Tip: click a paragraph to jump to the exact moment in the video. Why You Can’t Stop Thinking: Obsessional Neurosis

1. 00:01 foreign ‘s painting metamorphosis of Narcissus 1937 it captures the way that Obsession becomes dangerously introspective today we are going to discuss obsessional neurosis what is it how does it manifest and what’s the connection between obsession and dissociation in the myth of Narcissus the youth false totally in love with his own image it’s a common mistake the youth the young men in the myth doesn’t fall in love with himself he falls in love with his reflection any soul attracted to it foreign ‘s painting metamorphosis of Narcissus 1937 it captures the way that Obsession becomes dangerously introspective today we are going to discuss obsessional neurosis what is it how does it manifest and what’s the connection between obsession and dissociation in the myth of Narcissus the youth false totally in love with his own image it’s a common mistake the youth the young men in the myth doesn’t fall in love with himself he falls in love with his reflection any soul attracted to it
2. 01:00 so inexorably drawn to it that he falls into the lake or the body of water and it drowns in it and this in a nutshell is obsession my name is I’m a former visiting professor of psychology and the author of malignant self-love narcissism Revisited the two elements of obsession are number one dissociation the opposition take a life takes a life of its own it consumes the obsessed person the obsessed person loses touch loses contact even with his own body let alone other parts of his mind the second element is so inexorably drawn to it that he falls into the lake or the body of water and it drowns in it and this in a nutshell is obsession my name is I’m a former visiting professor of psychology and the author of malignant self-love narcissism Revisited the two elements of obsession are number one dissociation the opposition take a life takes a life of its own it consumes the obsessed person the obsessed person loses touch loses contact even with his own body let alone other parts of his mind the second element is
3. 01:52 self-destructiveness obsessional thoughts lead to self-destruction that was a famous case of yeah you guessed it Sigmund Freud who else so there was a famous case of Sigmund Freud so let me get to this it’s another computer it’s a new computer and I’m not quite Adept at using it so there was a case a famous case of Simon Freud and he called he he named it the rat men it was published in 1909 and it is the first description in depth of obsessional neurosis a client came to Sigmund Freud and he self-destructiveness obsessional thoughts lead to self-destruction that was a famous case of yeah you guessed it Sigmund Freud who else so there was a famous case of Sigmund Freud so let me get to this it’s another computer it’s a new computer and I’m not quite Adept at using it so there was a case a famous case of Simon Freud and he called he he named it the rat men it was published in 1909 and it is the first description in depth of obsessional neurosis a client came to Sigmund Freud and he
4. 02:38 complained of obsessive thoughts these thoughts would intrude that’s why they are called intrusive thoughts they intrude they occupy the mind and there’s no reason a rhyme as to why they do so his thoughts the thoughts of the Rat men were focused on something really bad is going to happen they were catastrophizing thoughts he believed fully he was convinced that some kind of Misfortune or mishap is going to strike a relative loved one someone close to him and then the ratman has to take some complained of obsessive thoughts these thoughts would intrude that’s why they are called intrusive thoughts they intrude they occupy the mind and there’s no reason a rhyme as to why they do so his thoughts the thoughts of the Rat men were focused on something really bad is going to happen they were catastrophizing thoughts he believed fully he was convinced that some kind of Misfortune or mishap is going to strike a relative loved one someone close to him and then the ratman has to take some
5. 03:23 kind of action and the action was irrational the action didn’t was not connected to the fear in any way shape or form it just was a ritual Freud described the case as a moderately severe case of obsession and neurosis but he found it very difficult to comprehend he felt much more comfortable with Hysteria the real name of the ratman was Ernst Lancer Freud learned that his patient is obsessively attempting to do things which will minimize the chances of something bad happening as I said and then he learned he found out to his kind of action and the action was irrational the action didn’t was not connected to the fear in any way shape or form it just was a ritual Freud described the case as a moderately severe case of obsession and neurosis but he found it very difficult to comprehend he felt much more comfortable with Hysteria the real name of the ratman was Ernst Lancer Freud learned that his patient is obsessively attempting to do things which will minimize the chances of something bad happening as I said and then he learned he found out to his
6. 04:07 utter shock that the patient’s father had died only a few weeks a few years before So the patient’s father was dead and so Freud called the patient patient and asked him about his behaviors of course his behaviors were compulsive there was obsession with nightmares ideas and Fantasies mainly about rats that’s why Freud called him the rat man and there was compulsion these bizarre actions that Lancer took in order to allay the obsession to somehow reduce the anxiety attendant upon the obsession utter shock that the patient’s father had died only a few weeks a few years before So the patient’s father was dead and so Freud called the patient patient and asked him about his behaviors of course his behaviors were compulsive there was obsession with nightmares ideas and Fantasies mainly about rats that’s why Freud called him the rat man and there was compulsion these bizarre actions that Lancer took in order to allay the obsession to somehow reduce the anxiety attendant upon the obsession
7. 04:51 and Lance’s fears were revolved around some punishments involving rats Lancer has heard that military prisoners are punished with rats so the minute heard of the punishment he became worried that it will be inflicted on someone close to him possibly he is yeah dead father that’s what surprised Freud it is very hard to argue with Obsession as you can see it is a pathological adaptation even to something that had already happened Lancer the rat man was worried that his dead father would be subjected to punishment and Lance’s fears were revolved around some punishments involving rats Lancer has heard that military prisoners are punished with rats so the minute heard of the punishment he became worried that it will be inflicted on someone close to him possibly he is yeah dead father that’s what surprised Freud it is very hard to argue with Obsession as you can see it is a pathological adaptation even to something that had already happened Lancer the rat man was worried that his dead father would be subjected to punishment
8. 05:38 but of course it’s totally crazy it’s irrational his father was dead no amount of punishment could have touched him and yet the obsession was real and the compulsion that followed obsessions and compulsions are intimately linked to traumatic events the events could be minimal in the eyes of others I mean when you when you look at the events as an observer you could say these are not traumatic events I’ve had a I’ve had 100 like these happen to me but they’re traumatic to the patient but of course it’s totally crazy it’s irrational his father was dead no amount of punishment could have touched him and yet the obsession was real and the compulsion that followed obsessions and compulsions are intimately linked to traumatic events the events could be minimal in the eyes of others I mean when you when you look at the events as an observer you could say these are not traumatic events I’ve had a I’ve had 100 like these happen to me but they’re traumatic to the patient
9. 06:17 the patient perceives them as traumatic for example Lancer heard about the torture of military prisoners with rats as far as he was concerned this was very traumatic the Mind develops a defense against the trauma and it is this defense that gives rise to the obsession so there is a point of being overwhelmed the sequence is like this trauma or traumatic events dysregulation being overwhelmed which is very reminiscent of borderline personality disorder and shortly you will see the Confluence between Obsession and the patient perceives them as traumatic for example Lancer heard about the torture of military prisoners with rats as far as he was concerned this was very traumatic the Mind develops a defense against the trauma and it is this defense that gives rise to the obsession so there is a point of being overwhelmed the sequence is like this trauma or traumatic events dysregulation being overwhelmed which is very reminiscent of borderline personality disorder and shortly you will see the Confluence between Obsession and
10. 06:57 borderline so there is an element of this regulation and then a defense against the dysregulation a defense against drowning in the fear or the anxiety or in the defense is behavioral there is some compulsive Behavior the compulsive behavior is symbolic it’s not connected or linked or intimately attached to the specific fear winning coach wrote an essay late in his life it was called fear of breakdown and what he did he elaborated on Freud’s ID when he got said that the patient’s fear borderline so there is an element of this regulation and then a defense against the dysregulation a defense against drowning in the fear or the anxiety or in the defense is behavioral there is some compulsive Behavior the compulsive behavior is symbolic it’s not connected or linked or intimately attached to the specific fear winning coach wrote an essay late in his life it was called fear of breakdown and what he did he elaborated on Freud’s ID when he got said that the patient’s fear
11. 07:39 of impending breakdown is actually based on a breakdown that has already happened the patient is using defenses using obsessive thinking to deny his or her own disintegration patient already fell apart decompensated the patient is all over the place but cannot admit it it’s terrifying to admit that you’re no longer glued together you’re no longer put together so the obsession and the compulsion are a form of displacement it’s like let me Focus all my fears and all my anxieties and all my energy let of impending breakdown is actually based on a breakdown that has already happened the patient is using defenses using obsessive thinking to deny his or her own disintegration patient already fell apart decompensated the patient is all over the place but cannot admit it it’s terrifying to admit that you’re no longer glued together you’re no longer put together so the obsession and the compulsion are a form of displacement it’s like let me Focus all my fears and all my anxieties and all my energy let
12. 08:25 me affect a series of intrusive thoughts which are so outlandish so inane and so rational that I can cope with them I can cope with them by adopting rituals and ceremonies which can fend them off they are powerless these thoughts are powerless in the face of action when you fall apart there’s very little you can do about it no amount of action will put your foot back together but if you were to displace your concern move it elsewhere focus on something else then action is perceived as a solution me affect a series of intrusive thoughts which are so outlandish so inane and so rational that I can cope with them I can cope with them by adopting rituals and ceremonies which can fend them off they are powerless these thoughts are powerless in the face of action when you fall apart there’s very little you can do about it no amount of action will put your foot back together but if you were to displace your concern move it elsewhere focus on something else then action is perceived as a solution
13. 09:07 and you can there’s a sigh of relief that’s precisely the mechanism behind addictions and so addictions are forms of obsession addictions tend to cut off and disconnect people from themselves and from other people the addicts primary relationship is with his own addiction the obsessive person’s primary relationship is with his own obsessive thoughts and the reason is that both the addiction and the obsessive thoughts are perceived as beneficial they perceived as a Saving Grace the addiction and the obsession and you can there’s a sigh of relief that’s precisely the mechanism behind addictions and so addictions are forms of obsession addictions tend to cut off and disconnect people from themselves and from other people the addicts primary relationship is with his own addiction the obsessive person’s primary relationship is with his own obsessive thoughts and the reason is that both the addiction and the obsessive thoughts are perceived as beneficial they perceived as a Saving Grace the addiction and the obsession
14. 09:57 these are some this is something you can control this is the foundation of eating disorders for example it’s all about reasserting control your life has spun out of control and now you develop an addiction you develop an obsession you control the substances that you consume also you so you convince yourself and of course you can fend off the intrusive thoughts just doing a series of minimal actions such as washing your hands in addiction any type of addiction I mentioned eating disorder eating disorder is an addiction these are some this is something you can control this is the foundation of eating disorders for example it’s all about reasserting control your life has spun out of control and now you develop an addiction you develop an obsession you control the substances that you consume also you so you convince yourself and of course you can fend off the intrusive thoughts just doing a series of minimal actions such as washing your hands in addiction any type of addiction I mentioned eating disorder eating disorder is an addiction
15. 10:36 it’s an addiction to not eating in the case of anorexia nervosa but in addiction to to food to alcohol to drugs sex gambling you name it the addiction serves two purposes it restores the sense of control and the locus of decision making it creates an internal locus of control and it creates a fixed Dependable reliable point in the addicts or the obsessed person’s life it creates a kind of skeleton it holds it holds the person together as long as the addict has access to his substances nothing else matters it’s an addiction to not eating in the case of anorexia nervosa but in addiction to to food to alcohol to drugs sex gambling you name it the addiction serves two purposes it restores the sense of control and the locus of decision making it creates an internal locus of control and it creates a fixed Dependable reliable point in the addicts or the obsessed person’s life it creates a kind of skeleton it holds it holds the person together as long as the addict has access to his substances nothing else matters
16. 11:20 as long as the obsessive person can continue to obsess nothing else matters the opposite the antonym of addiction and obsession is not peace of mind its connection connection to oneself including self-awareness and connection to the outside to other people you’re some of you may remember Martin scorsese’s film The Aviator 2004 it’s about who reduce who reduce is on top of the world he’s a successful film producer an aviation magnate magnate a tycoon but gradually he falls apart he becomes more and more as long as the obsessive person can continue to obsess nothing else matters the opposite the antonym of addiction and obsession is not peace of mind its connection connection to oneself including self-awareness and connection to the outside to other people you’re some of you may remember Martin scorsese’s film The Aviator 2004 it’s about who reduce who reduce is on top of the world he’s a successful film producer an aviation magnate magnate a tycoon but gradually he falls apart he becomes more and more
17. 12:09 unstable and he desperately tries to cope with his own dismantling with by introducing obsessions into his life he becomes severely obsessive compulsive Obsession the etymology of the word obsession is from Latin obsidary it means to lay Siege the obsessive thoughts the intrusive thoughts lay Siege to the obsessed person it’s like being under siege now we often mislabel certain behaviors and certain cognitive processes as obsessions actually they are not consider for example rumination rumination has been defined in 2008 by unstable and he desperately tries to cope with his own dismantling with by introducing obsessions into his life he becomes severely obsessive compulsive Obsession the etymology of the word obsession is from Latin obsidary it means to lay Siege the obsessive thoughts the intrusive thoughts lay Siege to the obsessed person it’s like being under siege now we often mislabel certain behaviors and certain cognitive processes as obsessions actually they are not consider for example rumination rumination has been defined in 2008 by
18. 13:01 Nolan or eczema and Watkins and others has been defined as rumination is the tendency to repetitively and passively analyze one’s problems concerns and feelings of distress without taking action to make positive changes so the ruminator dwells on the problem but never transitions from analyzing the problem to considering Solutions this an innate sense of learned helplessness extreme anxiety and distress and it sounds as if rumination is a form of obsession but actually it is not both rumination and Obsession involve Nolan or eczema and Watkins and others has been defined as rumination is the tendency to repetitively and passively analyze one’s problems concerns and feelings of distress without taking action to make positive changes so the ruminator dwells on the problem but never transitions from analyzing the problem to considering Solutions this an innate sense of learned helplessness extreme anxiety and distress and it sounds as if rumination is a form of obsession but actually it is not both rumination and Obsession involve
19. 13:50 the same cognitive mechanisms the same cognitive processes repetitiveness intrusiveness uncontrollability so much that much is true but obsessions are involuntary they’re intrusive they’re unwanted at least according to the American Psychiatric Association whereas rumination is voluntary you choose to ruminate it’s it’s totally controlled cognitive process it’s a mode of responding to distress that involves repetitively focusing on causes and consequences of symptoms so rumination is not obsession the same cognitive mechanisms the same cognitive processes repetitiveness intrusiveness uncontrollability so much that much is true but obsessions are involuntary they’re intrusive they’re unwanted at least according to the American Psychiatric Association whereas rumination is voluntary you choose to ruminate it’s it’s totally controlled cognitive process it’s a mode of responding to distress that involves repetitively focusing on causes and consequences of symptoms so rumination is not obsession
20. 14:33 so what is Obsession and even more to the point what is um obsessive neurosis here’s a checklist do you suffer from unwelcome intrusive thoughts that you cannot control never mind how hard you try do you feel guilty do you feel you may have dumb things that have let other people die down or harmed or damage them do you have to observe certain rituals like repeatedly checking if you lock the door or washing your hands compulsively or making sure you don’t touch certain things or not stepping on certain so what is Obsession and even more to the point what is um obsessive neurosis here’s a checklist do you suffer from unwelcome intrusive thoughts that you cannot control never mind how hard you try do you feel guilty do you feel you may have dumb things that have let other people die down or harmed or damage them do you have to observe certain rituals like repeatedly checking if you lock the door or washing your hands compulsively or making sure you don’t touch certain things or not stepping on certain
21. 15:13 pavement um clusters or or tiles well if the answer to any of these is yes then you are touched by obsession intrusive thoughts obsessional patterns of thought feeling and behavior the draining the very exhausting the create Relentless pressure on the mind and so you would know if you were obsessed because you would feel fatigued it’s like chronic fatigue syndrome you will feel totally devastated and unable to move this negative impact not only on you but there’s negative impact on everyone pavement um clusters or or tiles well if the answer to any of these is yes then you are touched by obsession intrusive thoughts obsessional patterns of thought feeling and behavior the draining the very exhausting the create Relentless pressure on the mind and so you would know if you were obsessed because you would feel fatigued it’s like chronic fatigue syndrome you will feel totally devastated and unable to move this negative impact not only on you but there’s negative impact on everyone
22. 15:52 around you there is it creates pressure on on Intimate Relationships on the work in the workplace so and this exacerbates the situation and you get caught up in Endless repetitions all kinds of mantras and ceremonies and crazy rituals and and this this plunges you even deeper into the obsession because at some point you begin to develop the erroneous conviction that if you were not if you were to not engage in these rituals something horrible is going to happen energy your time they are taken up completely around you there is it creates pressure on on Intimate Relationships on the work in the workplace so and this exacerbates the situation and you get caught up in Endless repetitions all kinds of mantras and ceremonies and crazy rituals and and this this plunges you even deeper into the obsession because at some point you begin to develop the erroneous conviction that if you were not if you were to not engage in these rituals something horrible is going to happen energy your time they are taken up completely
23. 16:35 by these rituals and ceremonies it starts with an idea it starts with an idea usually some kind of thought or worry um and then it leads to a misguided and dysfunctional attempt to solve the conundrum to solve the Enigma of the puzzle the ID is threatening distressing the thought is unsettling discomforting and so you need to do something that is familiar you need to act in a familiar way and you need to do something that you fully are in control over that way you restore your sense of control you restore your by these rituals and ceremonies it starts with an idea it starts with an idea usually some kind of thought or worry um and then it leads to a misguided and dysfunctional attempt to solve the conundrum to solve the Enigma of the puzzle the ID is threatening distressing the thought is unsettling discomforting and so you need to do something that is familiar you need to act in a familiar way and you need to do something that you fully are in control over that way you restore your sense of control you restore your
24. 17:26 sense of being in charge of being the boss and so you engage in magical thinking if I’m in charge of this ceremony for example if I’m in charge of washing my hands if I’m fully in control of washing my hands because I count how many times I wash my hands so the act of counting is a form of control then I will also be in control of all the the dangers and threats and mishaps and misfortunes that await me I will stop catastrophizing so these behaviors are anxiolytic they reduce anxiety sense of being in charge of being the boss and so you engage in magical thinking if I’m in charge of this ceremony for example if I’m in charge of washing my hands if I’m fully in control of washing my hands because I count how many times I wash my hands so the act of counting is a form of control then I will also be in control of all the the dangers and threats and mishaps and misfortunes that await me I will stop catastrophizing so these behaviors are anxiolytic they reduce anxiety
25. 18:08 there is a common misconception that obsessional thoughts intrusive thoughts and obsessional emotions ideas they’re very simple that they’re very basic and irrational and stupid that is not true at all actually obsessive thoughts resemble scientific theories they are very complex they are multi-layered they are structured they’re ordered they have long histories that usually begin in childhood they hide they’re hard to deconstruct and to decipher and to decode they are like elaborate works of there is a common misconception that obsessional thoughts intrusive thoughts and obsessional emotions ideas they’re very simple that they’re very basic and irrational and stupid that is not true at all actually obsessive thoughts resemble scientific theories they are very complex they are multi-layered they are structured they’re ordered they have long histories that usually begin in childhood they hide they’re hard to deconstruct and to decipher and to decode they are like elaborate works of
26. 18:49 fiction coupled with a pseudoscience imposed over them there’s a layer of an over layer of pseudoscience so there’s a narrative and then there’s a desperate attempt to explain the narrative or to account for it using pseudoscientific methods a lot of arguing and analyzing and synthesizing and and synoptic synoptic judgment and so on so forth so obsessions are among the most complicated phenomena this is the only case where Freud admitted defeat Freud throughout his career kept saying fiction coupled with a pseudoscience imposed over them there’s a layer of an over layer of pseudoscience so there’s a narrative and then there’s a desperate attempt to explain the narrative or to account for it using pseudoscientific methods a lot of arguing and analyzing and synthesizing and and synoptic synoptic judgment and so on so forth so obsessions are among the most complicated phenomena this is the only case where Freud admitted defeat Freud throughout his career kept saying
27. 19:30 that obsessions and Obsession on Neurosis are the only ones that he couldn’t couldn’t tackle couldn’t handle it’s also extremely difficult to trace the obsession or the obsession of neurosis back in time to find the roots um there’s a dense Labyrinth of rules details and they are interrelated and they all seem to give rise to each other so it’s a snake consuming its tail you know and and it’s endless it’s cyclical there’s no way to lay down the obsession in a linear manner that obsessions and Obsession on Neurosis are the only ones that he couldn’t couldn’t tackle couldn’t handle it’s also extremely difficult to trace the obsession or the obsession of neurosis back in time to find the roots um there’s a dense Labyrinth of rules details and they are interrelated and they all seem to give rise to each other so it’s a snake consuming its tail you know and and it’s endless it’s cyclical there’s no way to lay down the obsession in a linear manner
28. 20:14 and so everything else looks inconsequential by comparison even life itself even one’s own body other cognitive processes loved ones they all look plain two-dimensional and not very important because they don’t hold the key to reducing the overwhelming dysregulating life-threatening anxiety of the obsessive person obsessional thoughts are hard work it’s these are rules that you must live by and you must observe on pain of horrendous unspecified usually punishment and the Curious Thing is and so everything else looks inconsequential by comparison even life itself even one’s own body other cognitive processes loved ones they all look plain two-dimensional and not very important because they don’t hold the key to reducing the overwhelming dysregulating life-threatening anxiety of the obsessive person obsessional thoughts are hard work it’s these are rules that you must live by and you must observe on pain of horrendous unspecified usually punishment and the Curious Thing is
29. 21:04 um the vast majority of obsessions center around or focus on events that already happened that had already happened things that have already gone awry or wrong all most obsessions are past oriented not future oriented the catastrophizing is retroactive we have no similar not similar phenomenon um not similar psychodynamic and not similar etiology or ethropathology in any other mental health condition sessions are retroactive backward looking it’s as if by engaging in rituals compulsively by um the vast majority of obsessions center around or focus on events that already happened that had already happened things that have already gone awry or wrong all most obsessions are past oriented not future oriented the catastrophizing is retroactive we have no similar not similar phenomenon um not similar psychodynamic and not similar etiology or ethropathology in any other mental health condition sessions are retroactive backward looking it’s as if by engaging in rituals compulsively by
30. 21:50 um ceremonially washing your hands or whatever you think you’re fending off not something that is about to happen in the future but the knowledge of something that had happened in the past and that’s why obsessions resemble dissociation a lot dissociation is a mental mechanism intended to allow you to forget about the past to deny to repress traumatic events sessions have exactly the same function it’s arguable whether obsessions are not actually forms of dissociation exactly like Amnesia derealization and um ceremonially washing your hands or whatever you think you’re fending off not something that is about to happen in the future but the knowledge of something that had happened in the past and that’s why obsessions resemble dissociation a lot dissociation is a mental mechanism intended to allow you to forget about the past to deny to repress traumatic events sessions have exactly the same function it’s arguable whether obsessions are not actually forms of dissociation exactly like Amnesia derealization and
31. 22:34 depersonalization because all obsessions include these three elements they include forgetting they include a disrupted relationship with one’s body and they include the feeling of imminent Doom in Gloom that is utterly unrealistic very fantastic very dystopian very narrative like very theater theatrical so cinematic if you wish like a movie so all the elements of classic dissociation Inc exist in dissociation in sorry in obsession um the obsessive may not be aware but what they’re trying to stop has happened depersonalization because all obsessions include these three elements they include forgetting they include a disrupted relationship with one’s body and they include the feeling of imminent Doom in Gloom that is utterly unrealistic very fantastic very dystopian very narrative like very theater theatrical so cinematic if you wish like a movie so all the elements of classic dissociation Inc exist in dissociation in sorry in obsession um the obsessive may not be aware but what they’re trying to stop has happened
32. 23:21 already and so the careful observing observance of the obsession it’s not gonna change anything it’s not about outcomes it’s not self-efficacious it’s not about trying to change the environment or trying to secure beneficial outcomes in the future it’s nothing to do with the world it’s a divorce from the world exactly like dissociation it relates to something that had already gone wrong in the past and this is the foundation of obsessional neurosis um sometimes obsessive Neurosis is renamed already and so the careful observing observance of the obsession it’s not gonna change anything it’s not about outcomes it’s not self-efficacious it’s not about trying to change the environment or trying to secure beneficial outcomes in the future it’s nothing to do with the world it’s a divorce from the world exactly like dissociation it relates to something that had already gone wrong in the past and this is the foundation of obsessional neurosis um sometimes obsessive Neurosis is renamed
33. 23:59 conceptual Neurosis ideational Neurosis abstract neurosis because the entire person is reduced to this single thought the subject becomes nothing but his all-consuming intrusive thoughts struggle against the risk of being overwhelmed by uncontrollable emotional states and the content of the obsessive impulse is about harm harming oneself harming harming others or harm about to befall others so it’s about damage it’s about pain it’s about hurt um there is a superhuman effort if you wish conceptual Neurosis ideational Neurosis abstract neurosis because the entire person is reduced to this single thought the subject becomes nothing but his all-consuming intrusive thoughts struggle against the risk of being overwhelmed by uncontrollable emotional states and the content of the obsessive impulse is about harm harming oneself harming harming others or harm about to befall others so it’s about damage it’s about pain it’s about hurt um there is a superhuman effort if you wish
34. 24:46 to put to to introduce a distance safety between oneself and these extremely menacing emotions to detach oneself from anything that could cause oneself harm once body included I mean you could commit suicide that’s very harmful last time I checked and so the obsessive intrusive thoughts would push you away from your body because your body is a potential source of harm the term Obsession and Neurosis or compulsive neurosis is of course about intrusion upon the mind and it has to be unwilling involuntary to put to to introduce a distance safety between oneself and these extremely menacing emotions to detach oneself from anything that could cause oneself harm once body included I mean you could commit suicide that’s very harmful last time I checked and so the obsessive intrusive thoughts would push you away from your body because your body is a potential source of harm the term Obsession and Neurosis or compulsive neurosis is of course about intrusion upon the mind and it has to be unwilling involuntary
35. 25:33 images ideas words thoughts flood the mind patience consciousness is is swamped with his data packets and yet Consciousness is never suspended in obsession it remains lucid the power to reason remains intact uncontrollable obsessions are experienced even by the obsessive person is morbid they deprive the individual of freedom of thought freedom of action while at the same time preserving the individual individual’s ability to realize his growing paralysis it’s very much like falling into a vegetative state there is images ideas words thoughts flood the mind patience consciousness is is swamped with his data packets and yet Consciousness is never suspended in obsession it remains lucid the power to reason remains intact uncontrollable obsessions are experienced even by the obsessive person is morbid they deprive the individual of freedom of thought freedom of action while at the same time preserving the individual individual’s ability to realize his growing paralysis it’s very much like falling into a vegetative state there is
36. 26:27 a condition called the locked in syndrome where you are in a coma you’re in a vegetative state outwardly your body is in coma but your mind is alert and bright as ever you just can’t communicate you’re locked inside your body that’s very much obsession and so sometimes the defenses can eliminate the anxiety and this is the core of obsession that is the main idea to reduce the symptoms but the price the obsessive person pays is huge the price is displacing characteristics the Primitive obsession a condition called the locked in syndrome where you are in a coma you’re in a vegetative state outwardly your body is in coma but your mind is alert and bright as ever you just can’t communicate you’re locked inside your body that’s very much obsession and so sometimes the defenses can eliminate the anxiety and this is the core of obsession that is the main idea to reduce the symptoms but the price the obsessive person pays is huge the price is displacing characteristics the Primitive obsession
37. 27:08 involves uncontrollability compulsions and so the defense mechanisms that the obsessed person the obsessive deploys they themselves become the problem because they’re very primitive and they’re out of control and so it’s catch-22 you’re faced with a threat in your mind at least you’re faced with a menace we are faced with with anxiety of and then to fend it off you need to obsess but in order to obsess you make use of defense mechanisms which render the situation even much worse involves uncontrollability compulsions and so the defense mechanisms that the obsessed person the obsessive deploys they themselves become the problem because they’re very primitive and they’re out of control and so it’s catch-22 you’re faced with a threat in your mind at least you’re faced with a menace we are faced with with anxiety of and then to fend it off you need to obsess but in order to obsess you make use of defense mechanisms which render the situation even much worse
38. 27:54 Obsession roses was first described who else by Sigmund Freud in 1894 in the neuropsychosis of Defense an essay and it was again a revolution classical Psychiatry until 1894 until Freud said that stipulated that the cause of obsessional neurosis is the existence of an intra-psychic conflict um of a sexual origin and this conflict kind of mobilizes or blocks all the flows of energy and this creates obsession now this was what Freud said in 1894 and this was a major break from classical Psychiatry because in classical Obsession roses was first described who else by Sigmund Freud in 1894 in the neuropsychosis of Defense an essay and it was again a revolution classical Psychiatry until 1894 until Freud said that stipulated that the cause of obsessional neurosis is the existence of an intra-psychic conflict um of a sexual origin and this conflict kind of mobilizes or blocks all the flows of energy and this creates obsession now this was what Freud said in 1894 and this was a major break from classical Psychiatry because in classical
39. 28:47 psychiatry there was a theory of degeneration so let me summarize it for you Freud said in 1894 that an obsession the cause of obsessional neurosis is some interest psychic conflict of sexual origin that mobilizes and blocks blocks energy until 1894 the prevalent view in Psychiatry was that obsession is a result of a weakness of the ego there is some degeneration of internal structures and constructs they are not able to function properly and defend and protect the individual and so the individual fall apart falls apart and psychiatry there was a theory of degeneration so let me summarize it for you Freud said in 1894 that an obsession the cause of obsessional neurosis is some interest psychic conflict of sexual origin that mobilizes and blocks blocks energy until 1894 the prevalent view in Psychiatry was that obsession is a result of a weakness of the ego there is some degeneration of internal structures and constructs they are not able to function properly and defend and protect the individual and so the individual fall apart falls apart and
40. 29:26 develop develops Obsession and that was the view of Pierre Journey when he described what he called psychostenia okay so Freud came on the scene and was the first to connect obsession with uh with trauma he said a trauma causes this an early sexual event occurs before puberty but what Freud said is the event was a source of pleasure to the child Freud distinguished between two types of Early Childhood sexual trauma trauma that causes trauma trauma that causes distress and anxiety and fear and so on and sexual event before puberty develop develops Obsession and that was the view of Pierre Journey when he described what he called psychostenia okay so Freud came on the scene and was the first to connect obsession with uh with trauma he said a trauma causes this an early sexual event occurs before puberty but what Freud said is the event was a source of pleasure to the child Freud distinguished between two types of Early Childhood sexual trauma trauma that causes trauma trauma that causes distress and anxiety and fear and so on and sexual event before puberty
41. 30:15 that actually causes pleasure so sexual abuse that causes pleasure it was very daring zigon Freud that was a very daring thing to suggest even today by the way I think if you if he were to propose this today he would have spent a stretch in prison so Freud said some children enjoy the sexual abuse and then they experience strong feelings of guilt and self-reproach this guilt and self-reproach overcome them overwhelmed them so they repress these feelings and instead they replace the primary feelings that that actually causes pleasure so sexual abuse that causes pleasure it was very daring zigon Freud that was a very daring thing to suggest even today by the way I think if you if he were to propose this today he would have spent a stretch in prison so Freud said some children enjoy the sexual abuse and then they experience strong feelings of guilt and self-reproach this guilt and self-reproach overcome them overwhelmed them so they repress these feelings and instead they replace the primary feelings that
42. 30:58 they had just repressed the guilt the reproach self-reproach the shame they repress all these and they substitute another set another system of symptoms and traits so they develop scrupulousness they develop soreness perfectionism shame a mistrust of self and these defenses allow the individual to go through and apparently healthy period but eventually these defenses consume a lot of energy and time and they’re exhausted and there is a return of the repressed memories and an outbreak of the illness and its they had just repressed the guilt the reproach self-reproach the shame they repress all these and they substitute another set another system of symptoms and traits so they develop scrupulousness they develop soreness perfectionism shame a mistrust of self and these defenses allow the individual to go through and apparently healthy period but eventually these defenses consume a lot of energy and time and they’re exhausted and there is a return of the repressed memories and an outbreak of the illness and its
43. 31:42 attendant symptoms today this view that obsessional Neurosis is always the outcome of Early Childhood pleasurable sexual experiences and the ensuing guilt shame and self-reproach today this thinking is has been largely discarded and today we see we we’ve simply retained from Freud the belief that obsessions do have something to do with trauma that they are post-traumatic defenses in the disposition to obsessional Neurosis a contribution to the problem of choice of neurosis Freud defended the idea that the choice attendant symptoms today this view that obsessional Neurosis is always the outcome of Early Childhood pleasurable sexual experiences and the ensuing guilt shame and self-reproach today this thinking is has been largely discarded and today we see we we’ve simply retained from Freud the belief that obsessions do have something to do with trauma that they are post-traumatic defenses in the disposition to obsessional Neurosis a contribution to the problem of choice of neurosis Freud defended the idea that the choice
44. 32:30 of neurosis is linked to developmental inhibitions he stressed the role of fixation and regression and and so on and so forth and so in object relations According to Freud hate precedes love precedes love and then Obsession to quote what he says obsessional neurotics have to develop a super Morality In order to protect their object love from the hostility lurking behind it that was another revolutionary thought because it led to the conception or to the concept of ambivalence love is in a late a late Comer of neurosis is linked to developmental inhibitions he stressed the role of fixation and regression and and so on and so forth and so in object relations According to Freud hate precedes love precedes love and then Obsession to quote what he says obsessional neurotics have to develop a super Morality In order to protect their object love from the hostility lurking behind it that was another revolutionary thought because it led to the conception or to the concept of ambivalence love is in a late a late Comer
45. 33:14 in Freudian um chronology we first learned to reject separation individuation first learn first land to hate and only then when we develop object relations with other people we learn to love and the opposition between love and hate for the object um is exactly at the core of his interpretation of the rat man the ratman case remember that how I started the lecture when we were all much much younger the essay is titled notes upon a case of obsessional neurosis 1909 when he tried to interpret the behaviors and choices in Freudian um chronology we first learned to reject separation individuation first learn first land to hate and only then when we develop object relations with other people we learn to love and the opposition between love and hate for the object um is exactly at the core of his interpretation of the rat man the ratman case remember that how I started the lecture when we were all much much younger the essay is titled notes upon a case of obsessional neurosis 1909 when he tried to interpret the behaviors and choices
46. 33:55 of the ratman he reached the conclusion that there was a conflict there between hate and love in this opposition this dissonance between hate and love was a source of doubt compulsions ambivalence all very characteristic of obsessional functioning in inhibitions symptom and anxiety another essay Freud described the two main defense mechanisms in obsessional Neurosis that replace repression one of them is known as undoing and the other is known as isolation let’s first discuss undoing undoing means making something that had of the ratman he reached the conclusion that there was a conflict there between hate and love in this opposition this dissonance between hate and love was a source of doubt compulsions ambivalence all very characteristic of obsessional functioning in inhibitions symptom and anxiety another essay Freud described the two main defense mechanisms in obsessional Neurosis that replace repression one of them is known as undoing and the other is known as isolation let’s first discuss undoing undoing means making something that had
47. 34:41 already happened unhappen reverse the course of history time travel to the past and eliminate the traumatic problematic and distressing event undo it but since this is an impossibility at least in our universe you cannot travel back in time you cannot undo events decisions choices and so on this is a given you have to survive somehow with this information so undoing is symbolic there is symbolic motor action we do something with our body which represents the undoing of past events you can find this also in magical already happened unhappen reverse the course of history time travel to the past and eliminate the traumatic problematic and distressing event undo it but since this is an impossibility at least in our universe you cannot travel back in time you cannot undo events decisions choices and so on this is a given you have to survive somehow with this information so undoing is symbolic there is symbolic motor action we do something with our body which represents the undoing of past events you can find this also in magical
48. 35:29 practices in folk customs and in Many religious rituals were bodily action is a symbol represents a symbolic attempt to connect with the past and often to change it the second defense mechanism that Freud said is in operation in obsessional Neurosis is isolation it involves motto the motor sphere the motoric sphere motion the motion of the body muscles tendons and bones and what have you and isolation means that after there is an event which is unpleasurable distressing anxiety producing etc etc practices in folk customs and in Many religious rituals were bodily action is a symbol represents a symbolic attempt to connect with the past and often to change it the second defense mechanism that Freud said is in operation in obsessional Neurosis is isolation it involves motto the motor sphere the motoric sphere motion the motion of the body muscles tendons and bones and what have you and isolation means that after there is an event which is unpleasurable distressing anxiety producing etc etc
49. 36:15 there is a pause there is a break in time during which nothing further can happen no perception is possible no action can take place motor isolation functions to guarantee a break in the connections of thought and you immediately see the close similarity to obsession this obsession is exactly this Obsession divorces you from your own body from the environment from other people from events in the past and from catastrophes in the future Obsession in other words is a fantasy it’s a Fantasy Defense there is a pause there is a break in time during which nothing further can happen no perception is possible no action can take place motor isolation functions to guarantee a break in the connections of thought and you immediately see the close similarity to obsession this obsession is exactly this Obsession divorces you from your own body from the environment from other people from events in the past and from catastrophes in the future Obsession in other words is a fantasy it’s a Fantasy Defense
50. 36:56 and exactly like every other Fantasy Defense it’s a language it’s a language element we will discuss lakan’s view of obsession at the end of this video but it’s a language it’s a fantasy Ops the obsessional patient enacts some kind of Taboo it’s like a theater play these rituals and ceremonies they’re very theatrical takes a lot of thespian skills so a taboo against touching a taboo against stepping on certain pavement stones a taboo against locking the door only once these are all taboos and they and exactly like every other Fantasy Defense it’s a language it’s a language element we will discuss lakan’s view of obsession at the end of this video but it’s a language it’s a fantasy Ops the obsessional patient enacts some kind of Taboo it’s like a theater play these rituals and ceremonies they’re very theatrical takes a lot of thespian skills so a taboo against touching a taboo against stepping on certain pavement stones a taboo against locking the door only once these are all taboos and they
51. 37:41 involve enactments because there is a fear that contacts with the object will force the patient to face his Unbound ambivalence ambivalence Between Love and Hate direct contact with the world direct connection with other people direct communication with one’s body direct access to one’s thoughts images imaginations ideas any directness such as this is bound to provoke the underlying ambivalence of Love and Hate the extreme excruciating uncertainty the feeling of the feeling of derealization depersonalization I’m involve enactments because there is a fear that contacts with the object will force the patient to face his Unbound ambivalence ambivalence Between Love and Hate direct contact with the world direct connection with other people direct communication with one’s body direct access to one’s thoughts images imaginations ideas any directness such as this is bound to provoke the underlying ambivalence of Love and Hate the extreme excruciating uncertainty the feeling of the feeling of derealization depersonalization I’m
52. 38:33 not it’s not really me I’m not really here in short it’s bound to provoke extreme dissociation the isolation of an impression or an activity by means of a break in the chain of thoughts symbolically indicates that the patient does not want to allow thoughts relating to the Forbidden event or the Forbidden emotion to contaminate other thoughts obsession serves as a barrier it’s a firewall between a contaminated area Chernobyl of the Mind shall not be loved the mind and the pure area not it’s not really me I’m not really here in short it’s bound to provoke extreme dissociation the isolation of an impression or an activity by means of a break in the chain of thoughts symbolically indicates that the patient does not want to allow thoughts relating to the Forbidden event or the Forbidden emotion to contaminate other thoughts obsession serves as a barrier it’s a firewall between a contaminated area Chernobyl of the Mind shall not be loved the mind and the pure area
53. 39:13 in the contaminated area they are repressed forbidden hateful dangerous anxiety-inducing thoughts menacing threatening unsettling thoughts ideas images memories they’re all they all reside in discontaminated region and it is separated with the obsessive compulsive partition and obsessional Neurosis obsessive compulsive partition from another region of the Mind which is controlled which is symbolic which is ritualistic which is therefore pure and unadulterated this prevents contamination and the punishment in the contaminated area they are repressed forbidden hateful dangerous anxiety-inducing thoughts menacing threatening unsettling thoughts ideas images memories they’re all they all reside in discontaminated region and it is separated with the obsessive compulsive partition and obsessional Neurosis obsessive compulsive partition from another region of the Mind which is controlled which is symbolic which is ritualistic which is therefore pure and unadulterated this prevents contamination and the punishment
54. 40:04 attendant on contamination because if you contaminate the pure Zone you will be punished the punishment could be internal but something bad will happen this impending doom and gloom and catastrophe are all the time in the mind of the obsessive in this regard because organized obsessional neurosis sometimes extremely debilitating we need to ask ourselves how come such a dysfunctional solution had arisen normally even dysfunctional Solutions such as for example pathological narcissism emotional dysregulation they still have attendant on contamination because if you contaminate the pure Zone you will be punished the punishment could be internal but something bad will happen this impending doom and gloom and catastrophe are all the time in the mind of the obsessive in this regard because organized obsessional neurosis sometimes extremely debilitating we need to ask ourselves how come such a dysfunctional solution had arisen normally even dysfunctional Solutions such as for example pathological narcissism emotional dysregulation they still have
55. 40:53 some benefit they still they’re still to some extent self-refications but obsessional Neurosis is paralyzing it’s modifying it’s debilitating and so why would it give rise why would it why would Evolution give rise to this psychological Evolution at least and obsessional neurosis has a few factors um that are very typical of it and we can’t find them in in most other mental health conditions so first of all there is a self-recrimination by the ego the ego is self-directed in healthy people the ego is directed some benefit they still they’re still to some extent self-refications but obsessional Neurosis is paralyzing it’s modifying it’s debilitating and so why would it give rise why would it why would Evolution give rise to this psychological Evolution at least and obsessional neurosis has a few factors um that are very typical of it and we can’t find them in in most other mental health conditions so first of all there is a self-recrimination by the ego the ego is self-directed in healthy people the ego is directed
56. 41:36 outwardly is directed to the outside the ego provides reality testing the ego tells you this is real this is not real you shouldn’t do this because this would be the con the realistic consequences of your actions and so on so ego the ego is a reality principle but in an obsessive person the ego is inwardly directed in ego regards the internal landscape as the only reality and this is very similar to narcissism very similar it is so similar that it’s easy to conceptualize pathological narcissism as outwardly is directed to the outside the ego provides reality testing the ego tells you this is real this is not real you shouldn’t do this because this would be the con the realistic consequences of your actions and so on so ego the ego is a reality principle but in an obsessive person the ego is inwardly directed in ego regards the internal landscape as the only reality and this is very similar to narcissism very similar it is so similar that it’s easy to conceptualize pathological narcissism as
57. 42:16 a form of obsessional neurosis or actually or maybe Obsession obsessive compulsive disorder the ego looks to the inside and regards the reality inside and informs the individual about the internal reality so as to optimize outcomes internally rather than externally so externally there’s paralysis the debilitation the secession of functioning but internally equilibrium on homeostasis are restored the self-recrimination by the ego causes a lot of guilt and shame and provokes the obsessional defenses when a form of obsessional neurosis or actually or maybe Obsession obsessive compulsive disorder the ego looks to the inside and regards the reality inside and informs the individual about the internal reality so as to optimize outcomes internally rather than externally so externally there’s paralysis the debilitation the secession of functioning but internally equilibrium on homeostasis are restored the self-recrimination by the ego causes a lot of guilt and shame and provokes the obsessional defenses when
58. 43:03 the ego looks inwardly it is not happy with what it sees it informs the patient and advises the patient to act now soon before it’s too late the second element which is typical of obsessive Neurosis is the adherence to insistent preoccupations we call them compulsions that’s repeating the same activities all the time and so on and there is deployment of elaborate defenses um in the obsessional patient effective isolation allows the ego to cut itself not only from the outside but also from emotions the ego looks inwardly it is not happy with what it sees it informs the patient and advises the patient to act now soon before it’s too late the second element which is typical of obsessive Neurosis is the adherence to insistent preoccupations we call them compulsions that’s repeating the same activities all the time and so on and there is deployment of elaborate defenses um in the obsessional patient effective isolation allows the ego to cut itself not only from the outside but also from emotions
59. 43:49 affects desire in psychosis the ego is scuttled from reality in Obsession it is cut off both from reality and from Passion desire volition the drive the internal drive uh so the tendency to equate obsessional Neurosis with psychosis is very wrong actually for the reasons that I’ve I’ve just mentioned okay let’s wrap it up obsessional Neurosis is a form of psychoneurosis and the dominant symptoms are obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviors obsessive rituals obsessive thoughts are not like normal affects desire in psychosis the ego is scuttled from reality in Obsession it is cut off both from reality and from Passion desire volition the drive the internal drive uh so the tendency to equate obsessional Neurosis with psychosis is very wrong actually for the reasons that I’ve I’ve just mentioned okay let’s wrap it up obsessional Neurosis is a form of psychoneurosis and the dominant symptoms are obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviors obsessive rituals obsessive thoughts are not like normal
60. 44:41 thoughts they are experienced by the patient as unspontaneous distracting repetitive ruminative and coming from elsewhere not from himself the subject matter is observed bizarre irrelevant threatening obscene the compulsive behavior is repetitive stereotype ritualistic and superstitious according to the classical Theory obsessional Neurosis centers around regression and ambivalence or parental figures hate love and the interjects of Parental figures again there is an interface here a Confluence with thoughts they are experienced by the patient as unspontaneous distracting repetitive ruminative and coming from elsewhere not from himself the subject matter is observed bizarre irrelevant threatening obscene the compulsive behavior is repetitive stereotype ritualistic and superstitious according to the classical Theory obsessional Neurosis centers around regression and ambivalence or parental figures hate love and the interjects of Parental figures again there is an interface here a Confluence with
61. 45:19 narcissism but more recent formulations focal as center around the high degree of internalization the need to control impulses and the system the symptoms they are failures to achieve control there are attempts to accomplish control that fail there are examples of the return of the repressed a obsessional Neurosis is a kind of disorder that occurs in people whose personality development has been based on alienation from Instinct and emotion the obsessional ego is anti-libidinal anti-impulsive anti-emotional narcissism but more recent formulations focal as center around the high degree of internalization the need to control impulses and the system the symptoms they are failures to achieve control there are attempts to accomplish control that fail there are examples of the return of the repressed a obsessional Neurosis is a kind of disorder that occurs in people whose personality development has been based on alienation from Instinct and emotion the obsessional ego is anti-libidinal anti-impulsive anti-emotional
62. 45:59 and the symptoms are either breakthroughs from the alienated aspects of the self obsessional thoughts or defenses against these breakthroughs obsessional rituals and I promised all of you what we’ve all been waiting for Khan who looks like my spitting image I swear to you actually I look like a spitting image I swear to you we are identical twins especially in his later years it’s it’s unsettling it’s enough to cause me obsessive neurosis dealt with obsessional Neurosis in his very extensive work and the symptoms are either breakthroughs from the alienated aspects of the self obsessional thoughts or defenses against these breakthroughs obsessional rituals and I promised all of you what we’ve all been waiting for Khan who looks like my spitting image I swear to you actually I look like a spitting image I swear to you we are identical twins especially in his later years it’s it’s unsettling it’s enough to cause me obsessive neurosis dealt with obsessional Neurosis in his very extensive work
63. 46:40 obsessional he said that Obsession on roses include symptoms like obsessions recurrent ideas of course impulses to perform actions with him which seem absurd or abhorrent to the subject and rituals compulsively repeated actions such as mentioned washing hands and so on so forth so in this lakhan does not depart from the classical and currently accepted view of obsessional neurosis but lacan saw these symptoms and argued that the obsession and neurosis designates not a set of symptoms but an underlying structure obsessional he said that Obsession on roses include symptoms like obsessions recurrent ideas of course impulses to perform actions with him which seem absurd or abhorrent to the subject and rituals compulsively repeated actions such as mentioned washing hands and so on so forth so in this lakhan does not depart from the classical and currently accepted view of obsessional neurosis but lacan saw these symptoms and argued that the obsession and neurosis designates not a set of symptoms but an underlying structure
64. 47:23 which may or may not manifest itself in the symptoms typically associated with it again we see lacons linguistic term his belief that everything mental is always every is always symbolic in many ways the subject May well exhibit none of the typical obsessional symptoms and yet still be diagnosed as an obsessional neurotic by la canian lacanian analyst so the symptoms don’t matter the structure the inner structure does sometimes it gives rise to symptoms sometimes not in the footsteps of Freud lacan which may or may not manifest itself in the symptoms typically associated with it again we see lacons linguistic term his belief that everything mental is always every is always symbolic in many ways the subject May well exhibit none of the typical obsessional symptoms and yet still be diagnosed as an obsessional neurotic by la canian lacanian analyst so the symptoms don’t matter the structure the inner structure does sometimes it gives rise to symptoms sometimes not in the footsteps of Freud lacan
65. 48:05 classifies obsessional neurosis and says that Obsession on roses is one of the main forms of neurosis in 1956 lakan developed the idea that like Hysteria Freud Freud by the way called hysteria a dialect Freud was the first by far to suggest that there is some confluence some Venn diagrams some merger of language and psychology but psychology just describes sets of languages and dialects so he called hysteria dialect and so in the footsteps of Freud um said that exactly like hysteria Obsession on roses is a question classifies obsessional neurosis and says that Obsession on roses is one of the main forms of neurosis in 1956 lakan developed the idea that like Hysteria Freud Freud by the way called hysteria a dialect Freud was the first by far to suggest that there is some confluence some Venn diagrams some merger of language and psychology but psychology just describes sets of languages and dialects so he called hysteria dialect and so in the footsteps of Freud um said that exactly like hysteria Obsession on roses is a question
66. 48:50 which is which is being posed to the subject it’s like the subject existence of the subject being poses a question to him or to her and the answer to the obsession on roses is the compulsion the question which constitutes Obsession on roses concerns the contingency of one’s existence question about death to be or not to be am I dead or alive why do I exist the response of the obsessional of the obsessive person is to fever feverishly attempt to justify his existence why do I exist because I exist which is which is being posed to the subject it’s like the subject existence of the subject being poses a question to him or to her and the answer to the obsession on roses is the compulsion the question which constitutes Obsession on roses concerns the contingency of one’s existence question about death to be or not to be am I dead or alive why do I exist the response of the obsessional of the obsessive person is to fever feverishly attempt to justify his existence why do I exist because I exist
67. 49:37 to justify one’s existence the question about death um there is um feeling of ominous thunderclaps like if I don’t answer this question now I will die I need to justify my existence I need to testify a test to my existence and this of course indicates strongly the special burden of guilt felt by the obsessive there’s a lot of guilt and shame there and the guilt and shame the message of the guilt and shame is you don’t deserve to exist you don’t deserve to have a life justify yourself to justify one’s existence the question about death um there is um feeling of ominous thunderclaps like if I don’t answer this question now I will die I need to justify my existence I need to testify a test to my existence and this of course indicates strongly the special burden of guilt felt by the obsessive there’s a lot of guilt and shame there and the guilt and shame the message of the guilt and shame is you don’t deserve to exist you don’t deserve to have a life justify yourself
68. 50:14 prove to us that you should live rather than for example die the obsessional performs compulsive rituals because he thinks that this will enable him to escape the the lack in the other the castration of the other Refuge and it is a fantasy the idea that other people can’t provide you with justification for your own existence actually may even think that you don’t deserve to exist that’s a lack that’s a deficiency which is life-threatening and and so you the obsessive fantasizes about this deficiency prove to us that you should live rather than for example die the obsessional performs compulsive rituals because he thinks that this will enable him to escape the the lack in the other the castration of the other Refuge and it is a fantasy the idea that other people can’t provide you with justification for your own existence actually may even think that you don’t deserve to exist that’s a lack that’s a deficiency which is life-threatening and and so you the obsessive fantasizes about this deficiency
69. 50:58 and kind of inverts it rather than say others others are lacking others are castrated others are deformed the obsessive says something bad is going to happen to others they’re going to be castrated they’re going to be deformed they’re going to be disabled in other words he catastrophizes it’s a form of projection of course he projects his ill will his recognition of other people’s deficiencies he projects it as if he were he were worried for them as if he wants their well-being as if he and kind of inverts it rather than say others others are lacking others are castrated others are deformed the obsessive says something bad is going to happen to others they’re going to be castrated they’re going to be deformed they’re going to be disabled in other words he catastrophizes it’s a form of projection of course he projects his ill will his recognition of other people’s deficiencies he projects it as if he were he were worried for them as if he wants their well-being as if he
70. 51:42 all he wants is for things to be good and he’s even willing to invest in it by engaging in compulsive activities that’s a fantasy of course this projection is a fantasy fantasy is any divorce from reality and here’s a situation where the reality is that other people are deficient but the obsessive doesn’t dare to admit this because then his ambivalence of hate and love will overwhelm him so instead he says they are not deficient but they are about to become deficient something evil all he wants is for things to be good and he’s even willing to invest in it by engaging in compulsive activities that’s a fantasy of course this projection is a fantasy fantasy is any divorce from reality and here’s a situation where the reality is that other people are deficient but the obsessive doesn’t dare to admit this because then his ambivalence of hate and love will overwhelm him so instead he says they are not deficient but they are about to become deficient something evil
71. 52:14 is going to happen to them if I don’t stop it I’m the only one with the power to stop it grandiosity and so he stops it he stops it with his rituals and ceremonies in the case of Freud’s obsessional neurotic you remember the the ratman Lancer the patient developed elaborate rituals and he performed these rituals what’s the aim of these crazy rituals to ward off the fear of a terrible punishment about to be inflicted on his father or his beloved the only problem was his father was dead has been dead for years is going to happen to them if I don’t stop it I’m the only one with the power to stop it grandiosity and so he stops it he stops it with his rituals and ceremonies in the case of Freud’s obsessional neurotic you remember the the ratman Lancer the patient developed elaborate rituals and he performed these rituals what’s the aim of these crazy rituals to ward off the fear of a terrible punishment about to be inflicted on his father or his beloved the only problem was his father was dead has been dead for years
72. 52:54 the the obsessive rat man found himself embedded in in and trapped and captured in a fantasy and these rituals both inform and in content that’s right what led Freud to draw parallels between obsessional neurosis and its structures and the structures of religion and lakhan concurred the hysterical question is about the subject’s sexual position am I a man or am I a woman when sexual identity is fuzzy or creates guilt and shame hysteria ensues the obsession of neurotic is not concerned with this it’s not the the obsessive rat man found himself embedded in in and trapped and captured in a fantasy and these rituals both inform and in content that’s right what led Freud to draw parallels between obsessional neurosis and its structures and the structures of religion and lakhan concurred the hysterical question is about the subject’s sexual position am I a man or am I a woman when sexual identity is fuzzy or creates guilt and shame hysteria ensues the obsession of neurotic is not concerned with this it’s not
73. 53:39 about sex he rejects both sexes he’s a asexual not in the sense that it doesn’t practice sex but it insists that he is sexless he has no sex he doesn’t call himself male or female because he has no body the opposition divorced him from his body is in and he is neither male nor female in both at once so he is not concerned with this with this particular question he’s concerned with existence he’s concerned with securing the existence of himself and of others he believes psychotically if you wish or grandiosli about sex he rejects both sexes he’s a asexual not in the sense that it doesn’t practice sex but it insists that he is sexless he has no sex he doesn’t call himself male or female because he has no body the opposition divorced him from his body is in and he is neither male nor female in both at once so he is not concerned with this with this particular question he’s concerned with existence he’s concerned with securing the existence of himself and of others he believes psychotically if you wish or grandiosli
74. 54:20 if you are so inclined he believes that he has the power he has this magical power to prevent catastrophes and disasters like Khan draws attention to the way that the obsessional neurotics question about existence and death has consequences in multiple domains for example his attitude to time Perpetual hesitation procrastination while waiting for the inevitable death considering oneself Immortal because one is already dead other features of obsessional neurosis have to do with a sense of guilt close if you are so inclined he believes that he has the power he has this magical power to prevent catastrophes and disasters like Khan draws attention to the way that the obsessional neurotics question about existence and death has consequences in multiple domains for example his attitude to time Perpetual hesitation procrastination while waiting for the inevitable death considering oneself Immortal because one is already dead other features of obsessional neurosis have to do with a sense of guilt close
75. 54:53 connection with eroticism the obsession of neurotic does not only transform his excretions into shall we say La can use the different word which won’t sit well with YouTube so it doesn’t only transform his excretions into gifts and his gifts into excretions but he transforms himself into his excretions it’s a Timeless situation because only bodies die only bodies die in anything that emanates from a bodyless mind that has the capacity to prevent disasters and catastrophes is by definition a gift connection with eroticism the obsession of neurotic does not only transform his excretions into shall we say La can use the different word which won’t sit well with YouTube so it doesn’t only transform his excretions into gifts and his gifts into excretions but he transforms himself into his excretions it’s a Timeless situation because only bodies die only bodies die in anything that emanates from a bodyless mind that has the capacity to prevent disasters and catastrophes is by definition a gift
76. 55:33 obsessive is God’s gift to the world and in this sense of course it’s a prime subspecies of narcissism obsessive is God’s gift to the world and in this sense of course it’s a prime subspecies of narcissism