Identity confusion, bisexuality, and flight from the mother

Survival-related clinical reports are abundantly found in the works of classical, object-relational, and self psychological writers, but are underrepresented in major theoretical formulations on anxiety. Fears of being overwhelmed, merged, penetrated, fragmented, and destroyed, as contents of unconscious and conscious fantasies, are regularly interrelated with the typical dangers. Fifteen preliminary propositions invite closer study of such apprehensions and provide definitional components. Annihilation anxieties are triggered by survival threat; are found early but can be engendered throughout the life cycle; constitute a basic danger; are residuals of psychic trauma; have specifiable subdimensions; may occur in presymbolic form or be associated with fantasies in conflict/compromise formation; may arise with or without anticipation; may be accompanied by controlled or uncontrolled anxiety; are motives for defense; and may be associated with particularly recalcitrant resistances. The study of annihilation anxieties in relation to the basic danger series has both theoretical and clinical advantages, especially for understanding traumatic, anxiety, phobic, psychosomatic, addictive, narcissistic, borderline, and psychotic manifestations, as well as sexual problems (including perversions), nightmares, dissociative and panic states, and especially difficult resistances.

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Anorexia, Masochism, Self-Mutilation and Autoeroticism: The Spider Mother

Lane¹

2002

The Psychoanalytic Review

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In summary, both self-mutilators and eating-disordered individuals come from dysfunctional homes with a very controlling mother and usually absent father. They often have a history of trauma. They are depressed and obsessive, attached to their mothers, who discourage attempts at emancipation. The symptoms serve the purpose of keeping them as little girls with negative feelings toward menstruation, sexual maturity, development, and femininity in general. These symptoms comprise self-destructive behavior in the service of removing sexual thoughts, temptation, and activities. Favazza (1987) included both eating disorders and self mutilation in his "deliberate self-harm syndrome." The symptoms, whether they be anorexic, bulimic, or a form of self-mutilation are seen as "autoerotic in nature and a substitute for normal masturbation" (Hull & Lane, 1988). Eating disorders and delicate self-mutilation are said to have "a cathartic, self-purifying, function in that they modulate states of anxiety, sexual tension, anger or dissociated emptiness, and they bring about a tremendous quasi-physical sense of relief" (Cross, 1993, p. 50). These patients' use of substitutes prevents maturation and growth as women, causing regression to pregenital phases with the use of pregenital defenses, and the demise of the demands of puberty and mature sexuality.

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Identity confusion, bisexuality, and flight from the mother

Cited by 3 publications

References 22 publications

The relational treatment of dissociative identity disorder

The relational treatment of dissociative identity disorder

The Place of Annihilation Anxieties in Psychoanalytic Theory

Anorexia, Masochism, Self-Mutilation and Autoeroticism: The Spider Mother

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