Gender and its clinical manifestations.

Area of Science:

• Psychoanalytic Psychology
• Psychology of Gender

Background:

• Investigated the subjective sense of self and the exaggerated role of gender.
• Utilized a modern classical psychoanalytic perspective integrating biology and social forces.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the psychological significance and function of gender.
• To understand why gender assumes a distorted and exaggerated role in the subjective sense of self for some individuals.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of five clinical cases (three reported).
• Exploration of patients' unconscious fantasies using clinical material.
• Application of a modern classical psychoanalytic perspective.

Main Results:

• Gender disturbances were found to be secondary to issues of integration, cohesiveness, separateness, and the stability of self and object.
• Difficulties with depression, aggression, and rivalry often preceded gender conflicts.
• Mothers frequently desired a child of the opposite gender and exhibited ambivalent attitudes towards gender expression.

Conclusions:

• Gender conflicts are often a manifestation of underlying psychological integration problems.
• Effective analysis requires addressing core issues of self-stability, aggression, and rivalry before focusing on gender.
• Therapeutic techniques involving coping with rejection, paternal transference, and ego-building are essential prerequisites.