Perplexity: an effect of social trauma

Abstract

This paper faces the challenge of building hypotheses that contain referents about social subjectivity and the effects of mental inscription of traumatic social events. The authors' starting point is the hypothesis that every link involves a subjectivizing potential. Also the ‘unconscious principle of uncertainty’ holds that every encounter exposes the individual to unforeseeable effects that cause emotional states bound to the uncertainty that underlies the construction of every link. This principle remains unconscious because the individual defensively implements the ‘illusion of predictability’, but a violent and unexpected attack may activate it, causing a state of disorganization whose clinical indicator is the feeling of perplexity. The paper discusses thinking disorders within the context of violent actions. Finally, clinical material about a patient being assaulted and held as hostage is discussed.