The rat man revisited: comments on maternal influences

Freud's case study of an obsessive young man, published in 1909, has provided the foundation for the psychoanalytic understanding of obsessive illness. Freud reported the case in Oedipal terms, viewing the patient's symptoms as arising from his fear of castration by his father as punishment for his sexual desires. Freud's working notes on the case, however, contain much material about the women in Lorenz's life not included in the published case or in Freud's formulation. Careful review of this data suggests that important aspects of Lorenz's obsessive disorder harken back to conflicts in his relationship with his mother. This reexamination of Freud's classical case suggests that these questions concerning the genesis of obsessive dynamics should be further explored.