Abstract
In a case study of a female patient with paranoid syndrome the complaint phenomenon defined as everything that the patient in her individual way communicates about her experienced suffering was analyzed in terms of both the complaint content and function. Particular emphasis was laid on the phenomenon of role shifting – from the complaining party to the accuser. Considering the patient's global expression as a message serving to communicate with the environment, the author draws attention to the interactive nature of symptoms, and strives to determine the psychodynamic mechanism of their onset.