"The Matrix": An Allegory of the Psychoanalytic Journey

doi:10.1176/appi.ap.28.1.71



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Academic Psychiatry 28:71-77, March 2004
© 2004 Academic Psychiatry

Media Column

"The Matrix": An Allegory of the Psychoanalytic Journey

David Mischoulon, M.D., Ph.D. and Eugene V. Beresin, M.D.

Dr. Mischoulon is Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, and Assistant in Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts. Dr. Beresin is Director of the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Residency Training Program at Massachusetts General Hospital/McLean Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts. Dr. Beresin is also Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Co-Director of Mental Health and Media at Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, and serves as Media Column Editor for Academic Psychiatry. Address correspondence to Dr. Mischoulon, WAC-812, 15 Parkman St., Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114; dmischoulon{at}partners.org (E-mail).

Objective: "The Matrix" has been a huge commercial and criticalsuccess and has spawned a series of books and essays exploringthe philosophical and religious themes in the story. Methods:The authors propose is that "The Matrix" can be interpretedas an allegory for an individual’s journey into spiritualand mental health, achieved by overcoming one’s intrapsychicconflicts with the help of psychodynamic psychotherapy or psychoanalysis.Results: Neo’s story parallels the journey undertakenby the individual who chooses to enter psychotherapy and illustratesseveral themes of analytic psychotherapy, its benefits, andliabilities. Conclusion: The movie may therefore serve as ateaching tool for psychiatric residents about the goals, functions,and intricacies of psychodynamic psychotherapy.

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