This article aims to present the developments of one of the fundamental thematic axes of the research project called, Narcissistic Pathologies and Autoimmune Diseases: a comparative study from the psychoanalytical viewpoint, amongst Melancholic Patients and Sufferers of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE), which is being carried out as a result of an agreement involving the Psychology Institute (IP/UFRJ), the Psychiatry Institute (IPUB/UFRJ) and the Clementino Fraga Filho University Hospital (HUCFF/UFRJ). Here we reflect on the relationship that the patients treated establish with their own bodies. The theoretical and clinical development of the research has directed us towards the specific way that the body is presented in both subjective configurations. We consider this to be a fundamental issue since, in these cases, the body configuration is different from that which we usually observe as a result of this neurosis.
body; psychoanalysis; clinical survey; autoimmune illnesses; melancholy