29

This paper reviews published literature on this subject as a means of distinguishing between the notions of alexithymia, disaffectation and operative thought. As a form of negative hallucination, defensive in nature and preceding all perception of affect, disaffection may be argued to be either a generic defence mechanism in turn fashioning secondary alexithymia and operative thought, or a supplementary defence mechanism in cases of neurosis or borderline individuals in which its consequences are differentiated. In all cases, its central organising effect is to silence the emotional and fantasy-based faculties of the psyche.