Psychoses without symptoms and stabilized psychoses: Lacanian suggestions for treating fuzzy contemporary clinical phenomena

Multiple clinical phenomena cannot be easily classified as either neurotic or psychotic; they may be considered as ‘fuzzy’. Contemporary Lacanian perspectives may offer theoretical and clinical tools to clarify and treat these ‘fuzzy’ clinical phenomena. This article presents two clinical cases, reviews Lacan's classical teaching (1950s) and later conceptualizations (1970s) with a specific focus on foreclosure of the Name-of-the-Father, the jouissance, and notions of triggering and stabilization. The two clinical cases are discussed highlighting limitations of classical Lacanian conceptualizations and advantages of the contemporary theories focused on the notions of jouissance, suppletion and ordinary psychosis. Overall, this article aims at providing an understanding of clinical situations that are no longer ‘rare cases’, but rather require an approach that emphasizes treatment flexibility and uniqueness of the subjective devices that allow one to manage the jouissance.