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Impotence, frigidity and depersonalization
International Journal of Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy
|January 1, 1977
Summary
This review explores depersonalization, a dissociative disorder, focusing on its phenomenology and origins. Understanding masked depersonalization, particularly its link to sexual dysfunction, is key to effective psychoanalytic treatment.
Area of Science:
- Psychoanalytic Psychology
- Psychiatry
- Clinical Psychology
Background:
- This review synthesizes psychoanalytic literature on depersonalization, a complex dissociative phenomenon.
- It examines the phenomenology and etiological factors contributing to depersonalization.
- The study highlights a specific, often overlooked, subtype of depersonalization.
Observation:
- Case studies of two patients with prominent sexual dysfunction (impotence and frigidity) are presented.
- These sexual complaints are analyzed as potential manifestations or defenses against underlying depersonalization.
- Depersonalization's presence outside the sexual realm provided crucial insights into its etiology.
Findings:
- Masked depersonalization, manifesting as sexual dysfunction, requires understanding its genesis for successful treatment.
- Childhood exposure to the primal scene is identified as a significant etiological factor in depersonalization.
- Depersonalization is conceptualized as a compromise formation involving various mental structures.
Implications:
- This work deepens the understanding of depersonalization's multifaceted phenomenology.
- It emphasizes the importance of exploring early life experiences in treating depersonalization and related disorders.
- The findings offer a framework for psychoanalytic interventions targeting depersonalization and its somatic expressions.