AFFECTIVE DYNAMICS OF FAILED REPRESSION
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32782/upj/2025-3-2-4Keywords:
failed displacement, parabiosis, ultra-paradoxical state, psychosis, the unconscious, ambivalenceAbstract
The concept of failed displacement belongs to the basic ones in psychoanalytic theory. Its means that mental material due to a certain internal conflict does not undergo complete displacement and returns to consciousness in the form of neurotic symptoms. The article draws parallels and analyzes the relationship between the concept of failed displacement and the physiological process of parabiosis. Understanding the process of parabiosis expands the therapist’s idea of the sequence of unfolding and the dynamics of failed displacement, it reveals the logic of activity of the unconscious. In particular, there is clarification regarding the nature of failed displacement – the appearance of a binary affect that is partially displaced and partially realized by the individual at the same time. The psychological problem lies in the fact that the individual is unable to cognitively and emotionally connect these parts together, loses the integrity of perception, and therefore is guided by contradictory impulses and thoughts. The dynamics of neurotic affect at all stages of parabiosis and three phases of the ultraparadoxical state are being considered. There is explanation of the reasons for replacing basic emotional ambivalence with other affective reactions. Psychoanalytic and physiological approaches to the interpretation of the patient’s psychotic symptoms are compared based on the classic example of Anna O.’s hysterical disorder, presented by J. Breyer. The sequential unfolding of Anna O.’s psychosis is simulated, the stages of the emergence of affects that hide the basic ambivalence are revealed. The conclusion is made that horizontal and vertical analysis of neurotic affects is important in psychotherapy. The horizontal analysis of affect involves its study from the position of parallel centers of excitation and inhibition. Vertical analysis of neurotic affect is a study of the dynamics of its centers of excitation, which are consistently revealed during the unfolding of a psychological problem.
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