God's eyes and the schizophrenic hands: listening to a psychiatric patient

Os olhos de Deus e as mãos esquizofrênicas: escutando um paciente psiquiátrico

Les yeux de Dieu et les mains schizophrènes: à l'écoute d'un patient de psychiatrie

Los ojos de Dios y las manos esquizofrénicas: escuchando un paciente psiquiátrico

This article describes the intriguing case of a young female patient first seen in the emergency room and then followed up at the psychiatric outpatient facility of the General Hospital at UNICAMP, Brazil. The cooperation that ensued between psychiatrists and a psychoanalyst to reach a psychopathological diagnosis is also presented here. The differential diagnosis is discussed within a psychiatric framework and then contributions from listening to the patient's free associations related to the clarification of her psychopathology are described. The clinical collaboration between psychiatry and psychoanalysis proved effective in this case as a clinical method for approaching the patient.

Psychopathology; psychiatry; psychoanalysis; case report; clinical method