A General Introduction to PsychoanalysisFreud, Sigmund
Science
A General Introduction to Psychoanalysis
Freud, Sigmund
Psychoanalysis
The return of the libido to phantasy is an intermediate step on the road
to symptom development and well deserves a special designation. C. G.
Jung coined for it the very appropriate name of _introversion_, but
inappropriately he also lets it stand for other things. Let us therefore
retain the idea that introversion signifies the turning aside of the
libido from the possibilities of actual satisfaction and the excessive
accumulation of the phantasies hitherto tolerated as harmless. An
introvert is not yet a neurotic, but he finds himself in a labile
situation; he must develop symptoms at the next dislocation of forces,
if he does not find other outlets for his pent-up libido. The intangible
nature of neurotic satisfaction and the neglect of the difference
between imagination and reality are already determined by arrest in the
phase of introversion.
You have certainly noticed that in the last discussions I have
introduced a new factor into the structure of the etiological chain,
namely, the quantity, the amount of energy that comes under
consideration. We must always take this factor into account. Purely
qualitative analysis of the etiological conditions is not sufficient.
Or, to put it in another way, a _dynamic_ conception alone of these
psychic processes is not enough; there is need of an _economic_
viewpoint. We must say to ourselves that the conflict between two
impulses is not released before certain occupation-intensities have been
reached, even though the qualitative conditions have long been potent.
Similarly, the pathogenic significance of the constitutional factors is
guided by how much _more_ of a given component impulse is present in the
predisposition over and above that of another; one can even conceive the
predispositions of all men to be qualitatively the same and to be
differentiated only by these quantitative conditions. The quantitative
factor is no less important for the power of resistance against neurotic
ailments. It depends upon _what amount_ of unused libido a person can
hold freely suspended, and upon _how large a fraction_ of the libido he
is able to direct from the sexual path to the goal of sublimation. The
final goal of psychological activity, which may be described
qualitatively as striving towards pleasure-acquisition and avoidance of
unpleasantness, presents itself in the light of economic considerations
as the task of overcoming the gigantic stimuli at work in the
psychological apparatus, and to prevent those obstructions which cause
unpleasantness.
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