ANXIETY AND OEDIPUS COMPLEX. INCOMPLETE SEPARATION

Abstract

Abstract. In today’s world, more and more people suffer from anxiety disorders, and many psychotherapeutic methods are paving the way to work with such problems. The study of anxiety in the psychoanalytic framework leads to the phenomenon of the Oedipal situation. This article analyzes the issue of anxiety. The anxiety symptom is considered a consequence of the unresolved Oedipus complex. The process of formation and deployment of Oedipus and its important components such as childhood sexuality and infantile narcissism, which are born in the cocoon of child-parent interaction and are primary and natural for the child in his or her relationship with the outside world, is traced. The author highlights the connection between Oedipus and incomplete separation, as well as the transformation of sexuality and narcissism during the passage and overcoming of the Oedipus complex. The influence of these processes on the formation of dependence or autonomy is revealed. The algorithms of anxiety symptom occurrence are considered, and its role as a regulator and compensator of incomplete Oedipal relationships that continue into adulthood is investigated. The contribution made by children to the preservation of the Oedipal situation and the contribution made by parents are separated and indicated. The anxiety symptom is seen as a problem that arises in the Oedipal relationship and ensures regression to earlier stages of mental development, in particular during the oral period, which occurs due to the internal conflict inherent in the Oedipus, when children are unable to detach libidinal desires from parental figures and move separately in the genital position. At the same time, the symptom becomes a secondary benefit, the so-called compensation, which ensures a balance in the relationship, on the one hand, making them equivalent (first the child fulfills the will of the parent, and then the parent fulfills the will of the symptom), and on the other hand, it preserves the Oedipal contact, strengthening it, while maintaining the narcissistic interdependence of all participants. Cases of psychotherapeutic work with clients are presented, as well as an example from Lesya Ukrainka’s literary work “The Blue Rose”, which highlights the role of the symptom in situations where there is an impossibility of overcoming the Oedipus. The author traces the paths that should ultimately lead a person to adulthood, to personal Freedom. To the cultivation of a healthy Ego that can rely on separateness, on a sense of self-respect, and self-capacity.