Obsessions And Compulsions: A Lifespan Perspective

Freud traced the origin of the obsessional neurosis, which he considered a model condition for psychoanalytic inquiry, to a fixation in the anal phase of psychosexual development. Although many analysts have raised doubts about his account, and while the Sullivanian and Lacanian traditions have proposed alternatives, no approach has accounted for what Freud observed as the dizzying variety of obsessive presentations, which seem to defy a singular explanation. The broader research community has moved on, meanwhile, to genetic, neurological, and cognitive-behavioral explanations of what we now call obsessive-compulsive disorder. I argue that we can best account for the variety of obsessive presentations and meaningfully contribute to this interdisciplinary dialogue by framing obsessive-compulsive symptoms as the result of a disorder of volition, an exaggerated sense of willpower, not tied to any one developmental phase or bodily zone. Such a disorder evolves through the lifespan processes of introjection, identification, and repudiation in relation to an anxious/critical parent or an unpredictable environment. I trace these processes through three major developmental milestones. The implication is that, by looking in depth at how the obsessive person internalizes relationships, psychoanalysis can make a unique contribution to a conversation beyond its own borders.