Psychosis

1. Etymology

Psychosis names an extreme dissociation of the personality in which unconscious complexes disconnect completely from consciousness. Related: schizophrenia; neurosis; complex; psychogenic; abaissement-du-niveau-mental.

2. Plain summary

In neurosis, complexes remain relatively autonomous; in psychosis they split off so thoroughly that no personality ties them together. Sharp’s house image: each complex lives on its own. Schizophrenia’s split-off figures may be banal, grotesque, cruel, or noisy—and they do not cooperate with the patient’s consciousness.

Jung often treated many psychoses (especially schizophrenia) as largely psychogenic, via abaissement-du-niveau-mental and an ego too weak to resist unconscious onslaught—while reserving judgment on biological contribution. Samuels adds: an unknown “something” takes possession; if unconscious metaphor can be communicated, psychosis may even open regenerative energy—but without a strong enough container the symbolism stays chaotic.

Examples (exhaustive house list for this Index lemma — common psychosis motifs named across Jung’s essays and standard Jungian lexica; not a claim that Jung’s CW contains only these):
extreme dissociation; complexes completely disconnected; vs relative autonomy in neurosis; split reaching “organic structure” / schizophrenia; autonomous figures (voices, visions); psychogenic reading + reserved biology; abaissement-du-niveau-mental; possession / invasion of ego; possible curative metaphor if communicated; need to strengthen ego for integration; creative/religious intrusion paradox (container holds); drugs alter behavior not psychic conditions (Samuels).

3. Academic elucidation

In analytical psychology psychosis is extreme dissociation—complex autonomy past the neurotic threshold—approached depth-psychologically without reducing etiology to a single organic cause. Lexica (Sharp; Samuels pp. 123–124) supply paraphrase Do not invent loci. Do not caricature mainstream psychiatry; engage at its best.

4. Lexicon

Sharp (1991)

Psychosis. An extreme dissociation of the personality. … In neurosis, the complexes are only relatively autonomous. In psychosis, they are completely disconnected from consciousness. … Each complex then lives an existence of its own, with no personality left to tie them together. … Jung believed that many psychoses, and particularly schizophrenia, were psychogenic, resulting from an abaissement du niveau mental and an ego too weak to resist the onslaught of unconscious contents.

(Sharp, 1991) — cites CW 18 ¶382; CW 3 ¶508.

Samuels, Shorter & Plaut (1986) — psychosis pp. 123–124

psychosis A personality state in which an unknown 'something' takes POSSESSION of the PSYCHE… The UNCONSCIOUS invades, assuming control of the conscious EGO… If the strange metaphorical language of the unconscious can be communicated to CONSCIOUSNESS, however, psychosis may have a curative effect…

(Samuels, Shorter, & Plaut, 1986/2013, pp. 123–124)

5. CW concordance — sample, not exhaustive

The picture of a personality dissociation in schizophrenia is quite different. The split-off figures assume banal, grotesque, or highly exaggerated names and characters, and are often objectionable in many other ways. They do not, moreover, co-operate with the patient's consciousness. … There is an apparent chaos of incoherent visions, voices, and characters…
(Jung, 1939/1960, CW 3, ¶508)

CW 18 ¶382 (Sharp prefer): not verified on house vessel this pass — left unstamped (no invented locus).

See also: neurosis; dissociation; complex; psychogenic; abaissement-du-niveau-mental; possession; psychopomp; puer-aeternus.

References

Jung, C. G. (1960). On the psychogenesis of schizophrenia. In H. Read, M. Fordham, G. Adler, & W. McGuire (Eds.), The collected works of C. G. Jung (R. F. C. Hull, Trans.) (Vol. 3, ¶508). Princeton University Press. (Original work published 1939)

Samuels, A., Shorter, B., & Plaut, F. (1986). A critical dictionary of Jungian analysis. Routledge.

Sharp, D. (1991). Jung lexicon: A primer of terms & concepts. Inner City Books.