SCHIZOPHRENIA IN TRANSLATION Psychosis as a Disorder of Reduced Cathectic Capacity: Freud’s Analysis of the

figure name Daniel Schreber wrote memoirs of his experi-ences in asylums. His case was diagnosed Dementia Prae-cox at times and Paranoia at others by his treaters. Freud analyzed Schreber’s memoirs from the perspective of his ‘‘libido’ ’ theory of developmentally organized mental ‘‘ca-thexes’ ’ or ideational/emotional investments in self and others. Revisiting Freud’s analysis of the Schreber case suggests that it may represent the first theoretical articu-lation that the pathophysiologic core of psychosis is one of deficit, i.e., of diminished (organic) cathectic capacity for normal mental and affective investments in life