Enuresis: a functional equivalent of a fetish

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Psychoanalysis
• Developmental Psychology

Background:

• The ego's split between consciousness and unconsciousness is linked to conditions like fetishism, sleep disturbances, and altered reality perception.
• This ego split is hypothesized as a central dynamic mechanism underlying enuresis (bedwetting).

Observation:

• Adult male patients with a history of childhood enuresis reported persistent sleep disturbances.
• These patients exhibited perceptual distortions, confusion between fantasy and reality, and waking-sleeping confusion.
• Psychological testing of enuretic boys revealed denial of sex differences, sleep disturbances, and reality-fantasy confusion.

Findings:

• Enuresis in these cases appears to be a functional equivalent of a fetish, possibly involving the urinary stream.
• The ego split serves as a defense mechanism, stemming from regressive fixation and archaic thought patterns.
• Sleep disturbances in enuresis involve a confusion between waking and sleeping states, sometimes manifesting as dreams of being awake.

Implications:

• Understanding the ego split in enuresis offers insights into the psychological underpinnings of the condition.
• This perspective may inform therapeutic approaches for enuresis by addressing underlying defense mechanisms and reality distortions.
• The findings highlight the connection between early developmental fixations, ego defenses, and specific symptom formation in childhood disorders.