Ineffable

There is always a tendency to lavish words upon what cannot be described, in the hope that some of them might stick – a little like throwing paint in the direction of The Invisible Man in order to make him out. 

~ Lionel Bailly, 2009, p. 98

The Psychogenesis of a Case of Homosexuality in a Woman

Freud’s (1920) case, the psychogenesis of a case of homosexuality in a woman, with reference to other relevant texts.

Freud’s 1920 case presents an examination of the psychogenesis of homosexuality in an 18 year old girl who pursued the adoration of a lady ten years her senior (p. 147). Early on, the young girl’s father meets the two of them together and casts an angry glance (p. 147). This instigated a suicide attempt by the young girl which had the secondary gain of making the parents ‘back off’, with the addition of an increased respect from the society lady (p. 147). In Freud’s case of hysteria (1905), Dora’s parents discover her suicide note but question her intent. Similarly, a secondary gain for Dora was not only making her father concerned and thus allowing her to grow closer to him, but it also may have been an attempt to keep her father away from Frau K. Both cases have the undertones of a suicide attempt being used to make the parents first take note of their daughter’s pain.

The girl’s libido, or manifestation of her ‘sexual instinct’ (Freud, 1916-1917, p. 313) was never directed towards young men (Freud, 1920, p. 147). Her father was outraged when he discovered her homosexual tendencies and if psychoanalysis failed, a speedy marriage would ensue (Freud, 1920, p. 148). Little Hans (Freud, 1909) was given threats of castration from his mother due to his fascination with his ‘widdler’. Not too dissimilar, the father of the young girl (1920) was threatening a castration between his daughter and the society-lady if her fascination did not cease. Freud remarks that during analysis the young girl didn’t hold back on what she said about the father (1920, p. 148). However, at this stage of development the father is only viewed as nothing more than a ‘troublesome rival’ (Freud, 1931, p. 2).

Freud (1920) adds that during her childhood the girl passed through the normal attitude of the feminine Oedipus complex (p. 150). The later comparison of her brother’s genitals did leave a strong impression on her (p. 150), in that she felt inferior or that she had ‘come off badly’ (Freud, 1924). The girl showed signs of a maternal instinct to a small boy when she was 13 years old (1920, p. 151). Later, during a revival of her infantile Oedipus complex, the girl began to desire an unconscious wish for a child with the father (p. 152). ‘Normal’ women and homosexuals may desire the phallus and rebel against the frustration of castration (Riviere, 1929, p. 310), thus the earlier genital comparisons with her brother had led her to want a child as a substitute for her inferior organ. Here Freud is making a reference to 'penis-envy' (1925). This ‘penis-child’ equation (1925) was denied when it was the mother, her unconscious rival, who bore the child – her third brother (Freud, 1920, p. 152).

Owing to this disappointment, the girl gave up her wish and discarded the father as love-object (p. 152). Instead, the mother became the love-object and Freud’s analysis of the girls dreams revealed the society lady to be a substitute (1920, p. 151). The recognition of the anatomical difference between the sexes can force girls away from masculinity to adopt the development of femininity (Freud, 1925). In contrast, this incident led the girl to become a homosexual ‘out of defiance against her father’ (Freud, 1920, p. 152), and to repudiate the feminine role in general (p. 152), in favour of what Freud later discussed as a ‘masculinity complex’ (1925).

Freud (1920) broke off the treatment with the girl when he recognized the transference of the girl’s hatred towards her father and men (p. 154). In a similar fashion, Freud’s treatment of Dora (1905) was cut short when she ended analysis abruptly, which Freud felt to be an act of betrayal or vengeance on Dora’s part (1905, p. 157). Advising for the treatment to be continued by a woman doctor, Freud adds, that the girl promised her father to give up seeing the society lady (1920, p. 154).

What are you really working on at the gym?

Is atelophobia rife among the 'gymfam'?
 

Adopting a psychoanalytic stance to bodybuilding, Melanie Klein states that 'bodybuilding is, at the very least, a subculture whose [male and female] practitioners suffer from large doses of insecurity; hence, compensation through self-presentation of power to the outside world' (1993: 174).

 

Allegedly caused by antecedent personal and/or gender inadequacy and a masculinity-in-crisis within the larger society, bodybuilding...represent(s) an 'atavistic' strategy for concealing self-perceived flaws (Klein, 1993).

 

~ Bodybuilding, drugs and risk (Monaghan, L.)

Hedgehog's Dilemma

The hedgehog's dilemma, or sometimes the porcupine dilemma, is an analogy about the challenges of human intimacy. It describes a situation in which a group of hedgehogs all seek to become close to one another in order to share heat during cold weather. They must remain apart, however, as they cannot avoid hurting one another with their sharp spines. Though they all share the intention of a close reciprocal relationship, this may not occur, for reasons they cannot avoid.

 

From 'Studies in Pessimism' (Schopenhauer, p. 142);

''A number of porcupines huddled together for warmth on a cold day in winter; but, as they began to prick one another with their quills, they were obliged to disperse. However the cold drove them together again, when just the same thing happened. At last, after many turns of huddling and dispersing, they discovered that they would be best off by remaining at a little distance from one another.

 

In the same way the need of society drives the human porcupines together, only to be mutually repelled by the many prickly and disagreeable qualities of their nature. The moderate distance which they at last discover to be the only tolerable condition of intercourse, is the code of politeness and fine manners; and those who transgress it are roughly told - in the English phrase - to keep their distance. By this arrangement the mutual need of warmth is only very moderately satisfied; but then people do not get pricked. A man who has some heat in himself prefers to remain outside, where he will neither prick other people nor get pricked himself.''

                            

Both Schopenhauer and Freud have used this situation to describe what they feel is the state of individuals in relation to others in society. The hedgehog's dilemma suggests that despite goodwill, human intimacy cannot occur without substantial mutual harm, and what results is cautious behaviour and weak relationships.

 

The dilemma is also used to justify or explain introversion and isolationism. The concept originates from Arthur Schopenhauer's 'Parerga and Paralipomena'. It then entered the realm of psychology after the tale was discovered and adopted by Freud in 1921.

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Sometimes love can be a spiky situation.

LSD and Psychotherapy

Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) first acts on the brain's serotonin system; the part of the brain responsible for feelings of well-being, and subsequently on the prefrontal cortex; which processes some of our uniquely human abstract thoughts. It also seems to reduce communication between different brain areas, leading to loss of inhibitions.

 

Dr. Ronald Sandison (1916 - 2010) was one of the first people in the U.K to use LSD in psychotherapy over 50 years ago. He remarked that it had three effects:
 

1) a general enhancement of 'what's going on inside'

2) a specific effect in raising forgotten memories, particularly traumatic memories

3) it seems to allow people the facility to explore those memories

 

Dr. Ben Sessa (pictured), consultant Psychiatrist at Bristol University, wants to pick up where Sandison left off. Dr Sessa argues that ''the role of LSD can speed up the process of breaking down the client's defences''.


Today, despite a growing belief of it's benefits among some parts of the medical community, the laws have made further use in psychotherapy almost impossible.

 

Sessa adds, ''I believe it can be used safely in the context of the clinical environment. If there is a possibility that LSD or other hallucinogenic drugs can have therapeutic potential in psychiatry, then I do believe they should be researched to explore this, because to leave that stone unturned is potentially closing the door on that group of patients who may benefit.''

 

Many experts today believe the dangers of LSD are more fiction than fact. It's physiologically non-toxic and no one has ever died from an overdose. True, one or two people in the 60's may have jumped out of windows, but that seems to have become a myth ingrained in history.

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''LSD was an incredible experience. Not that I’m recommending it for anybody else; but for me it kind of – it hammered home to me that reality was not a fixed thing. That the reality that we saw about us every day was one reality, and a valid one – but that there were others, different perspectives where different things have meaning that were just as valid.'' 

                                                                                              ~ Alan Moore

Job Seeking Psychiatrists

This post is meant in good-spirits. Don't get offended. If we can't incorporate and utilise humour in our daily lives then we're already doomed. Live, love, and laugh a lot!

* ''I don't want you to think of me as your Psychiatrist. Instead, I want you to think of me as a mental patient who killed the Psychiatrist before you got here...''

* ''So you think you are a potato? . . . On the couch please...''

* ''Welcome to your first day of Freudian analysis. What seems to be the penis?...''

* ''You say that you are paranoid? But I have a report here that says you looked very relaxed in the bath this morning...''

* ''O.K, Word Associations. I'm going to say a word and I want you to say the first thing that pops into your breasts...''

* ''You seem to have emotional problems and a below average I.Q...I'm prescribing Jersey Shore...''

* ''If you don't think I'm a nosey b**tard, then why did you write that in your diary?''

* ''Yeah.....the voices in your head are not only real, but they're accurate too''

* ''It's time to take a good long look at yourself''... The narcissist agreed.

* ''You being followed here to this appointment is just a delusion, because I followed you and there was nobody following you...''

* ''Oh that's a classic dream...it means that you're a psycho...''
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- Interpretations and Diagnoses' as above can lead to a life of licking stamps for dinner.

Horse S**T !!

Freud's theory (1909) regarding Hans' development of his horse phobia was due to his Oedipal conflicts, his castration anxieties, the father's prohibition and retaliation...yada yada yada...

A further, simpler, and much more contemporary explanation for Hans' phobia is that he was classically conditioned to fear horses. Hans, as a young boy, had witnessed a horse fall and collapse in the street.  Hans then generalised this fear to all horses. 

Psychoanalysis really 'grinds my gears' sometimes!!!