Spider Symbolism and Bisexuality

Newman, Lawrence E.; Stoller, Robert J.

doi:10.1177/000306516901700309

Cited by 10 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…For example, both agoraphobia and panic disorder are attributed to early-repressed anxieties relating to separation experiences (De Poderoso, Julian, & Linetzky, 2005;DelMonte, 1996;Frances & Dunn, 1975;Gassner, 2004;Rhead, 1969;Vandereycken, 1983). Even specific phobias, which usually pose merely a minimal disruption to the individual's daily functioning, such as spider, snake, and dog phobias are accounted for in psychoanalytic terms (Abraham, 1927;Compton, 1992;Moss, 1960;Newman & Stoller, 1969;Tyson, 1978). For example, Sperling (1971) noted, "most investigators seem to agree that the spider is a representative of the dangerous (orally devouring and anally castrating) mother and that the main problem of these patients seems to center around their sexual identification and bisexuality" (p. 493).…”

Section: Psychoanalysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Fear and Phobia: A Critical Review and the Rational-Choice Theory of Neurosis

Rofé¹,

Rofé²

2015

IJPS

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This article reviews the empirical status of theories of fear and phobia. Psychoanalysis received little support, as findings tend to refute its basic assumption that phobia results from repressed material. Although conditioning has its weaknesses, it appears to be the strongest explanation of simple phobia. Findings raise question as to whether interoceptive conditioning can account for the development of panic disorder and agoraphobia, as these disorders develop in the absence of environmental conditioning events. A significant body of research supports Clark's claim that catastrophic misinterpretation of bodily sensations are involved in both the development and treatment of panic disorder and agoraphobia. However, the causal relationship between the two remains unclear. Likewise, while biological factors certainly increase the vulnerability to developing fear and phobia, findings have not yet confirmed that these behaviors are controlled by biological mechanisms. A new theory, the Rational-Choice Theory of Neurosis (Rofé, 2010;Y. Rofé & Rofé, 2013), which preserves the psychoanalytic claim that bizarre phobias need to be explained within a theory that accounts for neuroses by one set of theoretical concepts, was used to resolve the theoretical confusion in this field.

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Section: Psychoanalysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Fear and Phobia: A Critical Review and the Rational-Choice Theory of Neurosis

Rofé¹,

Rofé²

2015

IJPS

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“…Resnik,6 for example, described AEA as "eroticized repetitive hanging," noting no apparent wish to die and attempts to ensure that no visible mark would be detectable (suggesting concealment rather than suicidal intent). He reviewed other clinicians' case reports and found common themes that he regarded as "upward displacement of castration anxiety" (ie, from the penis to the neck); others included oral sadism, 21 conflicts over oral incorporation by the mother and issues of separation/individuation, conflicts over bisexuality, 22 identification of the male enactor with the aggressor (mother or a female surrogate) according to Lowenstein, 23 and conflicts or guilty anxiety over masturbation with or without incest fantasies.…”

Section: Etiologic Theoriesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Autoerotic Asphyxiation: Secret Pleasure—Lethal Outcome?

Cowell

2009

Pediatrics

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OBJECTIVE: Voluntary asphyxiation among children, preteens, and adolescents by hanging or other means of inducing hypoxia/anoxia to enhance sexual excitement is not uncommon and can lead to unintended death. This study addresses autoerotic asphyxiation (AEA) with the intent of increasing pediatricians' knowledge of the syndrome and awareness of its typical onset among young patients. AEA is characteristically a clandestine and elusive practice. Provided with relevant information, pediatricians can identify the syndrome, demonstrate a willingness to discuss concerns about it, ameliorate distress, and possibly prevent a tragedy. METHODS: A retrospective study was undertaken of published cases both fatal and nonfatal and included personal communications, referenced citations, clinical experience, and theoretical formulations as to causation. Characteristic AEA manifestations, prevalence, age range, methods of inducing hypoxia/anoxia, and gender weighting are presented. All sources were used as a basis for additional considerations of etiology and possibilities for intervention. RESULTS: AEA can be conceptualized as a personalized, ritualized, and symbolic biopsychosocial drama. It seems to be a reenactment of intense emotional feeling-states involving an identification and sadomasochistic relationship with a female figure. Inept AEA practitioners can miscalculate the peril of the situation that they have contrived and for numerous reasons lose their gamble with death. CONCLUSIONS: Pediatricians should be alert to the earliest manifestations of AEA. Awareness of choking games among the young and, of those, a subset who eventually progress to potentially fatal AEA is strongly encouraged among all primary care professionals who may be able to interrupt the behavior.

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“…Next there is the "wicked, phallic magical mother," with her long legs, her dropline and web-spinning ability, who is formed in the shape of a man (Abraham 1922(Abraham /1953bLittle, 1966bLittle, , 1967. This mother is bisexual and causes gender difficulties in her daughter and all kinds of distorted ideas concerning the young girl's body image and body intactness (Newman & Stoller, 1969). By way of identification she induces sadomasochistic fantasies in her daughter, a sadistic concept of sexuality, and lack of acceptance of female sexuality and female organs.…”

Section: The Spidermentioning

confidence: 99%

Symbols of terror: The witch/vampire, the spider, and the shark.

Lane¹,

Chazan²

1989

Psychoanalytic Psychology

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Three symbols of terror are examined as representations of preoedipal conflicts thai intrude upon conscious awareness and. interfere with current functioning. To understand each of these symbols and their origins in a state of chronic terror, it is necessary to understand the complete life history of the patient. All three symbols-the witch/vampire, the spider, and the shark-relate to earliest experiences within the parent/infant dyad. We suggest that although all three symbols relate to the dimension of oral aggression, they can be placed conceptually along a continuum of distance from the quality of humanness. Clinical examples are given to illustrate the use of these symbols by patients in treatment and their theoretical implications. This article examines three symbols that embody the residues of early parent-child experience and arise in the context of the transference relationship, dreams, and childhood fantasies. Like all symbols, they represent complex emotional experience encoded within an intense immediate stimulus. Their formation is the end result of condensation, displacement, repression, and projective identification emanating from the individual's identifications from the past, aspirations for the future, and cultural heritage. The single stimulus, then, is overdetermined and reflects a myriad of life experience crystallized within one "as if" category, which then makes this experience readily available as part of recent experience. Time is telescoped within these Requests for reprints should be sent to Robert C. Lane,

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Spider Symbolism and Bisexuality

Cited by 10 publications

References 4 publications

Fear and Phobia: A Critical Review and the Rational-Choice Theory of Neurosis

Fear and Phobia: A Critical Review and the Rational-Choice Theory of Neurosis

Autoerotic Asphyxiation: Secret Pleasure—Lethal Outcome?

Symbols of terror: The witch/vampire, the spider, and the shark.

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