features which give the a person is different from me, I am disconcerted,
allergic patient the appearance of candour and lost.'
childish naivete. A woman patient was leading a quiet life
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THE ALLERGIC OBJECT RELATIONSHIP 101

when her husband in a sudden crisis took to of the relationship in the future. I stress this
drink. She became upset, felt lost and helpless. since it would seem surprising that allergic
Clumsily, she too attempted to take to drink, patients should provoke a separation, but it is
but this was beyond her capacity for identifica- intended simply to deal with the problem of
tion. It was then that she' had recourse to identification.
analysis. Finally, in the second case (that of the
The second event which provoked regression incompatible existence of two equally cathected
is that which is the most specific characteristic objects leading to the inner torment of the
of allergic object relationships. It occurs when subject) the patient feels so helpless that he often
major incompatibilities are felt to emerge yields to a deep movement of regression. The
between two cathected ' host-guest' objects on Oedipus conflict corresponds precisely to this
account of the multiplicity of identifications on danger. The father and the mother being
the level of' relief objects '. equally objects of identification, the attachment
The subject is thus torn asunder. For while to one means the suppression of the other, and
his capacity for forced identification is great the Oedipus situation is an actual split in the
and he can merge with each of the two objects subject, and this frequently occurs.
separately, in this latter case he is unable to We have been considering some of the
master this serious event. He can be either the essential causes of allergic regression. States of
one or the other; he can even be both, but if the de-personalization would appear, however, if
two objects turn out to be incompatible with regression were not interrupted: either by the
each other the subject becomes incompatible restoration of a new and especially appealing
with himself: he is torn by his double identi- object (the psychotherapist can easily occupy
fication. this position); or, in the last resort, by the
Let us return to the example of the imaginary appearance of a somatic symptom.
game of cards. My impression is that the As regards the allergic somatic reaction,
patient foresaw an inevitable clash between Ziwar says: ". . . the allergic reaction seems
herself and her partner on the one hand, and to play the part of a line of defence, hindering
their opponents on the other. This was con- the disintegration of the personality.'
firmed by the fact that even in fantasy the patient We have actually observed a number of
decided to leave the card table. Her' I should patients in whom the allergic crises occurred
not even need to be there. That would spare me when identification was impossible. The
the trouble of keeping in mind what was going analyst's holidays during the psycho-analytical
on " inclines us to believe that she had already treatment, the cancelling of any sessions,
a glimpse of the torment of having to split her- changes in the number of sessions, as well as,
self between equally cathected partner and for a time, the ending of the treatment, often
opponents. Her flight was the solution: it increase the number of characteristic crises.
would spare her' the trouble of keeping in mind During actual psycho-analytical sessions the
what was going on '. most sporadic symptoms, such as fits of head-
In the first case (the sudden disappearance of ache or spasmodic coryza, often alleviate the
a cathected object) we have pointed out that the result of the identification with the object dis-
ensuing instability and slight regression are appearing following interpretations.
often followed by a new cathexis, provided that I do not wish to advocate any positive value
the disappearing object is not unique or abso- in mechanisms in allergy. These common and
lutely essential. In the second case (the sudden extremely varied mechanisms may, theoretically,
revelation of a new alien quality in the cathected stop regression since they are part of systems of
, host-guest' object) the- problem takes on almost relationships, and they sometimes play this part;
the same form: after a period of emotional usually, however, neurotic fixations are of
dizziness a new object-cathexis puts a stop to the negative value: they lead the patient to choose
regression. We must not overlook, however, inadequate objects which in the long run turn
that allergic patients often have recourse to out to be disappointing.
the defensive mechanism of actual withdrawal In this connexion some authors have stressed
from the object, as shown in the example of the the neurotic aspect in allergy through which
imaginary game of cards. patients tend to deny their need for maternal
The withdrawal permits the attenuation of the dependence. Nevertheless over and above this
object's defects, thus facilitating the resumption need for dependence we believe the condition
7
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102 PIERRE MARTY

concerns, even necessitates, deep identification at least, into a 'host-guest' object, which
or fusion with a maternalized object. 'I am so constitute the characteristic allergic traits of the
dependent on you,' said a patient, 'that I am clinical picture. Although these traits may be
you.' very concealed they appear in a sufficiently
In regressing, however, the allergic patient clear manner in the relationship established
slips into behaviour which looks truly psychotic. during the interview between patient and
This precedes de-personalization, often con- physician, and they reveal the fundamental
currently with the symptom, or sometimes even character of this structure.
after the symptom appears. I speak of psychotic The allergic object relationship, however,
appearance because the investigation of states appears to be so similar to certain forms of the
of depression or of pseudo-paranoid delusions hysteric's relationship that the question could be
encountered in allergy brings out the fragile raised whether there exist transitory forms
nature of what could be mistaken for a deep between these two types. In certain patients
pathological structure which, however, yields to one might meet with a mixed symptomatology,
the appeal of a new object as by a miracle. even at the somatic level. Yet at a deeper level-
The psychotherapist himself can also be this this difference being perhaps the decisive one-
provisional object which facilitates the return of the allergic patient does not avoid a passive
the subject to more mature emotional levels. object, whereas the hysterical patient con-
As found by Fain, I have observed in the fronted by the same object would recoil from it
allergic patient these amazing possibilities of owing to his projections of badness on to the
rapid and complete reconstruction and regres- object.
sion accompanying the vicissitudes of his I now wish to speak briefly about the treat-
objects. It could be said, without restricting it ment of allergic states.
to the clinical material available, that allergic The problem of the distance between analyst
patients are always as near to de-personalization and patient arises as in neuroses, although in an
as they are to ' re-personalization '. inverted way. For the analyst will always try
But when the psychotherapist (a particularly to handle by interpretation the patient's
appropriate object) is absent and when the tendency to merge with him regardless of the
preceding, now impossible, cathexes are very reality situation. Roughly speaking the thera-
intense (the reasons for this impossibility have peutic process consists of a gradual separation
been outlined) and the objects become quite or cleavage instead of being a gradual move-
unsuitable and the fixations on them are too ment of approach. Nevertheless, the qualities
centred, then the symptom bursts into full force of flexibility required from the analyst during
and the somatic syndrome thus becomes therapy, which should remain rigorously classic,
established for a more or less long period. are exactly the same.
That the emotional defence is a regressive In spite of their theoretically weak egos
substitute for an object relationship in allergy is a allergic patients are well able to lead a good life,
fact of great importance for the psychosomatic to be happy and socially useful. But for this
conception of the illness. I shall not, however, they must cathect stable and valuable objects,
go into this today. I shall only say that it which becomes possible through the diminishing
implies a very archaic and, in my opinion, a of their neurosis.
prenatal level of fixation. It may also be, as I By clarifying the neurosis psycho-analytical
have shown, that the system of object relation- treatment alerts the patient against choosing
ship in allergic conditions is rooted in the same and controlling objects which may turn out to
deep level of fixation. . be dangerous for him. In this way psycho-
I have not referred to every aspect of allergic analytical treatment often prevents most of the
regression, but have only given a general idea of regressive events which bring about the symptom
the subject, sufficientto clarify the diagnosis and and considerably reduces the extent of it, both
prognosis. In acute episodes (confusional ones, quantitatively and qualitatively.
for instance) or in sub-acute states, or again in Yet in my opinion psycho-analysis does not
chronic depressive, and delirious states, it is the affect the structural allergic basis, and it leaves
persistence of the appeal of the object as well as intact the inevitable tendency to possess the
the capacity the patient has maintained for a object.
rapid possessing of the object for cathecting, The intensity of the prenatal fixation, of which
controlling and transforming it, provisionally I am convinced but which remains hypothetical,
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THE ALLERGIC OBJECT RELATIONSHIP 103

determines the quantitative and qualitative the cases in which it is possible to correlate
peculiarities in the development of individual specific maternal frustrations do not explain
allergic patients. In certain cases the initial either the unlimited fusion which the allergic
tendency towards possession of the object as patient is seeking or the unity of the allergic
well as the early stages of controlling it remain emotional basis. We have here a deep structure
very strong, and the subject cannot get rid of which can be partly attributed to heredity.
them even after analytical treatment. This I have been careful to state that my term
raises the problem of the possible inadvisability , allergic object relationship' is provisional. It
of some allergic persons undertaking analysis goes without saying that I have seen only a
for psycho-analytical training. I wish to stress limited number of such cases. It may be that
that I am only speaking of certain allergic my clinical material includes a factor which I
patients, and would add that my limited have overlooked pertaining to allergy which
experience does not permit an exhaustive would more suitably designate the type of
examination of the problem. relationship I have described.
Some authors who are particularly interested In the final analysis this intensely active and
in the aspect of the dependence of the subject complete identification of allergic patients with
upon the object have stressed the objective role their objects is nothing more than a violent
which the mother plays in the genesis of allergic and unalterable expression of a fact which exists
affections. I think that I agree with Wittkower in all of us: that of ' being' the other person.
in attributing this role to only a part of the And it is the degree of this activity which makes
patients' neurotic superstructures. I think that the patient allergic.
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