Retraction Of The Field Of Consciousness

it is a mental depression characterized by the disappearance of the higher functions of the mind, with the preservation and often with an exaggeration of the lower functions; it is a lowering of the mental level. So we may say, in short, that hystericals present to us the following stigmata: a depression, a lowering of the mental level, which takes the special form of a retraction of the field of consciousness.

Janet establishes retraction of the field of consciousness as the condensed, definitive formula for the hysterical mental state — the specific form taken by a general lowering of the mental level.

Janet, Pierre, The Major Symptoms of Hysteria, 1907thesis

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THE HYSTERICAL STIGMATA—THE RETRAC-TION OF THE FIELD OF CONSCIOUSNESS — THE COMMON STIGMATA Other proper hysterical stigmata — Absent-mindedness — The contraction of v

Janet formally organizes his lecture taxonomy around retraction of the field of consciousness as the central proper stigma of hysteria, distinguishing it from common stigmata shared with other neuropathies.

Janet, Pierre, The Major Symptoms of Hysteria, 1907thesis

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I am therefore inclined to think that this notion of the retraction of the field of consciousness summarizes the preceding stigmata, and we may say that their funda-mental mental state is characterized by a special moral weakness, consisting in the lack of power, on the part of the feeble subject, to gather, to condense his psychological phenomena, and assimilate them to his personality.

Janet argues that retraction of the field of consciousness is not merely one symptom among others but the synthetic concept that unifies and explains all prior hysterical stigmata through a failure of personal assimilation.

Janet, Pierre, The Major Symptoms of Hysteria, 1907thesis

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Hysteria’s ‘proper stigmata’ relate to the retraction of the field of consciousness, and include suggestibility and unconscious acts, absent-mindedness and al

Nijenhuis, following Janet, classifies retraction of the field of consciousness as the organizing principle of hysteria’s proper stigmata, distinguishing these from the common stigmata of lowered mental level shared across neuropathies.

Nijenhuis, Ellert, Somatoform Dissociation: Phenomena, Measurement, and Theoretical Issues, 2004supporting

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Retraction of the field of consciousness, or narrowing of attention, is characteristic of both ANP and EP. However, even though retraction and other alterations in consciousness may accompany structural dissociation and integrative failure, they can also occur apart from structural dissociation.

Van der Hart critically refines the Janetian concept by demonstrating that retraction accompanies but is not equivalent to structural dissociation, since the underlying mental mechanisms and memorial consequences differ fundamentally.

Hart, Onno van der, The Haunted Self Structural Dissociation and the Treatmentsupporting

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Jenny noticed that trembling and shaking had already begun, along with a retraction of her field of consciousness to images of the assault. She felt a clenching in her jaw and ‘electricity’ in her legs and arms.

Ogden provides clinical phenomenological evidence of retraction as a somatic-perceptual event in trauma memory work, in which the field of consciousness narrows spontaneously to assault imagery accompanied by visceral activation.

Ogden, Pat, Trauma and the Body: A Sensorimotor Approach to Psychotherapy, 2006supporting

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Instruments designed to measure peritraumatic dissociation (e. g., Marmar et al., 1994) include retraction and lowering of the level of consciousness as core symptoms. As detailed above, it is difficult to ascertain whether these symptoms indicate that structural dissociation has occurred.

Van der Hart identifies a diagnostic ambiguity in peritraumatic dissociation measurement instruments that conflate retraction with structural dissociation, complicating clinical interpretation.

Hart, Onno van der, The Haunted Self Structural Dissociation and the Treatmentsupporting

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Visual anesthesia also presented in other forms, such as tunnel vision (retrac-tion of visual field) and temporary blindness (generalized visual anesthesia).

Nijenhuis documents tunnel vision as a somatoform analogue of retraction — a state-dependent perceptual narrowing linked to dissociative identity states and anticipatory traumatic fear.

Nijenhuis, Ellert, Somatoform Dissociation: Phenomena, Measurement, and Theoretical Issues, 2004aside

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