Rudolf Allers' conception of neurosis as a metaphysical conflict.

The Viennese psychiatrist and philosopher Rudolf Allers (1883-1963) made important contributions to psychiatry and psychotherapy, fundamentally in relation to their anthropological foundations from a Catholic point of view. However, Allers' thought has received rather limited attention from historians of psychiatry. The present study focuses on his conception of neurosis as a metaphysical conflict from a Neoscholastic point of view: the relationship between neurosis and character; his conception of neurosis as a metaphysical conflict; and his ideas about inner transformation (metanoia) as a main therapeutic goal in the case of neurosis and its relationship with sanctity as health and as a path to recovery.