Bipolar Dynamics of Vitality

Abstract

The author reflects on the ideologies of cure underlying many clinical interventions, especially psychiatric ones, in which in the treatment of mental disorders, aspects of normalization and control seem to prevail over those aimed at supporting and integrating the patient’s subjectivity and vitality. Drawing on contributions from psychoanalysis and transactional analysis as well as classic and contemporary philosophy and some neuropsychological studies, the author discusses the transformative potential of vitality. She argues that it develops through bipolar dynamics and that personal balance continuously sways between opposite polarities: enchantment and disillusionment, pleasure and safety, novelty seeking and harm avoidance. She underscores that the more intensely a person lives, the easier it is for their mood to swing between two extremes. A fundamental clinical task is to accept patients’ unpredictability, welcome their vitality, and harness it as a valuable resource in the therapeutic relationship rather than confusing it with mania.

Keywords:

• Vitality
• physis
• excitement
• emotional intensity
• bipolar disorder
• mania
• differential diagnosis
• psychoanalysis
• transactional analysis

Disclosure statement

The author declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Additional information

Funding

The author received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Notes on contributors

Valentina Terlato

Valentina Terlato, PhD, is a psychologist, psythotherapist, and Certified Transactional Analyst (psychotherapy). She has worked for over 30 years in public services for drug addiction and mental health and specializes in group analysis and individual psychotherapy with adolescents and adults with eating disorders. Valentina has a private practice in Rome and is a teaching member at Auximon, an Italian postgraduate school of specialization in transactional analysis. She can be reached at C. Peano 19 – 00139 Rome, Italy; email: [email protected].