Impotence and frigidity.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Defense Mechanisms↗
Biomedical subjects
S Adroer
Publications and source records attributed to S Adroer.
Some considerations in the structure of the self and its pathology.
The author's intention is to contribute to the study of the structure of the self, both discussing the different processes of interiorisation and identification that play their parts in this development, and looking into the role played by the objects, and especially the superego. Interiorisation (the choice of this word is explained) is seen as a broad concept that covers incorporation, internalisation, introjection and introjective identification, and the dynamic of each of these mechanisms is discussed, along with its influence in the development of the structure of the self and of its constituent elements. Taking these concepts as a theoretical base, the author goes on to consider the field of 'pathology of defect' compared with the more classical pathology of conflict. Starting from the findings of different authors, especially Fairbairn and Kohut, he enlarges upon theoretical aspects of this 'pathology of defect' and its close relationship with Kohut's theories of narcissism, emphasising that, apart from other factors, an essential element in understanding this pathology is the development of the superego. Clinical material is presented to illustrate the theory.
Adult↗
Fixation of asthma and sexual impotence at different pregenital stages.
Most psychoanalytic writers believe that both asthma and sexual impotence depend on fixations at the early stages of the Oedipus complex. Through psychoanalytic study of patients with both disorders, the author believes that this problem may be considered from another angle whereby the fixation of sexual impotence is situated at the early stages of the Oedipus complex, while asthma depends on fixations at the level of the breast although its character is also triangular. It is the author's opinion that in studying the psycho-pathogenesis of these afflictions it is important to distinguish between basic and defensive phantasies, since it is the former which reveals the level of object relations where the malady is situated. Defensive phantasies include, owing to regressive and progressive movements, objects and defences from other levels and therefore cannot be used for the investigation of levels of fixation. In the cases presented, the aim of the psychosomatic symptom is, in asthma, to avoid the collapse of the self while, in impotence, it is to avoid castration anxieties, when the introjected object does not provide sufficient cohesion to the self or is experienced as persecutory. At first the patient uses manic defences but should these fail, further defences are resorted to (contraction of the bronchioles in asthma and inhibition in sexual impotence), and these give rise to the psychosomatic symptom.
Adult↗