IV. REPRESSIONS AND THE NEUROSES

We have observed that the psyche is the scene of a constant and often intense conflict between the more primitive and the more social human impulses. It is in the course of this physical conflict and to serve its ends, that the repressions are manifested.

In considering the relations of cause and effect in the psychic realm, we must bear one great fact in mind, a fact that should be quite self-evident, but which, because of our lack of knowledge of the Unconscious, has not been realized, namely: Nothing is accidental in the psychic region. There is no “chance” in the psychic world any more than in the physical. Every effect has a definite cause; every cause produces a definite effect.

What seem to be accidental, unexpected happenings are not so in reality. We observe only some of the unconscious manifestations without realizing that they are logical reactions of some positive force. Thus, they appear as something detached and causeless, and we give them no further consideration.

The human psychic apparatus produces a ceaseless flow of impulses or discharge of energy whose aim is the fulfillment of two great principles, upon which all life is grounded—that is, the pleasure principle, and the reality principle.

The Pleasure Principle.—The pleasure principle represents the primary original form of mental activity, and is characteristic of the earliest stages of human development, both in the individual and the race. Therefore, it is found in its typical expression in the mental life of the infant, and to a less extent in the savage. Its main attribute is a never-ceasing demand for immediate gratification of various desires that give pleasure to the Unconscious, regardless of cost or consequences. Thus, it may be said to be egocentric, selfish, personal, anti-social.

The infant illustrates in a very observable manner the existence of the pleasure principle as the basic motive for all its actions. Nothing but its own desires concern him, and he demands with unqualified insistence their fulfillment in the shape of food, warmth, petty attentions, and any object that may come to his notice.

But while the infant offers the most perfect example of the pleasure principle in operation, because it works through him with no disguise, it can be noted more or less prominently among all people. No individual is free from this trait. It is of course good that this is so, or life would be more dull and drab than it is at its worst.

A normal, well rounded personality is one in which all the basic characteristics are present in the proper degree, one balancing the other, thus preserving a desirable equilibrium, and fitting one to face and grapple with the realities of life. This is what constitutes a healthy, adaptable human being.

But, as we so well know, not every one is in this favored category. Leaving aside those who are the victims of so outrageously pernicious an environment that any approach to normal life is impossible, there are still millions and millions of people in all walks of life who fall short, some seriously so, of this standard.

These unadapted people, some fitting like the proverbial square peg in a round hole, are suffering from exaggerated neurotic tendencies. They range from the mildly hysterical or temperamentally unsettled to the definitely insane. And notwithstanding the bleak picture which the more extreme cases make, and which are unfortunate enough even when moderately advanced, they are expressions of the pleasure principle that has followed afar some line of least resistance.

People who maintain their grip on the vitals of reality avoid the alluring pitfalls to which undue surrender to the pleasure principle leads. Where the temptation is strong, there are often elaborate precautions taken to escape the dreaded fate. This is true, even when the exact situation is not consciously realized and when the precautions are the result of intuitive rather than logical effort.

Primitive man offers an excellent example of this fact. He has erected an intricate set of taboos to avert the consequences of his fierce, self-seeking impulses. He realizes vaguely there are inexplicable inner forces pulling him this way and that. He does not know what these emotions and passions are, nor why or whence they come, but senses the danger in their dominance.

The so-called “civilized” man differs in degree rather than kind from his primitive brother. He disguises and distorts, unconsciously for the most part, and often with surprising ingenuity, that same principle which governs so largely his behavior.

We have only to study our own dreams, phantasies and often unreasonable emotions of jealousy, vanity, etc., and our tendency not to face reality, or our disinclination to recognize the constant pressure and frequent dominance of the pleasure principle within us.

Thousands of years of civilization with the accompanying development of cultural, ethical, religious and social factors and influences have done much to modify and adapt the power of this pleasure principle, but no amount of civilization can eliminate or crush this dynamic force.

As a matter of fact, the objection is that our civilization is becoming so constantly ramified, and with such increasing swiftness, by scientific achievements, mechanical inventions and natural discoveries, etc., that we can hardly adapt our primitive, slow-evolving characteristics to the more rapidly changing environment. And this condition is intensified because, as a social unit, we have preferred to avoid any serious discussion or study of psychic phenomena so as better to cope with the problems that confront us.

The Reality Principle.—The reality principle, to all intents and purposes, is the antithesis of the pleasure principle. They are both present in all of us all the time. The condition which makes us either “normal” human beings or neurotic misfits in society, is largely governed by the proper balance on the one hand, or on the other, the lack of relative proportion of these two principles in our psychic make-up.

Directly as they manifest themselves in our Unconscious, or indirectly, as in disguised forms in the Conscious, these two principles are ever exerting their respective influences—operating, or co-operating with each other, or coming into conflict.

Freud has described the reality principle as having for its function the adaptation of the organism to the exigencies of reality—that is of the world animate and inanimate, which lies outside and around every individual.

It is evident that if the individual were not capable of acting upon the reality principle to a very large degree throughout life, he would as a consequence be unable to exist.

He must realize the uncompromising force of sea, air, gravity, fire, wild animals, in order to maintain life. He must recognize the claims, needs and superior force of his fellow men, even in the most primitive society or community.

Thus, by the very act of living, even without definite instruction to that end, we are gathering consciously and unconsciously a working knowledge of the reality principle. It is exemplified in the old adage of “learning by experience” rather than by hearsay or being told.

Sometimes, as we all know, this is a very painful way of learning, although its effectiveness is unquestioned. The child who touches a hot stove is learning by a very drastic method to adapt himself to reality.

The writer once saw a bright, eight-year-old youngster attempt to walk quickly over the water as the row-boat he was in neared the shore. Although it was only the equivalent of four or five short steps, the youth got a rather sudden and aqueous awakening to a certain phase of the reality principle. This was obviously a perfect illustration of the unconscious in action, as consciously he knew that it is impossible to walk on the water, but he was seized with an inexplicable “impulse.”

The development of the reality principle is through the channels of reason. Those who are of the most logical, rational turn of mind best exemplify the reality principle.

This principle is expressed in directed thinking, in contrast to the phantasying and intuitive expressions of the pleasure principle.

People who have a high degree of intuition may be said to be under the influence of their Unconscious to a greater extent than those who are not so intuitive in their decisions and actions. In many respects, this is a valuable asset, when co-ordinated with a discriminating Conscious, which acts as a regulator in preventing undue extremes in manifestations of the Unconscious.

It is the inevitable conflict between these two great principles in our psychic make-up which is the cause of repressions. And repressions which become so severe that they cause serious disharmony in our Unconscious result in a neurosis.

In considering the curative value of psycho-analysis, it is well to remember that conflicts are present in all of us. This is assured by the fact that we are all endowed, more or less, with primitive passions and certain instinctive desires, and these tend inevitably to conflict with the social and ethical standards to which we consciously subscribe.

Therefore, there are neurotic strains and tendencies in every individual, which the most rational of us demonstrate at times in little temperamental outbursts, in streaks of unreasonableness, and even physical indispositions that are the positive reactions of a neurosis, incipient or chronic.

When we realize that a neurosis, slight or severe, and many of the incipient forms of insanity, reflect a lack of harmony in the psychic mechanism, instead of being some mysterious, far-fetched visitation of fate, we begin to see the possibilities of remedying the situation. This is especially so when we consider that every “normal” person experiences the same tendencies in a light form, which contribute to the function of a neurosis and insanity.

Physical Effects of Neuroses.—To thoroughly appreciate the widespread effects of neurotic tendencies, it is only necessary to scan the list of physical ailments and symptoms that may be due to unconscious ideas that unduly influence our conduct.

Dr. William A. White in his Principles of Mental Hygiene states:

The number and duration of physical and apparently physical disorders which may originate at the psychological level is endless. It includes many forms of asthma, sore throat, difficult nasal breathing, stammering, headache, neurasthenia, backache, tender spine, “weak heart,” faint attacks, exophthalmic goitre (Graves or Basedow’s disease), aphonia, spasmodic sneezing, hiccough, rapid respiration, hay fever, gastro-intestinal disturbances (constipation, diarrhea, indigestion, colitis, ulcer of stomach), ptosis of kidney, diabetes, disturbances of urination, polyuria, incontinence, precipitancy, menstrual disorders, auto-intoxication (from long digestive disturbances), nutritional disorders of skin, teeth and hair, etc.

It should be emphasized, however, that while any of these disturbances may be of psycho-genic origin, no reputable psycho-analyst would claim they are always due to this basic cause.

After soberly considering this formidable agglomeration of possibilities from repressions in the Unconscious—the very existence of which the overwhelming majority of people are in ignorance—we should see the necessity for some rational understanding of, and insight into, our psychic processes—particularly the unconscious ones.

The modification of the elemental urges and wishes and their adaptation to the realities of environment is a long, difficult and painful process. Beginning with the infant life, thoroughly bound up in its egocentric activities, and progressing through childhood which is dominated by primitive emotions, we finally reach adulthood in years, but still influenced profoundly by primitive impulses and modes of thought.

In fact a large percentage of people never grow up psychologically and emotionally, but remain at an infantile, or at the most, an adolescent level in these respects.

Low Mental Average Among Adults.—It is interesting to observe in this connection very significant statistics gathered by the Surgeon General of the American Army during the World War, of men drafted in 1918.⁠[A] Elaborate tests were made attempting to “size up” the brain power of the soldiers, irrespective of education. For instance, children under the age of five seldom can learn to tell time on a clock, but practically all normal children can learn to do so before they are over the age of six. There are other analogous problems or tests which children five or six can do, but which they cannot do if they are younger.

As an example, it is found that the normal child of five can name the four primary colors, even if never taught them. On the other hand, some grown people are so deficient in mental power that, although they can dress themselves and do many kinds of every-day work, they can never learn to tell time by the clock or do the other five-year-old tests. Such people are said to have a “mental age” of under five—that is, they have the potential brain power of a child under five.

Similar tests have been devised for other ages. For example, the normal child of eleven can detect absurdities in sentences; can define three out of five abstract words, “pity, revenge, charity, justice, envy”; can repeat backward five digits given orally; can interpret fables, etc.

The Surgeon General divided the mental age of many thousands of drafted men according to their occupation. He thought the “average” would be misleading, so instead of finding the average, he omitted from each occupation one-quarter of the men having the lowest mental age, or brain power, and also the quarter having the highest brain power. The men who remained were the middle half.

Now, after dividing these men into some seventy-four occupational groups, they were classified into seven grades of brain power, instead of using the literal term “mental age.” The result was as follows:

A Very Superior Intelligence. This grade was ordinarily reached by only four or five per cent of a draft quota. It was composed of men of marked intellectuality, with the ability to make a superior record in college or university.

B Superior Intelligence. Less exceptional than that represented by “A,” and was obtained by eight to ten per cent of the draft. Men of this grade are capable of making an average record in college.

C+ High Average Intelligence. This group included about fifteen to eighteen per cent of the draft. Can not do so well as “B,” but contained some men with capacity for leadership and power to command.

C Average Intelligence. Included about twenty-five per cent of the drafted men. These men are rarely capable of graduating from a high school. They are of a grade that is said to make “excellent privates” in the army. Their “mental age” may be put at about fourteen.

C- Low Average Intelligence. These men made up about twenty per cent of the draft, and were considered satisfactory in work of a routine nature. They are distinctly of lower intelligence than the “C” group, but their mental age is probably not below twelve.

D Inferior Intelligence. Included about fifteen per cent of the draft. They are slow in learning, and rarely suited for tasks which require special skill, resourcefulness, or sustained alertness. It is unsafe to expect these, or those of grades “D—” and “E” to read intelligently or understand written directions.

D- and E. Very Inferior Intelligence. The majority of these men are below the “mental age” of ten—some were discovered with a mental age as low as two or three, and were being passed upon for sending to France in 1918.

When such a representative body of men as the American Army drafted under the Selective Service law shows an “average intelligence” comprising about twenty-five per cent that are rarely capable of graduating from high school; twenty per cent that have a mental age of about twelve; fifteen per cent of an even lower mental age, incapable of reading intelligently or understanding written directions; and two other classes that are still inferior with mental ages ranging from below ten years to as low as two or three, then we can get at least some approximate idea of the infantile state of mind of a large section of the general population.

Kinds of Neuroses.—According to the theory of Freud, the neuroses are divided into the true neuroses and psycho-neuroses.

The true neuroses are neurasthenia and anxiety-neurosis. The causes of these diseases, Freud maintains, is the disturbance of the sexual processes which determine the formation and utilization of the sexual libido.

As he summarizes it:

We can hardly avoid perceiving these processes as being, in their last analysis, chemical in their nature, so that we recognize in the true neurosis the somatic effect of disturbances in the sexual metabolism, while in the psycho-neurosis we recognize besides the psychic effects of the same disturbances. The resemblance of the neuroses to the manifestations of intoxication and abstinence, following certain alkaloids, and to Basedow’s and Addison’s diseases obtrudes itself clinically without any further ado, and just as these two diseases should no longer be described as nervous diseases, so will the genuine neurosis soon have to be removed from this class, despite their nomenclature.

Neurasthenia, in Freud’s opinion, is due to exaggerated sexual self-gratification which weakens the individual’s will-power by making the goal too easily obtainable, affords inadequate relief, diminishes potency and by ignoring too many psychological sources of excitement, may cause physical injury. The neurasthenic turns away from society, from reality, and, if a man, from women, for he cannot tolerate feminine imperfection. Thus, he becomes anti-social and betrays the result of his vain strife against passion in many ways, lack of will-power, doubts about the possibility of achievements and self-reproaches.

Among the symptoms of anxiety neurosis are general irritability, exaggerated visual and auditive sensations which are frequently the cause of sleeplessness, anxious expectations of accidents, death, insanity, accompanied in some cases by a disturbance of one or more bodily functions, respiration, circulation, glandular functions, etc. One of the most characteristic symptoms of anxiety neurosis is a form of dizziness which never leads to complete loss of equilibrium.

The symptoms of anxiety neurosis are considered by Freud as substitutes for the specific action which should follow sexual excitement and which is accompanied by acceleration of the respiration, palpitation, sweating and congestion.

It is popularly supposed that anxiety neurosis is the result of overwork. Freud says, however, that the physician who informs a busy man that he has overworked himself, or an active woman that her household duties have been too burdensome, should tell his patients they are sick, not because they have sought to discharge duties which for a civilized brain are comparatively easy, but because they have neglected, if not stifled, their sexual life while attending to their duties.

Men who resort to ungratifying forms of sexual activity and women left unsatisfied by the impotence or ejaculatio praecox of their husbands, are often found to be suffering from anxiety neurosis.

Characteristic of the emotional obsessions of psycho-neurosis, sometimes referred to as psychasthenia, are various phobias or fears, agoraphobia, fear of open spaces; claustrophobia, fear of closed spaces; astrapaphobia, fear of thunder and lightning; aerophobia, fear of being in high places; morbid desires for drink or drugs; volitional obsessions; kleptomania, impulse to steal; pyromania, impulse to set fire to things; arithmomania, impulse to count everything; onomatomania, impulse to repeat one word, and so on.

To afford a more scientific classification, these symptoms of psychasthenia have been divided up by psycho-analysts into hysteria, anxiety hysteria and compulsion neurosis.

Hysteria, Freud states, is due to an emotional conflict between the usual urge and the sexual repression, and its symptoms have the value of a compromise between both psychic streams.

Anxiety hysteria is frequently associated with hysteria proper. In this case the anxiety arises not only from physical sources, but from a part of the ungratified desire which embraces a number of complexes. As the normal mind reacts to danger through anxiety, we might propose the analogy that in this case the mind is defending itself against internal danger. The psycho mechanism is the same as in hysteria except that it does not lead to conversion into physical symptoms. Anxiety hysteria invariably tends to develop a phobia. The most common of hysterical phobias is agoraphobia, which prevents the patient from walking comfortably across an empty space, although he can do so when accompanied by certain persons. Another anxiety hysterical disturbance is erythrophobia, or fear of red, which has as its motivating basis self-reproach or shame of some sort, the feeling of being slighted or of anger.

Hysteria is more peculiar to the female sex, obsessional neurosis to the male sex.

The obsession neurosis is featured by constant ambivalence, or the experiencing of opposite feelings at the same time, such as love and hatred for the same person, although of course, one of these emotions may predominate in the Conscious and the other in the Unconscious.

In compulsion neurosis, the thought of the possibility of death to others is often present. In every conflict, the subject awaits the death of someone important or dear to him, a rival or one of the love objects between whom his inclination wavers. His obsession is anchored upon a superstitious belief in the potency of his evil wishes. Superstitions of all kinds, in fact, occupy a prominent place in the compulsion neurosis.

The difference between neuroses and psychoses has been made very clear by Adler, who says:

Longing for an unattainable ideal is at the bottom of both. Defeat or fear of defeat causes the weaker individual to seek a substitute for his real goal. At this point begins the process of psychic transformation designated as a neurosis. In the neurosis, the pursuit of the fictitious goal does not lead to an open conflict with reality, the neurotic simply considering reality as a very disturbing element, as he does in neurasthenia, hypochondria, anxiety, compulsion neurosis and hysteria. In the psychoses, the guiding masculine fiction appears disguised in pictures and symbols of infantile origin. The patient no longer acts as though he wished to be masculine, to be above, but as though he had already attained those ends.

In substance, the neurotic is grieved by not being all-powerful. The psychotic is all powerful, and attempts to force his environment to share his belief.

Curative Value of Psycho-Analysis.—From the foregoing array of psychic disturbances and physical complications, it should readily be perceived that medicine—the importance of which in its place is fully recognized by analysts—can be of little or no service. This explains why people of neurotic disposition are frequently found who are under-going medical treatment either constantly or intermittently for years without relieving the trouble, when, in fact, it doesn’t grow more pronounced.

To those who have regressed definitely into severe neuroses, or worse, have sunk into a pathological condition of incipient or chronic insanity, even of a non-violent type, there is little hope of self-relief.

If the expert services of a competent psycho-analyst practitioner are not available, a change for the better is hardly likely, unless nature in her great resourcefulness overcomes the tremendous odds and brings a favorable turn or, as is more probable, some distressing causative factors are unwittingly or with design alleviated.

We should, therefore, emphasize everything that would tend to promote the latter. Among the great outstanding causes of neuroses is an irrational sexual life. Very many of these cases can be afforded relief, especially among married persons when well mated, by obtaining rational knowledge of marriage psychology and of the emotional and spiritual significance of the sex act, thus giving new meaning to the marriage relations and changing the whole outlook on life, resulting in improved mental and physical health.⁠[B]⁠

Notwithstanding the economic barriers so frequently in the way of a rational sex life in marriage, the advantages of realizing this goal are so great that it behooves every individual and couple who expect to continue living and have anything to live for, to avail themselves of the knowledge that is accessible.

This will bring with it a new and healthier attitude in facing the problems of life. It will also banish the false notions of an irrational, soul-crucifying prudery and prurience, and enable the father and mother to be better parents and the companions of their children.

The young people, in turn will profit by this superior training and the improved insight into vital matters which it will bring them, and consequently the new generation will be healthier, more adaptable and freer from baneful neurotic afflictions.

As we have intimated, every individual has neurotic tendencies, which assert themselves at times in minor ways, but the normal individual (adult) has adapted himself to the exigencies of reality. Thus, he is not constantly swept and tossed about by these inner forces, like a rudderless craft on the surging sea, as is the case of the victim of malevolent repressions.

Insanity (except when due to disintegration of the brain structure, such as may result from syphilitic lesion, alcoholic deterioration, tumor or other malignant growth, etc.) is essentially an extreme neurotic state. It has all the symptoms in a more or less exaggerated form of the various neuroses.

This impresses us with the fact that there is not a hard and fast dividing line between the sane and the insane. Even the sanest people sometimes have fits of rage that have all the features of insanity while they last. People with pretty good practical minds occasionally do some very irrational or foolish things when seized by an unaccountable impulse—even to the extent of committing murder, or suicide.

All of these exhibitions are regressions from reality. Some people, it may be said, have a predisposing temperament which makes their struggles with reality harder than for others. It is these individuals that childhood repressions or complexes affect the most profoundly. But psycho-analysis offers relief to them—in fact the only possibility for relief as has been proven many times.

The regressions from reality are toward childhood and the infantile state. Neurotics invest themselves with the prerogatives of children. And it is not without reason (an irrational one, however.) To the child, many things are obtainable, and by very simple means, that the adult cannot command. The child cries for food, or pleads for something it desires, and it is brought to him. Without consciously realizing it, this easy process appeals irresistibly to the neurotic type of mind. So he regresses; maybe he develops some disability or sickness, purely as a result of his psychic condition, and he finds he is waited on and cared for much as he was when a child. Any number of similes could be cited to illustrate the parallel.

The insane regress even further to the infantile plane. The more hopelessly insane the person is, the more infantile he becomes in his actions. Cases are not uncommon where the victim is so far removed from all interest in life that he lies down, utterly disregarding his environment and all the bodily functions, often assuming the prenatal position of the fetus.

Suicide may be said to be a supreme manifestation of the neurotic symptoms. By this final act, the neurotic successfully and irretrievably flees from reality and returns to the embracing arms of Mother Earth where the problems of life will beset him no more. If he has religious scruples or superstitions, the prospect of being damned in another world is no more forbidding than the hellishness of reality in this. If he is unencumbered by theological dogma, he enters the endless cycle of oblivion, whose incomparable attraction is an eternity of inertia, silence, peace.

NOTE: Unconscious Love Elements in Psycho-Analysis, by William J. Fielding (Little Blue Book No. 1353), is the conclusion of his discussion of psycho-analysis. All readers of the present book should obtain this supplementary volume.