Harry Stack Sullivan

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Lore & Background

Sullivan was a child of Irish immigrants, born and raised in the then anti-Catholic town of Norwich, New York, a social isolation that may have inspired his later interest in psychiatry. He attended Smyrna Union School, spent two years at Cornell University from 1909, and received his medical degree from Chicago College of Medicine and Surgery in 1917. Along with Clara Thompson, Karen Horney, Erich Fromm, Otto Allen Will Jr., Erik H. Erikson, and Frieda Fromm-Reichmann, Sullivan laid the groundwork for understanding the individual based on their network of relationships. He developed a theory of psychiatry based on interpersonal relationships where cultural forces are largely responsible for mental illnesses, stating one must pay attention to the "interactional," not the "intrapsychic." He characterized loneliness as the most painful human experience and extended Freudian psychoanalysis to treat patients with severe mental disorders, particularly schizophrenia. Sullivan coined the term "problems in living," later popularized by Thomas Szasz, and in 1929 reviewed the anonymously published *The Invert and his Social Adjustment*, calling it "a remarkable document by a homosexual man of refinement." He spent the last 22 years of his life in a relationship with James Inscoe, who was 20 years younger; although some contemporaries regarded Inscoe as an adopted son, the biography of his colleague Helen Swick Perry suggests close friends were aware they were partners.

Reader's Guide

Harry Stack Sullivan's significance lies in his foundational role in interpersonal psychoanalysis, shifting focus from intrapsychic dynamics to interactional patterns between people. He introduced concepts like the "Self system," "parataxic distortion," and "prototaxic communication," and his work on interpersonal relationships became the foundation of interpersonal psychoanalysis. He was one of the founders of the William Alanson White Institute and the journal *Psychiatry* in 1937, and headed the Washington, D.C., School of Psychiatry from 1936 to 1947. In 1940, he and colleague Winfred Overholser formulated guidelines for psychological screening of U.S. military inductees; Sullivan believed "that sexuality played a minimal role in causing mental disorders and that adult homosexuals should be accepted and left alone," but despite his efforts, homosexuality was included as a disqualification. He served as psychiatric adviser to Selective Service director Clarence A. Dykstra from December 5, 1940, resigning in November 1941 after General Lewis B. Hershey became director. Sullivan then took part in establishing the Office of War Information in 1942. Although he published little in his lifetime, his ideas were collected and published posthumously, edited by Helen Swick Perry, who also published a detailed biography in 1982. After his death, Saul B. Newton and Jane Pearce established the Sullivan Institute for Research in Psychoanalysis, widely regarded as a cult offering a distorted view of Sullivan's teachings.

Did You Know?

• Sullivan was the first to coin the term 'problems in living,' later popularized by Thomas Szasz and adopted by the antipsychiatry movement.
• In 1929, Sullivan reviewed the anonymously published *The Invert and his Social Adjustment*, calling it 'a remarkable document by a homosexual man of refinement.'
• Sullivan spent the last 22 years of his life in a relationship with James Inscoe, who was 20 years younger; close friends were aware they were partners.
• He served as psychiatric adviser to Selective Service director Clarence A. Dykstra from December 5, 1940, but resigned in November 1941 after General Lewis B. Hershey became director.
• Sullivan's ideas were collected and published posthumously, edited by Helen Swick Perry, who also published a detailed biography in 1982.