Fixation (psychoanalysis)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Fixation is a term from Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic theory of neuroses .

According to his theory of psychosexual development, humans go through five phases:

  • oral phase (1st year of life)
  • anal phase (1st - 3rd year)
  • phallic phase (3rd - 5th year)
  • Latency period (5th - 13th year)
  • genital phase (from 13th year)

Failure to satisfy the needs characteristic of each phase is a traumatic experience that leads to fixation , i.e. stopping at this stage of development. Freud dealt only briefly with the latency and genital phases.

Freud's ideas could not be confirmed by modern experimental psychology .

Fixation of the oral phase

An "oral character" is passive, dependent, demanding, jealous, selfish, etc. and can manifest itself in overeating, drinking, smoking, etc.

Fixation of the anal phase

The "anal character" is meticulous, orderly, compulsive, economical, stubborn, etc.

“If an obsessive-compulsive disorder punishes himself for aggressive thoughts as if he had realized them, then this is mistaken for a fixation or a regression on the level of development of the so-called 'anal phase'. In this phase, speaking, thinking and acting should be relatively indistinguishable for one another. [...] The person who says to another: 'I curse you!' Assumes that his verbal utterance will be fulfilled, otherwise the project would be pointless. [...] Because of the unconscious equation of thinking and acting, it is imperative that he must punish himself. "

So it is a question of an age-typical form of omnipotence of thoughts for the anal phase.

Fixation of the phallic phase

In the time of the phallic phase, the Oedipus conflict falls , the failure to cope with leads to a success-obsessed, ruthless, combative "phallic character".

literature

  • Rainer Krause : General Psychoanalytical Pathology , Volume 2. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1998, pp. 49 and 87.