Out of Sight Out of Mind? An Uneasy Compromise: Commentary on Dr. Carla Fischer's Paper "Psychoanalysis and Dictatorship in Chile: A Non-Existing Relationship".

My comment on Dr. Carla Fischer's paper begins with a personal description of moving to Chile in 1980, during the height of Pinochet's dictatorship, and my attempts to contact the Chilean Psychoanalytic Association. I describe how the Chilean Psychoanalytic handled the harsh reality of the country by means of dissociation and denial and explore whether this attitude could have been any different given the national situation. I touch on the lasting repercussions this lack of involvement has had on the institution and the legacy it has left for future generations of analysts in the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]