The cognitive function of the symptom

In this article the possible meanings and functional value of the symptom are outlined in the light of the epistemological and theoretical framework offered by the cognitive-constructivist psychopathological and psychotherapeutic model, with the attachment theory firmly anchored within. In this perspective, the understanding of human behavior, both in its adaptive and psychopathological manifestations, is possible only through the reconstruction of the continuity and coherence of its development processes, of how these processes give rise to specific individual cognitive organizations, and of how such organizations, if unbalanced, can produce along the individual life cycle those particular psychopathological frameworks that we define as clinical disorders. The symptoms are then highlighted as specific modalities aimed at maintaining (the bond) of the state of relationship with one's own attachments and therefore of an adequate coherence and stability of the sense of self that takes shape in such relationships. They can also be read as "unfinished metaphors" of critical emotional areas not adequately recognized, articulated and expressed in the relationship with the significant other.