PAVLOV

by Lida Prypchan

An Alternative to Freud

The traditional mind-body dualism posited by classical psychology is accepted by psychoanalysis; however, there exists an alternative to this approach that is presented by the Russian biologist Pavlov, who rejected the independence of psychic contents regarding vegetative functions and strove to overcome this contradiction through his theory of conditioned reflexes.  Pavlov claimed, “the psychologist is an individual who walks in darkness, guided by a small flashlight that only illuminates limited areas... On the other hand, our objective research on nervous system activity of the higher animals will pave the way so psychologists can discover the underlying laws in the intricate labyrinth of this inner world called the psyche. "

A Life Dedicated to Research:

Ivan Petrovich Pavlov was born on September 14, 1849 in the district of Ryazan in a town that today, in honor of his memory, is named Pavlovo.  He was the son of a priest.  He studied at the Faculty of Natural Sciences, Biology Department, of the University of Leningrad.  He graduated and received his doctorate with a thesis on the functioning of the centrifugal nerves of the heart.  Among his studies and research are: “Studies on the Nerves Regulating Pancreatic Secretion,” “Imaginary Food,” “Lessons on the Functioning of the Principal Digestive Glands,” and “The Physiology of Digestion”  From 1902 and for the rest of his life, he devoted himself to the study of the nervous system activity of the higher animals.

Discoveries and Theories:

His made four main contributions to contemporary scientific thought: “The Theory of Conditioned Reflexes,” “The Concept of Dynamic Stereotypes,” “The Reflex of Biological Caution,” and “The Painless Childbirth System.”  They all correspond to the fundamental notion that the behavior of higher animals holds a close relationship to environmental stimuli.

Pavlov was a typical representative of the experimental method.  As a psychologist, his principal contribution was in the absolute scientific rigor that he knew how to apply to a discipline dominated by assumptions and speculations.  In short, he did it in the way that Freud, Darwin, and Einstein did or would have done. He was a thinker, not a scientist in the sense that is usually attributed to this word in this day and age.

Conditioned Reflexes:

These are the body's reaction to any external stimulus that is repeated various times under similar circumstances.  For example: the salivation caused in a hungry animal by the presence of an appetizing treat.  It is called “conditioned” because it not caused by the body, instead it is due to an external phenomenon.

The Experiment with Imaginary Food:

After the conditioned reflex of the dog’s salivation, Pavlov built laboratories isolated from the outside world and locked up a dog in said laboratories.  For several days, he fed the dog, accompanying each meal with sound from a metronome.  This was then repeated without providing the dog any food, which resulted in the animal secreting saliva as if it had the dish before it.

Dynamic Stereotypes:

For this, Pavlov locked up the dog in the laboratory and during the feeding would ring a bell while pricking the dog at the same time. The dog would secrete saliva and withdraw its paw.

Painless Childbirth:

Pavlov initiated this investigation, however, after his death it was his disciples who developed the concept of painless childbirth. They concluded that childbirth pains were just a conditioned reflex generated over centuries and whose precept was: “when you give birth, you will be in pain.”

When the woman is ready for childbirth, she is already so terrified that she behaves in an irrational manner and makes absurd movements that in turn are the true causes of the pain.  Consequently, it is necessary to educate the woman, teaching her the appropriate movements in order for her to abandon her neurotic attitude and give birth naturally.

Clearly, the psychological aspect of childbirth is important, but one must not forget the organic aspect of it that in one way or another produces pain.  Perhaps Pavlov thought that childbirth was an event where only the psychological part mattered, all the while forgetting the physical aspect of it.

Guilt is one of the most efficient methods that parents use for manipulating the actions of their children.  The tactic “you embarrassed us, what will the neighbors think?” is very useful.   The parent uses external forces to make the child feel bad for what he did and prevents him from thinking for himself.

The illness of a parent is a megafactory of guilt: “You’re making my blood pressure rise; you're going to kill me.”  It may even go so far as to make a child feel responsible for the death of one of his parents.

Sexual guilt imposed by parents is very common.  All sexual thoughts or behavior are fertile grounds for the cultivation of this feeling. “God forbids you from masturbating.  It’s bad.”

In the case of marriage, pressure is placed on one of the spouses using the phrase “If you love me” in order to manipulate the other regarding something he/she did.  It is as if love depends on a determined type of behavior.

Resentments, pronounced silences, and pained looks are good methods to provoke guilt in others.  

Children are not the only ones putting into practice methods that produce guilt in their parents.  With a tantrum in the supermarket, they can get the desired candy.  And if they are not given it, then it is the parents who are not good.

Children, of course, learn to use this behavior with their parents by observing how the adults, in their world, use it to get what they want.

School and the Feeling of Guilt:

Teachers are the superlative originators of guilt, and children, as they are already highly prone to suggestion, are also very easy to manipulate.

Messages like, “What a disappointment you are going to be for your mother. How can you make your parents suffer after all they have done for you?”

Other Institutions That Cause Guilt:

In our society, the practice of tipping does not reflect the service or whether the attention was of good quality, but instead on the degree of guilt felt by the beneficiary of the service.  Waiters and waitresses, taxi drivers, bellhops and other domestic workers have realized that most people cannot cope with the feelings of guilt caused by not behaving properly, and that they will give the established tip without it bearing any relationship to the quality of service received.  Thus, the ostentatious gesture of the outstretched hand along with the nasty comments produce the intended sense of guilt, and result in a big tip.

Weight-loss diets are an activity loaded with guilt.  If someone who is on a diet eats a candy or has chocolate ice cream, he will feel guilty for the rest of the day, recalling his moment of weakness.

Guilt and Sex:

According to psychologists, sex is the activity that produces the most guilt in our society.

Parents cause guilt in children for acts or thoughts related sex.  But adults are not far behind. People surreptitiously enter into theaters in which pornographic movies are screened so that others do not see how depraved they are.

Those who are manipulated with feelings of guilt are condemned to live in resentment, dominated and manipulated by the desires and whims of others.  One of the most common problems we face is not doing that which we want to do, instead, doing what others want us to do.  We must stand our ground regarding matters and firmly maintain belief in ourselves.

It goes against human nature to be repentant for something that, at one point in time, we decided for ourselves.

FEMALE SEXUALITY, A SOCIAL ISSUE

by Lida Prypchan

 

An understanding of female sexuality cannot be achieved by the anatomical observation of women.  It must be viewed in the light of social reality.

 

The most authentic and solid form of human participation in society is through productive work.  If we examine the level of women’s participation in productive work the elements of restriction become evident.  This situation can be explained by the following reasons, among others: firstly, history has been made by men and it is therefore they who determine how women may participate in society.  Secondly, the manner of women’s participation has been determined by the sectors of society that possess the means of production, which in turn create their own specific values within an ideology of domination.  This ideology provides for conformity in a total thought process that prevents men as well as women from truly understanding the critical situation that woman’s problem constitutes.  Thirdly, this ideology of domination perceives women as soft, weak, passive, who do not enjoy having to think and who are conformist, superficial, given to pleasure and frivolity.  This ideology of domination uses all its resources in order to reproduce this model, which permits the perpetuation of domination.  The so-called “feminine personality” has thus been created – and the social communications media impose this as much upon the minds of women as of men.  On the other hand, it has been established that biological differences between man and woman do not imply a condition of inequality on the part of woman.  Anger Egg expresses it thus: “Today one cannot accept any reason, either biological or psychological, that justifies a woman’s dependence on man, or her situation of disadvantage and inferiority.”  What happens is that this type of society proposes a model of a woman that both women as well as men have internalized.  This has resulted in a situation that generates a set of preconceptions, on a woman’s part, that she should behave according to the requirements she supposes men expect of her.  Men, consequently, share in this by completely assuming the role that society has assigned them.  We must accept the challenge of creating models that do not yet exist and invent new forms.  In short, we must get out of the mold and stop treating women as objects, a behavior mode that has come about as a result of our cultural, political and ideological conditioning.  This is not an individual task but a collective one.  A social change must come about to allow equal participation for both men and women.

Female liberation does not mean imitating men or falling into their same errors.  Whoever understands it this way is mistaken.  Female liberation involves a social change that does not exclude women from a fair wage, a change in the law that almost always protects and defends men, as well as in the social and family norms and customs that encourage sexual prejudice against women.

A MAN IN WHITE

by: Lida Prypchan

Man spends his days chasing after balls or hares, and that is the pleasure even of kings.  (Pascal)

If we analyzed everyday life with more objectivity, we would discover that there are many simple pleasures we don’t take into account when we weigh pleasant things against pain.  Simple pleasures such as being thirsty and finding water; being hungry and finding a bowl of soup; needing to urinate halfway through a trip and getting home in time; having an urgent need to defecate when waiting at the bank and finding the restrooms.  These last two mundane pleasures are taboo because of our unexpressed belief that, although we do those things, we don’t mention them, much less reveal the need to do them.  However, they are among the most essential aspects of each human being’s life.  It’s curious that in the Encyclopedia Britannica there is no entry for the term “scatology,” only for its etymological relative “eschatology,” i.e., the one that refers to the study of the doctrines dealing with the end of the world.

A man called Schurij dealt with this theme and wrote four books on it: one dealing with urine, one with bile, one with perspiration and the other with feces.  The book about perspiration doesn’t attract me in the least.  I’m content with the memory of the occasional violinists I have come across who certainly radiated an unmistakable and indescribable orchestral air of that nature. 

Pleasure and pain, like other simple ideas, can be neither described nor defined.  Experience is the only road that leads to knowledge about them.  Pleasures are neither good nor bad, since pleasure in itself is morally indifferent.  What could be classified as good or bad are the consequences of pleasure.  Instead of using judgmental terms such as “good” or “bad,” it would be preferable to substitute “inferior” or “superior” for them, because they are, in effect, pleasures of an inferior nature and others of a superior nature.  Hundreds of years ago the Chinese wrote in the I Ching, “True happiness should spring from one’s inner being.  But when one is empty inside, to the point of abandoning oneself to the attractions of the outside world, illusory happiness asserts itself from without.  This is what many call entertainment.  Those who, because of a lack of inner strength, feel the need for distraction will always find a way to entertain themselves.  Due to the emptiness of their nature, they will always act as a vacuum for outside pleasures, becoming even more lost.  In this case it is no longer a question of bad luck, misfortune or calamity.  They have lost control of their lives and whatever awaits them now depends on chance and external influences.”  One has to bow one’s head before such wisdom, because unfortunately in this century spiritual matters are of the least importance - the pace of life doesn’t seem to allow for them.  One has such a struggle just for material survival, that the little time remaining is dedicated to effortless pleasure.

I have been gradually getting away from my real objective, which was to write about the relationship between pleasure and alcoholism.  Two factors are fundamental: social conditioning and the search for pleasure, although pain should not be eliminated as a motive for drinking.  It’s a difficult chain to break, because the interests created by drinking generate such exorbitant profits.  The media respond to those interests because they translate into enormous profits for them too.  There may not be much to eat in a house, but there’s certainly a television and, who knows, maybe a VCR too, so people waste all their free time watching programs and commercials where there’s a girl dressed in black with white shoes getting out of a white car with a black chauffeur, and a man dressed in a white suit with black shoes who comes to pick her up.  Together they sit at a little table in the moonlight, while a blond man in a black tuxedo serves them a drink of the finest distilled whisky and she touches his hand and looks at him seductively, and at this moment the man dressed in white tastes his drink, throws out his chest and gives a roar like a lion, then stands up, takes the girl by the arm and gives her a kiss that leaves her in a daze.  Since the lady of the house has seen on TV how servant girls can make big leaps in rank if the right man falls in love with them, she is sure to swallow the whole commercial.

In the Limelight (The Great Slap) - CONVERSION HYSTERIA

by Lida Prypchan

A malady which varies according to the subjective

symptoms of the patient; very difficult to characterize,

each case is unique with quite individual and variable symptoms.

A lady who used to like to move house every year would make friends with the neighbors – whom until then she had ignored – on the very same day that she moved. In the midst of the entire bustle she would situate herself conveniently on the ground floor and affectionately bid her goodbyes. Finally she would say, “What a shame I have to leave, the very day I find out what wonderful neighbors I have… It seems we live too close to bother to make friends… it takes a move to find out…”

Some people think that neighbors should be kept at a distance because it is in man’s nature to take advantage, so he has a tendency to poke about into other people’s affairs. Others feel that neighbors only disturb their peace and quiet with their shrill voices and loud music, as is the case with the young man living in the house behind mine. I strike up a friendship (or at least, I used to) with anyone who inspires it within me, whether they are neighbors or not (although I would prefer they were not), as long as it is reciprocated and respected, and with anyone whose behavior and way of thinking and feeling I can admire throughout our friendship. It is very easy to strike up a friendship; the difficulty is in staying interested enough to maintain it.

When the person living on the floor above is a child, we are tormented by the sounds of marbles rolling and the television on at full blast. It can be rather more eerie when it’s an adult couple living above us. Whether it’s the middle of the evening or well into the night, strange, almost spooky sounds begin to emanate, which I could swear come from the great beyond: doors with hinges in need of grease – a sound that would reverberate within the stillness of a corpse; old bed-springs creaking rhythmically up and down in paroxysms of sound that conjure up the most unimaginable scenes (impossible to describe because they are not fit for children under forty). These macabre sounds have made it impossible for me to keep my attention fully concentrated on my exciting medical studies and I feel they are one of the main reasons why my grade point average was not the best. Be that as it may, despite the inconveniences I just mentioned, I prefer lively neighbors. They inspire more confidence, or even better, less suspicion than the quiet ones, whose long silences make us wonder what the deuce they are up to.

Automobiles sometimes provoke hostility between neighbors. To take up a neighbor’s parking spot is ground for a furious declaration of all-out warfare where the wronged party, using quite vulgar language, will inform the culprit about the imminent demise of his car. The first time I was at the receiving end of one of these declaration, I thought I was being warned about my own demise (which would have done me a great favor, since I’ve always wanted to know exactly when I’m going to die), but they were actually warning me about my car’s, which, according to another of my neighbors, was even worse, but then there are some people in this world who love their car more than their own mother.

However, there are notable exceptions in the neighborhood. It may be that those living one floor up share our feelings of uneasiness and think as we do. It’s also possible that they cry over the same things that we do, or even that they cry at exactly the same times as we do. Then I wonder why we don’t get together, even if it’s only to cry. There are often great barriers between neighbors, which can only be overcome by an extraordinary motivating force at some transcendental moment. Something like this is what happened to the main characters in Limelight (1952, considered the most perfect and the most sensitive of Chaplin’s accomplishments). In this movie, a ballerina and a frustrated comedian become acquainted through the dancer’s attempted suicide. They become good friends and eventually a deep and platonic love develops between them. Having survived her attempted suicide, the ballerina maintains that she has no feeling in her legs and after medical examination is diagnosed with “conversion hysteria.” Hysteria is a malady which varies according to the subjective symptoms of the patient. It is very difficult to characterize, as each case is unique with quite individual and variable symptoms. Although in medicine there is no sickness without a sick person, it’s important to note that most pathological conditions exhibit regular symptoms. Hysteria, however, has no consistent or unique symptoms, neither are there any bounds to its intensity or stability of duration.

We know that it occurs most frequently in women over twenty-five, that it can manifest anywhere in the body, that it may be acute (a sudden crisis) or chronic(exhibiting long-lasting symptoms or attacks), is usually precipitated by some conflict and has been extensively dramatized in Latin American soap operas (in particular by Titiana Capote and Franklin Vírgüez). The crises usually consist of fainting spells, accompanied sometimes by convulsions or aggressive, even orgasmic, explosions portrayed in excessively violent or erotic scenes, or sometimes by contortions, abnormal or bizarre gesticulations or trance-like states, which in the past were interpreted as demonic possession. “Collective hysteria” has also been reported: epidemics of St. Vito’s dance, witches’ Sabbaths, and eruptions of convulsive hysteria around Mesmer’s box. To this list I would add concerts given by certain singers, political rallies (Hitler’s), assemblies of members of religious sects (the Jim Jones massacre in Guyana) and meetings of an ideological nature such as those described in George Orwell’s novel 1984.

The explanation for collective hysteria is that when people mass together in a group their disposition becomes more feminine, more sentimental, which is why they are more easily swayed and manipulated.

Areas which can be affected by prolonged symptoms of hysteria include the motor, feeling, sensory and speech areas, as well as the neuro-vegetative system. Theresa’s case of conversion hysteria affected the motor area.

In our society the two most frequently encountered forms are: 1) crises in the form of tachycardia, migraine headaches or vague pains without physical basis, or 2) prolonged attacks, as in the case of women over thirty who complain of pain in the lower abdomen even though their clinical and paraclinical examinations show as normal. These women may even undergo surgery which results in no findings, yet they continue to complain of the same pain and change doctors repeatedly. These patients spend a great deal of money on unnecessary exploratory surgery and are prone to improve temporarily under the influence of a sympathetic doctor.

Chaplin’s character (Mr. Calvero) in Limelight found a most effective solution to Theresa’s motor disorder. A few minutes before her stage appearance as ballerina, Theresa said, “I’ve lost the feeling in my legs. I don’t think I can go out there.” In his distress, not knowing what else to do, Mr. Calvero gave her such a hard slap that so disconcerted her that she stopped her foolishness, went out on stage and immediately began dancing. It often happens that those least familiar with the subject hit upon the appropriate treatment. Such was the case with Mr. Calvero, who at that moment turned out to be the best psychiatrist Theresa could possibly have had.

IS FRIGIDITY CURABLE?

by Lida Prypchan

When I think of frigidity I am reminded of a French writer more well-known for her love affairs with great men of her century than for her literary pursuits. I am referring to George Sand, the Frenchwoman who adopted a man’s name, dressed like a man and smoked like a man. Also a revolutionary who worked with Napoleon Bonaparte, she was famous as Chopin’s lover, who went to bed at seven in the morning after working around the clock on her writing – and after watering her plants.

Maurois wrote an extraordinary biography of this woman, calling it Lélia ou la vie de George Sand. According to Maurois Lélia was Sand’s best novel. It dealt with a matter very personal to her: frigidity. She recounts in detail the trauma of the first sexual episode in her life when, at nineteen, she married a man she had always loathed.

Frigidity is the female counterpart of psychogenic impotence. It is common, but frequently escapes the doctor’s attention because it interferes less with marital relations and more often than not is accepted by patients as the normal expression of a less than passionate personality.

There are many causes. Among them we have: 1) masturbation in adolescence – supported by some authors, rejected by others. According to the first group it is a combination of narcissism and self-sufficiency: the subject would become accustomed to certain sensations, certain forms of pleasure. According to the second group, masturbation for the woman is a form of experimentation whereby she discovers what an orgasm is. To the first theory we should add that masturbation tends to accustom the woman to clitoral orgasm. 2) Some aspects of an ethical nature, for example, the case of single women who have sexual relations out of curiosity or peer pressure. 3) An inept husband can offend a newly-wed and her disgust can give rise to frigidity.

Vaginismus, whether or not accompanied by painful sensations during the sexual act, is a result of fear and disgust. This is frequently a reaction to marital conflicts, for example, an excessive number of quarrels, an alcoholic husband or an unfaithful one.

Psychotherapy associated with reassurance, and the suggestion and practical advice to breathe deeply and quietly during the sexual act is helpful in some cases of minor apprehension. In other cases a more complete investigation is suggested. In some instances, delayed orgasm caused by the woman’s requirement for long sexual build-up, or by the short duration of the act, can be confused with frigidity. It would be wise to advise the subjects to concentrate more on foreplay. Disturbance of the female orgasm may be due to an erection of very short duration or to fear of orgasm. Fear can be connected with loss of sphincter control, which is generally the result of the fear of losing control of oneself during orgasm, as is the case with hysterical patients and those with a domineering personality.

In most cases of frigidity, it is not possible to study and completely correct the situation because patients are reluctant to devote the necessary time to treatment, which is a pity, since treatment for psychogenic impotence and frigidity is not only interesting but also achieves good results. Hypnosis can be used successfully with impressionable patients and helps modify their attitude toward the sexual act and sexual activity in general.

The Oedipus Complex and Emotional Instability

by: Lida Prypchan

“KNOW THYSELF”

In 1897 Freud began what can be considered the most heroic act of his life – the psychoanalysis of his own subconscious.

The ancient oracle of Delphi had from ancient times encouraged philosophers and thinking persons to pursue the maxim “Know thyself,” but unconsciously resisting, none of them ever managed to achieve it as fully as Freud. The subconscious, the existence of which had already been surmised, was still obscure. The words of Heraclitus were still considered true: “The human mind is a distant, inaccessible territory, which cannot be explored.” It was no sudden conclusion, but the gradual intuition dawning within Freud that one must first analyze oneself before being in a position to pursue any research. For three or four years the researcher will suffer from increasing emotional instability, but eventually he will achieve a greater degree of serenity and stability, which will free him to continue his research dispassionately. Two types of investigation arise that are intimately related with his self-analysis: dream interpretation and childhood sexuality.

As Freud continued his research, he began to recognize in himself a certain amount of residual childhood sexuality. He believed he had uncovered the fact that in childhood he had experienced an excessive love for his mother and consequent jealousy of his father. His knowledge of Greek literature brought to mind immediately the tragedy of Oedipus Rex, which he interpreted as an undeniable confirmation of his theory.

Oedipus, the son Laius, King of Thebes and his wife Jocasta, is the protagonist of the Greek legend in which Oedipus kills his father without realizing it, marries his mother without knowing who she is, sires two children by her then, upon learning that he has married his own mother, tears out his eyes. For Freud, Oedipus’ act of blinding himself represented an expiation of his sin.

According to Freud, children as well as abnormal people experience the Oedipal stage between the ages of three to six. Characteristic of this stage is an excessive love for the mother and jealousy of the father, who is considered a rival. All this results in confusion because, although loving and admiring the father, the child views him with jealousy as if he were a rival. This Oedipal complex is resolved by a closer relationship between father and son, better communication and identification with the parent. Through this relationship the child assimilates his father’s identity and behavior, thus resolving his conflict.

According to Freud, everyone without exception passes through this stage and retains some trace of the Oedipus complex until adult life. However, whether an individual will become a more or less normal or neurotic person depends upon the extent to which this conflict has been resolved. The Oedipus complex must be curbed. However, while the normal person has to make only a little effort to resolve this conflict, a sick person will be forced to focus most of his energy upon overcoming it. Freud believed the Oedipus complex to be at the root of all neuroses and the main cause of an unconscious guilt complex. It could be explained as follows: a child feels guilty for harboring contradictory and destructive feelings for his father; this is intensified because the child loves and admires his father; he is subconsciously afraid that his punishment, when his father learns of his feelings, will be castration. Eventually the child experiences extreme anxiety that he will be found out and castrated, lose his mother and forfeit his father’s love and attention. This can all be resolved, depending on the relationship the child establishes with his father. If a closer father/son relationship is later achieved, the child will be able to resolve the conflict. However, if there are family problems, the child will increasingly seek refuge with the maternal figure and distance himself from the paternal figure, so the conflict will remain latent in the background. During this phase the paternal figure is essential for the child, since until now the child has had only a primitive conscience: if he resists his impulses and behaves, it is only because he is afraid of punishment from an outside source. So, in identifying with his father, the child imitates, assimilates and absorbs behavior, standards and taboos from his father, thus developing his own conscience.

Freud eventually realized, however, that many of the problems encountered in the early stages of a child’s development could be determining factors in the subsequent resolution of an Oedipus complex.

An adequate cure for the Oedipus complex depends on various factors. The child’s innate constitution is important. Extreme reactions to his behavior during this stage often cause disturbances. Excessive punishments from parents or over-indulgence of their child’s feelings are of no help in resolving emotional problems.

No strict guidelines can be established for handling children at this stage of their development.

The appetite for trivial novelty: INTROVERT OR EXTROVERT?

by: Lida Prypchan

People are classified as either introverts or extroverts. This classification is very ambiguous and not particularly practical because a person can be both introverted and extroverted. It’s just that it’s an alternating process: the classification has greater value when we analyze the frequency of the periods when introversion or extroversion occurs.

If an individual is an introvert most of the time, he is put into a niche and branded an introvert and if he acts in a completely different way he is stigmatized under the definition of extrovert. However, I am well acquainted with people who exhibit intermediate stages of personality. They are introverts who seem to be extroverts. They are congenial and sociable, while at the same time their “reserve” and “caution” is such that deep down they are classic introverts. In my opinion, the introvert is the individual who does not share his inner self with others.

The truth is that one can be an introvert with all the rest of humanity, yet a complete extrovert with just one person in the world. We see women who can share their inner self with their mother or their husband and with nobody else. It is also true that we sometimes compartmentalize our lives. We share some things with some people and other things with other people. We work with some, study with others, dance with some, fight with others; with some we make love, with others we converse, with yet others we drink. We have to realize that it’s impossible to share everything with only one person in the world. We need many different people to share in the various activities and functions of our life. It’s because of this that love relationships between people who need to mutually absorb and bind each other end so quickly and so disastrously, even though they started out so well. Only after many break-ups, heartaches and uncertainties do they realize that each has to give the other breathing room in order to love and be loved and not be the recipient of the other’s complaints and uncertainties.

Introversion has a great influence on love relationships. I think the introvert has more problems because he internalizes his love. He is often incapable of expressing the heights of beauty or revulsion we inspire in him. He feels alone and the feeling consumes him, with one result: satisfaction or frustration. After a while he reaches his limit, upon which he explodes and all that he was never capable of saying pours out in two or three hours, in an uncontrollable state of anxiety or anger, with tears, or disguised as irony – in a thousand forms! In this case it is easy to conclude that the problems lie in a lack of communication. People talk about trivialities, immerse themselves in superficialities, apparently happy, often not even listening when spoken to. We could also employ the terms introversion and extroversion to this subject, but we shall use their synonyms instead: “self-absorption” and “outward orientation.” These terms were defined by the Spanish philosopher José Ortega y Gasset, who was educated in Germany. Always living outwardly, frivolously, being aware of this, that and the other, this is being an extrovert or “outwardly oriented.” But man is capable of being quite the opposite. That is to say, he can go inside himself and look within to learn more about himself and discover his ultimate reality, the truth he may hate or seek to avoid. The self-absorbed person manages to detach himself from things, he tries to be more genuine, he is surprised at his conduct, he sees himself as a stranger…and he goes on in this fashion getting to know himself, weighing each step, getting to know all that goes on around him. But man is a being destined for action, and the meaning of extroversion or outward orientation, is precisely that, outward-going action. It is logical, therefore, to wonder how we reconcile this apparent incompatibility – simply by taking into account the fact that self-absorption, the path of introversion, is followed by a stage of practical activity, putting into action what has been serenely developing in the calm of inner tranquility.

Self-absorption leads to solitude and anguish leads to feelings of abandonment – which is very close to solitude. It is only in solitude, far from turmoil and the temptation to avoid his own being, to flee from himself and intervene in other people’s loves, that man can contemplate restructuring his life. In self-absorption man bares himself and stands face to face with his real Self. Solitude makes us aware that we, our feelings, are not transferable. Anguish may or may not be a part of solitude (solitude can be pleasurable), but we experience solitude as though it were composed of especially painful notes, as if it were something gloomy coming to hover around and enshroud us in its mists. When in anguish man feels hopelessly alone. In anguish, man experiences abandonment, the ultimate and most absolute solitude of all. It seems that today everything is set up in such a way that human beings don’t have to think or reflect and are becoming an amorphous mass constantly affected by stimuli from modern society that demand attention in a thousand ways for different and varied reasons. This results in dispersion, an appetite for trivial novelty. It is only one step away from an anonymous existence. In this fashion man distances himself more and more from his inner self. With this style of life, distanced from his inner self, man can only approximate animal life and ultimately become an animal. Self-absorption does not only achieve the opposite effect, but the more soul there is in human nature, the more possibility of anguish there is also. Where there’s more soul, there’s more anguish. That is why beasts do not suffer from anguish and, sadly, there are people that to call them beasts would be an insult to the animal species.

WILHELM REICH AND THE FUNCTION OF ORGASM

by Lida Prypchan

One thing we can say about the life of Wilhelm Reich is that it was troubled.  A photograph I have at hand reveals a man with a penetrating stare, protruding lips, deep wrinkles, and an expression of disillusion.  Maybe it was because the era in which he lived lacked the understanding necessary for him to present his advanced ideas on sexuality and social reform.

He was born on March 24, 1897, an Aries, in the village of Galitzia in the old Austro-Hungarian Empire.  A fiery, determined, and impulsive personality predestined him to continual quarrels and failures.  His father, a well-to-do agriculturist, lived in the German sector of the Ukraine.  His primary interests as a child were biology and the natural sciences, motivated perhaps, by his father’s activities, which made it possible for him at the age of ten to use an experimental laboratory to raise butterflies, insects and plants under the supervision of a personal teacher.

His father died in 1914, at which point Reich was forced to return to work at his farm, which was destroyed the next year by the war.  Between 1915 and 1934 he was enrolled in the Vienna School of Medicine where he was acquainted with Freud and became interested in psychoanalysis.  After finishing his studies he began to practice as a psychoanalyst, specializing in neuropsychiatry.  Together with Freud he performed a series of investigations on neurosis and visited Russia in order to convince scientists there of the importance of psychoanalysis to Marxism. Since Reich was at that time a dedicated communist, with the rise to power of Hitler he was forced to leave Germany and relocate in Oslo, soon to move again to the United States where he established an orgone energy laboratory in New York.  After founding the Orgone Institute he acquired more that 100 hectares of land in Maine and later moved the institute headquarters to this location (a place free from repression, where he would thoroughly study  Orgonomy, otherwise know a vital energy).  In 1954 an agency that controlled food and pharmaceuticals accused him of fraud, for which he was taken to court and convicted of contempt-of-court for failing to appear.  At a subsequent trial he was sentenced to two years in 1957, apparently bordering on insanity. 

Presently, 72 of Reich’s publications have been catalogued, the most important being The Impulsive Character; Sexual arousal and Satisfaction; The invasion of Compulsory Sec-Morality; The Mass Psychology of Fascism; The Sexual Struggle of Youth; The Function of the Orgasm; and The Sexual Revolution.

There are three fundamental aspects of Reich’s work we should examine: firstly, the adequate function of orgasm; second, the discovery of orgone energy; and third, the lesson we learn from his life.  Let’s begin with the functioning of orgasm.

In order to conceive of orgastic potency (or the capability to indulge in the discharge of biological energy without inhibition) one must bear in mind that until 1923 sexology and psychoanalysis only recognized the potency of ejaculation and of the erection.  These potencies (ejaculation and erection) are the preliminary and indispensable conditions required to achieve the afore-mentioned orgastic potency.  For Reich, the key to normalcy was found in the orgasm (or simultaneous and involuntary convulsion occurring during the act of sexual intercourse).

According to Reich, in the majority of human beings raised in a collective environment where the sexuality of children and adolescents is repressed, the orgasm is found to have atrophied.

The second aspect of Reich’s work is his discovery of orgone energy.

In 1936, Reich completely dedicated and oriented his work to a biological interpretation of the psyche.  He discovered the potency of orgasm and the energy this generates, which he called orgone energy.  He maintained that unless the barriers that inhibit orgastic potency are broken down, it is not possible for the human being to reach a normal psycho-physiological state.  From now on, all of his effort was concentrated on developing a technique for acquiring, conserving, and intensifying orgastic or orgone potency.  Based on this, Reich created Physical Orgonotherapy (application of orgone energy to the patient, concentrated in accumulator boxes) and Psychiatric Orgonotherapy (liberation of the orgone energy accumulated in the human being).

It could thus be deduced that the neurosis suffered in our time is a consequence of “orgastic impotence” or, rather, the inability to fully release one’s feelings of arousal at the culmination of sexual intercourse.

In summary, it is obvious that Reich’s life, as well as being troubled, is illustrative of the conflicts he provoked during his lifetime.

Reich, who fought against every type of repression, was destined to a life of repression.  He was expelled from three countries and jailed in another.  Reformists persecuted him as a revolutionary and revolutionaries persecuted him as a reformist. 

The Stalinists persecuted him as a Trotskyist, and the Trotskyists as a Stalinist.

Freud and many others in the psychoanalytical movement and almost all of the luminaries of conventional science attacked him and did everything possible and impossible to disparage him.  Both before and after his death, his works were prohibited.  Some of them, and this I say with irony for those of us who boast of our century’s “openness of attitude,” will continue to suffer the stigma of prohibition.

The Art of Scientific Investigation

by Lida Prypchan

Chance

Undoubtedly chance has played an important role in scientific discoveries.  Its importance increases when we think about how common failures and frustrations are in research.  Probably most of the discoveries in biology and medicine have been unexpected or at least have had an element of chance, especially the most important and revolutionary ones.  This should not surprise us if we consider that if something new is revolutionary, it could hardly be foreseen relying on prior knowledge.  When some scientists talk about a discovery they have made, they say almost embarrassedly, "I found it by accident."  This phrase shows that even when you know that chance is a factor in the formation of discoveries, the magnitude of its importance is rarely appreciated and the significance of its role does not seem to have been fully understood.  For this reason, the researcher should take advantage of this knowledge of the importance of chance in discoveries and not look at it as if it were a rarity or, worse still, as something that diminishes due credit for the discovery and that, therefore, should be underestimated.  Although scientists can not deliberately produce chance, they should be alert to recognizing it when it happens.  He who wants to dedicate his life to the advancement of science must practice his powers of observation, so that he develops that mental attitude which consists of always being on the lookout for the unexpected and getting into the habit of examining any possibility that chance offers him.  Discoveries are made by attention to all indications, however small they may be.  A good maxim for the novice researcher is "Attention to the unexpected."

Many relate chance with luck, but it is not advisable to use the term luck in research as it can lend itself to misinterpretation.  There is no objection to using it when you want to mean simply coincidence, but for many people luck is a metaphysical concept, the sort that in a mystical way influences events, and this type of concept should not ever enter in scientific thinking.  The good scientist pays attention to every observation or unexpected event offered by chance and investigates carefully all those that seem most promising.  In this regard Alan Gregg wrote: “One wonders if that rare ability to always be aware and take advantage of the slightest deviation from the expected behavior of nature is not the true secret of the best scientific minds, a secret that could explain why some men convert the most trivial accidents into memorable events. Behind such attention lies an extreme sensitivity. "

The history of discoveries demonstrates that chance plays an important part even in those discoveries that are attributed to it completely.  For this reason, it is a misleading half-truth to refer to unexpected findings under the category of "accidental discoveries."  If chance or accidents were solely responsible for such discoveries, any researcher would have equal opportunity to realize such discoveries from the start, whether that person is a Pasteur or a Bernard.

The truth of this problem is contained in Pasteur's famous dictum: "In the field of observation, chance favors only the prepared mind."  The role of chance consists simply in providing an opportunity, but it is the scientist who has to recognize it and take advantage of it.

Assessing the Opportunities

Given that the frequency of opportunities that involve making discoveries based on chance is very small, scientists spend most of their time at their work stations always attempting "something new," and that is how they are exposed to encountering fortunate accidents.  In addition, they require an acute power of observation to see any indication that is presented and at the same time a special ability to notice the unexpected while they are waiting for the expected.  Then the scientist enters the most difficult stage of all and the one that requires what Pasteur called a "prepared mind."  This stage consists of interpreting and clarifying the possible significance of any indication.  In this respect, Sir Henry Souttar has noted that it is that which is contained in the brain of the observer, accumulated over years of work, that makes triumph possible.  Once the discovery has been made, the scientist has to suffer the impact of skepticism and often the resistance on the part of outsiders.  In itself, mankind shows reluctance to new ideas, since new ideas are generally revolutionary ones that refute established ideas and try to establish new patterns, more evolved than the older ones.  That is why the post-discovery stage is considered one of the most difficult to work through, and this is where the scientist has to fight and sometimes, as we have seen in the past, even to lose their lives.  These are the ironies of life: in enriching humanity with their ideas, they are rewarded with death.

Fortunately, today that is not the form of payment.  I am not referring to material goods that may be given to the scientist, but only to affording them the highest respect, while trying always to keep an open mind to the new ideas they show us.  This is how we can pay them for the innumerable advances humanity receives from them.

The Feeling of Guilt

By Lida Prypchan

There will always be someone who writes about civilization, who criticizes it, who calls it the "Present Shakiness" as J.F. Baena Reyes, who, in his column Lipstick, branded the world in which we move about as a "viscous quagmire of confusion."  And not without good reason.  We are in the era of neurosis, hurried to get who knows where.  Of those who populate the world, Reyes Baena says there are those who enjoy an exquisite pleasure in sadistically provoking the pain of others.  Others aspire to wash their guilt in the savory contentment of personal suffering.

These words, in one form or another, made me think of a game in which all take part: the game of culpability.

This game has existed since the world began.  It is as old as worry and depression. Who escapes their worries?

What changed regarding our generation is that now in any bookshop we find books like "Overcome Depression in 15 Days" with Royal cake type recipes they call "bold techniques."

The feeling of guilt is an emotion that immobilizes us in the present moment for something we did in the past.  And feeling ourselves guilty we deceive ourselves, thinking that we pay for our mistake.  It is one thing is to learn from the past and another to mortify ourselves with something that happened and cannot be undone.  There is a very wise saying about it that says, "It is not the experience of today that drive men crazy.  It is the remorse for something that happened yesterday and the fear of what tomorrow may bring us. "  The past and the future are what we really worry about, and meanwhile we lose the present, thinking of the other two times.

What happens with this emotion is that it seems we carry it in our blood because, from the time we are small, they give us guilt with our applesauce, and then when we become adults we give our children the same dose of guilt that we were given.

For the young, I will not end this article with the skepticism with which Baena Reyes concludes his own.  Reyes ended thus: “It is not time to gargle with words that will find no resonance in the consciousness already experienced among the people."  I do not necessarily seek changes; all I want is that anyone who is self-absorbed, and who identifies him/herself with any of the examples that I will give below, to change, if they so desire, his/her attitude.

What are the origins of guilt?

From when we are children we are manipulated with guilt, whether it be by our parents, siblings, teachers, religion, the state or society.

One of the most typical causative dialogues for one’s guilt it that of a child with its mother.  The mother asked her daughter to bring up the chairs from the basement because they are going to eat.  The daughter is watching a program on the TV and tells her to wait for the ads to come on.  The mother tells her that it does not matter and, even if it greatly hurts her back, she herself will go for the chairs.    The daughter imagines her mother with six chairs on her back, falling down the stairs.  Then she runs and does what her mom asked.  Otherwise she will be responsible for her mother having fallen.

It is very efficient type of mentality, "I sacrifice for you.”  Some mothers remind their children of their labor pains: "I had eighteen hours straight just to bring you into this world."  Another phrase is: "I only stayed married to your father for you."  The child feels guilty for his/her mother's unhappiness.

Attitudes Regarding the Mentally Ill

by Lida Prypchan

Many of my master classes are given at the Bárbula Psychiatric Hospital.  When entering the psychiatric hospital the students already expected to see some of the mentally ill residing there asking for money.  The response is always laughter and giggles.

There is a patient who usually comes up from the back or side and puts her arms around the person’s neck before asking for money.  She is loving and kind, but students do not seem to understand this and for this reason a few days ago an unpleasant situation occurred.  The professor presenting that day had not yet arrived and consequently many students were outside of the room in the hall.  What surprised me was seeing the students desperately running into the lecture hall as if fleeing the sick woman.  Once inside, the previously tranquil atmosphere turned to excitement concerning this woman.  All she had done was what she did out of habit:  ask for money.  In the end, the response of the students was laughter, entertainment, fear and disgust.  Some reacted with fear, as if expecting that she was going to hit them.  Others went along, or joked with her or with their peers about her.  Most interesting was to see the reaction of each student upon her approach and await the reaction, whether they burst into laughter or said something to her.  A shouted exchange occurred between the spectators and the person being accosted with little importance attached to what the patient felt.  I admired the attitude of some who remained in place as if nothing had happened, as if a fellow human being was present.

One might excuse this attitude because contact with the mentally ill was new for all of them and thus unusual, given the image we have about the mentally ill.

It is understood that there is a lack of information, but what I wonder is this: Where is their humanity? Or is it that these patients do not feel the contempt and rejection of others? Is there something in the students that makes them forget another person’s humanity when regarding the ill, who more than anyone, need understanding, love and acceptance?

What happens is that we have social barriers that those whom we call "crazy" don’t have.

Anxiety

by Lida Prypchan

Very few people free themselves from anxiety, though at least Siegfried, the hero of The Ring of the Nibelungen, was born completely free from anxiety.  But it was a rare privilege.  Worries are the historical baggage of humankind.

As typical examples we have the company director who observes that another takes over his position because he is younger, or the student who nervously counts the days until an exam that is crucial for his future.

As can be seen, anxiety in itself is not abnormal; it is simply an all-embracing response by our personality when facing situations that threaten us.  Subjectively, it is characterized by a state of uncertainty, apprehension, tension, and helplessness when facing a threat that we perceive in a vague and imprecise form.

However, it is not necessary to think that everything about anxiety is negative, because in some cases, and depending on the person, it becomes a prod that drives us to attaining something that really matters to us.

But anguish becomes irrational when we exaggerate the response, that is, when in all or in the majority of our activities we allow it to destroy our thoughts, and there it is true that the matter is complicated because this extreme anxiety could easily lead us to depression or even to suicide.  As to its origin, it has been demonstrated that anxiety has genetic roots, but to a larger extent the environment in which the individual operates influences this.  That is why today’s society, with excess population, traffic, crowding, neurosis, and the struggle to "keep up with the Joneses", produces excessive stress on the inhabitants of these societies.

In the specific case of Venezuela, having few men prepared to deal with the large demand for qualified men to meet the needs of the country, we see that these few do the work of many.

Castration Complex Origin of the Neurosis?

by Lida Prypchan

Both the Oedipus and castration complexes are very likely to be found in human societies and must be considered as a normal stage in the development of children.

Castration is understood as the removal of the testicles.  In psychoanalysis, castration means the removal or loss of the penis.

It is worth remembering at what age in development fears and fantasies about castration take place.  Freudian theory emphasizes a series of stages, such as: oral, anal and genital.  In the oral stage, newborns find pleasure in the mouth.  In the anal stage, during the first year of age, satisfaction derives from the anal sensation of defecation.  But it is at the end of the first year of age, when children learn to control their anal sphincter, when they grant more importance to the anus.  Both stages comprise the pregenital stage, which lasts until three years of age.  It is followed by the genital stage, beginning at three years of age, in which boys grant importance to their penis.  This stage lasts until five years of age.  During this stage, boys turn their penis into an object of sexual interest.  Sexual attraction towards the mother is associated with jealousy and fear of the father, who becomes a sexual rival.  This constitutes the Oedipus complex and it is in this stage that the castration complex starts to become important.  Freud thought that the fear of castration was awakened at a very early age by the threats and punishments arising from masturbation.  When the boy is told that sexual interest in the mother is also taboo, he begins to believe that if he persists in this interest, he may be punished with castration.

The castration complex in men is extremely deep and persistent.  According to some legends and myths, castration is horrifying.  In Phrygian mythology, Attis, the god of vegetation, bled to death after having castrated himself.

Both the Oedipus and castration complexes are very likely found in all human societies.  And they must be considered as a normal stage in the development of boys.  Freud stated that the castration complex was the main reason, but not the only one, for the mechanism of repression and that it not only affected integrity of personality, but rather that it could also lead to neurotic manifestations.  He believed that symptomatic formation in phobic, hysterical and obsessive neuroses could be traced back to anxiety about castration.  But this is no longer believed.  Neurosis is a social or cultural problem that is much more complex than what Freud thought, and he did not give importance to the social environment in which his neurotic patients operated.  This is why his theory of neurosis comes up short, without denying that it opened the way for men now engaged in this area to find new interpretations of the problem of neurosis.  

Alfred Adler, a colleague of Freud, criticized this Freudian theory of castration.  According to Adler, based on the central idea of ​​his work "Individual Psychology," boys, threatened with castration by a stronger rival, can counter their feelings of sexual and physical inferiority through a struggle for domination of others, power and self-confidence or sexual conquest.

Melanie Klein expanded on and propagated Freud’s theory.  According to Klein, fear of castration is experienced from an earlier age than that proposed by Freud, both in boys and in girls, and that at that age they are already aware of the genitals of both sexes.

The Brain: A Computer with Secrets

by Lida Prypchan

A genius and a fool can have a brain that is identical in appearance: neither its size nor its structure under the microscope are useful in deciphering intellectual capacity.  The heart speaks through palpitations, but the brain is quiet; it does not reveal its secrets, although it generates electrical impulses that allow us to study the way it works.

In 1870, Erich Hitzig, a Prussian medical officer, walking through a battlefield at Sedan, looked for corpses whose brains were exposed.  With an electrical battery attached to two metal ducts, he discovered that when part of the brain is stimulated with an electric shock, the limbs on the opposite side of the body performed certain movements.

Our movements and sensations cause electrical impulses that travel through a network of neurons or nerve cells to the brain (which is the command center).  We have neurons all over our bodies, even in the most hidden places, and they are all connected to a huge network.  Messages arrive to the brain and it sends out an order.

The neuron is radical in the manner in which it acts: all or nothing, it either generates an electrical impulse or it does not.  It is not yet known how the brain decodes the messages and makes its decisions.  However, the route the messages follow is known.  What is impressive is the amount of different things that the brain does at once and how fast it does them.

Computers are a man-made model of the brain.

I had the opportunity to play a game of chess with a computer, which had seven levels.  I never beat it, not even at the first level.  The computer has magnificent memory, which has the basic rules of the game and a number of possible alternative moves to beat its opponent on magnetophonic tape.  What happens is that the computer does not forget anything: it has perfect memory.

Throughout life, the brain memorizes a series of data that reach the sensory organs.  Such data increases with age.  But since we are not computers, our brains remember very little of all the information we receive throughout our lives.  This is explained by the following comparison: what we use most often is what we most remember; what we use less frequently, we store in boxes and have trouble remembering.

Thousands of neurons fire simultaneously during certain specific classes of mental activity.  This rhythmically generates a series of electric discharges, called brain waves, which can be recorded by placing electrodes on the scalp and can be amplified by using an amplifier that is connected to a system of pens, graphically representing the information on paper.  This device is called the electroencephalograph and is used to explore the changes that take place in the conscious brain.  The strong, slow and steady line predominates when we sleep, daydream or rest with our eyes closed.  When we are stimulated by sensations or are awake, the line is more rapid and irregular.  Using electroencephalography, we can detect an epileptic focus.  

Brain lesions cause characteristic changes, as do certain emotional states and certain mutations, to the body's metabolism.

The Oedipus Complex and Neurosis "Know Thyself"

By Lida Prypchan

In 1897, Freud began what may be called the most heroic act of his life: the psychoanalysis of his own unconscious.

The ancient oracle of Delphi, who said "Know thyself," has since ancient times led philosophers and thinkers to try to pursue this goal, but their inner resistance did not allow any to reach it as deeply as did Freud.  The unconscious, the existence of which had already been speculated on, was still shrouded in darkness.  Heraclitus's words still stood: "The soul of man is a far off land that cannot be approached or explored."  It is not known all at once.  It involves slow intuition.  Freud senses that he needs to self-analyze himself in order to advance in his research.  For three or four years his neurotic suffering increases, but in the end he achieves greater serenity and stability, which causes him to feel free to continue his research with unwavering energy.  Two types of research arise that are closely related to his own analysis: the interpretation of dreams and the study of child sexuality.

As Freud progresses in his research, he begins to recognize, through himself, the basis of the existence of a certain child sexuality.  He believes to have discovered that as a child he felt excessive love for his mother and jealousy of his father.  His knowledge of Greek literature immediately reminded him of the tragedy of Oedipus Rex, which he interprets as an undeniable affirmation of his thesis.

Oedipus, son of the king of Thebes, Laius, and his wife, Jocasta, is the protagonist of this Greek legend, in which Oedipus kills his father, unaware that he is his father, and marries his mother, unaware that she is his mother, has two children with her and, upon learning that he married his mother, tears his eyes out.  This act of pulling his eyes out to Freud represents Oedipus’s desire to atone for his guilt.

According to Freud, the oedipal stage occurs between three and six years of age, even in abnormal people.  This stage is characterized by excessive love of the mother, jealousy of the father, who is seen as a rival, confusion as he admires and loves his father, but he observes him with jealousy, as a rival.  The oedipal complex is resolved through the father and son becoming close in order to have greater communication and identification.  By becoming closer with his father, the boy assimilates the image and behavior of his father, resolving his conflict.

According to Freud, all boys without exception go through this stage and drag certain reminiscences of the Oedipus complex into adulthood.  But to the extent that this complex is resolved, the individual will find themselves closer to or further away from being normal or being neurotic.  The Oedipus complex has to be suppressed.  But while a normal person needs to make little effort to resolve this conflict, an affected individual will be forced to deploy most of their energy to fight it.  Freud considered that the Oedipus complex was the basis for neurosis and the cause of much unconscious anxiety of guilt.  It can be explained as follows: the child feels guilty about harboring contradictory and destructive feelings toward his father; this is accentuated since the child admires and loves his father; in his mind he fears that the retaliation from his father when he learns of his feelings will be to castrate him.  The child therefore feels great anxiety regarding being caught and castrated, as well as regarding losing his mother and the love and attention of his father.  Everything is solved depending on the relationship that the child manages to establish with his father.  If afterward the father and son become closer, the child goes about resolving his conflict.  While if there are family conflicts, the child will seek even more refuge in the mother figure and will distance himself from the father figure, the conflict remaining latent.  The father figure is very important in this stage for the child, as up to that time the child only possesses a primitive conscience: he does what is right, if it goes against what his impulses dictate, only out of fear of punishment from the outside.  Thus upon the child identifying himself with his father, he imitates, assimilates and absorbs the behavior, norms and prohibitions of the father, thereby forming his own conscience.

Freud, therefore, realized nonetheless that many of the difficulties in the process of development of a child, in an earlier stage, could be determinant regarding the subsequent solution of the Oedipus complex.

Achieving the adequate solution of the Oedipus complex depends on several factors.  The innate formation of the child is important.  Extreme reactions to the child's behavior during this stage tend to cause disorders.  Parents who are excessively punitive or lenient with their children's feelings do not help them in solving their emotional problems.

Strict laws cannot be established on how to treat children in this stage of their development.