The Phenomenological Approach in Psychopathology

Abstract

In the examination of a psychiatric patient it is usual to distinguish between objective and subjective symptoms. Objective symptoms in clude all concrete events that can be perceived by the senses, e.g. reflexes, registrable move ments, an individual's physiognomy, his motor activity, verbal expression, written productions, actions and general conduct, etc.; all measur able performances, such as the patient's capacity to work, his ability to learn, the extent of his memory, and so forth, also belong here. It is also usual to include under objective symp toms such features as delusional ideas, falsifica tions of memory, etc., in other words the rational contents of what the patient tells us. These, it is true, are not perceived by the senses, but only understood; nevertheless, this “under standing“ is achieved through rational thought, without the help of any empathy into the patient's psyche.

Phenomenological aspects of the cognitive rumination construct

“…The positive perspective represents the conscious expressions of CR that uncover its ontic aspects, gathered through direct observation of psychic phenomena. [10][11][12][13][14][15][16] The negative perspective refers to delimitations of rumination in finite totalities, to its correlation with another psychic totality and to its organization in the context of the psychic whole. [10][11][12][13][14][15][16] According to Jaspers, phenomenological understanding may be static and genetic.…”

“…[10][11][12][13][14][15][16] The negative perspective refers to delimitations of rumination in finite totalities, to its correlation with another psychic totality and to its organization in the context of the psychic whole. [10][11][12][13][14][15][16] According to Jaspers, phenomenological understanding may be static and genetic. [10][11][12]16 Static understanding is restricted to present observation and objective description of the psychic phenomena as presented to and understood by the examiner's perception.…”

“…[10][11][12][13][14][15][16] We used both English and Portuguese translations of Allgemeine Psychopathologie to avoid misinterpretations of the original. 10 In another study, CR was defined as the style of thinking repetitively about negative emotions, focusing on symptoms of distress and worrying about meanings of distress.…”

“…For teaching purposes, they are divided into objective performances, such as attention, formal logic, thought patterns, memory, speech disturbances and psychomotor function, and subjective performances, such as affect and mood, thought content, volition and self-awareness. [10][11][12][13][14][15][16] In this sense, they are ongoing aspects of empathy and intuition that allow patients and examiners to share common aspects of reality. [10][11][12][13][14][15][16] This study evaluated the extent to which the phenomenological aspects of the CR construct have been used in current empirical psychiatric studies.…”

“…1,2,[6][7][8][9] Karl Jaspers' efforts to study psychopathology played a major role in the development of diagnostic classifications and in clinical (psychic) examination techniques. [10][11][12][13][14][15] According to Jaspers, psychopathology is the science of abnormal conscious psychological phenomena, and phenomenology, the method to investigate these phenomena, which are experienced by the examinee and presented to the examiner through the examinee's narratives and behavior. [10][11][12] Psychic phenomena are presented to and understood by the examiner as cognitive performances.…”