“Two in a body”: From the mother's anorexia to the daughter's bulimia

Abstract

The nature of the psychopathology of individuals with eating disorders always requires special understanding. In the case presented in this article, the psychodynamics of the patient's bulimia needed to be thought in relation to her mother's anorexia and the transgenerational transmission of her unmourned trauma. The article will focus on the pathological vampiric tie between mother and daughter, whose bulimia served to saturate the maternal void left by the traumatic losses, actualizing the illusion of their union through a common erotogenic zone, the belly. Special emphasis will be given to the powerful phenomena of bodily countertransference experienced by the analyst, who had to contain the patient's massive projections into her own body and to work through the raw inner tensions and sensations in order to create an intermediate space of thinking between them.

Keywords:

• bulimia
• anorexia
• vampire
• transgenerational
• trauma