Frederick S. Perls - Ego, Hunger, and Aggression - A Revision of Freud's Theory and Method-G. Allen and Unwin LTD (1947)

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EGO, HUNGER AND
AGGRESSION
EGO, HUNGER AND
AGGRESSION
A Revision of
Freud’s Theory and Method
by
F. S. PERLS
M.D.
Capt., S.A.M.C.
London
GEORGE ALLEN AND UNWIN LTD

FIRST PUBLISHED IN ENGLAND 1947
All rights reserved
To the Memory
of
MAX WERTHEIMER
PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN

in 11-Point Plantin Type
BY UNWIN BROTHERS LIMITED
WOKING
Preface
This book has many faults and shortcomings. Of that I am fully aware.
I therefore warn the reader to expect them, though I cannot apologize
for their presence.
If I could have written a better book I would have done so; if I had
been speaking English for more than a decade, both my vocabulary and
my ways of expression would have been more adequate. A higher I.Q.
would have enabled me to visualize more fundamental structures and to
discover more contradictions in other theories as well as in my own.
If I had only had fifty to one hundred years more experience, I would
have swamped the reader with case histories. And if I had a better
memory . . . ; and if there was not a war . . . ; etc.
At present there are many “Psychologies,” and every school is, at least
in part, right. But, alas, every school is also righteous. The tolerant
Professor of Psychology in most cases takes the different schools out of
their respective pigeon holes, discusses them, shows his preference for
one or two of them, but how little he does towards their integration!
I have attempted to show that something of this nature can be done,
if one throws bridges across the gaps; and I can only hope to be able to
stimulate hundreds of other psychologists, psycho-analysts, psychiatrists,
etc. to do the same.
In writing this book I have had much help, stimulation and encourage¬
ment from books, friends and teachers; but above all from my wife,
Dr. Lore Peris. The discussions I have had with her of the problems
brought forward in this book have clarified many issues; and she has
made valuable contributions to this work; as, for instance, the description
of the dummy attitude.
To Professor K. Goldstein I owe my first acquaintance with gestalt
psychology. Unfortunately, in 1926, when I worked under him at the
Frankfurt Neurological Institute, I was still too pre-occupied with the
orthodox psycho-analytical approach, to assimilate more than a fraction
of what was offered to me.
It was W. Reich who first directed my attention to a most important
aspect of psycho-somatic medicine—to the function of the motoric system
as an armour.
Finally, I thank my friends for helping me to overcome my language
difficulties, and for their technical assistance.
Since I wrote the manuscript of this book a few years ago, more practical
work has justified the theories which I put forward in this book. But these
theories are only a beginning. At present I am engaged on research work
on the malfunctioning of the figure-background phenomenon in psychoses
in general and on the structure of Schizophrenia in particular. It is too
5 264683
EGO, HUNGER AND AGGRESSION
early yet to say what the results will be; but it looks as though something
will come of it. I therefore hope that I shall, in the not too distant
future, be able to shed some light on this mysterious disease.
For the time being, therefore, I present this book as a contribution to
organismic (psycho-somatic) medicine. A step has been taken towards
the ultimate goal—an integrated theory which covers every physical and
psychical phenomenon. Remote as we are from this goal, we know by
now that it does exist and that it can be reached by a synthesis and co¬
operation of all the different schools in existence at present; but such a
synthesis must be preceded by a ruthless purge of all merely hypothetical
ideas; especially of those hypotheses which have become rigid, static
convictions and which, in the minds of some, have become reality rather
than elastic theories, and which have yet to be re- and re-examined.
This manuscript was written in 1941/I942- Many references to acute
political and military situations will be out of date by the time the
book is in the reader’s hands, but still relevant within their particular
context.
F. S. PERLS
134, MILITARY HOSPITAL. SOUTH AFRICA
December 1944
6
INTENTION
“Psycho-analysis is founded securely upon the observations of the facts of

mental life; and for that reason its superstructure is still incomplete and
subject to constant alteration.”—Sigm. Freud.
The aim of this book is to examine some psychological and psycho-

pathological reactions of the human organism within its environment.
The central conception is the theory that the organism is striving for
the maintenance of a balance which is continuously disturbed by its
needs, and regained through their gratification or elimination.
Difficulties arising between the individual and society will result in the
production of delinquency and neurosis. Neurosis is characterized by
many forms of avoidance, mainly the avoidance of contact.
The relations which exist between individual and society, and between
social groups, cannot be understood without considering the problem of
aggression.
In the present war there is no other word more used or more despised
than “aggression.” A great number of books have been published
which not only condemn aggression but attempt to find a remedy for it,
but neither the analysis nor the meaning of aggression have been suffi¬
ciently clarified. Even Rauschning stops short of the biological foundation
°f aggression. On the other hand the remedies prescribed for the cure
of aggression are always the same old ineffective repressive agents: idealism
and religion.
We have not learnt anything about the dynamic of aggression in spite
of Freud’s warning that repressed energies not only do not disappear
but may even become more dangerous and more effective if driven
underground.
When I set out to examine the nature of aggression I became more
and more convinced that there was no such energy as aggression, but
that aggression was a biological function which in our time had turned
into an instrument of collective insanity.
Whereas by the use of the new intellectual tools holism (field conception)
and semantics (the meaning of meaning) our theoretical outlook can now
be tremendously improved, I am afraid that with regard to collective
aggression I am not in a position to offer a practical remedy.
Instead of looking at neurosis and aggression from a purely psycho-
logistic point of view, the holistic-semantic approach is made which
reveals a number of shortcomings even in the best developed of the
psychological methods: namely, psycho-analysis.
Psycho-analysis stresses the importance of the Unconscious and the
sex instinct, of the past and of causality, of associations, transference and
7
repressions, but it either under-estimates or else neglects the functions of

the Ego and of the hunger instinct, of the present and of purposiveness,
of concentration, spontaneous reactions and retroflection.
After the gaps have been filled in, and dubious psycho-analytical terms
such as libido, death-instinct and others examined, the larger scope of
the new concept will be demonstrated in the second part dealing with
mental assimilation and the paranoid character.
The third part is designed to give detailed instructions for a therapeutic
technique resulting from the changed theoretical outlook. As avoidance is
assumed to be the central symptom of nervous disorders, I have replaced
the method of free associations or flight of ideas by that antidote of avoid¬
ance—concentration.
Contents
PAGE
Preface
PART ONE
HOLISM AND PSYCHO-ANALYSIS
CHAPTER
1 Differential Thinking 13
2 Psychological Approach 25
3 The Organism and its Balance 31
4 Reality • 38
5 The Answer of the Organism 43
6 Defence 48
7 Good and Bad 32
8 Neurosis g0
9 Organismic Reorganization 72
10 Classical Psycho-Analysis 80
11 Time <j0
12 Past and Future 95
13 Past and Present 99
PART TWO
MENTAL METABOLISM
1 Hunger Instinct 107 s

2 Resistances xx2
3 Retroflection and Civilization 1x9
4 Mental Food 122
5 Introjection 128
6 The Dummy Complex 134
7 The Ego as a Function of the Organism 138
8 The Split of the Personality 146
9 Senso-Motoric Resistances 153
10 Projection 157
11 The Pseudo-Metabolism of the Paranoic Character 163
12 Megalomania-Outcast Complex 169
13 Emotional Resistances 174
9
PART THREE
CONCENTRATION-THERAPY
CHAPTER PAGE
I The Technique 185
2 Concentration and Neurasthenia 187
3 Concentrating on Eating 192
4 Visualization 200
5 Sense of Actuality 206
6 Internal Silence 212
7 First Person Singular 216
8 Undoing of Retroflections 220
9 Body Concentration 228
IO The Assimilation of Projections 237
ii Undoing of a Negation (Constipation) 247
12 About Being Self-conscious 253
13 The Meaning of Insomnia 258
14 Stammering 262
15 The Anxiety State 266
l6 Dr. Jeltyll and Mr. Hyde 268
PART ONE
HOLISM AND PSYCHO-ANALYSIS

PRESCRIPTION
,
“Some books are to be tasted others to be swallowed and some few to be
chewed and digested.”—Bacon.
This book, I am afraid, cannot be swallowed. On the contrary, the more

you, Mr. and Mrs. Reader, are willing to chew it carefully, the more will
you assimilate and benefit from it. But, as you may find many parts diffi¬
cult to grasp, and as you will be able to understand them only after you
have got some conception of the contents as a whole, it may be advisable
to read this book at least twice.
The first time do not bother about those parts—mainly the first two
chapters—which are not understood immediately. Take it more like a
ride through cloudy mountains and be satisfied if here and there you see
a peak piercing the fog, a landmark against the hazy background.
In the last part you will find a number of exercises which might be to
your liking. If you should then decide that this book makes sense and
could be of assistance in developing concentration, intelligence and the
enjoyment of life, begin to study it, and chew up every part until you
“have it.” This means that it is insufficient to get hold of it with your
intellect only, but that you should assimilate it with your whole organism
till you can see the truth (or reality, as there is no truth other than reality).
I
DIFFERENTIAL THINKING
The urge to know all about oneself and one’s fellow-men has prompted
young intellectuals of all times to turn to the great philosophers for
information about the human personality. Some achieved a satisfactory
outlook, but many remained dissatisfied and disappointed. They either
found very little realism in academic philosophy and psychology, or they
felt inferior and stupid, apparently unable to grasp such complicated
philosophical and scientific concepts.
For a long period of my own life I belonged to those who, though
interested, could not derive any benefit from the study of academic
philosophy and psychology, until I came across the writings of Sigmund
Freud, who was then still completely outside academic science, and S.
Friedlaender’s philosophy of “Creative Indifference.”
Freud showed that man has created Philosophy, Culture and Religion
and that, to solve the riddles of our existence, we have to take our bearings
from man and not from any outside agent, as all religions and many
philosophers have maintained. The interdependence of observer and
observed facts, as postulated by present-day science, has been fully
confirmed by Freud’s findings. Consequently his system, too, should not
be considered without including himself as the creator.
There is hardly a sphere of human activity where Freud’s research
was not creative, or at least stimulating. To bring order into the relations
of the many observed facts, he developed a number of theories which
together formed the first system of a genuinely structural psychology.
Since the time when Freud built his system upon the basis of inadequate
material on the one hand, and certain personal complexes on the other,
we have gained so much new scientific insight that we can make the
attempt to reinforce the structure of the psycho-analytical system where
its incompleteness and even faultiness is most obvious:
(a) In the treatment of psychological facts as if they existed isolated
from the organism.
(b) In the use of the linear association-psychology as the basis for a
four-dimensional system.
(c) In the neglect of the phenomenon of differentiation.
In this revision of psycho-analysis I intend:

13
(a) To replace the psychological by an organismic concept (1.8).

(b) To replace association-psychology by gestalt-psychology (1.2).
(c) To apply differential thinking, based upon S. Friedlaender’s
“Creative Indifference.”
Differential thinking shows a resemblance to the dialectical theories,

but without their metaphysical implications. It therefore has the advantage
of saving heated discussions on the subject (as many readers will have
acquired either an enthusiasm for, or an idiosyncrasy against the dialectical
method and philosophy) without sacrificing the valuable nucleus contained
in the dialectical way of thinking.
The dialectical method can be misused, and often has been misused:
sometimes one may even feel inclined to agree with Kant’s remarks to
the effect that dialectic is an ars sophistica disputatoria, idle talk (Ge-
schwaetzigkeit)—an attitude, however, which did not prevent him from
applying dialectical thinking himself.
A great deal has to be said against Hegel’s dialectical idealism as a
philosophical attempt to replace God by other metaphysical concepts.
Marx’s transposition of the dialectical method of materialism is progress,
but not a solution. His mixture of scientific research with wishful thinking
has likewise not achieved dialectical realism.
My intention is to draw a clear distinction between dialectics as a
philosophical concept, and the usefulness of certain rules as found and
applied in Hegel’s and Marx’s philosophy. These rules coincide approxi¬
mately with what we might call “differential thinking.” Personally, I
am of the opinion that in many cases this method is an appropriate means
of arriving at new scientific insight, leading to results where other intel¬
lectual methods, e.g. that of thinking in terms of cause and effect, fail.
Many a reader will be reluctant to follow a rather theoretical discussion
as an introduction to a book dealing with problems of practical psychology.
But he needs the acquaintance with certain basic concepts pervading the
whole of this book. Although the practical value of these ideas will become
apparent only through following up their repeated application, he should
at least right from the beginning know their gross structure. This method
has a further advantage: previously it was accepted that the scientist
observes a number of facts, and draws conclusions from them. We have,
however, now come to appreciate that everybody’s observations are
dictated by specific interests, by preconceived ideas and by an—often
unconscious—attitude which collects and selects facts accordingly. In
other words: there is no such thing as objective science, and, as every
writer has some subjective viewpoint, every book must depend upon the
mentality of the writer. In psychology more than in any other science
observer and observed facts are inseparable. The most conclusive orienta¬
tion should be obtained if we could find a point from which the observer
14
could gain the most comprehensive and undistorted view. I believe that
such a viewpoint has been found by S. Friedlaender.
In his book Creative Indifference, Friedlaender brings forward the theory
that every event is related to a zero-point from which a differentiation
into opposites takes place. These opposites show in their specific context
a great affinity to each other. By remaining alert in the centre, we can
acquire a creative ability of seeing both sides of an occurrence and com¬
pleting an incomplete half. By avoiding a one-sided outlook we gain a
much deeper insight into the structure and function of the organism.
We might gain a preliminary orientation from the following example:
Looking at a group of six living beings: an imbecile (i), an average “normal”
citizen (n), an outstanding statesman (s), a tortoise (t), a cat (c) and a
race horse (r), it strikes us immediately that they sort themselves out into
two groups—human beings and animals, and that of the infinite number
of characteristics of living beings each group has a specific quality: (i), (n)
and (s) show varying degrees of intelligence; (t), (c) and (r) varying
degrees of velocity—they “differ” from each other in intelligence or speed.
If we sort them out further we can easily establish an order: n’s I.Q.
(Intelligence Quotient) will be found to be larger than i’s and s’s larger
than n’s, just as c’s speed is greater than that of t, and r’s greater than c’s
(s > n > i; r > c > t).
We can now choose more animals and human beings—each a little
different from the next in the selected characteristics, we can measure the
differences, we can even with the help of the differential calculus fill in
the gaps, but finally we come to a point where the ways of mathematics
and psychology seem to part.
The mathematical language does not know “slow” and “quick,” only
“slower” and “quicker,” but in psychology we operate with terms like
“slow,” “quick,” “stupid,” or “intelligent.” Such terms are conceived
from a “normal” point of view, which is “in”-different to all those events
which do not impress us as being out of the ordinary. We are indifferent
to everything which is “not differentiated” from our subjective point of
view. The interest evoked in us is “naught.”
This “naught” has a two-fold significance, that of a beginning and
that of a centre. In the counting of primitive tribes and children naught is
the beginning of the row, o, i, 2, 3, etc.—in arithmetic it is the *middle
of a plus/minus system, it is a zero-point with two branches stretching
in the plus and minus direction. If we apply the two functions of naught
to our examples, we can either make two rows or two systems. If we
assume that (i) has an I.Q. of 50, (n) of 100, and (s) of 150 we can construct
a row: o, 50, 100, 150. This is an order of increasing intelligence. If,
however, we accept an I.Q. of 100 as normal, then we have a plus/minus
system: —50, o, +50, in which the numbers indicate the degree of
differentiation from the zero (centre)-point.
15
Actually there are many systems in our organism centred around

the zero-point of normality, health, indifference, etc. Each of these
systems differentiates into two opposites like plus/minus, clever/stupid,
quick/slow, etc.
Perhaps the most obvious example from the psychological sphere is
the pleasure/pain system. Its zero-point is—as will be shown later—the
balance of the organism. Any disturbance of this balance is experienced
as painful, the return to it as pleasant.
The physician is well acquainted with the metabolic zero-point (basic
metabolic rate) which, though arrived at by a complicated formula, has
the practical aspect of normal = o. The deviations (increased or decreased
metabolism) are expressed in relation to the zero-point.
Differential thinking—the insight into the working of such systems—
provides us with a mental precision tool which is neither extremely
difficult to grasp nor to handle. I shall restrict the discussion to those
three points which are indispensable for the understanding of this book:
opposites, pre-difference (zero-point) and degree of differentiation.
★ ★ ★
The three figures Nos. ia, ib and ic may be helpful in clarifying my

conception of differential thinking, in so far as it concerns my contentions
here.
t(k)
i (b)
l.(c)
Figure :
Let A-B represent the surface of a piece of ground. We take any point
as the zero-point, the point from which differentiation starts.
Figure ib
We have differentiated parts of the ground into a hole (H) and its cor¬
responding mound (M). Differentiation is gradual and proceeds simul¬
taneously (in time) and in exactly the same degree to either side (in space).
Every spadeful of soil produces a deficit in the ground which is heaped
as a surplus upon the hillock (polarization).
I6
Figure ic
Differentiation is finished. The entire level has been changed into two
opposites, hole and mound.
Thinking in opposites is the quintessence of dialectics. Opposites

within the same context are more closely related to each other than to any
other conception. In the field of colour one thinks of white in connection
with black, rather than with green or pink. Day and night, warm and
cold, in fact thousands of such opposites are coupled in everyday language.
We can even go so far as to say that neither “day” nor “warm” would
exist either in fact or in words, if they were not contrasted by their opposites
“night” and “cold.” Instead of awareness, sterile indifference would
prevail. In the terminology of psycho-analysis we find wish-fulfilment/
wish-frustration; sadism/masochism; conscious/unconscious; reality-
principle /pleasure-principle, and so on.1
Freud has seen and recorded as “one of our most surprising discoveries”
that an element in the manifest or remembered dream which admits of an
opposite may stand for itself, for its opposite or for both together.
He also draws our attention to the fact that in the oldest languages
known to us, opposites such as light—dark, big—small were expressed
by the same root words (the so-called antithetical sense of primal words).
When spoken, these were differentiated into their two different meanings
by intonation and accompanying gestures, and, when written, were
differentiated by the addition of a determinative, i.e. a picture or sign
which was not meant to be expressed orally by sounds.
For our two words “high” and “deep,” the Latin has only one: “altus,”
which simply means extending in the vertical plane; the situation or the
context determines whether we translate this word by “high” or “deep.”
1 Roget, in his Thesaurus, appreciated how much the world of words exists
in opposites:
“For the purpose of exhibiting with greater distinction the relations between
words expressing opposite and correlative ideas, I have, whenever the subject
admitted of such an arrangement, placed them in two parallel columns on the
same page, so that each group of expression may be readily contrasted with those
which occupy the adjacent column, and constitute their antithesis.”
And further, indicating that the opposites are dictated not by words but by
their context:
“It often happens that the same word has several correlative terms, according
to the different relations in which it is considered. Thus, to the word ‘giving’ are
opposed both ‘receiving’ and ‘taking’: the former correlation having reference to
the persons concerned in the transfer, while the latter relates to the mode of transfer.
‘Old’ has for opposites both ‘new’ and ‘young’ according to its application to things
or living beings. ‘Attack’ and ‘defence’ are correlative terms, as are also ‘attack’
and ‘resistance.’ ‘Resistance’ again has for its correlative ‘submission.’ ‘Truth’ in
the abstract is opposed to ‘error,’ but the opposite to truth communicated is
falsehood,” etc.
17 B
Similarly the Latin “sacer” means “taboo,” which in translation is usually

transcribed as either “sacred” or “accursed.”
Thinking in opposites is deeply rooted in the human organism. Differ¬
entiation into opposites is an essential quality of our mentality and of
life itself. It is not difficult to acquire the art of polarization, provided
that one keeps the point of pre-difference in mind. Otherwise mistakes
will occur, leading to arbitrary and wrong dualisms. For the religious
person “Heaven and Hell” are correct antipodes, but “God and the
World” are not. In psycho-analysis we find love and hatred as proper
opposites, but sex- and death-instinct as incorrect poles.
Opposites come into existence by differentiation of “something not
differentiated,” for which I suggest the term “pre-different.” The point
whence the differentiation starts is usually called zero-point.1
The zero-point is either given by the two opposites—as in the case of
a magnet—or is determined more or less arbitrarily. In measuring tem¬
peratures, for instance, science has accepted the temperature of melting
ice as zero-point: the Fahrenheit thermometer, still in common use in
many parts of the world, chooses as zero-point a temperature corre¬
sponding to 17.8 of the Celsius scale. For medical purposes one could
introduce a thermometer with the normal body temperature as zero-point.
Usually we differentiate between warm and cold according to the aware¬
ness of our organism. On leaving a hot bath we perceive as cold the
temperature of a room which we would describe as pleasantly warm after
a cold bath.
The situation, the “field,” is a decisive factor in the choice of the zero-
point. If Chamberlain on his return from Munich had been greeted with
the chorus, “Down with the guttersnipe Hitler!” there would probably
have been an outcry, a protest at having thus insulted the head of a friendly
state, whereas two years later these words became the British slogan.
1 Most cosmogenic myths and philosophies try to explain the coming into being
of the universe by assuming a primeval stage of complete non-differentiation.
This pre-different state is the Chinese Wu Gi, which is symbolized by a simple
circle O, and denotes the non-beginning, a conception similar to the Biblical
tahu watvohu (Chaos before the creation).
The Tai Gi by a symbol expresses the progressive differentiation into opposites
and corresponds in its meaning to the Biblical story of Creation.
“O ■" I 8
Hitler was as much a guttersnipe in 1938 as in 1940, but the emotional

zero-point of the British had changed considerably.
S. Friedlaender differentiates between the uninterested detachment—
the “I-don’t-care” attitude—and “creative indifference.” Creative in¬
difference is full of interest, extending towards both sides of the differen¬
tiation. It is by no means identical with an absolute zero-point, but will
always have an aspect of balance. One may cite as examples from the
medical sphere the amount of thyroxine in the human organism, or the
pH quotient: the opposites (the deviations from the zero-point) being
Grave’s disease or myxoedema, and acidosis or alkalinosis, respectively.1
It has to be emphasized that the two (or more) branches of a differentia¬
tion develop simultaneously, and that, generally, the extension is equal on
both sides. In a magnet the intensity of the attracting energy of both
poles increases and decreases equally with the distance of the poles from
the zero-point. The amount of differentiation, though often neglected as
being “only a matter of degree,” is of great importance. Beneficial drug
and deadly poison, though opposite in their effect, are distinguished only
by degree. Quantity is transformed into quality. With lowered tension
pain turns into pleasure, and vice versa, through mere changes in degree.
Here is an example of “thinking in opposites” which may serve to
show the advantage of this form of thinking. Let us assume you have
suffered a disappointment. Probably you will be inclined to blame persons
or circumstances. If you polarize “disappointment” you will find as its
opposite: “fulfilled expectation.” You thereby gain a new aspect—the
knowledge that there exists a functional connection between your dis¬
appointments and your expectations: great expectation—great disappoint-
1 Roget s remarks to this theme are: “In many cases two ideas which are com¬
pletely opposed to each other admit of an intermediate or neutral idea equi-distant
from both: all these being expressible by corresponding definite terms. Thus in
the following examples the words in the first and third columns, which express
opposite ideas, admit of the intermediate sense with reference to the former:
Identity Difference Contrariety

Beginning Middle End
^*ast Present Future
In other cases the intermediate word is simply the negative of each of two opposite
positions, as for example:
Convexity Flatness Concavity
Desire Indifference Aversion
Sometimes the intermediate word is the proper standard with which each of the
extremes is compared, as in the case of
Insufficiency Sufficiency Redundance
For here the middle term, sufficiency, is equally opposed, on the one hand, to
insufficiency, and, on the other, to redundance.”
19
ment; little expectation—little disappointment; no expectation—no dis¬

appointment.1
The words “differentiation” and “progress” are often used almost as
synonyms. The highly differentiated members of a well organized society
are called specialists. If they were eliminated the proper functioning of
the whole organization would be seriously impeded. The development of
an embryo is a differentiation into diverse kinds of cells and tissues with
correspondingly different functions. If highly complicated cells in the
finished organism are destroyed a regression to the production of less
differentiated cells takes place (e.g. scars). If a person with insufficiently
developed ego-functions encounters problems in life too difficult for
solution, those problems are avoided and there is no progress to new
differentiations and developments, but sometimes a retrogression involving
parts of previous development. Such a regression, however, seldom reverts
to a truly infantile level.
K. Goldstein has demonstrated this regression in soldiers with lesions
of the brain. In such cases, not only do those parts of the personality'
which correspond to the injured part of the brain cease to function properly,
but the whole personality retrogresses to a more primitive state. Whilst
we are able to perform very complicated intellectual stunts like isolating
words from their meaning, making statements like “The snow is black,”
such an assertion is impossible for people with certain lesions of the brain;
like children they will contradict: “But that is not true, the snow is white.”
★ ★ ★
In this book I intend making full use of the above demonstrated

differential thinking. On the other hand I intend to be as careful as possible
with the application of the law of cause and effect. Not only have recent
scientific discoveries1 thrown doubt upon the universal value of this law
as the only one being capable of explaining events, but also has the in¬
discriminate, nearly obsessional, search for “causes” has become a
stumbling block rather than a help in science as well as in everyday
life. Most people take as satisfactory answers to their “why?”:
Rationalization (he killed him because his honour demanded it);
Justification (he killed him because he had offended him);
Compliance (he was executed because the law provided the death
penalty for his crime);
Excuse (he killed him by chance because the trigger went off);
1 A comparatively recent attempt to polarize opposites in order to form a new

theory of the universe has been made by A. S. Eddington. Here the differentiation
is called bifurcation and the poles are the symmetrical (space, time and gravitation)
and the anti-symmetrical (electro-magnetic) fields.
1 Planck’s quantum theory and Heisenberg and S. Nordinger’s “principle of
uncertainty” arising from the disorderly behaviour of the quantum energies.
Identity (he arrived late at the office because he missed the bus);
Purpose (he went to town because he wanted to do some shopping).
It is preferable and productive of excellent results to forgo causal
explanations of events and to restrict oneself to a description of them—
to ask “how?” instead of “why?” Modern science has realized more and
more that all relevant questions can be answered by exact and detailed
description.
Causal explanation, furthermore, applies only to isolated strings of
events. In reality we find over-determination (Freud) or coincidence—
many causes of greater or lesser significance converging into the specific
event.
A man has been killed by a tile falling from the roof of a house—what
is the cause of his death?
There are innumerable causes. The time he passed the dangerous
spot; the storm that loosened the tile; the carelessness of the builder;
the height of the house; the material of the tile; the thickness of the
victim’s skull; the fact that he did not see the falling tile, etc., ad infinitum.
In psycho-analysis (my own field of observation) one is often inclined
to say “Eureka” whenever one believes one has found the “cause”;
subsequently one is bound to be disappointed when the expected change
in the patient’s condition does not take place.
D’Alembert, Mach, Avenarius and others substituted the conception
of function (if “a” changes, “b” changes) for that of causality. Mach
even went so far as to call causality a clumsy conception: “A dose of
cause results in a dose of effect: it is a kind of pharmaceutic Weltan¬
schauung.”
The conception of function covers the coincidences both of an event
and of its prime mover—its dynamic. In this book where I use the word
“energy” I mean an aspect of a function. Energy is immanent in the event.
It is, to use a definition by F. Mauthner, “the relation between cause
and effect,” but should by no means be considered as a force inseparable
from the event and yet in some magic way causing it.
Greek philosophy used the expression ivepyeia (cV epyu>) simply as
meaning action, activity, almost synonymous with -rrpd^L?. Later, however,
it assumed more and more the meaning of a force by which events were
created. The physicist J. P. Joule (1818-89) speaks of energies which
God bestowed upon matter.
This theological conception of energies as something working behind
events, causing them in some inexplicable way, is purely magical. Life
and death, wars and epidemics, lightning and rain, earthquakes and floods
made men assume that these phenomena were produced by “energies,”
“causes,” for instance by “gods.” These god-energies were conceived
according to human pattern. In the Mosaic religion they became simplified
to a single god, Jehovah, who was theoretically meant to represent an

energy without an image.
Such an energy, however, was too undifferentiated. It was a screen
energy which, by explaining everything, explained nothing. Therefore
new gods were created and, in order to distinguish them from the super¬
natural god-energies of ancient times, they were called powers of nature
(e.g. gravitation, electricity).
An interesting example of the “return of the repressed” is found in
Freud’s work. Here the denial of God is followed up by the dominating
power of the Libido, and later “Life” is conceived as a conflict between
Eros and Thanatos, between the gods of love and death.
If we decide that causal thinking is too arbitrary and if we take our

bearings rather from differential and functional thinking, we may try to
attain an orientation in the manifold functions and energies constituting
our existence.
Science has revealed that two energies, magnetism and electricity
(which were previously considered as two distinct forces), have a number
of functions in common. They were consequently brought under one
heading: electro-magnetism.
On the other hand, contrary to this simplification, new complications
have arisen. Thus it is assumed that dead, inorganic matter contains
tremendous amounts of energy within its atoms: that gigantic joining
forces keep together the particles of an atom. Millions of volts are applied
to disjoin these particles and to set free the joining functions, and it is
in these joining and dis-joining processes that we encounter a law which, I
am convinced, can be generally applied.
Every change in the substance of the world occurs in space and time.
Every change means that particles of the world are either drawing closer
together or moving away from each other. FI dvr a pel: Everything is in
a state of flux even the density of the same substance changes with
differences of pressure, gravitation and temperature.
A simple and obvious example is provided by the function of magnetic
iron. One side of the magnet attracts, the other side repels magnetized
iron particles, and the larger the distance from the zero-point (the point
of indifference) the greater are these forces.
As a rule, however, the joining and disjoining functions work simul¬
taneously, and it is often difficult to isolate the opposites.
The joining functions in chemistry are expressed by the word affinity.
In electrolysis the disjoining function of the electrical current is obvious.
The destructive tendencies of lightning or of x-rays are as well known as
the attraction which characterizes gravitation.
Heat is essentially a disjoining function. The atmospheric pressure,
being a function of the gravitation of the earth, holds water together
in a liquid form. If we either diminish this pressure (e.g. in a vacuum,

or by high altitude) or if we apply heat, we overcome the joining force’
of the pressure.1
In this book I shall use the symbol §[ for the joining function or energy,
and $ for its opposite.
I would like to put forward a scheme which, though vague, may give
an approximate idea of the distribution of the two opposing functions in
human relationships.
AFFECTION ffff
SEXUAL ACTIVITY § § f $
SADISM § fl * *
AGGRESSION f $ j $
DEFENCE (destruction) ^ | ^ ^
Affection is the tendency to make friendly contact, to join oneself to

the person towards whom one feels, or from whom one desires, tenderness.
There exists a permanent wish to be in touch with the beloved or with
anything belonging to him or her whose uninterrupted presence is desired.
The opposite of affection is defence, which (as a tendency to destroy)
is directed against any disturbing factor, whatever this may be.
It has to be emphasized that destruction and annihilation are by no
means identical. Annihilation means making a thing disappear, making
“nil” out of “something,” whilst destruction, as the word denotes, means
making the “structure” only disappear. In a thing destroyed the material
itself remains, though changed in its physical or even chemical condition.
The disturber may be a mosquito buzzing around us, or an impulse within
ourselves which we condemn, or a child’s fidgeting which we dislike,
regarding it as naughtiness. Anything of this nature may make us irritable,
and in all these cases we wish to annihilate the disturbing factor, but
we are satisfied to apply destruction, for real annihilation is never possible.
A pseudo-annihilation is performed—as we shall see later—with the help
of certain psychological conjuring tricks, such as forgetting, projecting,
scotomizing, or by repression or flight from the issue.
Between these two extremes I have put sadism as a mixture of §| and
The sadist loves his object and, at the same time, wants to hurt it. A milder
form of sadism is teasing, its veiled hostility being easily recognized by
the teased subject.
In sexual activity the presence of the f is obvious. The e.g. the
overcoming of resistance, is less easily recognized. But this may be so
predominant that many people lose interest in any sexual activity if the
partner yields too easily. It is even more difficult to realize that, in sexual
1 The apparent paradoxical use of heat for welding and soldering—for the
purpose of joining metals—is easily explained. The heat melts, disjoins the mole¬
cules; the joining takes place after the cooling.
23
activity, heat acts as the $ factor. Just as heat loosens up the contact between
molecules, so in sex-life a warming up must take place before the §
comes into play. A person unable to melt, remaining cold (frigid) and
not radiating any warmth (which is the natural means of inducing response
in the partner) will probably replace this essential radiation by alcohol
or bribery (e.g. flattery or presents).
There remains only aggression to be considered. In aggression the
attempts to contact the hostile object are an expression of the §. We
find in literature, for instance, many examples of how people overcome
great difficulties to track down and wreak vengeance on the “villain of
the piece”; and vice versa: The Big Bad Wolf takes great pains to get
hold of Little Red Riding Hood.
24
II
PSYCHOLOGICAL APPROACH
Patient: “Yes, Doctor, I have suffered from this before.”

Doctor: “Have you had treatment?”
Patient: “Yes, I saw Dr. X about it.”
Doctor: “And what did he prescribe?”
Patient: “He gave me little white pills. . . .”
I wonder if there exists a general practitioner who has never received

a similarly vague answer, when asking for details of previous treatment.
“Little white pills” denote nothing at all; they may stand for hundreds
of entirely different medicines; they arc a screen expression.
We often come across such screen expressions which have no precise
referent and which conceal instead of reveal. People speaking of nervous¬
ness may mean anxiety, irritability, annoyance, sexual tension, embarrass¬
ment and so forth. . . .
“Thinking” is one of the most common screen words, covering such
heterogeneous mental processes as planning, remembering, imagining,
subvocal talking and so on.
In endeavouring to clarify our minds we should avoid screen expressions,
and use, instead, words expressing the precise meaning which we wish to
convey. In lieu of “I thought of my childhood,” “I thought you were
cross,” “I thought about this accident,” we should say explicitly: “I
remembered my childhood,” “I was afraid (imagined) you were cross,”
“I reviewed this accident.” Such language is closer to reality, expresses
far more distinctly what kind of mental action is meant.
In the mental action of thinking, the use of words is involved to such
a degree that we feel tempted to define thinking as subvocal, or silent
talking.
This would imply that thinking is always done in words; but,
for example, a chess player, in thinking, uses words to a much
lesser extent than he uses visualization of the combinations of the
pieces.
In other words, subvocal talking is just one form, though a very frequent
form of thinking.
We may discern the opposites: vocal and subvocal talking. 1 heir pre-
differential stage can be observed in children and aborigines as mumbling,
25
muttering and whispering, and a regression to that stage may occur in

excited, aged or insane persons.
Other aspects of thinking can be found as opposites of believing and
guessing. Thinking is the “means whereby” we not only anticipate the
future, but also fictitiously return to the past (remembering), build
pictures of our own (fantasizing) and play all sorts of intellectual games
on the chess board of logic (philosophizing).
Thinking is action in homoeopathic doses; it is a “time” and energy¬
saving device. When we need a pair of shoes, much time will be saved
by planning, imagining or visualizing beforehand what kind of shoes we
like and where we shall probably find them. In short: we anticipate action.
The energy thus saved develops further: we fuse different sensoric
experiences into “objects”, label them and operate these “word”-
symbols as if they were the objects themselves. Here we cannot go into
the details of the higher forms of thinking: the categorical (sometimes
called “abstract”) thinking. Categorical thinking is a pigeon-holing
of different related objects and abstractions, facilitating human orienta¬
tion within, and handling of, the environment. Loss of categorical
thinking means limitation of orientation and action. (K. Goldstein).
We meet here with another application of the law that quantity changes
into quality. By decreasing the intensity of action, while maintaining the
original incentive, action turns into thinking. If this is the case, we should
be able to find the zero-point, the stage of pre-difference of thinking
and acting. Koehler’s experiments with apes prove that such a zero-point
exists. (Intelligenz-prufungen an Anthropoiden, 1917.) One experiment in
particular shows a situation where thinking and action are not yet properly
differentiated. It serves further as an introduction to the following dis¬
cussion of “field” psychology.
One of the animals tries to seize a fruit lying on the ground out of
reach. He has access to a number of bamboo sticks, which are hollow
and can be fitted into each other. At first the animal tries vainly to reach
the fruit with one of the sticks. Then he tries others, but finds they are
not long enough. At last he seems to visualize a longer stick; by experi¬
menting, he succeeds in putting two sticks together and finally manages
to reach the fruit.
It is not difficult to realize that the ape has created a tool. The combina¬
tion of two sticks in itself is not a tool: it only becomes a tool in this
specific situation on being used by this specific animal. It is not a tool
(a thing with “adequate functions”) for a dog, nor is it a tool even for the
ape if the fruit is in a box. It is a tool only in a specific “field,” only if
determined by the holism of the situation described.
The “field” conception stands in direct opposition to that of traditional
science, which has always seen reality as a conglomeration of isolated
parts—as a world made up of innumerable bits and pieces.
26
Even our mind consists, according to this concept, of a great number

of single elements. This theory is called association psychology and is
based on the assumption that in our minds one idea is attached to another
as if by a string, and that one idea after another will break surface if,
and when, the string is pulled.
Actually, associations are mental particles, artificially isolated from
more comprehensive items which we may call spheres, situations, contexts,
categories and such like names. Associations are by no means simply
hooked together. On the contrary: rather complicated mental operations
are involved. If, for example, I associate “saucer” with “cup,” I evoke
the picture or category of crockery. From this I select a saucer. Associating
“tea” with “cup” means completing an incomplete situation: in this
case filling the cup and probably indicating that I am thirsty. With “black”
I would associate “white” if I were interested in colours, and “death”
if I interpreted black as a part of the mourning context.
No one can escape the impression that associations have something
strange and artificial in their make-up. Punning, for instance, is based
upon a superficial acoustic similarity very remote from factual content:
it is the use of words, isolated from their referents.
Freud used the association psychology and, in spite of this handicap,
made amazing discoveries, intuitively seeing a number of “gestalten”
behind the associations. The value of associations lies not in the associations
themselves, but in the existence of specific spheres of which they form a
part. Jung’s association-scheme serves as a means to stir up a context
which is emotionally charged, for instance, with embarrassment or con¬
fusion. Freud’s findings include “wholes,” such as the Super-ego and the
Unconscious, as well as “holoids”—complexes, patterns of repetition,
dreams; but, though he broke with the pure isolationist outlook, he over¬
looked the omnipresence of spheres and recognized mainly such as had
a pathological significance. If it were not for Freud, association psychology
would rest where it belongs: in the fossil department of some museum
of science.
Its place has been taken by the Gestalt psychology, developed mainly
by W. Kohler and M. Wertheimer, who maintain that there is primarily
a comprehensive formation—which they call “gestalt” (figure formation)
—and that the isolated bits and pieces are secondary formations. Wert¬
heimer formulates the Gestalt theory in this way: “There are wholes,
the behaviour of which is not determined by that of their individual
elements, but where the part-processes are themselves determined by the
intrinsic nature of the whole. It is the hope of gestalt theory to determine
the nature of such wholes.” Since the word “gestalt” has a specific scientific
meaning for which a corresponding English word does not exist, the
German expression has largely been retained. R. H. Thouless (in G. F.
Stout, A Manual of Psychology, London, 1938) suggests replacing the
27
customary term gestalt psychology by the more appropriate field theory

of psychology based upon the “theory of relativity.”
I will demonstrate on my typewriter two simple examples of how
identical “things” have a different meaning according to the gestalt in
which they appear:
A B
3 2
2 1
soldier Order
2 1
3 2
The vertical rows consist of the numbers three, two, one, two, three;
and two, one, nought, one, two; but no one would read the horizontal
rows as “so-one-dier” and “nought-rder.” Whether the sign 1 and 0
indicate letters or numerals is determined by their context, by the gestalt
of which they form a part. The category of the letters and the category
of the numerals overlap each other incidentally, and while the signs are
identical in form, they are different in meaning.
That a spoken word is a gestalt, a unity of sounds, can easily be under¬
stood. Only when this gestalt is not clear—when, for example, we do not
catch the name of a person on the telephone—we ask that the word be
spelt—cut up into single letters. This ruling applies to the printed word
as well. Errors in reading will show a distinct relation between the read
and printed gestalt.
A white object seen against a dark (grey or black) background appears
as white, whereas the same object against a green background may appear
as red, and against a red background as green, etc.
Another instructive example is that of a musical theme. When a melody
is transposed into another key every single note is changed, yet the “whole”
remains the same.
A set of chessmen in their box cannot hold one’s interest for long, as
it consists of 32 independent pieces, but the pieces in the game, their
interdependency and the permanently changing situation, keep the players
fascinated. In the box the chessmen represent the isolationist outlook—
in the chess “field” the “holistic” conception.
Holism (0A0? — whole) is the term coined by Field-Marshal Smuts
(Holism and Evolution, 1926) for an attitude which realizes that the world
consists “per se” not only of atoms, but of structures which have a meaning
different from the sum of their parts. The changing merely of the position
of a single piece in a game of chess might mean all the difference between
winning and losing.
The difference between the isolationist and the holistic outlook is
about the same as between a freckled and a sun-tanned skin.
28
Whilst the study of Gestalt-psychology requires extensive scientific

and detailed experimental work, the careful reading of Smuts’s book is
highly recommended as being within the scope of many people. It gives
a most comprehensive survey of the importance of wholes, in Biology as
well as in many other branches of science. Personally I agree with what
one could call “structural holism” as a specific expression of the §; and
I welcome, too, the distinction between wholes and holoids: if an army
is an aggressive-defensive whole, then the battalions, squadrons, etc.,
are holoids; if the human personality is a whole, we can call complexes
and patterns of repetition holoids. There is present, however, the danger
of deification in Smuts’s concept, and I am not inclined to follow him in
what I would call idealistic or even theological Holism.
By keeping our eye on the context or field or whole in which a pheno¬
menon is embedded, we avoid many misunderstandings which, as a result
of an isolationist outlook, can occur in science even more often than in
everyday fife. Thus it is usually deemed sufficient to define a word in
order to make the reader or listener understand its meaning. The same
word, however, may belong to different spheres or contexts and may have
a different meaning in each context.
We have seen this with the signs I and o, and with screen words like
“think.” A sentence, a speech, or a letter away from its context may give
a completely distorted meaning.
We also have to bear in mind that thinking in opposites holds good
only in their specific sphere or context, just as definitions depend on
specific situations. The following scheme serves to illustrate this, and may,
at the same time, give us further insight into the problem of differentiation.
It gives a few uses of the word “actor” contrasted with its opposites.
Belonging to Examples of
An Actor is a In contrast to the sphere of Pre-difference
1. Stage employee his director Social Order Charlie Chaplin
2. Performer a spectator Performance Hamlet, 3. 2
3. Male an actress Sex Actor on Greek

stage
4. Impersonator the author Literature Shakespeare
5. Professional a private person Personal status Amateur

6. Play-acting a person behav¬ Expression Playing child
person ing naturally
The first three columns need no explanation, but as it may be more

difficult to understand the examples of pre-difference , a few explanatory
remarks may be added.
29
(1) That Charlie Chaplin is, at the same time, both the chief actor
and the director of his films is known to all. In a penny-gaff the difference
between the director and his employees may not be distinct, but in a
Broadway Theatre the director may not even know some of his actors.
(2) I am referring to the scene of the stage within the stage, where
the actor who plays the role of Hamlet watches a performance.
In any dialogue an oscillation of function takes place: the same person
who, at one moment, is the performer or speaker may, at the next moment,
be the spectator or the listener.
More differentiated still (and showing a certain split of the personality)
is the situation of a person rehearsing in front of a mirror before appearing
in public or before going to meet someone he desires to impress. The
pathological phenomenon of self-consciousness belongs to this sphere. A
differentiation into performer and spectator has occurred: a conflict
exists between being in the limelight and watching the onlookers.
(3) In many theatres (e.g. the Greek, Japanese, Shakespearean) the
actors were exclusively male.
(4) The case of Shakespeare is well known. If he had not succeeded
as an author, he would probably have remained exclusively an actor.
(5) The professional actor is the result of a rather advanced develop¬
ment of the scenic art. We find a convincing example of the state of pre¬
difference in the clowns in A Midsummer-Night's Dream.
(6) A child when playing the role of a lion is a lion, and it may be so
absorbed in its play that it becomes angry if called back to everyday life.
Thus, by having the “field,” the context, we can determine the opposites
and, by having the opposites, we can determine the specific field. This
insight will be of great assistance in the approach to the structure and
behaviour of the organism within its environment.
30
Ill
THE ORGANISM AND ITS BALANCE
A medical student, at the very beginning of his studies, is faced with

thousands of isolated facts. Consider only the study of anatomy: herein
the student’s education, instead of following, proceeds exactly contrary
to the development of medical science, which progressed by differentiation:
from the general to the particular; from the comprehensive to the detail;
from the wholes to the part-processes.
I suggest that a complete reversal of educational methods in such
matters might be of gTeat advantage to the medical student. In the observa¬
tion of complete situations (simple cases) his still fresh curiosity would
enable him to build up islands of knowledge by studying anatomical,
physiological and pathological details in connection with the living
organism. Instead of the customary teaching of isolated facts by individual
teachers, a more holistic approach to the human organism should be
elaborated by professorial team work. By dealing directly with his patient,
the student would face the human personality, whereas under the present
system he studies first the dead body, then the mechanical functions of
the living organism, and at last he sips a drop of knowledge of the
“soul.”
Isolated treatment of the different aspects of the human personality
only supports thinking in terms of magic, and bolsters up the belief that
body and soul are isolated items, joined together in some mysterious way.
Man is a living organism, and certain of his aspects are called body,
mind and soul. If we define the body as the sum of cells, the mind as the
sum of perceptions and thoughts, and the soul as the sum of emotions,
and even if we add “structural integration” (or existence of these sum
totals as wholes) to each of the three terms, we still realize how artificial
and out of accordance with reality such definitions and divisions are.
The superstition that they are different parts, which can be put together
or taken apart, is an inheritance from times when man (horrified and
reluctant to accept death as such) created the fantasy of spirits and ghosts
which live for ever, and slip in and out of the body.
God can—according to such fantasy—breathe into a piece of clay
and bring it to life. In the Indian reincarnation the supposed soul can
slip from one organism into another, from an elephant into a tiger, from
a tiger into a cockroach, and in the next life into a human being, until
3i
all conditions of an unattainable standard of ethics would eventually be

fulfilled and the soul could find rest in nirvana. Even in our European
civilization there are many who believe in ghosts and spirits, and who
provide occultists, tea-cup readers and such-like gentry with a welcome
opportunity of making a living. And do not millions believe in a
life hereafter, because it is comforting to think that the dead are
not dead?
Applying this body-soul conception to mechanical things might help
to show its absurdity. If you love your motor car, are thrilled with her
smooth running, with the beauty of her lines, you might have a feeling
that she had a soul. But who could possibly believe that her soul could
suddenly leave her body to enjoy itself in a Heaven for -motor cars (or
suffer torture in a Hell for misbehaved vehicles), whilst the corpse of the
car rots and rusts on a motor car graveyard?
You could object: the motor car is something man-made, something
artificial. But who cares to talk about the immortal soul of an octopus
or a dog—things man has certainly not managed to produce? There
were people like the late Conan Doyle, however, who were convinced
that a Heaven existed for dogs as well as for man. All this may sound
cynical and blasphemous, but all I have done is to carry to its ultimate
conclusion the conception of such an artificial split of the organism into
body and soul.
A compromise between this isolationist conception of the organism1
and the holistic one is the theory of psycho-physical parallelism, which
maintains that physical and psychological functions work apart from,
though parallel to each other. The main fault of this theory is that it does
not reveal anything about the connection between the two strata. Is it
that the body, a kind of mirror, apes the soul (and vice versa), both thus
performing the same functions simultaneously? Are the functions of body
and soul merely coincidences, or are they identities?
It seems to me that the parallelists try to combine two opposing weltan-
schauungen: the materialistic and the idealistic. The materialistic outlook
on fife proclaims the concrete substance as the basis of being. This “cause”
produces soul and mind. Thoughts are a kind of excretion of the brain
matter, love a product of sexual hormones. The opposite, the idealistic
(or spiritual) conception says: The idea creates the things. The best
known example of this Weltanschauung is the creation of the world by
gods. The parallelist glues these two conceptions together without achiev¬
ing a productive integration of structure.
All these hypotheses are more or less dualistic—are really attempts to
find connections between body and soul. But all these theories, even
Leibniz’s “pre-established harmony,” lead one astray, for they are based
on an artificial split which has no existence in reality. They mean to re-
« Isoliert stiickhafie Betrachtungstveise, Temus.
32
establish a unity which never has ceased to be. Body and soul are identical
“in re,” though not “in verbo”; the words “body” and “soul” denote
two aspects of the same thing.
Melancholia, for instance, shows (among others) two symptoms: a
thickening of the bile juices (“melancholia” means black gall) and a deep
sadness. The man who believes in organic foundation will say: “Because
the gall of this person flows thickly, he feels sad.” The psychologist
maintains: “The depressing experiences and mood of the patient thickens
the flow of his gall.” Both symptoms, however, are not linked as cause
and effect—they are two manifestations of one occurrence.
If the coronary artery of a heart is hardened, excitement leads to,
amongst other prominent symptoms, attacks of anxiety. On the other
hand an attack of anxiety on a person with a healthy heart is identical
with certain physiological changes in the function of the heart and breath¬
ing apparatus. An anxiety attack without breathing difficulties, quickening
of the pulse and similar symptoms does not exist.
No emotion, like rage, sadness, shame or disgust occurs without its
physiological as well as psychological components coming into play.
The ease with which fundamental mistakes are made, can be gauged
by a law formulated by the psycho-analyst W. Stekel, who maintains that
a neurotic person experiences sensations instead of emotions, e.g. burning
of the face instead of shame, heart-pounding instead of anxiety. But these
sensations are integral parts of the corresponding emotions. The neurotic
does not experience sensations instead of emotions, but at the expense or
even to the exclusion of the consciousness of the emotional component;
having partly lost the “feel of himself” (the senso-motoric awareness) he
experiences an incomplete situation—a scotoma (blind spot) for the
psychological manifestation of the emotion.
Since in this book we are not so much concerned with a universal
holistic conception, as with a specific organismic one, our approach differs
from that of Smuts. Instead of his matter, life and mind aspects, we are
choosing the aspects of body, soul and mind. To realize—at least in
theory—the identity of body and soul is not very difficult. The issue
becomes somewhat more complicated, if we take the mind into considera¬
tion. Here a differentiation into opposites has taken place. If you are
shivering, certain phenomena in the skin, muscles, etc., occur. Simul¬
taneously with these sensations the mind registers: “I am shivering”;
or thinks of the opposite: “I want to feel warm, I do not want to shiver.”
(This protest, this resistance, is a biological phenomenon, and should not
be confused with the psycho-analytical conception of resistance.) If the
mind always merely accepted the situation, there would be no need of
the mind’s existence at all. The statement “I am shivering” might be of
exhibitionistic or scientific interest, but it would be of no biological
value. If, however, this statement were not a mere statement, but an
33 c
emotional expression, a cry for help: “I am shivering—give me warmth!”

then it would express the urge for its opposite.
Experiments with animals of low order demonstrate that animals react
principally alike with or without a brain. The only difference is that the
brainless animal reacts slower than the animal with brains. We can in¬
terpret this as “the brain providing the organism with improved signals
for its needs.” These signals have a sign opposite to the organismic
requirements as the following example will demonstrate: Mr. Brown
goes for a stroll on a very hot day. He perspires and loses a certain
amount of water. If we call the total amount of liquid required by the
balanced organism W and the lost part X, then he is left with the amount
of W—X, a state which he experiences as thirst, as a desire to restore the
organismic balance of water, as an urge to incorporate into his system
the amount of X. This X appears in his mind (which, protesting against
the —X, thinks of its opposite) as the vision of a bubbling stream, a jug
of water or a pub. The —X in the body/soul system appears as X in his
mind.
In other words: W—X exists in the “body” as a deficiency (dehydra¬
tion), in the “soul” as a sensation (thirst) and in the “mind” as the comple¬
mentary image. If the amount X of real water is added to the organism,
the thirst is nullified, quenched, and the balance W restored, the image
of X in the mind disappearing together with the arrival of the real X in
the body/soul system. Thirst, or for that matter every type of hunger,
represents a deficiency or a minus in the balance of the organism. The
reverse of this situation is: plus in the body/soul and minus in the mind.
The simplest example of such a plus (or surplus, as it may be called) is
the waste matter. Faeces and urine represent a surplus of food assimilation.
This plus of material creates in the human being the image of its minus:
the place where to get rid of this surplus. In the first example the dis¬
appearance of the minus restores the organismic water balance. Defaeca-
tion, urination or the discharge of secretions (e.g. of the sex-glands) and
of emotions achieve likewise the organismic balance.
Thus the plus and minus functions of metabolism represent the working
of the basic tendency of every organism to strive for balance. In the
working of the organism, some happening tends to disturb its balance
at every moment, and simultaneously a counter-tendency arises to regain
it. According to the intensity of this tendency we call it a desire, an urge,
a need, a want, a passion, and, if its effective realization is regularly
repeated, we call it a habit. From these urges we abstract the existence
of instincts. This is an intellectual conclusion from observations of be¬
haviour, urges and physiological symptoms. As long as we remain conscious
of the fact that the term “instinct” is only a convenient word symbol
for certain complex occurrences in the organism, we may use it. But if
we regard an instinct as a reality, we make the dangerous mistake of
34
conceiving it as “prima causa” and of falling into a new trap of deification

—a trap which not even Freud escaped.
Attempts have often been made to enumerate and classify instincts.
Any classification which does not consider the organismic balance, how¬
ever, must needs be arbitrary, a product of the specific interests of the
classifying scientist.
To be entirely exact, one has to recognize hundreds of instincts and
to realize that instincts are not absolute, but relative, depending on the
requirements of the respective organism. Consider the case of a pregnant
woman: the child growing within her requires calcium, and she experiences
a calcium-need. If her calcium minus becomes intense enough, the realiza¬
tion of the counter-tendency may develop to such an “instinctive” greed
for this mineral, that cases are known in which such a woman will lick
the plaster from the walls. Under ordinary circumstances, however, there
would be no awareness of this calcium “instinct,” as there would usually
be enough calcium in the daily food to prevent the development of a
calcium minus.
The same situation may apply to the instincts for vitamins or for
common salt. These needs are usually not realized, as the substances in
question are present in ordinary food, Science can speak of a balanced
diet only if all the different kinds of hunger instincts are satisfied.1
The deficiencies in the human organism are not exclusively of a bio¬
logical nature. Civilization particularly has created in man a number of
added needs—some imaginary ones, and some real needs of secondary
importance.
An instance of secondary needs is the use of certain habit-forming
drugs (e.g. morphia) which brings about a real need in the human organism.
According to Ehrlich’s side-chains theory, the system of a morphinist is
overflooded with incomplete molecules, which produce a genuine need
for their completion. The morphine hunger has become a genuine, though
pathological instinct. That morphinism has indeed become an instinct,
is also suggested by the fact that “will power” never succeeds in curing
this habit.
The morbidity of such an instinct is obvious, for we observe it mainly
in such individuals as appear distinctly different from the majority, whereas
1 ^ interesting expression of the salt instinct is the sign for NaCl which sym¬
bolizes in the writing of an African tribe the importance of, and the greed for it:
From all directions hands are outstretched for the mineral so badly needed.
35
in collective habits it is less conspicuous. The organism of an obese

stock-broker, who has his office on the 40th floor, has changed to such a
degree as to develop in the man an “elevator instinct”—indeed, he is
incapable of getting to his office unless elevated.
As imaginary needs we can put down hobbies, fashions, gambling,
and other things not vital for the organism, but nevertheless consuming
intensive interest. From here it is but a step to the (pathological) obsessions
and phobias such as senseless counting, making sure several times that a
door is locked; being unable to cross a street, or to stay in a closed
room.
We cannot enumerate all the different instincts of the organism, but
we can arrange them under two headings, according to the main functions
of self-preservation and species-preservation. Self-preservation is secured
by gratification of the alimentary needs and by self-defence, while the
sexual “instincts” take care of species-preservation.
Freud’s classification of instincts requires a re-orientation from the
organismic point of view. With his Eros/Thanatos theory I shall deal
later on. At this stage I have only to contradict his original classification
(which he himself did not esteem very highly, regarding it merely as a
provisional hypothesis). His distinction between ego instincts and sex
instincts is obviously a dualistic conception intended to provide a suitable
theoretical background for his observations of the neurotic conflict; but
the relationship between ego and sex instinct does not differ intrinsically
from the relation between ego and hunger instinct. The ego is neither
an instinct, nor has it instincts; it is an organismic function, as I shall
show in a later chapter.
The following dream of a soldier in the War of 1914-1918, provides us
with a simple illustration of the experience of minuses and pluses in the
organism. The following is a summary of his statement:
“It was in the beginning of 1918, in France. Our company was billeted
in an old factory building. To reach the ‘public convenience,’ we had to
cross a large courtyard covered with ice and snow, and soldiers of another
unit were on guard to prevent us from spoiling the beautiful snow in the
yard by using it as a lavatory. The food supplied to us in 1918 was inade¬
quate in every respect. I was sleeping in the top one of two super-imposed
beds. I dreamt that I had just arrived in my home town on leave. I was
walking from the station towards the suburb where my parents live. My
mother had written to me that I should have plum dumplings—my
favourite dish—when I came home on leave, and I was looking forward
to many helpings of this delicacy. I felt an urgent need to urinate, and
entered a public lavatory, where I proceeded to relieve myself. I walked
on. . . . This ended my dream, and all of a sudden, my comrade in the
lower bed woke up and voiced in flowery language his resentment at my
having urinated on him.”
36
Incomplete Situation. Compensation by dream.
MINUS PLUS
Bad Food Tasty dumplings
Absence of familiar At home

surroundings
SURPLUS MINUS
Urine Receptacle
Long cold walk to the urinal No distant walk

IV
REALITY
No organism is self-sufficient. It requires the world for the gratification

of its needs. To consider an organism by itself amounts to looking upon
it as an artificially isolated unit, whereas there is always an inter-dependency
of the organism and its environment. The organism is a part of the world,
but it can also experience the world as something apart from itself—as
something as real as itself.
Through the ages few problems have occupied philosophers more than
that of reality. There are two main schools of thought: The one maintains
that the world exists only through perception, the other assumes a world
existing independently of perception. Everybody remembers the story
of the man who kicked the philosopher’s shin, and tried to make it clear
to him that the pain only existed in his, the philosopher’s, perception.
But the problem is not as simple as all that. Its solution is simpler
and more complicated at the same time. In this book I am not inclined to
deal with philosophical questions more than is absolutely necessary for
the solution of our problems, and I am certainly not willing to take part
in any mere verbal quarrel. What I have to point out is: if the man had
not had the impulse to kick, the philosopher would not have become
aware of the existence of his shin. We can even go a step further and say:
the tools of perception evolve in the service of our interests; therefore the
problem should be: does the world exist per se, or does it exist only as
far as our interests are involved?
For our purpose we assume that there is an objective world from which
the individual creates his subjective world: parts of the absolute world
are selected according to our interests, but this selection is limited by the
range of our tools of perception, and by social and neurotic inhibitions.
Later we shall make the acquaintance of another, a pseudo-world, which
plays an enormous part in our life and civilization, and which has become
a reality of its own—the world of projections.
The whole problem of the world’s existence has boiled down to the
question: how much of it exists for the individual?
The outer circle may represent the world per se.
Next comes a circle indicating our indirect knowledge of the world,
a knowledge which we acquire with the tools of our intellect (books,
teaching) and of refined means of perception (e.g. telescope and micro-
38
REALITY
scope). We realize the existence of this part of the world best by the
uncanny experience with the Galton whistle which gives a sound above
the range of the human ear. If you blow this whistle the trained dog will
stop in the middle of his run although you yourself do not hear a sound.
This whistle lies just beyond the next circle which includes our—rather
stable—means of perception. Opposed to the stability of the senses is the
instability of our interests (following circle) which affects the great variance
of our observations and contacts. The subjective world is further narrowed
down by the loss of senses (blindness, anaesthesia, etc.), and by social

and neurotic inhibitions.
In order to illustrate in some detail the inter-dependency of the objective
and subjective worlds, the following scheme is submitted showing one
and the same object in relation to a number of people. A corn-field is
chosen as the object.
Farmer <r-m ))))) V Agronomist
Pilot +-m — Corn-field m-y Merchant
Painter *
/, ///
w Couple of lovers
We try to approach the objective world by means of definitions, and

we may, approximately, define “corn-field” as a piece of ground on which
a cereal is cultivated.
Is this so-called objective reality necessarily identical with the subjective
realities of all the persons given in the scheme? Certainly not. A merchant,
looking at the corn-field, will estimate the gain he may derive from handling
the sale of the crop, while a couple of lovers, choosing the corn-field as a
place in which to withdraw from the world, do not care at all about its
monetary value. A painter may grow enthusiastic about its slowly moving
harmonies of light and shade, but to the pilot, who is about to make a
forced landing, the movement of the com serves only as a wind indicator.
To an agronomist, wind direction or colour harmonies are of no import-
39
ance5 he considers the chemicnl composition of the soil. The nearest

to the objective reality which we defined above is the subjective reality
of the farmer, who cultivated the field and grew the corn.
Things may seem to have become more complicated than before.
Out of one reality six emerge; but common to these six is the specific
interest which is the characteristic of subjective realities.
That the sphere of interest is the decisive factor in the creation of the
subjective reality can be easily demonstrated by choosing alternatives in
every one of the above cases. We can replace the corn-field by something
else lying within the specific sphere of interest. The connection between
the pilot and the corn-field is not the association “wind direction,” but
the sphere corresponding to the pilot’s needs, i.e. his minus situation,
which we discussed in the previous chapter. Thus the pilot might use
the smoke of a chimney as a wind indicator. The merchant might choose,
as an alternative, the buying of poultry, the painter a brook, the lovers
a haystack, the farmer cattle rearing and the agronomist a potato field.
The six people have six different spheres of interest. They are interested
in such objects of the outer world as are apt to gratify their different
needs, and only by co-incidence is the corn-field the object common to
their different spheres of interest.
We may even go so far as to say that the reality which matters is the
reality of interests—the internal and not the external reality. We realize
this best by the absurdity to which an exchange of alternatives would
lead if we were to neglect the specific interests. A pilot who would try to
get information about the wind direction from a haystack, a merchant
who would buy up brooks, lovers who would hide in the smoke of a
chimney. . . .
/
Specific interests are dictated by specific needs.
Thus inserting the specific needs in our scheme we see that in every
case the corn-field represents the plus, the means of gratification for the
different minuses.
Farmer Agronomist
wants to make a living looks for scientific data
Pilot Merchant
Corn-field
needs a landing place wants to make money
Painter -> Couple of lovers
searches for subject . wish to be by themselves
The relationship between the organism’s need and the reality corre¬
sponds to the relationship between body/soul and mind. The image in
the mind disappears (as we have seen), as soon as the need of the organism
40
REALITY l
is gratified. Exactly the same happens to our subjective realities: they

disappear once they are required no further.
After the landing, the pilot is no longer vitally interested in the corn¬
field, nor is the painter who has finished his picture.
A man whose“hobby”is solving cross-word puzzles may worry for hours,
but as soon as he has solved the problem, the puzzle loses its fascination
and becomes just a piece of paper. The situation has been completed.
The interest in the puzzle has been gratified and thereby nullified; it
recedes into the background, leaving the foreground free for other activities.
When driving through a town, one does not, under ordinary circum¬
stances, notice the existence of a single letter-box. The situation, however,
changes when you have to post a letter. Then, out of an indifferently
viewed background, a letter-box will jump into prominence, becoming a
subjective reality—in other words, a figure (gestalt) against an indifferent
background.1
Here is another example: Mr. Y has bought a motor car, for example a
Chevrolet. As long as his pride in it prevails, he will find that this par¬
ticular make will stand out from the multitude of the motor vehicles on
the road.
These two examples should suffice to show that we do not perceive
the whole of our surroundings at the same time. We do not look at the
world as though our eyes were the lenses of a photographic camera.
We select objects according to our interests, and these objects appear as
prominent figures against a dim background. When taking photographic
pictures we endeavour to overcome the optical differences between the
human eye and the camera by intentionally producing a figure-background
effect. Close-ups on the screen often show the hero as a clear foreground
figure against a hazy background.2 3
Freud came close to the solution of the figure-background problem of
the “gestalt” psychology. He tried to solve the problem by assuming
that objects (real ones as well as images) can be charged with psychological
energies, and that every psychological process is accompanied by a change
in “cathexis.”3 This theory, though useful as a working hypothesis, has
a number of disadvantages:
1 If one forgets to post the letter, this may not necessarily be due to a repression
or resistance. It may, rather, be due to the fact that an interest in posting the
letter is not intense enough to produce the figure-background phenomenon.
1 Under pathological conditions we can observe the lack of figure-background
formation in man. This state is known as “de-personalization,” and occurs after
shock and extraordinary emotional stress, after the loss of someone very dear and,
to a lesser degree, during a certain stage of intoxication. The world is then per¬
ceived as something rigid, emotionally dull, and, at the same time, optically clear-
cut. The resemblance to the working of the inanimate photographic lens is obvious.
3 Cathexis (Besetzung), meaning the addition of energy which in some mystical
way is projected or injected into an object of reality or imagination.
41
To Freud, cathexis mainly means libidinal cathexis.

The idea of cathexis has been derived from the pseudopodia of the
amoeba, which are used to incorporate food. It has been transferred without
sufficient justification from the alimentary to the sexual sphere, with the
result that alimentary functions in psycho-analytical theory have become
mixed up with sexual processes.
★ * *
The relationship between organism and “mind” corresponds to the

relationship between organism and reality in three ways.
(1) Both mind and reality are complements of an organismic need.

(2) They function according to the figure-background principle.
(3) Once gratification has been obtained, both the image and the real
object disappear from our consciousness.
There are, of course, differences between reality and image, between

perception and visualization, otherwise we should take the image as the
reality (hallucination).1 2
Originally, perceptions and visualizations are not differentiated but
identical. One can experience this in dreams. In a vivid dream one is
actually within the situation, which one experiences as though it were a
reality. When awake, very few people are capable of recalling and re¬
living a dream with all its original intensity. They recall its material alone,
and only now and then may they produce some emotion experienced
during the dream.
The identity of perception and visualization in the dream—its hallu¬
cinatory character—manifests itself by the disappointment or relief ex¬
perienced when one becomes aware of the fact that the dream was “just
a dream.”*
1 Hallucinations occur not only in insanity, but also in normal people who are
in a state of high tension, e.g. hunger or fear.
2 Jaentsch has furnished the proof of the pre-differential state of visualization
and perception. He called this state “eidetic” and has shown that it is usually
present in children, and is retained by a number of people in adult life. These
people can use their eidetic faculties with great success, for instance in examinations.
They simply read in their mind the required passages of the textbook they have
read in reality—perhaps without even understanding its contents. Such a good
“memory” is in itself not necessarily a sign of intelligence. Many people with an
eidetic memory are stupid, although others, like Goethe, found it to be of great
assistance in providing their minds with an enormous number of recollections
when required. Later I shall give some advice as to how to improve this biological
memory.
42
V
THE ANSWER OF THE ORGANISM
If the existence of the subjective world depends upon our instincts, how,
on the other hand, can gestalt-psychology maintain that the organism
“answers to” situations? It looks like a reversal of what we have found so
far.
Is the organism the primary factor and is the world created by its
needs? Or is there primarily a world to which the organism responds?
Both views are correct in toto. They are by no means contradictions:
actions and reactions are interwoven.
Before approaching this problem we have to see what is meant by the
words “answer to.” We are accustomed to apply the word “answer” in
the sense of giving a verbal reply to a question. Yet nodding or shaking
of the head are also accepted as answers, though they are not verbal. By
widening this notion we can call “answer” any reaction, any response to
an action. The re-action, the response is a sequence, something secondary
to something that has happened primarily.
The sequence reality-answer, stands in contrast to the simultaneousness
of the instinct /reality situation. The internal hunger-tension and the
appetizing look of food appear and disappear simultaneously, while a
child’s reaction upon the nurse’s demand takes place as a sequence to it.
Again we have to be careful not to presume a causality and not to say that
an answer is determined by a question. The only exceptions would be
those cases in which exactly the same reaction stereotypically follows an
action. In such cases we speak for instance of a “reflex,” thereby indicating
that decisions are without influence upon the sequence action/reaction.
As I have said before, the answer is not confined to words. We may
answer a situation with all kinds of emotions—with anxiety, fear, enthusi¬
asm, disgust, with activity, crying, flight, attack or many other reactions.
Just one illustration taken from everyday life: A number of people
witness a car accident. Most of them will react either with interest (in-
teresse = to be among) or flight, or with either genuine or pretended in¬
difference. The interested people will answer the situation with §. They
will be drawn to the spot of the accident, and being sensibly active, they
will call the ambulance or render assistance; or they may stand around
being curious or making a nuisance of themselves. Others will produce
associations, e.g. how an aunt met with a similar accident; or they will
43
deliver sermons about the danger of speed or of driving under the influence
of liquor. The attitude opposite to that of this group is that of avoidance
(•{•)• One person may faint; others may run away maintaining they cannot
stand the sight of blood and mutilated bodies. Others, again, may say
that they must not watch the accident, as they are afraid it might prey
on their minds and cause them to have an accident themselves. Pretended
indifference is the answer of a man who feels groggy, but wants to put up
a brave show, and only in genuine indifference is there no answer, as no
disturbance of the personality has occurred.
The next step to be considered is this: Not only do we select our
world, but we may also be selected by other people as objects of their
interests. They may make demands upon us; our answers may either
be in the affirmative (we may comply with their wishes) or in the negative
(we may be on the defensive, or refuse their demands).
The civilization we have created is full of claims. There are conventions,
laws, engagements, distances to overcome, economic difficulties, and a
whole host of obligations with which we have to comply. They are a
collective reality, and a very powerful reality at that, objective in their
effect, even if not in their sense.
And, as though this were not enough, man has created an additional
world, which for most people is also a reality. This (imaginary) reality is
built up of projections, its chief example being religion.
If we now return to our corn-field example, we can insert the “answer
of the organism” to the situation, and arrive at the following amplification:
Person Corn-field Situation Answer

Pilot wind indicator landing
Farmer livelihood harvesting
Painter landscape painting
Couple of lovers secret place hiding
Agronomist soil collecting material
Merchant merchandise offering money
We have now completed the cycle of the inter-dependency of organism

and environment. We have found:
(1) The organism at rest.

(2) The disturbing factor, which may be
(a) An external disturber—a demand made upon us, or any inter¬
ference that puts us on the defensive.
(b) An internal disturbance—a need which has gathered enough
momentum to strive for gratification and which requires
(3) The creation of an image or reality (plus-minus function and
figure-background phenomena).
44
(4) The answer to the situation aiming at

(5) A decrease of tension—achievement of gratification or compliance
with the demands resulting in
(6) The return of the organismic balance.
An example of the internal disturbance cycle might be:
(1) I am dozing on a couch.

(2) The wish to read something interesting penetrates my consciousness.
(3) I remember a certain book-shop.
(4) I go there and buy a book.
(5) I am reading.
(6) I have had enough. I set the book aside.
An external disturbance cycle might be:
(1) I am lying on a couch.

(2) A fly is crawling over my face.
(3) I become aware of the disturber.
(4) I get annoyed and fetch a swatter.
(5) I kill the fly.
(6) I go back to the couch.
Basically, the external cycle is not different from the internal. Here,
too, an instinct (for instance, self-preservation) is the prime mover. In
certain situations I might not notice the fly at all. Then, of course, it would
not act as a disturber and the whole circle need not exist.
This circle leads to the grasping of one of the most important pheno¬
mena, of the fact of organismic self-regulation which, as W. Reich has
pointed out, is very different from the regulation of instincts by morals
or self-control. Moral regulation must lead to the accumulation of un¬
finished situations in our system and to interruption of the organismic
circle. This interruption is achieved by means of muscular contraction
and the production of anaesthesia. A person who has lost the “feel” of
himself, who, for instance, has deadened his palate, cannot feel whether
he is hungry or not. Therefore, he cannot expect his “self-regulation”
(appetite) to function properly, and he will stimulate his palate artificially.
We may contrast such violations of the principle of healthy self-regulation
with normal functions. In sex life, for instance, the production of hor¬
mones by the glands leads to an organismic surplus, the increased sexual
tension creates an image, or selects in reality an object suitable for gratifi¬
cation of its needs for a restoration of the organismic balance.
It is somewhat more difficult to realize the principle of self-regulation
if we come to less manifest functions; but, being a general principle, it
applies to every system, every organ, tissue, and to every single cell.
45
Without self-regulation they would either atrophy or hypertrophy (for

instance degeneration or cancer). It is also difficult to demonstrate the
exact moment of balance in breathing, as there is a permanent need for
oxygen, and the production of carbondioxide is continuing uninterruptedly.
Here self-regulation is carried out by the pH concentration. Yawning
and sighing are symptoms of self-regulation. In anxiety self-regulation
is not working properly.
The restoration of the organismic balance is by no means always as
easy and simple as might appear from what has just been said. Often,
more or less powerful resistances have to be overcome, which may extend
from geographical obstacles to monetary difficulties and social taboos.
* * *
The principle governing our relations with the outer world is the
same as the intra-organismic principle of striving for equilibrium. We
call the achievement of being in harmony with the outer world adjustment.
This adjustment may range from primitive biological functions to far-
reaching changes in the world by a single individual.
Generally, the capacity for adjustment is very limited. We can adjust
ourselves within a few minutes to the temperature of the water when
taking a cool or warm bath, but the difference between the temperature
of the body and the water must not go beyond certain limits, otherwise
the result would be injurious—would result in bums or shock. Some
people, however, have trained their capacity for adjustment so far as to
be able to jump into ice-cold water, or even to walk on glowing embers.
If we focus our eyes for a few minutes on some bright colour, the
brightness of the colour will disappear. Bright red, for instance, will
become dullish red approaching grey. If, then, we look against an indiffer¬
ent background, we will notice the complementary colour, in this case
green, appearing in front of our eyes. This green is the complementary
activity of the organism towards adjustment; it is the minus to the plus red.
Often we may not need to adjust ourselves to our environment, but
may be able to adjust the environment to our needs and wishes. Air-
conditioning or central heating are examples to be contrasted with ac¬
climatization.
We call the adjustment of our environment to our needs an alloplastic
(modelling the other) behaviour, the self-adjustment an autoplastic
behaviour. The alloplastic activity of a bird changes its environment by
building nests or migrating into a warmer climate; the alloplastic character
in man produces an urge to organize, to take command, or to invent
and discover things. The counterpart, the autoplastic character, is exem¬
plified by the chameleon, and, in human beings, by the power of adapta¬
tion and pliability.
Alloplastic and autoplastic behaviour is tragically interwoven in man-
46
kind, especially in industrialized countries where the environment changes

so rapidly that the human organism cannot keep pace with it.
The result of this is an enormous wear and tear on the human organism
which hardly ever has time to restore its balance sufficiently, a theme
which has been extensively treated by F. M. Alexander in his book,
Man’s Supreme Inheritance, and also by other writers.
VI
DEFENCE
If there were no sex instinct for propagation, the hunger instinct—the

satisfaction of which necessitates the eating of animals and plants—could
be satisfied for a while. But as no new supply would be forthcoming, life
on earth would soon cease.
On the other hand, were there no instinct of self-preservation, no
hunger, but only sex instinct, within a few years flora and fauna would
overcrowd this globe to such an extent that no animal would be able to
move and no room would be left for the growth of new plants. Thus it
seems that conditions of life on this earth are well balanced: multiplication
of flora and fauna provides enough food, and their consumption prevents
overcrowding. This balance is not the outcome of a mystic Providence
but a natural law. Would either side overbalance, life on this planet would
cease to exist.
The organisms, however, object to being eaten up and develop
mechanic and dynamic defences. Any attack, any aggression aiming at
our partial or total destruction is experienced as danger. In the struggle
for survival the means for attack and defence develop on related, but
different lines. The attacker develops all his means to get at the victim
the defender to render the attacks impotent
The aggressor does not aim at annihilation of his object. He wants to
get hold of something but he finds a resistance. He then proceeds to
destroy the resistance, leaving intact as much as possible of the substance
valuable to him. This applies to nations as it does to human individuals
and to animals. The Nazis carefully avoided the destruction of the “Skoda
Works” when they broke up the Czecho-Slovakian state. The business
man who eliminates a competitor takes great care that the competitor’s
clientele remains intact. The tiger does not kill for the sake of annihilation
but for food.
Danger, whether it be an external (attack) or an internal one,1 is realized
by the eyes, ears, skin, in short, by whichever sensoric organs we establish
1 In addition to external danger, we experience (mostly imagine) dangers within

ourselves whenever we are hostile to some part of ourselves. An intense emotion
may imperil the ideal of being an unmoved he-man; sex-impulses mean danger
to the pious virgin, etc. etc.; wherever and whenever such a danger arises we
mobilize protective resources.
48
DEFENCE
contact with the enemy. Originally the point of contact and observation
was the skin, that biological boundary between the organism and the
world. Later the outposts of defence, on the watch for the approach of
the enemy, stretched themselves further and further afield. Instead of
waiting for epidermic contact, ears, eyes and nose and, lately, technical
instruments (periscope, radio-locator, etc.) signal the danger, and the
organism goes on the defensive and applies its means of resistance.
The organism lives essentially centrifugally, actively. Every defence
involves a tremendous amount of activity sometimes including extensive
preparations.
The means of defence are of mechanic or dynamic nature. The mechani¬
cal defences are frozen, petrified, accumulated activities like shells or
concrete fortifications: the dynamic means of defence are of a motoric
(e.g. flight) and secretoric (octopus ink, snake poison) or of sensoric
(scouting) nature. Thus the defender is as active as the aggressor, the
organismic tendency of living centrifugally being maintained, as in nearly
every other function.
Reflexes (in phylogenetics) and conditioned reflexes (in ontogenetics)
are the outcome of previous conscious activity. They are a time and
concentration saving device. As the organization of a personality functions
according to the figure-background principle, the mind, being unable to
deal with several tasks at once, is free to attend to the most important
one, whilst the lower (the reflex) centres—being well trained—don’t
need to be looked after. This automatism leads to the still widespread
notion that the recipient nerves are different in their direction from those
of the motoric and secretoric nerves. To regard only the motoric and
secretoric nerves as centrifugal is an inheritance from the mechanical
age which assumed that, for instance, the rays of light travelled actively
through the wires of the optic nerves and stimulated the organism to some
reaction. This theory is still the basis of neurological teaching. It assumes
that one part of the nervous system is afferent and the other efferent,
and that both are part of a reflex “arc” (figure i). Another conception
sees in them two prongs of a fork (figure 2).
Goethe, the neurologist Goldstein, and the philosopher Marcuse em¬

phasize the centrifugal tendency of the senso-motoric system. Goldstein
maintains that the senso- as well as the motoric system tend from the
brain towards the periphery.
49 D
The British Admiralty did not perceive in a passive way, in the sense
of the reflex arc, the whereabouts of the Bismarck. It sent out the eyes of
the Fleet, the reconnaissance planes.
Wireless sets are installed to pick up wireless messages. We buy news¬
papers to learn what happens in the world and we select and read what
interests us.
As soon as we regard the use of the senses as an activity similar to the
use of feelers by an insect, and not as a passivity, as something that happens
to us, we realize that the new conception has a wider scope than the old
one, and does away with auxiliary theories. If a worm crawled because
its sensoric nerves were stimulated by contact with the ground, it would
not stop until completely exhausted, as it would have to crawl on and on,
forced by the automatic impulses the motoric nerves receive from the
sensoric ones. To reconcile theory and observation the scientist has to
install additional nerves which inhibit the reflex arc, providing the worm
with a free will to inhibit. By assuming that the organism lives centri-
fugally we eliminate this contradiction. The worm crawls by its sensoric
and motoric activities in a biological “field” towards the “end gains” of
its instincts.
When walking through a forest at night we change hearing into listen¬
ing; we sharpen our eyes and turn them in all directions as advance
guards against possible danger. The sensoric activity in striving to gratify
our needs is the same as that occurring in defence. A hungry child does
not just see a bread-roll in the baker’s shop. It looks, it stares at it. The
sight of the bread does not evoke as a reflex the child’s hunger. On the
contrary, the hunger produces the effect of both being on the look-out
for food and of moving towards it. A well-fed fashionable lady does not
even see the same bread-roll, it does not exist, it is not a “figure” for her.
The fact that the Ego concentrates only on one thing at a time shows
one great disadvantage: the organism can be taken by surprise—can be
caught unawares.1
A compensation of this disadvantage is the use of an armour (shells,
etc., in lower animals, character-armour in human beings, houses and
fortresses in society). Even the most fortified castle, however, cannot be
hermetically sealed: it must have doors and other openings—elastic com¬
munications with the world.
To guard such openings the human mind has developed a censor, a
1 When telling a joke we make use of this weakness in our organization by keeping
the attention fixed in one direction and jumping at the listener unexpectedly from
another, thus producing a slight shock. We feel lost, stupid, if we don’t see the
point, but once the meaning of the joke is seen, the holistic balance is restored.
This restoration occurs in a similar way with an “anti” shock. The solution jumps
into consciousness with an experience of surprise, accompanied by exclamations
like “Oh, gee!” “Got it,” etc. If the joke is stale, or the solution anticipated, we
are uninterested or bored.
5°
DEFENCE
moral watchdog. This censor—directed inwards—played a great part

in Freud’s earlier theory. We must, however, not forget that the
censor’s task is directed outwards as well. The censor in a country like
Nazi Germany prohibits the entry of unwanted news by jamming radio
stations and arresting the entry of adverse newspapers. The censoring
instance in our mind tends to stop unwanted material from gaining
awareness: thoughts, feelings and sensations from inside: knowledge from
outside. The censor’s aim is to admit only such material as he considers
good and to exclude all bad thoughts, wishes and so on.
What is the meaning of this “good” and “bad”?
5i
VII
GOOD AND BAD
Although gestalt psychology has assisted us greatly in the understanding

of our subjective individual worlds, there is one factor which needs further
examination: the factor of evaluation. Were it correct that the world
exists only according to our needs, then objects would either exist for us
or they would not. The average teacher is, for instance, more interested
in those pupils who learn easily and give no trouble. There are teachers
who, at least occasionally, take no notice of the difficult pupils, treating
these at times as if they were non-existent. As a general rule, however,
the teachers distinguish their students as good or bad pupils.
This evaluation makes it necessary for us to consider a new aspect of
our lives. Thinking in terms of “good” and “bad,” appraisement, ethics,
morals, or whatever you like to call the evaluations, plays an important
part in the human mind and is neither explained by the figure-background
phenomenon nor by holism, although a certain relationship exists between
“feeling good or bad,” and complete and incomplete wholes.
In the name of “good” and “bad,” wars are fought, people punished
or educated, friendships formed or broken. Dramatic plays usually
contain one person—the hero—who is painted white, with invisible
wings, and his counterpart, the villain, black, with horns. Heaven and hell.
High honours and prison. Sweets and whippings. Praise and condemnation.
Virtue and vice. Good and bad; good and bad, good and bad . . . like the
unending rumble of a train this “good and bad” never ceases to permeate
human thoughts and actions.
Four ingredients, so it appears to me, come together to mix the cocktail
of ethics: differentiation, frustration, the figure-background phenomenon
and the law that quantity changes into quality.
* * *
As an example for the demonstration of differentiation we selected the

hole and the mound being created from a level. Let us consider two
people who have brought about such a differentiation, a city engineer
and the owner of a coal mine. The city engineer has to dig trenches along
a street to lay a cable. His interest will mainly be in the correctness of his
trenches, and the mound will be a nuisance to him and still more of a
nuisance to the traffic.
52
GOOD AND BAD
The owner of a coal mine, on the contrary, is interested in the mound-

in the big mountain of coal heaped up and waiting to be sold. To him
the hole in the ground, the shaft from which the coal was taken, is a
nuisance, as laws exist which demand from him care and caution that no
accidents should happen.
Thus we see that the mound and the hole have a different interest and
different valuation for these two men. Their likes and dislikes go in
opposite directions, their likes being identical with their interests, and
their dislikes identical with the demands made upon them. Their attitude
itself is similar. Both men feel likes and dislikes with a faint tinge of good
and bad. They might curse or bless, but the engineer would not call—as
a child might do—the disturbing heap of soil “naughty.” He has already
learned to differentiate his attitude towards objects and behaviour, while
for the small child all things are animated and “behave” instead of having
qualities. We speak of a good or bad apple, approving or disapproving of
its quality, but when we apply this evaluation to behaviour we start to
moralize.
This moralism—the discrimination between good and bad—comes into
existence in early childhood. Psycho-analysis maintains that there is a
period in the child’s life called the ambivalent stage—the period of double
evaluation—and a post-ambivalent stage, in which the youngster achieves
an objectivity not previously possessed, enabling him to weigh up the
good and bad qualities of a character. Further development (beyond
thinking in terms of “good” and “bad”) may result in an attitude of
“interested” detachment.
What figure-background formations lead to ambivalence?
A child cannot conceive its mother as an individual, or even approach
any sort of complete knowledge, or understanding, of her. Only those
parts of the world which we need become “figure,” standing out clearly
from the surrounding chaos. Consequently only those aspects of the
mother which it requires exist for the child. For the suckling, as Freud
has pointed out, the world exists only as something fleshy, yielding milk.
This “something” is later called the breast of the mother. As development
proceeds, and as the further requirements of the child become apparent,
I more and more aspects of the mother come into realization and thus into
existence for the child.
Two situations may now arise: the mother either meets the requirements
of the child, or else she does not. In the first case (e.g. breast feeding)
the child becomes satisfied. It feels “good” and the image of the mother
(confined to the feeling, smelling and seeing of the breast) disappears
into the background until the returning hunger renews it (organismic
self-regulation).
The second situation, opposed to the former in every respect, arises
when the needs of the child are not fulfilled. The child suffers a frustration,
the tension of the urge increases, and the organism produces energies,
the “means” to achieve the “end”: satisfaction. The child becomes very
agitated, starts crying or flies into a rage. If this intensified activity leads
to ultimate satisfaction there is no harm done to the child: on the contrary,
it will have developed some energy and means of expression. If, however,
the frustration persists beyond the suspense which the child is able to
endure, it feels very “bad.” The image of the mother, as far as the child
conceives it, does not completely recede into the background, but becomes
isolated, impregnated (not with libido, but) with anger, and subject to
memory. The child has suffered a trauma, which will recur every time a
real frustration occurs.
Thus the child (and the human organism in general) experiences two
opposite reactions, according to the gratification or the frustration of its
requirements. It feels “good” if satisfied, “bad” if frustrated.
Yet somehow our theory does not completely fit the facts: if an instinct
is gratified we find that the desired object disappears into oblivion. We
take the good things in life for granted. The greatest luxury, once it has
become a matter of course (and so long as it is not experienced as the
gratification of a real need) does not contribute to our happiness. On the
other hand, the ungratified child experiences a trauma: the desired object
becomes a “thing” subject to memory.
Against the two facts, however, stands another—the fact that we also
remember good things.
Let us consider the details of the following scheme:
Temporary
Gratification frustration Frustration
Satisfaction Immediate Postponed Overdue
Memory Nil Pleasant Unpleasant
Influence on personality Inertia Work Trauma
Pleasure I pain principle Pleasure “Reality” Pain
Reaction Indifferent Good Bad
For the explanation of this scheme, let us consider oxygen hunger.1
1 I have intentionally refrained from applying here the example of the breast¬
fed baby. Firstly, it is too early to discuss the supposed libidinal kathexis here:
secondly, the satisfied happy suckling, as we see it, is a product of our civilization.
The young animal sucks whenever it wants to, and with primitive peoples it is
the habit of the mother to carry the baby around and to suckle it as often as it
wants food. (Weinland observed a female kangaroo, cub in pouch, which was
still being suckled by its mother.) In our civilization, however, we institute meals,
and, if possible, even timed meals, for breast-feeding. Thus when the child gets
his breast-meal he attains a two-fold gratification: he regains contact with the
mother (the conscious gratification, i.e. the hanging-on-bite) and achieves the
postponed gratification of his hunger (second column). Therefore, the question
to be decided is whether the baby’s happiness is of natural or of social origin (due
to the termination of the temporary frustration).
54
GOOD AND BAD
Ordinarily we take our breathing for granted. We are not aware of it and
are indifferent to it. Let us assume that we are in a room with a number
of people and that the air gradually becomes stuffy, but so imperceptibly
that the stuffiness does not transgress the threshold of our consciousness,
and our organism has no difficulty in adjusting itself. If, after a while,
we go into the open, we immediately notice the difference and feel how
good the air is. Returning to the room we become aware of its stuffiness.
After that we will be able to recall and compare the experiences of the
pure and the polluted air (pleasure-pain principle).
The traumatic effect of repressions or frustrations in childhood led
people to the premature conclusion that a child should not suffer de¬
privations during its upbringing. Children reared in conformity with this
conclusion are, however, not less nervous. They show typical signs of a
neurotic character, are unable to stand frustrations, and are so spoilt
that even a slight delay in gratification produces a trauma. If they do not
immediately get what they want they use the technique of crying which
they have mastered to perfection. Such children very easily feel bad, and
regard their mother (as will be shown presently) as the “bad” mother—
the witch.
From this we learn that a child should be brought up on the lines of
what Freud calls the “reality principle,” the principle which says “yes”
to the gratification, but demands that the child be able to endure the
suspense of postponement.1 It should be prepared to do some work in
exchange for the gratification, and this should be something more than
a mumbled “thank you.”
Immediate gratification does not produce a memory. The “good”
mother is not experienced as such if she meets all the child’s demands
immediately, but only if she does so after a delay, after suspense. The
good mother, represented in fairy tales by the good fairy, always fulfils
extraordinary wishes.
If I have put the pleasure principle into the first column I have done
so because theoretically it belongs there: but in the normal course of
immediate gratification (without conscious tension) this pleasure will be
so slight as to pass almost unnoticed.
As to the social aspect of the pleasure-pain principle, it may well be
that people of the privileged classes experience less pain than those of
the working classes: but as their life can be compared with that of a spoilt
child (fulfilment of their genuine needs is easily granted) and they do not
1 In spite of his kathexis-theory, it seems that Freud regarded reality as something

absolute. He did not emphasize sufficiently its dependency upon our individual
interests and upon the social structure. This does not diminish the value of what
he meant by the reality-principle, which might better be called “delaying” principle
in order to emphasize the time factor, and thus contrast it with the shortcut of
impatient and greedy behaviour.
55
experience tension or suspense (the relief of which means happiness) they

often create this tension artificially, e.g. by gambling or taking drugs.
The gain or loss of money, the frustration and gratification connected
with taking drugs creates for them the sensations of pain and pseudo¬
pleasure. This absence of happiness is very real, although to those of the
poorer classes their lives seem glamorous and romantic. A dinner which
to a stockbroker might be nothing but a boring duty, endangering his
liver, might to his clerk symbolize a feast to be remembered for years.
But this experience would only be wonderful as an isolated event. If the
clerk entered the privileged classes he would soon take those things just
as much for granted and find life as dull as his former employer does
(biological self-regulation).
I hope I have made clear one point—for real gratification a certain
amount of tension is necessary. When this tension grows too high, then
(according to a law of dialectics) quantity changes into quality, pleasure
changes into pain, hugging into crushing, kissing into biting, stroking
into striking. When the process is reversed and the high tension is lowered,
then the unpleasantness changes into pleasantness. This is the state which
we call happiness.
* * *
Having rectified our first observation about feeling “good” and “bad”
(according to gratification and frustration) we must see how it is that
we so seldom experience the feeling of “good” or “bad” as reactions.
What makes a child say “Mother is bad” instead of “I feel bad”? In order
to understand this we have to consider the process of projection, which
plays a large part in our mental make-up, and the importance of which
cannot be over-estimated.
In a cinema, we have a white screen in front of us: at the rear is a
machine called the projector, through which strips of celluloid, called
films, run. We seldom see these films and when we are enjoying a per¬
formance we certainly do not think of those strips of celluloid. What we
see and enjoy is the projected film—the picture which is projected on the
screen. The same thing happens when a child or an adult projects. The
child, unable to distinguish between its reactions and their originator,
does not experience the feeling of good or bad itself: it rather experiences
the mother as being good or bad. With this projection two phenomena
come into existence: ambivalence and ethics.
We have seen that all extreme behaviour, good or bad, can and will
be remembered. Whenever the mother impresses the child strongly with
“good” or “bad” deeds, the child remembers them. They don’t remain
as isolated entities in the child’s memory but will form comprehensive
wholes, according to their affinities. Instead of a chaotic mass of memories,
the child gets two “groups” of memories: pictures of the good mother
on the one hand, and of the bad mother on the other. These two groups
56
GOOD AND BAD
will crystalize into images: the good mother (the fairy) and the bad
mother (the witch). When the good mother emerges into the foreground
the witch will recede completely into the background, and vice versa.
Sometimes both mothers are present, and the child is thrown into a
conflict by its ambivalent feelings. Being unable to endure this conflict
and to accept the mother as she is, it will be torn between love and hate,
and will be thrown into utter confusion (like Buridan’s donkey or Professor
Pavlov’s double-conditioned dog).
Ambivalent attitudes are, of course, not confined to the child. Nobody
can get beyond them, except in certain spheres and at certain times where
rational aspects have replaced the emotional ones. The psycho-analytical
idea of a post-ambivalent stage is an unattainable ideal, which, even in
the strictly objective world of science, can only be achieved to a certain
degree. Often enough scientists of high standing have become abusive
when their beloved theories are doubted. Objectivity is an abstraction
which can be faintly guessed by working from a great number of opinions,
calculations and deductions, but you and I, as human beings, are not
beyond good and bad” (Nietzsche) be it that we moralize or judge
from utilitarian or aesthetic points of view.
You probably can recall a person of whom you were very fond, but
after some disappointment he became abhorrent and nothing he did
found favour in your eyes. The Nazis even turn this attitude into a prin¬
ciple. They call it the friend-foe theory, maintaining that they may declare
anybody friend or foe at will, depending merely on the needs of a political
situation.
Right and wrong, good and bad, confront us thus with the same problems
as did reality. Just as most people consider the world as something abso¬
lute, so also do they regard morals. Even people who realize that the
conception of morality is a relative one (that what is “right” in one country
may be “wrong” in another) exhibit moralistic standards as soon as their
own interests are involved. The motor-car driver, intolerant of pedestrians,
will curse motorists when he himself turns pedestrian.
A child’s judgment of its mother—as we have seen—depends upon the
fulfilment or frustration of its wishes. This ambivalent attitude exists just
as much in the parents. If a child fulfils their wish (if it is obedient) and
does not even protest against senseless demands, the parents are satisfied,
and the child is regarded as “good.” If the child frustrates the parents’
wishes (even in cases where it is evidently incapable of understanding,
far less of fulfilling, what is asked of it, and cannot conceivably be held
responsible for its actions or reactions) it is frequently called “naughty”
or “bad.”
A teacher will classify his pupils as “good” or “bad” according to their
ability to fulfil his wishes as regards learning, attentiveness or sitting still;
or, if the teacher is interested in sport, he may prefer pupils who share
57
this interest. States with different structures make different demands on

their citizens, the “good” citizen being, of course, the one who complies
with the laws, whilst the “bad” citizen is called a criminal. The citizen
who is satisfied with his government will praise it as “good.” If, however,
it imposes too many restrictions and demands upon him it becomes a
“bad” government.
The State or the average father or the governess—all behave like spoilt
children. They take notice of a person only if he comes into the foreground
by doing something unusual—a heroic deed, a brilliant achievement in
sport, correct behaviour in an extremely difficult situation. On the negative
side there is the citizen who becomes a disturbing factor in the smooth
functioning of society—the great criminal. He might be given the same
front page headline as the hero. An otherwise indifferent father will
certainly notice his child when it disturbs his sacred sleep.
In every society there is, in addition to these emotional reactions, a
number of demands so inflexible, so deeply rooted, that they have become
canons of conduct, dogmas and taboos, and have given our ethical system
its fixed and rigid aspect. This rigidity is reinforced by the existence in
us of that peculiar moral institution called “conscience.” This conscience
has static morals. It lacks an elastic appreciation of changing situations
It sees principles but not facts, and can be symbolized by the blindfolded
figure of Justice.
* *
What have we found so far? Good or bad, right or wrong, these are
judgments made by individuals or collective institutions, according to
the fulfilment or frustration regarding their demands. They mostly lose
their personal character and, whatever their social origin might have been,
they have become principles and standards of behaviour.
“An organism answers a situation.” Man in general has forgotten that
good and bad were originally emotional reactions, and is inclined to accept
good and bad as facts. The result of this is that once some person or group
is called good or bad, emotional answers are roused (love and hate,
f and cheers and condemnation. Love for the Fiihrer and hatred of
the enemy at hand: submission to one’s own and disgust with strange
gods). Whenever we meet “good” or “bad” we feel the whole scale of
emotional reactions, from indignation to vindictiveness, from silent
appreciation to the bestowal of high honours.
Calling persons or things “good” or “bad” has more than a descriptive
significance—it contains dynamic interference. “You are a bad boy” is
mostly charged with anger, even hostility. It demands a change and
threatens unpleasant consequences, but the emotional content of “You
are a good boy” is praise, pride and promise.
As the intensity of reactions varies, different amounts of f and $ come
into play. That our reactions towards the good things and persons are f,
58
GOOD AND BAD
is not difficult to realize. Linked up with the emotional reaction of liking

or loving is the tendency to make contact. The mother caresses the good
child: the child will show its gratitude towards the governess by hugging
and kissing her: the king will shake hands with a hero: the President of
France, in bestowing the Legion d’Honneur, will embrace the recipient.
With children the contact is often made indirectly, by giving presents to
them, e.g. for the stomach (sweets); with adults by presenting them
with gifts for their vanity (medals and titles).
At the other end of the scale we find annihilation. The bad thing or
person is experienced as a nuisance or disturbing factor to such a degree
that the desire is to do away with it. The child wants to throw the “bad”
mother out of the window, wishes her dead. (It has to be emphasized
that the child really means this during a period of frustration. As soon as
the frustration is no longer in the foreground, the death-wish will probably
disappear.) The mother, on the other hand, might threaten to leave the
naughty child and to deprive it of her own presence, well knowing how
much it needs her. The Roman Catholic Church excommunicates its
offenders. In oriental tales the despot kills off all who become a nuisance
to him. In our time this procedure has reached a climax in the Nazis
technique, of destroying opposition (concentration camps, “shot while
trying to escape,” extermination of whole races).
Reviewing the contradiction which apparently exists in Ethics (the
clear-cut unambiguous emotional reactions on the one hand and the
relativity of ethical standards on the other) we have found that good and
bad are originally feelings of comfort and discomfort. These are projected
on to the object that stimulated those feelings and that subsequently is
called good or bad. Later on good or bad became terms isolated from the
original deeds, but retaining the meanings of signals, the ability to evoke—
though in a different context—all the mild or violent reactions of wish-
fulfilment and wish-frustration.
59
VIII
NEUROSIS
I have repeatedly mentioned that our organism is not in the position to

concentrate on more than one thing at a time. This deficiency, based
upon the figure-background phenomenon, is partially being made good
by the holistic tendency of the human mind—by the striving for simplifi¬
cation and unification. Every scientific law, every philosophical system,
every generalization, is based upon the seeking for the common denomi¬
nator, for the fact identical to a number of things. In short, for the
“gestalt” common to a number of phenomena.
The objection will be that a number of people can concentrate on several
things at the same time. This is not true. They might quickly oscillate
between different items, but I have not found anyone who, for instance,
in the following figure could see six and seven cubes at the same time.
6 Cubes 7 Cubes 6 or 7 Cubes
The creation of new wholes is not accomplished by fusion but by

more or less violent struggles. Although we have to leave much of this
theme over for the chapter on Ego-functions, we may hint here at the
fact that, e.g., wars often lead to the creation of larger formations or unifi¬
cation of masses. This unification might be extensive or intensive. Although
after World War No. 1 Russia as a whole did not expand, the internal
incoherent structure became distinctly more integrative and stronger,
whilst the present 1942 expansion of Germany is anything but integrative.
The laws of conflict ($) and integration (§) become evident in the
relationship between individuals as much as in that between groups,
and they apply likewise to the interdependency between individual and
community.
The most important conflict which can either lead to an integrated
60
NEUROSIS
personality or to a neurotic one is the conflict between the social and

biological needs of man. What is good and bad (mostly called right and
wrong) from the social point of view, might by no means be good and bad
(healthy or unhealthy) for the organism. Against the biological laws of
self-regulation mankind has created the moralistic regulation—the rule
of ethics, the system of standardized behaviour.
Originally, leaders (kings, priests, etc.) laid down the law in order to
simplify their ruling, and later on the “ruling” classes followed this
routine: when, however, the principle of self-regulation was violated up
to an unbearable point, revolutions followed. After realizing this fact,
the privileged classes more often considered the needs of the ruled classes,
at least to such a degree as to prevent revolutions. Such a system is
usually called democracy. Under fascism the most vital needs of large
groups are frustrated for the sake of a small ruling group, while in socialism
(and in the Atlantic Charter) general freedom from want is the foremost
aim. This should be remembered by those who put fascism and socialism
in the same category! The only sphere in which both are identical is in
their appreciation of holism (totalitarianism and planned economy).
In spite of the relative uniformity of human beings (if someone has
his heart on the right side, or has six fingers instead of five, he is looked
upon as a monstrosity, and a man with two mouths or one eye approaches
the limits of our imagination), it is never possible to standardize the
behaviour of every member of a group. Some individuals cannot comply
with the demands made upon them and are called criminals. If they do
not fit into the general pattern they evoke in their rulers rage. Punishment
follows, either to “educate” the criminals or to arouse terror and fright
in their fellowmen, lest they, too, might become disobedient, “bad.”
Often enough, however, the socially required self-control can only be
achieved at the cost of devitalizing and of impairing the functions of large
parts of the human personality—at the cost of creating collective and
individual neurosis.1 The religious and capitalistic development of society
is responsible for the main share in the creation of collective neuroses,
of which the suicidal wars now raging throughout the world are sympto-
' In pre-psycho-analytical times the neuroses were called functional diseases.

Neurosis is a disorganization of the proper functioning of the personality within
its environment. Although generally no gross physiological changes can be dis¬
covered and only minor differences like vaso-motoric instability, disturbances of
glandular secretions and muscular mal-co-ordination can be observed—a neurosis
has to be considered an illness in the same way as the weakness of the heart is
called an illness.
The margin between a proper and insufficient functioning of the heart is rather
broad. The strain of competing in a Marathon race would be too much for your
heart, if it is not functioning one hundred per cent: on the other hand, a person
with damaged heart valves, leading a comfortable, quiet life may live for years.
A similarly broad margin exists in the functioning of ourselves within society.
6I
matic. “The world has gone insane,” E. Jones once remarked to me,
“but, thank Heaven, there are remissions.” Unfortunately these remissions
are like the return of a pendulum gathering force for new progress—for
the Twentieth Century’s swing.
The infectious nature of neurosis is based upon a complicated psycho¬
logical process, in which feelings of guilt and fear of being an outcast ft:)
play a part, as well as the wish to establish contact (§), even if it be a
pseudo-contact. The drug addict induces others to indulge in the same
habit. Religious sects send missionaries to convert heathens, and the
political idealist will try to convince everybody, by any means, that his
particular outlook is the only “right” one. Und willst Du nicht mein Bruder
sein, dann schlag ich Dir den Schaedel ein. (If you refuse to be my pal, I
shall be forced to crack your skull.)
A simple example of the spread of neurotic infection was given in a
London weekly: the members of a certain heathen tribe practised sexual
intercourse before marriage.1 Missionaries interfered, declaring this to be
a sin. The observer describes how these harmless and frank people
became shy, avoided the missionaries and became Ears and hypocrites.
We may assume that later they not only avoided the missionary but also
the community, and in the end concealed their sexual needs even from
themselves.
If a whole town turns out chanting magic words, making magic gestures
and bringing offerings to supernatural beings, in the expectation that this
will ingratiate the gods and help to break a drought, and they all have
faith in the efficacy of this procedure, none will realize the stupidity of
this behaviour, the insanity of such collective neurosis. But if an individual
awakens and regains his senses, he will come into conflict with his environ¬
ment and become isolated from family and friends, a figure outstanding
against the background of the community, an object of hostility and perse-
1 Perhaps the most important of our moral institutions is marriage. Without
any question there are many advantages in this institution, but weighing up the
beneficial and the detrimental aspects it remains a moot question which side of
the scale is the heavier. Were the genuine attraction in the marriage situation so
great, it would be unintelligible why the Roman Catholic Church regards it as
necessary to make divorce impossible. If somebody likes a place, high walls are
not necessary to keep him there.
We find happy marriages exceptional, laudable examples held up to mankind.
Then there are a number of tolerably “good” marriages, which are matters of
convenience and habit. Few marriages are openly unhappy, but many partners
live a marriage full of repressed unhappiness, which finds its outlet in irritability,
tendency to domineer each other, etc.; in short, they live in the most intimate
hostility. Unfaithfulness, separation, divorce are (mostly unsuccessful) attempts to
return to health. The primitive method of having intercourse before marriage
until a satisfactory partner has been found by spontaneous contact (in contrast to
moral obligations or monetary advantages) gives a much better chance for a con¬
tinuation of this contact, eventually under the name of marriage. Under these
circumstances the people and not the institution are in the foreground.
62
NEUROSIS
cution. Possibly, he may develop an individual neurosis, by a process

which cannot be fully understood without the knowledge of the paranoic
character. The community will be aggressive towards the man who
doubts their ideology and will do its utmost to hurt him. And he, in turn,
if he is unable to hit back, will either repress his aggression or project
it on to his adversaries, thus changing real persecution into persecution
mania and fear.1
So, an outcast, he withdraws from the world and loses contact; and the
fewer chances he has of gratifying his social needs, and the more his
instincts are deprived of gratification, the greater becomes the viciousness
of the neurotic circle.
For a cure, there are two opposite courses possible: the autoplastic and
the alloplastic. Either he gives up his heresy and returns, a prodigal son,
into the lap of the collective neurosis (this is difficult after he has gained
his insight) or he succeeds in converting the rest of the community to
his way of thinking. Such a successful alloplastic cure by winning the
others over to his side means not only a justification of his existence, a
re-establishment of contact, but also a step in development, regression to
nature and health, and progress towards wider knowledge.
This process would correspond to the treatment of the individual
neurosis. The progress of the neurosis must be halted, and the regression
to the layers of biological health stimulated.
The reader should not take offence if I sometimes refer to him as a
neurotic—if the cap does not fit he need not wear it. Since, however, we
live in a neurotic civilization, nobody is likely to have escaped some twist
or other in his personality. Denial of unpleasant facts, though saving
discomfort, creates the illusion of their non-existence—mais ce ne les
empeche pas d'existerl The majority of mankind has only the choice
between individual or collective neurosis (e.g. religion) or individual or
collective criminality (gangsterism; hitlerism) or a mixture of both (e.g.
most cases of juvenile delinquency). Man is caught between the devil of
criminality and the deep sea of neurosis. It is next to impossible to avoid
the dangers of social or biological impairment. In such a desperate situation
man has developed innumerable devices to protect himself from either
danger.
Among the safeguards against “doing wrong” we find police and con¬
science, against neurosis the “cry for nature” and outlets like the carnivals
in Roman Catholic countries. A tolerable existence, however, is possible
if we apply safety devices for the avoidance of real dangers. The appreci¬
ation of which dangers are real and which imaginary, and the application
of this judgment characterizes the healthy individual. Anybody who has
ever experienced nightmares or a fear when walking through a dark forest,
* Jewish children, for example, readily become neurotic where they are exposed
to anti-semitic persecution.
63
£60, HUNGER AND AGGRESSION
when every crack of a twig, every rustle of the leaves seems to herald an
approaching enemy, will realize the unnecessary sufferings imposed upon
us by such unreal—imaginary—dangers.
The biological avoidance of dangerous contacts is often of importance
to self-preservation, and also to the preservation of things with which
we identify ourselves, which lie within our Ego-boundaries (Part II) and
are therefore of value to us. Anything threatening to impair the whole
or parts of the personality is felt as a danger, as something hostile which
has to be annihilated, either by destruction or by avoidance.
A great variety of actions intended to avoid unwanted contacts can be
observed, the main ones being protection and flight. In war we find:
active defence (personal resistance) and active flight (running away);
partial defence (digging in, camouflage) and partial flight (strategic
retreat according to plan); mechanical resistance (steel helmets, fortifica¬
tions) and mechanical flight (vehicles). Artificial fog in flight as well as
in attack is produced to deprive the enemy of visual contact. To leave
fighting rearguards behind while retreating is a combination of flight and
defence. Fundamentally, two trains of development in warfare (and this
applies likewise to commercial competition, political intrigue, criminology,
character formation, and neurosis) stand out clearly. The combination of
attack and defence (e.g. the guns and armour-plate of the tank); and the
answer to new weapons of attack with adequate defences.
Animals avoid dangers with the help of their skin and its derivates
(shells, horns, senses, etc.); they resort to flight by the muscular system
(running and flying away); they have at their disposal camouflage (mimicry)
and other means of fooling the enemy’s eyes. By pretending to be dead
(playing possum) the immobilized animal aims at being overlooked.
The octopus applies the fog technique for escape, the rat slips into its
dug-out, etc. With the more complicated development of the human
organism the means of avoidance, too, become more differentiated. In
the legal sphere the task of the defence is often more complicated than that
of the aggressor—the crown prosecutor—who himself is the defender of
the law, which in turn defends society against criminals who might have
defended themselves against starvation. In psycho-analysis expressions
like defensive neurosis and phobia show that Freud attempted to classify
the neurosis according to the means of avoidance. But this attempt was
not carried through, as is seen from the use of expressions like “obsessional
neurosis” or “hysteria.”
Anna Freud has demonstrated the defensive dynamics of the conscious
personality—The Ego and its defence mechanism—as a general law. Defence
indeed covers a large proportion of avoidance.
The disadvantage of “avoidance” is the impairment of the holistic
function. By avoidance, our spheres of actions and our intelligence dis¬
integrate. Every contact, be it hostile or friendly, will increase our spheres,
64
NEUROSIS
integrate our personality and, by assimilation, contribute to our faculties,

as long as it is not fraught with unsurmountable danger, as long as there
is a chance to master it.
One apparent contradiction has to be considered: the avoidance of
isolation. This is best represented by a person who cannot say “no” and
who apparently is not afraid to make, but rather to lose contact. To this
I have to say that contact includes its dialectical opposite: isolation;
this fact will become clear only in the course of the discussion on Ego
functions. Without the isolation component contact becomes confluence.
Even the American isolationists in 1941 wanted to retain commercial
contact, while avoiding the clash with the Axis. Exactly the same applies
to the person who cannot say “no.” His tendency is to avoid hostility.
* * *
The means of avoidance are so manifold that it is hardly possible to

bring them into any kind of order, yet it might be worth while to approach
the problem dialectically. In a scheme (though incomplete) we can put
down:
(a) The means which tend towards annihilation, which have a sub¬
tractive function.
(b) The opposite, the plus function—the hypertrophic growths or
additions.
(c) Changes and distortions.
Joining and disjoining functions of course occur always simultaneously.

But this is evident only in category (c), whilst in (a) or (b) either addition
or subtraction is strikingly in the foreground.
(a) Subtraction:
(1) Scotoma.
(2) Selectivity.
(3) Inhibition.
(4) Repression.
(5) Flight.
(b) Addition:
(6) Over-compensation.
(7) Armour.
(8) Obsessions.
(9) Permanent projection.
(10) Hallucinations.
(11) Complaints.
(12) Intellectualism.
(13) Mal-co-ordination.
65 E
(c) Changes:
(14) Dis-placement.
(15) Sublimation.
(16) Many character features.
(17) Symptoms.
(18) Feelings of guilt and anxiety.
(19) Projection.
(20) Fixation.
(21) Indecisiveness.
(22) Retroflection.
(a) Subtraction.
(1) 1 he simplest means of annihilation is the Scotoma (blind spot,
black-out of perceptions). This is one of those conjuring tricks (mentioned
before) employed in situations where a real annihilation is impossible. By
pretending not to hear or see, the source of unpleasantness seems to dis¬
appear. Children often cover their eyes or ears with their hands, displaying
the origin of the ostrich policy and hypocrisy which may characterize
many later actions. Compensation of a scotoma is found in Korsakow’s
disease, where a gap in memory is filled with imaginary happenings.
(2) Selectivity is a means of avoiding an objective point of view,
w here it is dictated by organismic needs, selectivity belongs to the un¬
alterable biological basis of our existence, but its arbitrary application
leads to half truths which are more dangerous than lies. It is applied in
propaganda and politeness, war news and rumours, wishful thinking and
hypochondria, and reaches its peak in the mentality of the hysterical
and paranoic character.
One has the impression that from Bergson’s concept of the Unconscious,
Freud selected the past, the causality, whilst Adler accentuated the future,
the purposefulness.
(3) In Inhibition some expression which should get outside the intra-
orgamsmic field is retained-is inhibited but not exhibited. By avoiding
e.g. crying, the demand of society for self-control is obeyed. The dis¬
advantage is that this often leads to hysterical symptoms. Inhibited
expression might appear as self-consciousness.
(4) Psycho-analysis has proved over and over again that Repressions
mean the avoidance of awareness. In the long run nothing is gained by
transporting an impulse from the conscious to the unconscious field.
(5) Flight is one of the best known of all avoidances—but nobody
can run away from himself. The escapist gains nothing as he carries with
him all his unfinished problems. The flight into illness and into the ffiture
at least as far as day-dreams are concerned—has been unmasked by
psycho-analysis, but its opposite—flight from the present into the past
and mto causes has actually been supported by Freudism.
66
NEUROSIS
(b) Addition.
(6) The most widely known addition is Over-compensation (Adler).
The unpleasant feeling of inferiority must be avoided. A wall of opposites
to specific inferiorities is built around the vulnerable spot, the result being
a multitude of protective measures, even if entirely superfluous. The
masculine protest—the wish for a penis—has to safeguard such attitudes
which many women unnecessarily regard as weaknesses (S. Rado).
(7) The Armour (Reich) shows a similar structure. A number of
muscular contractions, resulting in mal-co-ordination and awkwardness,
are produced to avoid the expression of unwanted “vegetative energies”
(by this Reich apparently means all functions except the motoric ones).
(8) In the Obsessional Neurosis the avoidance of contact with forbidden
objects (e.g. dirt) and the avoidance of certain wishes (e.g. aggressive
tendencies) create a mental neoplasma of ceremonies and “making
sure” actions. The development of large parts of the personality is arrested.
(9) That Permanent Projections like the creation of gods are an
addition is obvious to anybody who does not turn this fact upside down
—who believes that these gods have created man. But even with the
believer, religion remains an “as if” fiction, a fact which can be realized
by comparing a pious person with a psychotic suffering from religious
delusions, who experiences God as a personal reality. Religion tends to
prevent the growing up of mankind, tends to keep believers in an infantile
state. “We are all children of one father—God!”
(10) Hallucinations are additional activities, covering up and thereby
avoiding, the perception of reality. A woman carrying a piece of wood
and addressing it as her child avoids the realization of her baby’s death.
(11) The grouser has added a wailing wall to his existence. He prefers
indulging in complaints to taking action.
(12) Intellectualism is a mental hypertrophy, and by no means identical
with intelligence, a fact which many people dislike admitting. It is an
attitude designed to avoid being deeply moved.
(13) According to F. M. Alexander many of our actions are accompanied
by a tremendous amount of superfluous activities, this excess being the
outcome of avoidance of “sensory appreciation” and appearing as Mal-
co-ordination.
(c) In this group plus and minus functions are either mixed, or simple
changes take place.
(14) In Displacement we avoid the contact with the original object by
directing our attention to a less objectionable one. It is not that the re¬
placement of a father-figure by an uncle happens to Mr. X, but Mr. X
purposely diverts his interest from the father to the uncle.
(15) Sublimation resembles displacement in that it substitutes one
action for another—for a more objectionable one. It is the original direct
action that has to be avoided. It seems problematical whether we are
67
justified in calling displacement a pathological, and sublimation a healthy

function.1
(16) Two examples belonging to the Character group and its plus/
minus functions:
An overclean person wants to avoid contact with dirt, but at the same
time remains intensely interested in all occupations connected with dirt
(washing, hypertrophied eagerness to trace the tiniest specks, etc.).
The bully is easily unmasked as a coward. Once he meets someone who
refuses to be bullied this character feature will collapse. The sternest
conscience, if properly tackled, likewise loses its grip on its victims.
(17) The plus/minus function of Symptoms can be gathered from the
following example : A woman shows a functional paralysis of her right
arm. This paralysis, though in itself a deficiency, is experienced by her
as an additional factor. The analysis reveals that she is short-tempered
and still inclined to slap her already grown-up daughter. By paralysing
her arm she avoids the expression of her temper—she annihilates the
temptation of slapping her daughter’s face.
(18) Freedom from Feelings of Guilt and Anxiety are, according to a
very primitive psycho-analytical conception, all that is required for the
cure of a neurosis. They are indeed very unpleasant phenomena. The
feelings of guilt (based upon the projected aggression) drive the “sinner”
into avoidance: “I shall not do it again.’’ But often enough, as in the
case of chronic alcoholism, these feelings of guilt, though very deeply
felt at the time, are not of any lasting consequence. They bribe the con¬
science or environment for the time being, but recede quickly enough
into the background once the situation has changed—once the hangover
has passed.
With anxiety we shall deal in the next chapter.
(19) Projection (e.g. of aggression) subtracts a certain amount of aggres¬
sion from the personality, but adds the same amount to the environment.
One avoids the consciousness of being aggressive but adds fear to one’s
life.
(20) The phenomenon of Fixation exhibits to the casual observer only
its hypertrophic character, the tremendous attachment (excessive love
repressed hatred, or feelings of guilt) to one person or situation (e.g!
amily). Together with this fixation the opposite always appears—the
avoidance of contact with anything outside the fixation-boundaries. To
decide what comes first, the hen or the egg-the fear of outside contact
or the clinging to familiar situations—is not easy.
(21) The perfect example of the tension between plus and minus is
an^ Scbubert are said to have owed their artistic achievements to sex-
frustration and sublimation. Goethe, however, was very creative, even much more
^ SPitC (°r PCrhapS bCCaUSe> °f —V and often
68
NEUROSIS
provided by Indecision. According to Karl Landauer’s observations, very

young children show little inclination to avoid dangers: dangers are
fascinating and the child runs towards them. Soon, however, it learns to
reverse its attitude, to run away. In a state of indecision we are torn
between the wish to approach and the urge to flee, between contact and
avoidance, but as soon as one side of the scale overbalances the conflict
is solved, the indecision disappears.
(22) With Retroflection we shall deal extensively later on.
★ ★ ★
The object of every treatment, psycho-therapeutic and otherwise, is

to facilitate organismic balance, to re-establish optimal functions, to
remove the additions and to make up for the deficiencies. Psycho-analysis
endeavours to replenish the conscious personality with the addition of
those parts which were rejected (repressed or projected). The regaining
of awareness is identical with the undoing of a great number of avoidances.
For Freud the avoidance or acceptance of awareness is more than a
change of a characteristic: it is co-ordination to the systems of Conscious¬
ness and Unconsciousness; the unconscious material changes its place
under certain conditions, especially in the course of a psycho-analysis.
This so-called topical aspect can also be applied to the “instinct cycle”
and has a more practical value than the above enumeration of avoidances
which serves the main purpose of getting acquainted with the different
means of avoidance, demonstrating the simultaneous occurrence of
advantage and disadvantage, the hopelessness of achieving any valuable
results through the neurotic avoidance.
In Chapter V we have demonstrated that for the achievement of the
organismic balance there exists a cycle, which we have called organism/
world metabolism, and which consisted of six links.
These were:
(1) The organism at rest.
(2) The disturbing factor, which may be (a) internal or (b) external.
(3) Creation of image or reality (plus/minus function and figure-back¬
ground phenomenon).
(4) The answer to the situation aiming at
(5) A decrease of tension, resulting in
(6) Return of the organismic balance.
This metabolism is disturbed as soon as its cycle is interrupted at any
single point, just as an electric installation can be interrupted anywhere.
The contact can be broken in the wire, in the switches or in the globe
itself.
Regarding the “instinct cycle,” we find the interruption—the avoidance
of contact—everywhere except with:
(1) The organism at rest. As this is the zero-point, the question of
69
avoidance does not arise. Taking boredom or depression for zero-points

is a mistake, as both are evidently emotional situations, disturbing factors
resulting from certain inhibitions.
Taking the sex instinct as example, we meet quite a number of well-
known means of avoiding its demands. We find, as we follow up the
instinct cycle:
(2) (a) Training in asceticism, the wish to be castrated, the avoidance
of stimulating food and drink, the whole armoury of ideological (mainly
religious) oppressions, scotomization, mistaking sex impulses for something
else.
(2) (b) What means have husband or wife upon whom a sexual demand
has been made of avoiding their “duty”? Rationalization (excuses);
symptoms (headaches); muscular armour (vaginism); playing possum
(too tired); avoidance of situations (polypragmacy, separate bedrooms);
avoidance of stimulation (neglecting make-up); active defence (irritability,
ridicule).
(3) Suppression of phantasy; religious taboos; occupations which
distract the attention from sexual image formations; avoidance of reality;
not seeking the object of love; developing an over-critical attitude; deviat¬
ing the sex impulse into inadequate channels (masturbation, going to
prostitutes, perversions).
(4) Avoidance of sexual feelings or activities in erotic situations:
Genital de-sensibilization (frigidity); armour (muscular tenseness);
diversion of attention (thinking of something else); displacement (talking
or doing something non-sexual); flight, scotomization and projection.
(5) Absence of satisfactory orgasm (W. Reich, Die Function des Orgas-
musj prevents an adequate lowering of sexual tension. Such insufficient
sexual activity might be due to an inability to stand sensations connected
with the high tension of the orgasm (short-cut, ejaculatio praecox). Other
means of preventing the satisfactory orgasm are: sublimation, avoidance
of consequence (coitus intemiptus), fear of losing energies (retaining the
semen).
Emotions and surplus excitement are often avoided under the inhibiting
influence of shame (lack of concentration, fear of being disturbed). “Think¬
ing,’ among other distractions, is another means of avoiding sexual
tension.
In most of these cases gratification is not achieved, the situation re¬
maining incomplete. This in turn leads to permanent sexual irritability,
a fact which probably induced Freud to regard libido (among other
meanings) as a free floating energy, which can play havoc outside the
sexual instinct-gratification cycle.
6/ Any of these avoiding attitudes prevents the return of the organismic
balance.
* * *
70
NEUROSIS
Once more we find a confusing enumeration of possibilities leaving us

dissatisfied, unable to discover a simplifying law. If we start all over again,
we find originally social and instinctive demands (not causes, as the answers
differ with different groups). These demands, e.g. the ten command¬
ments, canon of conduct, requirements of conscience or surroundings,
and likewise the instinctive urges are answered by the organism with
emotions: fear, shame and such like, if the demands cannot immediately
be accepted. The demanding social institution drives home the acceptance
of its demands with punishment and reward, with threat and promise.
In order to avoid the punishment and get the reward, the disapproved
actions are avoided. The demands of the organism (hunger, need of sleep,
etc.) are not less intense and painful than those of society. Hence the
frequency of social and neurotic, of external and internal conflicts.
So far the process is simple. It only becomes confusing by the multitude
of avoidances entering the scene. The technique of avoidance varies
greatly according to the situation and means at one’s disposal.
A married woman has a lover. The husband, as it happens, strenuously
objects. She might decide to avoid her lover altogether, or avoid being
seen with him or, if discovered, she might faint to avoid her husband’s
outbursts of temper, but eventually on regaining consciousness she might
invent lies or reproach him for something or other thereby avoiding
feelings of guilt or punishment. If, however, she yields to his demands—
her fear being greater than her desire—she will become cool and hostile
and avoid everything that would give him pleasure. In either case he will
be the sufferer in the end, having based his relationship on demands and
not on understanding.
From all this we can draw two conclusions:
(1) That “avoidance” is a general factor to be found in probably
every neurotic mechanism.
(2) That seldom, and only in the case of real danger, is anything
gained by avoidance.
11
IX
ORGANISMIC REORGANIZATION
In the history of the individual, as well as of whole generations, the ups

and downs, the rhythm of action and reaction, are like the movements of
a pendulum. It is difficult to remain near the zero-point—not to be lifted
to the heights of enthusiasm nor to slide down into the depths of despair.
The mechanical thinking of the last century induced in our time its
opposite, the development of psychology, and psycho-analysis in particular.
In the sphere of psycho-analysis, the pendulum swung from Freud’s
historical to Adler’s futuristic thinking. After Freud’s pessimistic,“We
are not masters in our own house!” we meet Adler’s protest, lust for
power. The purely psychologistic attitude of many an analyst (despising
physiology like the ascetics of the Middle Ages) found its repercussions
in Reich’s attempt to represent character as an armour consisting mainly
of muscular contractions.
Outside this progressive development there are those analysts who
(over-valuing isolated problems and losing contact with the human
personality as a whole) go fundamentally astray, such as O. Rank and
partly C. G. Jung. Though making some valuable contributions to psycho¬
analysis (e.g. Jung’s introversion and extraversion) they both enlarge on
the dubious parts of Freud’s theories. Rank led the historical point of
view ad absurdum—]ung the conception of libido. The first remained
stuck in the throes of the birth trauma, the other inflated the terms Libido
and Unconscious to such an extent that, like Spinoza’s concept of God,
they covered nearly everything and so explained nothing.
Neither contributes to a holistic understanding of the organism. The
contributions of Adler and Reich, however, are of greater value to psycho¬
analysis in that they provide complementary aspects to certain of Freud’s
theories. Unfortunately, Freudians and Adlerians either fight each other,
or cover their mutual contempt with a pseudo-tolerant yet blind and
uninterested attitude, thus hying up to the best traditions of sectarianism.
Although they are both used to thinking in opposites—Freud generally,
Adler occasionally (top/bottom; male/female; superior/inferior)—they
refuse to see each other as opposites reciprocally complementary in many
respects.
Besides considering the dialectics of the psycho-analytical movement,
we can also deal with the dialectics of psycho-analysis itself. Starting
72
with the word psycho-analysis, we propound the following comple¬

mentary scheme:
psyche
synthesis analysis
body
The opposites, psyche and body, have been dealt with as differentia¬
tions of the organism. Regarding analysis, Freud maintains that a synthesis
is not necessary—that the libido, once set free, will find its own way of
sublimation. Nevertheless, psycho-analytical circles do speak of re¬
education and re-conditioning. Realizing, for instance, that the phobic
attitude (the tendency to avoid the facing of conflicts, instincts, feelings
of guilt, and so on) is an essential part of every neurosis, Freud prescribes
as antidote: contact with the feared tilings. He persuades a person suffering
from agoraphobia to attempt—after a certain amount of analysis—to
cross a street. Here he is aware that mere talking is insufficient. I doubt,
however, whether Freud was fully aware of the fact that interpretations
are also part of active psycho-analysis, as the patient is brought face to
face with that part of himself which he tries to avoid. This active behaviour
of holding a mental mirror in front of the patient aims at a synthesis,
integration—recontacting the isolated parts of his personality. }
Both analysis and synthesis tend to bring order into the patients
personality, to make his organism function with a minimum of effort.
We may call this process reconditioning or reorganization. Thus polarizing
the word psycho-analysis we arrive at a somewhat clumsy term: Orgamsmic
reorganization of the individual. If we accept these conclusions we have
to broaden the basic rule of psycho-analysis. This rule is in brief, ihe
patient shall say everything that enters his mind, even if he feels embar¬
rassment or other refractory emotions, and he shall suppress nothing
whatsoever.” Complementing this rule we have to add, firstly, that he is
expected to communicate everything he feels in his body. The patient
will, of his own accord, mention any strong physical symptoms, such as
headaches, palpitations, etc., but he will neglect whatever is less obtrusive,
such as a slight itch, restlessness and all the subtler expressions of the
body language, the importance of which has been pointed out by W.
Reich and G. Groddeck. A simple method of covering the whole orgams-
mic situation is to ask the patient to convey to the analyst whatever he
experiences mentally, emotionally and physically.
The second change which I propose to the basic rule concerns suppres¬
sion of embarrassment. A patient, eager to comply with the analyst s
73
demands will swing over to the opposite extreme: instead of holding

back, he wil\ force himself to say everything. He achieves this by suppressing
his embarrassment. The patient very soon acquires a technique of either
wording the embarrassing material in a non-committal manner, or of
bracing himself and deadening his emotions. So he becomes shameless,
but not free from shame; the ability to endure embarrassment, the most
valuable result of a proper application of the basic rule, remains un¬
developed. The problem of embarrassment will be dealt with in a later
chapter dealing with ego-development. Thus we have to make the second
change m the wording of the basic rule: we have to impress upon the
patient that he must neither suppress nor force anything, and that he
must not forget to convey to the analyst every bit of conscious resistance
such as embarrassment, shame, etc.
Similarly, the analyst should not put pressure on the patient and
persuade him to talk, but should attend to the resistances and avoidances
If one wants to draw water from a tap, one would not dream of squeezing
the water out of the pipe; one would simply loosen the resistance, the
tap which holds the water back. If Ferenczi maintains that the closing
muscle of the anus is the manometer of resistance, and if Reich extends
this observation towards every possible contraction, they are both right-
but we must not forget for a moment that these muscular contractions’
are only means whereby”-that they are functions on behalf of emotions,
that they are brought into play in order to avoid the feelings of disgust
embarrassment, fear, shame and guilt.
In addition to the anal resistance there are many other resistances,
mainly the resistance of the intake, the oral resistance. A muscular re¬
sistance is found in anxiety.
I cannot find a better example than the phenomenon of anxiety to

emonstrate the superiority of the organismic conception over a purely
psychological or physical approach. The general practitioner with the
raditional physiological outlook, coming across anxiety attacks in con¬
nection with some disease of the heart, sees in them the effect of the
faulty functioning of the cardiac system. If, however, these attacks were
an integral part of the disease, they would be permanent, which of course
they are not. On the other hand he realizes mostly that an additional
factor, excitement, is mvolved which thrusts an additional load upon the
heart, and he warns his patients against this danger. These anxiety attacks
come about through the coincidence of heart disease and excitement.
Dealing with the psychological approach to the problem of anxiety, I
shall confine myself to a resume of the psycho-analytical theories. Freud
dehned the anxiety-neurosis as a disease distinct from other neuroses-
and as one could expect from the originator of the libido-theory, he
74
attributed it to suppressed sexual impulses. But how these sexual impulses

are converted into anxiety he could not reveal. He explained it on the
one hand teleologically, like Adler (stating that anxiety looks into the
future—that it is a danger signal or warning sign produced by the Un¬
conscious), but on the other hand historically, taking over from Rank
the idea of the birth trauma as the originator of anxiety. Whenever we
get into a dangerous situation, he maintains, our unconscious mind, in
order to warn us, quickly recalls the experience of our birth.
Other psycho-analysts put forward different theories about anxiety.
Hamick maintains that a suckling, getting his nose blocked by the mother’s
breast, experiences anxiety, and the later anxiety-attacks are repetitions
of these incidents. Suppressed aggression is held responsible for the
development of anxiety by Adler, Reich and Horney, whilst Benedikt—
following a late theory of Freud’s—considers anxiety to be the result of
the repressed “death” instinct.
As these theories have been brought forward by prominent scientists,
we have to accept their observations as being correct, though valid only
for the situations in which they have been made. But we must distrust
any kind of speculation which, in science as elsewhere, leads to premature
generalizations. Either “anxiety” is a screen word, and the^ different
explanations cover different phenomena, or else the word “anxiety”
covers one specific phenomenon, and the different theories are incomplete
explanations, probably missing a factor common to all of them—the factor
specific for anxiety. Observations tend to indicate that the latter is the
case, and that we have to search for the common factor of the hypotheses
brought forward.
We have three groups of psycho-analytical theories. the one that
anxiety originates with the birth or the breast trauma, the other that
anxiety is due to repressed instincts. Then we find the danger theory,
which we can omit as not being specific for anxiety. Anxiety is a frequent
answer of the organism to a real or a pseudo-danger, but other reactions
(presence of mind, suspicion, fear, panic, etc.) are likewise possible.
The first group refers to the supply of oxygen, to the individual’s
breathing. The change-over from being supplied by the mother’s placenta
to active pulmonary breathing may indeed deprive the newly-born child
of the badly needed oxygen food, and this will create a heavy minus of
oxygen and a correspondingly intense oxygen-hunger. The same applies
to Hamick’s theory according to which the mother’s breast may hamper
the child’s breathing and thus create a similar minus of oxygen.
Looking at the second group, we find a clue to the solution of our
problem in the general practitioner’s warning to cardiac cases against
excitement, as well as against physical exertion. In the concentrated ex¬
pression of instincts the same signs are found as in the effort syndrome
(increased cardiac and breathing activity occurring already during milder
75
exercises). Both sexual orgasm and outbursts of temper are peaks of

excitement.
Eliminating all the incidental factors we realize that excitement and
lack of oxygen form the nuclei of the theories mentioned, and when
observing an anxiety attack, we invariably find excitement and difficulty
in breathing. \ et this does not solve the problem of how anxiety is pro¬
duced, and what the relation is between excitement and breathing on the
one hand, and anxiety and difficulty in breathing on the other.1
The picture of excitement, as everyone has experienced, is increased
metabolism, increased heart activity, quickened pulse, increased breathing.
This is excitement, but not anxiety. If, however, the child during birth
or at the mother’s breast suffers from insufficient oxygen supply, the
situation becomes an anxiety-situation. Yet, when an adult has an anxiety-
fit, he is neither being born at that moment, nor is he being choked by a
breast. If we could find the same inadequacy of oxygen supply in exciting
situations as in the two infantile situations mentioned, we might realize
how excitement is converted into anxiety, and thus solve a thousand-year-
old riddle.
We get a hint from the language, for the word anxious—similarly to
the Latin word altus—has an ambiguous meaning (being in high tension);
it is not differentiated into the meanings of being in a state of anxiety and
1 In the case of the effort syndrome and other cardio-vascular weaknesses the
Heart does not adequately compensate for the increasing metabolism which takes
place in excitement and increased muscular activity. This inadequacy becomes
particularly conspicuous if the thyroid balance is disturbed—it lies, as I have
mentioned before, between the excitability of a Basedowic thyreotoxic and the
dullness of a myxoedemic type. Any physician will confirm two facts: firstly the
ease with which a Basedowic gets anxiety attacks, and the relative immunity 0f
e myxoe emic type against them; secondly, that the former has an increased,
the latter a decreased basic metabolic rate.
Metabolism is a chemical process taking place within our organism and producing
™ivTv t0 our existence, e.g. heat. In this respect the organism behaves
exactly like a combustion appliance. A stove, in order to bum and to produce
fKeat’ quires two lands of fuel—oxygen and components of carbon. We generally
think of the latter only (the coal or wood), and forget about the other fuel (the air),
which is available without cost. A stove cannot bum if it has not sufficient solid
tuel or if it lacks the necessary quantity of air. The burning up of substances in
the human body takes place in the tissues. The carbon fuel is our food, which has
•ef“, by a complicated process of assimilation—to be considered later in
detail. The oxygen is brought to the tissues by the red blood corpuscles.
• ^Clte.ment, *s 1.dendcaI with increased metabolism, increased combustion,
increased need for liquid fuel and oxygen. To comply with this increased demand,
IcLKl UP more oxygen to the tissues. The pump-the heart-must
accelerate and the blood vessels must enlarge to cope with the fuller blood-stream
as it is physiologically impossible for the single blood-corpuscles to carry more
k Srlfaterdemand for oxygen must be met by the lungs through intensi-
each^breathcfr both) elt^Cr ^ m°re rapid breathmg or by increasing the volume of
76
being in a state of excitement. It is related to the Latin word angustus

(narrow), thus pointing to a feeling of narrowness in the chest. In a state
of anxiety we “contract,” we “narrow” our chest.
There are many situations in which people do not allow themselves
to exhibit excitement and its symptoms, especially the noisy and intensified
breathing. Take the case of the masturbating boy who is afraid that his
panting may be heard and give him away. In the development of a “con¬
trolled” character (cool, calm and collected) the repression of excitement
is often overdone. This avoided excitement can produce a frigid character
but not anxiety; but if in spite of all training such a person gets excited,
he suppresses its expression, e.g. his breathing. He reduces his oxygen
supply by making his muscular system (as far as it is connected with
breathing) rigid, compressing the chest instead of expanding it, drawing
the diaphragm upwards, thus stopping the expansion of the lungs. He
puts on an armour, as Reich calls it. (This term is not quite correct, as
an “armour” is something mechanical.)
In a state of anxiety an acute conflict takes place between the urge to
breathe (to overcome the feeling of choking), and the opposing self-
control.
If we realize that the restricted supply of oxygen results in the speeding
up of the heart pump (in an attempt to rush sufficient oxygen to the tissues),
we understand the palpitations of the anxiety-attack. A number of com¬
plications may occur, e.g. constrictions of the blood vessels which the
medical man will often relieve by specific medicines. But in every case
our problem can be solved by the formula: Anxiety equals excitement
plus inadequate supply of oxygen.
There is one more symptom to be found in the anxiety attack, namely
restlessness. This restlessness is commonly present in that state of excite¬
ment which does not find its natural outlet. Excitement is produced by
our organism in situations which require an extraordinary amount of
(mostly motoric) activity. A state of rage is identical with the desire to
attack, and with the mobilization of all available muscular power. Cases
are known in which, in despair or in the state of insanity, people “go all
out” and show a superhuman strength. If the excitement is diverted
from its real aim, the motoric activity disintegrates and is partly used for
bringing into play the counter-muscles, i.e. those muscles needed for
restricting the motoric action, for exercising “self-control.” But enough
excitement is left to cause all kinds of in-coordinated movements, like
waving of the arms, walking to and fro, tossing from one side of the bed
to the other. On account of this surplus of excitement the organismic
balance cannot be restored. By preventing the discharge of this excite¬
ment, the motoric system of the organism does not come to rest, but
remains restless.
For this state, Freud has coined the term “free floating anxiety,” a
77
conception typical of the isolationist outlook. A piece of anxiety cannot

float about independently in the organism.
The pre-different stage of anxiety is apparent in stage-fright and
examination fever. Stage-fright (excitement before a performance) is
experienced by most actors; their complaints about it, however, are not
justified, for without this excitement their performance would be frigid
and lifeless. The danger is that they may try to suppress their excitement,
not understanding its meaning and being unable to stand the suspense
of both waiting and being excited. This suspense will often, by means of
self-control, turn the excitement into anxiety, unless they choose the outlet
of intense restlessness or hysterical outbursts. We need not go into details
of the examination fever. The more a person looks upon an examination
as upon something decisive, the more energies will his organism mobilize.
The less he is able to stand the tension, the more readily will his excite¬
ment change into anxiety.
Though we may be able to trace this change in the history of the
person, the actual anxiety attack is not a mechanical copy of a previous
one, but is newly produced at any particular present moment. Anxiety
can often be dissolved and re-changed into excitement without necessarily
delving into the past. The past may have no other significance than to
illuminate the circumstances under which the habit of inhibiting the
breathing was formed.
One can learn to overcome anxiety by relaxing the muscles of the
chest and giving vent to the excitement. Often no deep analysis is required,
but if unconscious spasms of the chest and diaphragm muscles have
become fixed habits, concentration therapy may be indicated.
In order not to muddle the picture of anxiety, I have refrained from
dealing with certain complications, e.g. the fact that the carbon-dioxide
content of the blood will be upset, and that a forced hyper-ventilation
cannot be a cure for anxiety. The organism will not function normally,
before the muscular spasms are dissolved or as long as the patient em¬
phasizes the inhalation in his breathing technique. The details of the cure
and of proper breathing will be given in the last part of the book.
The following statement by a patient gives conclusive evidence of the
interchange between anxiety and excitement.
“My first recollection of my suppression of the emotion of excitement
or anticipation was some seventeen years ago, just prior to my writing the
matriculation examination. I felt the excitement in my chest, but felt at
the same time that I was bottling this feeling up and not allowing any
expression until about nine years ago, when it reappeared during certain
tennis matches. I found, when merely looking on, that the excitement or
anticipation (whatever one may call it) was so great that it developed into
anxiety, and then became absolutely unbearable. I suppressed the emotion
and allowed no expression for it. Whenever the match depended on one;
78
set, I found the excitement too much to bear, and I walked about like a
caged lion, unable to sit or stand still. I would often walk away from the
tennis courts and return when I thought the set was over and the results
decided. I was completely tense, contracting every possible muscle (more
especially those in the chest) with the result that I became short-winded
even before five or six points had been played. This feeling eventually
became so acute, owing to the continued suppression, that I did all in
my power to force my small tennis club to desist from playing in these
matches, and even resorted to all kinds of subterfuges to attain this object.
This trait has unfortunately now followed me on the golf course and I
cannot, of course, obtain any relief by walking away, with the result that
I contract the chest muscles so severely that I eventually find difficulty
in hitting the ball correctly. On some occasions I contracted the chest
so much that a pulse started beating in my throat and increased to such
an extent that it almost choked me. On one occasion I had to pass a small
examination, consisting of a written paper in the morning, and oral in
the afternoon. The day before the examination I experienced the usual
sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach accompanied by a feeling of
excitement, but to try and describe the way I felt between the morning
and afternoon is almost impossible. My chest felt constricted so that I
could scarcely breathe, I would not stand or sit and was pacing the building
like a lunatic, and when I was eventually called in by the examiner I
was practically speechless and shaking life a leaf. I experienced the same
emotions and sensations at a race course: having won the first leg of a
double ticket I found I could not even bear to watch the second leg of
the double and walked away to return after the race. I could relate many
more experiences of a similar nature; whenever I have a feeling of antici¬
pation, excitement or anxiety I feel that terrific pressure in my chest, I
cannot give expression to the emotion and eventually I succeed in depres¬
sing myself, and find that I have lost all courage to face any situation
in which any of these three emotions are present.”
On the phenomenon of anxiety I intended to demonstrate the great
changes in theory and practice which were the consequences of apparently
small alterations of the basic rule of Freud’s theory. But they also involve
a switching over from the technique of “free associations” to a “con¬
centration therapy” which has been inaugurated by W. Reich, and which
I am trying to develop systematically. The ultimate aim of the new
technique is to cut down the time of the neurosis-treatment and to build
a basis for the approach to certain psychoses.
79
X
CLASSICAL PSYCHO-ANALYSIS
Our attitude towards the good and bad things of life goes—as we have
seen—hand-in-hand with reactions in opposites. Strictly speaking, these
reactions are not reactions but concurrences, “good” corresponding to
love, liking, pride and pleasure, and “bad” to hatred, disgust, shame
and pain; they are variations of the § and £ respectively, and play their
part in the fulfilment or frustration of every wish, of every instinct.
There is no doubt that the expressions of the sex instinct are very
powerful, and that f and, to a lesser degree, $ participate in its function.
But love, liking, pride and pleasure, are they all expressions of the sex
instinct, as Freud’s libido-theory maintains?
In the course of my observations I found that the hunger instinct and
Ego-functions played a much greater part in nearly every psycho-analysis
than I was led to expect. Whenever I tried to learn something about the
hunger instinct from psycho-analytical literature I found the analysis of
hunger was always mixed up with one or another libidinal aspect. Serious
attempts were made to approach the problem of Ego-functions, but
Freud had assigned to the Ego the part of a second fiddle, with the Un¬
conscious in the lead. I could not get away from the impression that in
psycho-analysis the Ego was an inconvenience and, unfortunately, one
which persisted in making itself felt, scientifically and practically, in every
existence.1
Finally I reached a point where the libido-theory—in spite of being a
valuable aid in acquiring knowledge of pathological characters of the
oral, anal, narcissistic and melancholic type—became more of a handicap
than an assistance. I then decided to view the organism without libidinal
spectacles and I experienced one of the most exciting periods in my life,
receiving, as it were, a shock and a surprise. The new outlook exceeded
all my expectations. I found I had overcome a mental stagnation and
achieved new insight. I began to see contradictions and limitations in
Freud’s outlook which for twenty years had been hidden from me by the
magnificence and daring of his concepts.
1 The other day, an eminent analyst compared the Unconscious with an elephant
and the Ego with a little baby trying to lead the elephant. What an isolationist
conception! What a disappointment to the ambition to be omnipotent! What a
split in the personality!
8o
Then I took stock. I had studied with a number of psycho-analysts

for years. With one exception—K. Landauer—all those from whom I
have derived any benefit have departed from the orthodox lines. In the
few decades during which psycho-analysis has existed, a great number
of schools have developed. This proves, on the one hand, the tremendous
stimulation which emanated from Freud but, on the other, it proved the
incompleteness or insufficiency of his system. In odier new branches of
science, e.g. bacteriology and cytology, the development of difterent
schools was either negligible, or reconciliation resulted in a unified line
of research.
While I was living entirely in the psycho-analytical atmosphere, I
could not appreciate that the great opposition to Freud’s theories might
have some justification. We used to brush aside any doubt as “resistance.”
But in his later years Freud himself became sceptical as to whether a
psycho-analysis could ever be finished. This confession struck me as an
obvious contradiction to the theory of repression. If the neurotic conflict
was a fight between the repressing censor and the repressed sex instincts,
then either the adequate release of the sex instinct should provide a
cure, or else the silencing of the censor should be sufficient. If the censor
was merely taken over (introjected) from the environment, it could not
be difficult to mitigate his demands and to release the repressed instincts.
In practice, one finds very rarely a neurosis which corresponds entirely
to this theory. Usually neither the analysis of the censor (conscience)
nor of the transference nor of the sex instinct comprehends the neurotic
field. My experiences as a psychiatrist in the South African Army reveal
that only about 15 per cent of the neuroses show disturbances of sexual
gratification, while only in 2 to 3 per cent could hysteria symptoms be
traced to actual sex-frustration.
From this another problem arises. When there is no sex-repression,
what happens? Does concentration on the sex instinct contribute in
every case to adjustment and stabilization? Certainly it was not so in
my personal case. On the contrary; only after having dropped the libido
theory and the overvalued importance of sex could I find a sound bearing
—a harmony of myself, my work and my environment. Within the last
few years I have come to the following conclusions:
The principal approach of Freud in the case of psycho-genic diseases
is correct. A neurosis makes sense; it is a disturbance of development
and adjustment; the instincts and the Unconscious play an immeasurably
greater part in man than was ever dreamt of. Neuroses are the outcome
of a conflict between organism and environment. Our mentality is deter¬
mined more by instincts and emotions than by reason.
On the other side of the balance sheet we find that Freud over-estimated
the causality, past, and sex instincts, and neglected the importance of
purposiveness, present, and hunger instinct, furthermore his technique
81 F
aimed originally at concentration on the pathological symptom. By going

into the details of the symptom (so-called associations) such material as
the patient had difficulties in revealing was brought to the surface. This
concentration on the pathological sphere became distorted into thinking
in “free” associations resulting in a race between the wits of the analyst
and the patient. The psycho-analytical technique developed thus from
the original concentration on the symptom to a dz's-centration, leaving it
to chance and to the pressure of the Unconscious as to how much of it
would come to the surface and would be dealt with.
Parallel with this avoidance of facing the symptom goes the avoidance
of facing the analyst: the patient has to lie in a position in which the
analyst cannot be seen. The psycho-analytical interview has changed
from a consultation to a (nearly obsessional) ritual in which a number
of unnatural—nearly religious—conditions have to be observed.
Great as the service is which Freud has rendered to mankind by un¬
chaining the sex instinct, the time is ripe—to quote Bertrand Russell—
“for the analysis of other instincts, and foremost of the hunger instinct.”
But this will only be possible by confining the sex instinct to its own
sphere, namely to sex and nothing but sex.
The physical aspect of this instinct is based upon the function of the
procreative glands. If there is any sense in organismic thinking we have
to limit the term libido to the psycho-chemical aspect of the sex instinct,
and we should conclude that castrated animals (oxen, etc.) or castrated
human beings (eunuchs, etc.) would not be able to experience love, liking
or any other form of “sublimated” libido.
Let us compare two situations! A young man, greatly disturbed by
his sexual tension, feels the urgent impulse to have sexual intercourse
and visits a prostitute. Having achieved gratification, he experiences relief,
perhaps also a certain gratitude for this, but often he feels disgusted and
experiences a strong desire to push the girl away—to get rid of her as
quickly as possible. The situation is different if a man has sexual inter¬
course with the girl he loves. He is not disgusted but happy to remain
with her.
What is the decisive difference? In the first case the man does not
like or accept the “personality” of the prostitute. If we deduct the sex
impulse, there is nothing left which would make him seek her presence.
The beloved, however, is accepted in situations free from sexual urge,
her presence in itself being gratifying.
In the first case the disgust is not repressed. It has only become a
“background” against the domineering “figure” of the sexual desire. If
the disgust does not remain in the background, it intermingles with the
sex impulse, disturbs the sexual activity, and may even become a fore¬
ground figure, making the man sexually impotent, or so confused through
“double-conditioning,” that he may abandon his object altogether.
82
Freud says that many a young man in our society cannot desire, where
he loves, and cannot love, where he desires. This looks like a split of the
libido into animalistic and spiritual love. If love were the outcome of the
flooding of our organism with sex hormones, this sublimated spiritual
love would disappear as the physical urge vanishes. Yet it does
not. Affection remains or even increases, particularly after a perfect
orgasm.
The proximity of the emotion called love to the sex instinct made
Freud commit his fundamental mistake. The child which loves its mother
for all the satisfaction it gets from her, will turn to her—to the one who
provides food, shelter and warmth—for the gratification of his first
conscious sexual desires (usually between the fourth and sixth year).
We now see how important it is to take the term “sex instinct” as a
mere abstraction. If an instinct is not a definite reality, Freud was at
liberty to include as many organismic functions in his concept of the
sex instinct as he required for his theory. We have to examine how many
of such organismic functions (called partial instincts) should be included
in the bundle of “sex instincts,” and how many should come under a
different heading. Freud erroneously interprets love during the period
preceding this sexual development (the so-called pre-Oedipus stage) as
being also of a sexual nature. He finds a way out of the ensuing complica¬
tions by calling the pre-sexual love pre-genital, maintaining that the body
openings, the oral and the anal zones, harbour the pre-stages of genital
energy.
These openings, the oral and anal zones, are indeed of great importance,
not in the development of sexual energy, but in the development of the
Ego. They lend themselves readily to sexualization, though originally they
have no “libidinal kathexis.”
In his observations of a case of hysteria, Freud realized that a connection
between this illness and sex starvation existed, and on the basis of this
case he developed his method for treating hysteria and later other neuroses.
Every analyst knows that results in these cases are often excellent and
lasting, if the patient takes up a healthy sex life.
The general opinion among analysts is that hysteria has largely dis¬
appeared from their clientele, because the Unconscious has been warned
and has regressed to a more complicated neurosis. This, as a rule, is not
the case. We rather have to look for an explanation in the social develop¬
ment: Sexual taboos in our time have been relaxed, and women have
achieved a greater economical and, through this, a greater sexual freedom.
The knowledge of Freud’s findings has spread, and “marriage” is more
readily advised by the general practitioner in obvious cases of sex starva¬
tion. On the other hand I have had the experience, and so have other
psycho-therapists, of cases of hysteria which are very refractory. These
cases, particularly of juveniles with so-called “moral insanity, show, in
83
spite of good sexual development and orgasmic potency, definite dis¬

turbances of their Ego-development.
Four factors determined Freud’s further research: the role of the
libido in hysteria, the existence of repressed, unconscious parts of our
personality, the fact that all mental processes make sense and are deter¬
mined, and the knowledge that organic beings develop from lower to
higher levels. He was confronted with the question: where does the
libido come from? It could not, in his opinion, spring suddenly into
existence, as his observations clearly showed that children show sex
curiosity and impulses long before the time of puberty.
Formerly, puberty (with its development of the procreative function
and violent disturbances in the development of the personality) was
acknowledged as the beginning of sex life in the rites of all peoples, and
was celebrated accordingly. An excitability of the genitals can, however,
be observed even in babies. In Cuba, nurses calm the baby by playing
with its genitals, just as we give a baby a dummy.
From the infant’s “ Wonneludeln” (lustful sucking of the thumb) Freud
concluded the existence of a zero-point differentiating into the hunger
instinct as one branch, and the libido as the other.
There are several objections to this theory:
(1) The differentiation already starts in the foetus, with the develop¬
ment of the alimentary and uro-genital system respectively.
(2) The analysis of the hunger instinct isolated from any libidinal
kathexis is hardly considered by psycho-analysis. All conceptions
connected with the functions of the alimentary channel like intro-
jections, cannibalism, and defaecation are always tinged with a
sexual by-taste.
(3) The normal assimilation is overlooked, and perverted conceptions,
like pleasure of retention, or inhibition of oral development (e.g.
cannibalism) are called normal. In reality retention is painful,
and relief pleasant. Retention can provide a pleasure of secondary
nature, such as proof of one’s will-power or obstinacy.
(4) The libido theory is a biological conception, but certain social
aspects are mixed up with it. The anal zone has definitely received
its neurotic importance as a result of civilization.
(5) Freud inflates the term “libido” to such an extent, that it sometimes
stands for something like Bergson’s 6lan vital or for the psychological
exponent of the sex-urge to which connotation its use is restricted
in this book. Sometimes it means gratification or pleasure, and it
also can jump on to the object of love (cathexis), but without the
corresponding hormones.
The more one tries to get to the bottom of the meaning of “libi¬
do, the more one gets confused. Sometimes libido is a prime
84
mover, a creative power, and at other times it is a substance being

moved about. By what? It seems to me that Freud’s “libido”
conception tried to cover both the universal ff function discussed
earlier, and the organismic sex-function, and that only by using
the word “libido” without a definite referent could he build up his
libido-theory.
(6) In the German language “lust” denotes an instinctive urge, as
well as pleasure (cf. the derivatives lues tern “lustful” and lustig
“gay”). Correspondingly, the term “libido” among other meanings,
stands for sexual energy and also for gratification. Hunger-gratifica¬
tion and defaecation are, however, in themselves pleasurable, like
every other restoration of the organismic balance, and there is no
need to invest them with an additional sexual energy. The compli¬
cation of simple biological facts leads to unnecessarily complicated
explanations.
To show that I am not exaggerating, I quote a leading psycho-analyst,

Marie Bonaparte: “The indication for the gratification of the need for
food is the pleasure, in the service of which is the oral libido, which
causes living beings to find pleasure in the oral intake. The process of
secretion, too, can produce intense pleasure, and the anal and urethral
libido express, in their way, the satisfaction of the organism whose digestive
functions are in order.”
This is an instructive example showing how the libido-concept is bound
to lead to confusions:
(1) Libido causes pleasure.

(2) Libido expresses satisfaction.
Replacing this by two other words:
(1) I cause pain,

(2) I express pain,
reveals that (1) and (2) are two entirely different experiences. By attributing
the pleasure to the gratification of every instinct, we can undo the unneces¬
sary complications arising from the monopoly of the libido.
K. Abraham, who made very valuable contributions to our knowledge
of character formation, encounters similar difficulties when trying to fit
his observations into Freud’s hypothesis. Here is one very simple example
to demonstrate what mental somersaults are performed to bolster up the
libido-theory:
“Weaning is the original castration.”
(1) Castration is a pathological, weaning a biological phenomenon.

(2) Castration means taking away the genitals or parts of them.
85
(3) Weaning means depriving the suckling of the mother’s breast. To

call this deprivation a castration is like calling all dogs fox-terriers.
(4) Birth—and not weaning—is the original separation which the
child has to suffer.
★ * *
In spite of all these theoretical complications and contradictions,

Freud’s libido-theory and psycho-analytical technique were of tremendous
value. He was the Livingstone of the Unconscious and created the basis
for its exploration. The result of his theory was a re-orientation in the
approach to neurosis and psychosis. The research yielded a number of
most valuable observations and facts. Not only a new science, but a new
outlook on life was created.
Freud has shifted the orientation of our personal existence from the
periphery of consciousness to the Unconscious, just as Galileo dethroned
the Earth from the centre of the Universe. And just as astronomy—having
to acknowledge ever more “fixed points” and systems as merely relatively
“absolute”—had previously taken its stand on the conception of the
ether, so Freud created his libido-theory. But 7ravra pel', every new
theory is superseded by a still newer one, and under the impact of new
scientific facts the trenches of ether-theory and libido-conception have
to be evacuated.
An observation of Leverrier gave Einstein the basis for exploding the
phantasy of the ether. 1 o dispose of the libido-theory is much simpler.
Confining ourselves to one of the many contradictions, to the equation:
libido = gratification = sexual energy, we find that libido is, on the one
hand, regarded as a general organismic experience, on the other as an
energy. Freud applies this energy in the sense of Bergson’s elan vital. Ad¬
mittedly, the original foundation of Freud’s libido-conception is an
organismic one, but the use of this term has become more and more
that of a mystical energy, isolated from its material basis.
Ultimately the libido receives a meaning approaching that of f. Whilst
the libido is the representative of an instinct, f is a universal cosmic
function belonging also to the inorganic world. The opposite of § is $
for which Freud correctly has the name destruction, but destruction,
too, is an instinct to him,
In order to show the difference between Freud’s conception and mine
I quote what Freud wrote in the Encyclopaedia Britannica on this subject:
An empirical analysis leads to the formation of two groups of

instincts: the so-called ‘Ego instincts,’ which are directed towards
self-preservation and the ‘object instincts,’ which are concerned with
relations to an external object. The social instincts are not regarded as
elementary or irreducible. Theoretical speculation leads to the suspicion
that there are two fundamental instincts which lie concealed behind
86
the manifest ego instincts and object instincts: Namely (a) Eros, the
instinct which strives for ever closer union, and (b) the instinct for
destruction which leads towards the dissolution of what is living. In
psycho-analysis the manifestation of the force of Eros is given the
name ‘libido’ . . .”
Let us try to see some of the contradictions which are involved in the
above theory and in other aspects of psycho-analysis.
(1) According to Freud the Ego is the most superficial portion of the
“Id,” but the instincts belong to the deepest layers of the organism.
Thus how can an Ego have instincts?
(2) “Ego instincts which are directed towards self-preservation.”
Self-preservation is granted by the hunger instinct and by defence.
In both items destruction plays a great part but not as an instinct
only in the service of hunger and defence. In Freud’s theory des¬
truction is opposed to the object instincts, but destruction without
an “object to destroy” cannot exist.
(3) The arrangement in the above quotation hints that Ego instincts
correspond to Eros, and object instincts to destruction. Freud
probably meant it the other way round.
(4) f and | are, as mentioned before, universal occurrences. Eros in
Freud’s terminology is applied as a general term, but the instinct
for destruction is intentionally restricted to living beings. This
instinct in other places is called death instinct. (A refutation of
this Thanatos theory will be found in another part of this book.)
(5) I have to emphasize over and over again that the important hunger
instinct is not even mentioned. Without considering the hunger
instinct the question of destruction and aggression can as little be
solved as our social and economical problems.
(6) I confess that I am old-fashioned enough to look upon the problems
of instincts from the point of view of survival. To me the sex
instinct is the representative of species-preservation, whilst the
hunger instinct and the instinct for defence stand for self-preserva¬
tion.
Ego and Self are by no means identical. The Ego-functions occur in

both sex and the hunger instincts. Conscious wishes about self or race
preservation seldom exist; we are only aware of desires and needs which
want to be gratified.
* ★ *
How is it possible that the above-mentioned weaknesses in Freud’s

system have not been clearly set out? My opinion is that most people
who came into contact with psycho-analysis have been so fascinated by
the new approach, which was far superior to the prescribing of bromides,
87
EGO, hunger and aggression
to hypnosis and to the persuasion therapy, that it became a religion to

them. The majority swallowed Freud’s theories hook, line and sinker,
without realizing that this blind acceptance formed the root of a narrow¬
mindedness paralysing many of the potentialities of his ingenious dis¬
coveries. A sectarianism resulted, characterized by an almost religious
credulity, by a passionate search for further proofs and by a patronizing
refusal of any facts apt to disturb these sacrosanct ways of thinking.
Additional theories complicated the original system, and, as always with
sects, each one became intolerant of any other which deviated from the
accepted principles. If anybody did not believe in the “absolute truth,”
a theory was handy which put the responsibility on the complexes and
resistances of the sceptic.
There is another point in classical psycho-analysis which cannot stand
the scrutiny of dialectical thinking—Freud’s “archaeological” complex,
his one-sided interest in the past. No objectivity, no real insight into the
working of the dynamics of life is possible, without taking into account
the counter-pole, that is the future, and, above all, the present as zero-
point of past and future. We find the condensation of Freud’s historic
outlook in the concept of transference.1
The other day, whilst waiting for a tram, I pondered over the word
transference, and I realized that there would have been no tram, if it had
not been transferred from the factory or other tramway lines to the rails
in front of me. But the running of a tramway line is not explained by this
transference alone. It is a coincidence of several factors, e.g. functioning
of electric current and the presence of a staff. These factors, however,
are only “means whereby,” while the decisive factor is the need for
conveyance. Without the passengers’ requirements the tram service
would be quickly abolished. It would not even have been created.
It is unfortunate that one has to mention such platitudes to demonstrate
how selected and comparatively unimportant a part the transference
plays in the whole complex. And yet, whatever happens in psycho-analysis
is not interpreted as a spontaneous reaction of the patient in answer to
the analytical situation, but is supposed to be dictated by the repressed
past. Freud even goes so far as to maintain that a neurosis is cured once
the childhood amnesia is undone, once the patient has gained a continuous
knowledge of his past. If a young man, who has never found anybody
to understand his difficulties, develops a feeling of gratitude towards the
analyst I doubt whether there exists a person in his past from whom he
transfers his thankfulness to the analyst.
On the other hand it is silently acknowledged that the futuristic, the
teleological thinking plays its part in psycho-analysis. We analyse a patient
in order to cure him. The patient says many things for the purpose of
' According to Freud, a neurosis rests on three pillars: sex instinct, repression
and transference.
88
covering up essential things. The analyst aims at stimulating and complet¬

ing developments which have been arrested.
Besides transference, spontaneous reactions and futuristic thinking,
there are the projections which play a very great part in the analytical
situation. The patient visualizes disagreeable parts of his own unconscious
personality in the analyst, who can often search till he is blue in the face
for the original from whom the patient has transferred his image.
A mistake similar to the over-estimation of causes and transference
occurs in the concept of “regression.” Regression in the psycho-analytical
sense is a historical regression, a sliding back to infancy. Is there not a
possibility of interpreting it differently? Regression might mean nothing
more than a falling back to the true Self, a breakdown of pretences and
of all those character features which have not become part and parcel of
the personality and which have not been assimilated into the neurotic’s
“whole.”
In order to understand the decisive difference between actual and
historical regression and actual and historical analysis we have to direct
our attention first of all to the time factor.
89
XI
TIME
Everything has extension and duration. We measure extension in length,

height and width; duration in time. All these four dimensions are measures
applied by man. This chair opposite me is not forty inches high, but /
can so measure it and, if I throw the chair over, its height is only twenty
inches, the previous height becoming the width. Time is measured in
one dimension—length. We say a long and a short time ago, but we
never speak of broad or narrow time. The expression “it is high time”
has its origin probably from high tide or from the water-clock. Whilst
for objective measuring, we take fixed points (b.c. and a.d., a.m and
p.m.), the psychological zero-point is the ever present, reaching, according
to our organization, forward and backward like the maggot that eats its
way through cheese, leaving traces of its existence behind.
Omitting the dimensions of time leads to fallacies in logic, to cheating
in arguments: Logic maintains that a = a, that, e.g., an apple can replace
itself in another context. This is correct so long as the extension only of
the fruit is considered, as is mostly done. But it is incorrect as soon as
its duration is taken into account. The unripe apple, the tasty fruit and
the rotting one are three different phenomena of the time-space event
“apple.” But being utilitarians we take of course the edible fruit as referent
when we use the word “apple.”
As soon as we forget that we are time-space events, ideas and reality
clash. Demands for lasting emotions (eternal love, loyalty) might lead to
disappointment, vanishing beauty to depression. People who have lost
the rhythm of time, will soon be out of date.
And what is this rhythm of time?
Apparently our organization has an optimum in the experience of the
sense of time—of duration. In language this is expressed as passing—
pastime the past; (in French, le pas—passer—passe; in German, ver-
“gehen” Ver-“gang” enheit). The zero-point is thus, for us, the walking
speed. Time marches on! Time which is flying, or crawling, or even
standing still denotes the plus and minus deviation. Such a judgment
contains its psychological opposite; we would like the flying time to slow
down, and to hurry it up when it is crawling.
Concentration on things as time-space events is experienced as patience,
a tension between a wish and its fulfilment, as impatience. Apparently,
90
TIME
in this case, the image exists merely in extension, the time component
being split off as impatience. In this way time awareness, or the sense of
time, enters the human life and psychology.
Einstein is of the opinion that the time sense is a matter of experience.
The small child has not yet developed it. The awakening of a suckling
occurs when the hunger tension has become so high as to interrupt sleep.
This is not due to any sense of time: on the contrary, the hunger helps
to create such a sense. Although we do not know of any organic equivalents
of the time sense, its existence has to be assumed, if not by anything
else than by the accuracy with which some people can tell the correct
time.
The longer the delay of wish gratification, the greater the impatience,
when the concentration remains on the object of gratification. The im¬
patient person wants the immediate, timeless joining of his vision with
reality. If you wait for a tram, the idea “tram” might slide into the back¬
ground and you might entertain yourself by thinking, observing, reading
or whatever pastime is at hand until the tram arrives. If, however, the
tram remains a figure in your mind, then §[ appears as impatience, you
feel like running to meet the tram. “If the mountain does not come to
Mohammed, Mohammed must go to the mountain.” If you suppress the
tendency to run towards the tram (and this self-control has become, with
most of us, automatic and unconscious) you become restless, annoyed;
if you are too inhibited to let off steam by swearing and becoming “ner¬
vous,” and if you repress this impatience, you will probably transform it
into anxiety, headache or some other symptom.
Someone was asked to explain Einstein’s theory of relativity. He
answered: “When you spend an hour with your girl, the time flies; an
hour seems like a minute; but when you happen to sit on a hot stove,
time crawls, seconds seem like hours.” This does not conform to the
psychological reality. In an hour of love, if the contact is perfect, the time
factor does not enter the picture at all. Should the girl, however, become
a nuisance, should contact with her be lost and boredom set in, then
you might start counting the minutes until you can get rid of her. The
time factor will also be experienced, if time is limited, when you want to
cram as much as possible into the minutes at your disposal.
There are, however, exceptions to the rule. The repressed memories in
our Unconscious are, according to Freud, timeless. This means that they
are not subject to change as long as they remain in a system isolated from
the rest of the personality. They are like sardines in a tin which apparently
remain for ever six weeks old or whatever their age was, when they were
caught. As long as they are isolated from the rest of the world very little
change takes place until (by being eaten up or oxydized) they return to
the world metabolism.
The time centre of ourselves as conscious human time-space events is
9i
the present. There is no other reality than the present. Our desire to
retain more of the past or to anticipate the future might completely
overgrow this sense of reality. Although we can isolate the present from
the past (causes) and from the future (purpose), any giving up of the
present as the centre of balance—as the lever of our life—must lead to an
unbalanced personality. It does not matter if you sway over to the right
(over-conscientiousness) or to the left (impulsiveness), if you over-balance
forward (future) or backwards (past), you can lose your balance in any
direction.
This applies to everything, and, of course, to the psycho-analytical
treatment as well. Here the only existing reality is the analytical interview.
Whatever we experience there, we experience in the present. This must
be the basis for every attempt at “organismic reorganization.” When we
remember, we remember at that very second and to certain purposes;
when we think of the future we anticipate things to come, but we do so
at the present moment and from various causes. Predilection for either
historical or futuristic thinking always destroys contact with reality.
Lack of contact with the present, lack of the actual “feel” of ourselves,
leads to flight either into the past (historical thinking) or into the future
(anticipatory thinking). Both “Epimetheus” Freud and “Prometheus”
Adler, co-operating with the neurotic’s desire to dig into the past or to
safeguard the future, have missed the Archimedic point of readjustment.
By giving up the present as a permanent referent the advantage of going
back to the past in order to profit from our experiences and mistakes,
changes into its opposite: it becomes detrimental to development. We
become sentimental or acquire the habit of blaming parents or circum¬
stances (resentment); often the past becomes a “consummation devoutly
to be wished for.” In short, we develop a retrospective character. The
prospective character, in contrast, loses himself in the future. His im¬
patience leads him to phantastic anticipations which—in contrast to
planning—are eating up his interest in the present, his contact with
reality.
Freud has the correct intuition in his belief that contact with the
present is essential. He demands free-floating attention, which means
awareness of all experiences; but what happens is that slowly but surely
patient and analyst become conditioned to two things; firstly, to the
technique of free associations, of the flight of ideas and, secondly, to a
state in which analyst and patient form,, as it were, a company fishing for
memories, the free-floating attention floating away. Open-mindedness is
in practice narrowed down to the almost exclusive interest in the past
and the libido.
Freud is not exact about time. When he says the dream stands with
one leg in the present, with the other in the past, he includes the past
few days into the present. But what happened even only a minute ago is
92
TIME
past, not present. The difference between Freud’s conception and mine
may seem irrelevant, yet actually it is not merely a matter of pedantry,
but a principle involving practical applications. A fraction of a second
might mean the difference between life and death, as we have seen in
Chapter I, in the coincidence of the falling stone killing a man.
The disregard of the present necessitated the introduction of “trans¬
ference.” If we do not leave room for the spontaneous and creative
attitude of the patient, then we have either to search for explanations in
the past (to assume that he transfers every bit of his behaviour from remote
times to the analytical situation) or, following up Adler’s teleological
thinking, we have to restrict ourselves to finding out what purposes,
what arrangements the patient has in mind, what plans he has up his
sleeve.
By no means do I deny that everything has its origin in the past and
tends to further development, but what I want to bring home is, that
past and future take their bearings continuously from the present and
have to be related to it. Without the reference to the present they become
meaningless. Consider such a concrete thing as a house built years ago,
originating in the past and having a purpose, namely to be lived in.
What happens to the house if one is satisfied with the historical fact alone
of its having been built? Without being cared for, the house would fall
into ruin, subjected, as it would be, to the influence of wind and weather,
to dry and wet rot, and other decaying influences which, though small
and sometimes invisible, have an accumulative effect.
* * *
Freud has shaken up our concepts of causality, morality and responsi¬

bility; but he stopped half-way: he has not driven the analysis to its
ultimate conclusions. He said we are not as good or bad as we believe
we are, but we are unconsciously mostly worse, sometimes better. Accord¬
ingly, he transferred responsibility from the Ego to the Id. Furthermore,
he unmasked intellectual causes as rationalizations and decided that the
Unconscious provides the causes for our actions.
How can we replace causal thinking? How do we overcome the diffi¬
culties of taking our bearings from the present and achieving a scientific
understanding without asking for reasons? I have mentioned before the
advantages that accrue from functional thinking. If we have the pluck to
attempt to follow modem science in its decision that there are no ultimate
answers to the “Why?” we come across a very comforting discovery:
all relevant questions can be answered by asking: “How?” “Where?”
and “When?” Detailed description is identical with concentration and
increased knowledge. Research requires detailed descriptions, without
neglecting the context. The rest is a matter of opinion or theory, faith or
interpretation.
93
By applying our ideas of the present we can improve our memory and
powers of observation. We speak of memories coming into our mind:
our Ego is more or less passive towards them. But if we go back into a
situation, imagining that we are really on the spot, and then describe in
detail what we see or do, using the present tense, we shall greatly improve
our capacity for remembering. Exercises on these lines will comprise the
last part of this book.
The futuristic thinking, which in Adler’s psychology stands in the
foreground, is in Freud’s conception relegated to secondary importance
(e.g. secondary gain from illness). He stuck to causes, although in the
Psycho-Pathology of Everyday Life he has brought many examples to
show that forgetting and memories have tendencies and not only causes.
On the one hand the memories determine the neurotic’s life, and on the
other he remembers or forgets for certain purposes. An old soldier might
remember deeds he can boast about—he might even invent memories
for the purpose of boasting.
Our manner of thinking is determined by our biological organization.
The mouth is in front of us and the anus at the back. These facts have
something to do with what we are going to eat or to meet, and also of what
we are leaving behind or what we pass. Hunger certainly has some con¬
nection with the future, and the passing of the stool with the past.
94
XII
PAST AND FUTURE
Although we do not know much more about time than that it is one of the
four dimensions of our existence, we are able to define the present. The
present is the ever-moving zero-point of the opposites past and future.
A properly balanced personality takes into account past and future without
abandoning the zero-point of the present, without seeing past or future as
realities. All of us look both backward and forward, but a person who is
unable to face an unpleasant present and fives mainly in the past or future,
wrapped up in historic or futuristic thinking, is not adapted to reality.
Thus reality—in addition to the figure-background-formation, as shown
previously—gets a new aspect provided by the sense of actuality.
Day-dreaming is one of the few occupations which are generally recog¬
nized as flight from the zero-point of the present into the future, and in
such a case it is customary to refer to this as escape from reality. On the
other hand, there are people who come to the analyst, only too willing
to comply with the popular idea of psycho-analysis—namely to unearth
all possible infantile memories or traumata. With a retrospective character
the analyst can waste years in following up this wild-goose chase. Being
convinced that digging up the past is a panacea for neurosis he merely
collaborates with the patient’s resistance of facing the present.
The constant delving into the past has a further disadvantage, in that
it neglects to take into account the opposite, the future, thereby missing
the point in a whole group of neuroses. Let us consider a typical case of
anticipatory neurosis: A man, on going to bed, worries about how he will
sleep; in the morning he is full of resolutions as to the work he is going
do in his office. On his arrival there he will not carry out his resolutions,
but will prepare all the material he intends conveying to the analyst,
although he will not bring forward this material in the analysis. When the
time comes for him to use the facts he has prepared, his mind occupies
itself instead with his expectation of having supper with his girl friend,
but during the meal he will tell the girl all about the work he has to attend
to before going to bed, and so on and on. This example is not an exaggera¬
tion, for there are quite a number of people always a few steps or miles
ahead of the present. They never collect the fruits of their efforts, as
their plans never make contact with the present—with reality.
What is the use of making a man, haunted by unconscious fear of
95
starvation, realize that his fear originated in the poverty experienced in

his childhood? It is much more important to demonstrate that by staring
into the future and striving for security he spoils his present life; that his
ideal of accumulating superfluous wealth is isolated and separated from
the sense of life. It is essential that such a man should learn the “feel of
himself,” should restore all the urges and needs, all the pleasures and
pains, all the emotions and sensations that make life worth living, and
which have become background or have been repressed for the sake of
his golden ideal. He must learn to make other contacts in life besides his
business connections. He must learn to work and play.
Such people develop an open neurosis once they have lost their only
contact with the world—the business contact. This is known as the
neurosis of the retired business-man. Of what use is an historical analysis
to him, except for providing a pastime to fill a few hours of his empty
life? Sometimes a game of cards might serve the same purpose. At the
seaside one often finds this type of man (having no contact with nature),
who would refuse to leave the stuffy cardroom, to have a look at the
beauty of a sunset. He would rather stick to his senseless occupation of
exchanging cards, of holding on to his “dummy” than to face contact
with nature.
Other types that look into the future are the worriers, the astrologists,
the safety-first-never-take-a-chance fellows.
Historians, archaeologists, explanation seekers and complainers look
in the other direction, and most attached to the past is the person who is
unhappy in life, “because” his parents have not given him a proper
education, or who is sexually impotent, “because” he acquired a castration
complex, when his mother had threatened to cut off his penis as a punish¬
ment for masturbation.
Seldom is the discovery of such a “cause” in the past a decisive factor
in the cure. The majority of people in our society have not had an “ideal”
education, and most people have experienced castration threats in their
childhood without becoming impotent. I know of a case in which all the
possible details of such a castration complex came to the surface without
essentially influencing the impotency. The analyst had interpreted the
patient’s disgust towards the female sex. The patient had accepted the
interpretation, but never managed to feel, to experience nausea. So he
could not change disgust into its opposite, appetite.
The retrospective person avoids taking the responsibility for his life
and actions; he prefers placing the blame on something that happened
in the past instead of taking steps to remedy the present situation. For
manageable tasks one does not need scapegoats or explanations.
In the analysis of the retrospective character one always finds a distinct
symptom: the suppression of crying. Mourning is a part of the resignation-
process, necessary if one is to overcome the clinging to the past. This
96
PAST AND FUTURE
process called “mourning labour” is one of the most ingenious discoveries

of Freud. The fact that resignation requires the work of the whole organism
demonstrates how important the “feel of oneself” is, how the experience
and expression of the deepest emotions is needed to adjust oneself after
the loss of a valuable contact. In order to regain the possibility of making
contact anew, the task of mourning must be finished. Though the sad
event is past, the dead is not dead—it is still present. The mourning
labour is done in the present: it is not what the dead person meant to the
mourner that is decisive, but what he still means to him. The loss of a
crutch is of no importance if one was injured about five years ago and has
since been cured; it matters only if one is still lame and needs the crutch.
Although I have tried to deprecate futuristic and historical thinking,
I do not wish to give a wrong impression. We must not entirely neglect
the future (e.g. planning) or the past (unfinished situations), but we must
realize that the past has gone, leaving us with a number of unfinished
situations and that planning must be a guide to, not a sublimation of, or a
substitute for, action.
People often make “historical mistakes.” By this expression I do not
mean the confounding of historical data but the mistaking of past for
actual situations. In the legal sphere laws are still valid which have long
since lost their raison d'etre. Religious people, too, dogmatically hold on
to rites which once made sense but which are out of place in a different
civilization. When the ancient Jew was not allowed to drive a vehicle
on the Sabbath, it made sense, for the beast of burden should have a
day’s rest, but the pious Jew of our time submits to unnecessary incon¬
venience by refusing to use a tram which runs in any case. He changes
sense into nonsense—at least so it appears to us. He looks at it from a
different angle. Dogma could not retain its dynamic, could not even
exist, if it were not supported by futuristic thinking. The believer holds
up the religious law in order to be in “God’s good books,” to gain prestige
as a religious man or to avoid unpleasant pricks of conscience. He must not
feel the historical mistake he makes, otherwise his life-gestalt, the sense
of his existence, would fall to pieces, and he would be thrown into utter
confusion by the loss of his bearings.
Similar to the historical are the futuristic mistakes. We expect some¬
thing, we hope for something, and we are disappointed, maybe very un¬
happy, if our hopes are not fulfilled. We are then very much inclined to
blame either fate, other people, or our own inabilities, but we are not
prepared to see the fundamental mistake of expecting that reality should
coincide with our wishes. We avoid seeing that we are responsible for the
disappointment which arises from our expectation, from our futuristic think¬
ing, especially if we neglect the actuality of our limitations. Psycho-analysis
has overlooked this essential factor, although it has dealt abundantly
with disappointment “reactions.”
97 G
The most important “historical mistake” of classical psycho-analysis

is the indiscriminate application of the term “regression.” The patient
evinces a helplessness, a reliance on his mother, unbefitting an adult,
becoming to a child of three. There is nothing to be said against an analysis
of his childhood (if the patient’s historical mistake is sufficiently empha¬
sized), but in order to realize a mistake we must contrast it with its opposite,
the correct behaviour. If you have spelt a word wrongly you cannot
eliminate the mistake unless you know the correct spelling. The same
applies to historical or futuristic mistakes.
The patient in question has perhaps never reached the maturity of an
adult and does not know what it feels like to be independent of his mother,
how to make contact with other people; and unless he is made to feel this
independence, he cannot realize his historical mistake. We take it for
granted that he has this “feel,” and we are only too ready to assume
that he has reached the adult position and has regressed to childhood
only temporarily. We are inclined to overlook the question of situations.
As his behaviour is normal in situations representing no difficulties or
in matters requiring reactions similar to those expected of a child, we take
it for granted that he is essentially grown-up. When more difficult situa¬
tions arise, however, he proves that he has not developed a mature attitude.
How can we expect him to know how to change if he does not realize
the difference between infantile and mature behaviour? He would not
have “regressed” if his “self” was already mature, if he had assimilated
and not only copied (introjected) adult behaviour.
We may conclude then that the immediate future is contained in the
present, especially in its unfinished situations (completion of the instinct
cycle). Large parts of our organism are built for “purposes.” Purposeless,
e.g. senseless, movements can range from slight peculiarities to the
inexplicable behaviour of the insane.
Conceiving the present as the result of the past we find as many schools
of thought as we find causes. Most people believe in a “primary cause”
like a creator, others fatalistically stick to the inherited constitution as
the only recognizable and deciding factor, whilst for others, again, the
environmental influence is the only cause of our behaviour. Some people
have found economics to be the cause of all evil, others the repressed
childhood. The present, in my opinion, is the coincidence of many
“causes” leading to the ever changing, kaleidoscopic picture of situations
which are never identical.
98
XIII
PAST AND PRESENT
Whilst it is not possible as yet to give a full account of the relations

between past and present, enough material is available to attempt an
incomplete classification as follows:
(1) The influence of the constitution (inheritance).
(2) The training of the individual (conditioning through environ¬
mental influence).
(3) Futuristic memories.
(4) The compulsion of repetition (the incompleteness of situations).
(5) Accumulation of undigested experiences (traumata and other
neurotic memories).
(1) In regard to constitution the relationship between past and present
is rather obvious. Let us take the functioning of the thyroid gland as an
example. Cretinism (myxoedema) is due to something that happened in
the past. Will delving into the past have any value except to gratify our
scientific curiosity or to teach us about the illness’ origin, so that this
knowledge may help us to cure it to-day? We continually add thyroid
hormones to comply with the present thyroxin deficiency.
(2) The training of the individual can be compared with the building
of roads; the aim is to direct the traffic in the most economical way. If,
however, the conditioning is not a very deep one, it is liable to deteriorate
just as badly built roads are likely to break up. Deterioration tends towards
annihilation. Old roads will disappear; our minds will forget. Some roads,
however, are built like the old Roman highways. Once we have learned to
read, many years of not reading may still leave the reading capacity intact.
If, however, a reconditioning takes place, if the traffic is directed on
to new roads, the situation will be different: if we are compelled to speak
a foreign language and make little use of our native tongue, we experience
a deterioration of the latter, and after some years we may often find it
difficult to remember words which were formerly automatically at hand.
The reconditioning, on the other hand, the switching back to the native
tongue, would take less time than it originally took to learn it in childhood.
When we attempt to stop the progress of a neurosis we try to recondition
the patient to the biological, usually called normal or natural, functions.
At the same time we must not forget the training, the conditioning of
99
undeveloped attitudes. We can appreciate F. M. Alexander’s methods

from the point of view of reconditioning, if we don’t forget the need to
dissolve at the same time the dynamic influence of the wrong gestalt. If
we merely superimpose one gestalt on to another, we encage, repress, but
nevertheless keep alive, the wrong gestalt; by dissolving the latter we
set free energies for the functioning of the whole personality.
(3) The expression teleological, futuristic memories sound paradoxical,
but we often remember past experiences for future purposes. From the
psycho-analytical point of view the most interesting category of this kind
is the danger signal. If several motor-car accidents have occurred at the
same place on a highway the authorities may put up a danger signal.
These danger signals are erected not in memory of those killed; they
are created for the “purpose” of safeguarding against future accidents.
The danger signal for the neurotic is not, as Freud says, the anxiety
attack. The nervous person puts his memories as stop signals all over the
place, wherever he scents the possibility of danger. To him this procedure
seems reasonable; he appears to act according to the proverb: “Once
bitten, twice shy.” He may, for instance, have fallen in love and been
disappointed. He therefore takes great care that such a “disaster” should
not happen again. As soon as he feels the slightest sign of affection he
produces (consciously or unconsciously) the memory of his unpleasant
experience as a red stop light. He completely disregards the fact that he
makes an historical mistake, that the present situation might differ con¬
siderably from the previous one.
Unearthing traumatic situations from the past might provide even
more material for danger signals, might restrict even more the neurotic’s
activities and spheres of life, as long as he has not learned to differentiate
between previous and present situations.
(4) A very delicate matter to deal with is the compulsion of repetition,
in itself an amazing discovery of Freud’s which he unfortunately carried
to absurd conclusions. He saw in the monotony of the repetitions a tendency
towards mental ossification. These repetitions, Freud contends, become
rigid and lifeless, like inorganic matter. His speculations about this life-
denying tendency led him to the conjecture that there is a definite urge
working behind the scene: a death or nirvana instinct. He concluded further
that just as the organismic libido is turned outwards as love, so the death
instinct turns outwards as a tendency to destroy. He even went so far
as to explain life as a permanent struggle between the death instinct and
the disturbing libido. This anti-religious man re-enthrones Eros and
Thanatos, the scientist and atheist regresses to the gods which he had
fought a lifetime to destroy.
In my opinion Freud’s construction contains several mistakes. I do
not agree with him that the gestalt of “compulsion of repetition” has the
character of rigidity, although a distinct tendency towards ossification
100
PAST AND FUTURE
exists in habits. We know that the older a person grows or the less elastic
his outlook on life is, the more impossible any change of habits becomes.
When we condemn certain habits and call them vices we imply that a
change is desirable. In most cases, however, they have become part of
the personality to such a degree that all conscious efforts fail to change
them and that all efforts are confined to ridiculous resolutions which
bribe the conscience for the moment without influencing the issue.
Principles are no less obstinate. They are substitutes for an independent
outlook. The owner would be lost in the ocean of events if he were not
able to orientate himself by these fixed bearings. Usually he is even proud
of them and does not regard them as weaknesses, but as a source of
strength. He hangs on to them because of the insufficiency of his own
independent judgment.
The dynamic of habits is not homogeneous. Some are dictated by
economy of energy and are “conditioned” reflexes. Habits are often
fixations or have originally been fixations. They are kept alive by fear
but might be changed into “conditioned” reflexes. This insight involves
that a mere analysis of habits is as insufficient for “breaking” them as
are resolutions.
The structure of the “compulsion of repetition” proper is quite different
from that of habits and principles. We have previously chosen the example
of a man who becomes disappointed again and again in his friends. We
would hardly call this a habit or a principle. But what then is this
compulsory repetition? To answer this question we have to make a
detour.
K. Lewin carried out the following memory experiments: A number
of people were given some problems to solve. They were not told that it
was a memory test but were under the impression that an intelligence
test was being carried out. The next day they were asked to write down
the problems they remembered, and, strangely enough, the unsolved
problems were far better remembered than those which had been solved.
The libido-theory would lead us to expect the opposite, namely that
narcissistic gratification would make people remember their successes.
Or did they all have Adler’s inferiority complexes and did they only
remember the unsolved tasks as a warning to do better next time? Both
explanations are unsatisfactory.
The word “solution” indicates that a puzzling situation disappears, is
dissolved. With regard to the actions of the obsessional neurotic it has
been realized that the obsessions have to be repeated until their task is
finished. When a death wish is dissolved, psycho-analytically or otherwise,
interest in the performing of the obsessional rites (the “undoing” of
the death wish) will recede into the background and later disappear from
the mind.
If a kitten tries to climb a tree and fails, it repeats its attempts over
ioi
and over again until it succeeds. If a teacher finds mistakes in the pupil’s
work he makes him re-do it, not for the sake of repeating mistakes, but
to train him in the proper solution. Then the situation is completed.
Teacher and pupil lose all interest in it, just as we do after having solved
a cross-word puzzle.
Repeating an action to the point of mastery is the essence of development.
A mechanical repetition without perfection as its aim is contrary to
organic fife, contrary to “creative holism” (Smuts). The interest is held
only as long as the task in hand is unfinished. Once it is completed the
interest disappears till a new task creates interest again. There is no
savings bank from which the organism (as the libido theory suggests) can
draw the required amount of interest.
Compulsory repetitions, too, are by no means automatic. On the
contrary, they are vigorous attempts at solving relevant problems of fife.
The need for a friend is, in itself, a very healthy expression of the desire
for human contact. The permanently disappointed man is wrong only
in so far as he looks for this ideal friend over and over again. He might
deny the unpleasant reality in day-dreams or even in hallucinations; he
might try to become this ideal himself or to mould his friends to it, but
he cannot come to a fulfilment of his desires. He does not see that he
makes a fundamental mistake: he looks for the cause of his failure in the
wrong direction—outside instead of inside himself. He looks upon his
friends as the causes of his disappointment, not realizing that his own
expectations are responsible. The more idealistic his expectations are, the
less they conform to reality, the more difficult the contact problem will
become. This problem will not be solved and the compulsion of repetition
will not cease before he has adjusted his expectations of the impossible
to the possibilities of reality.
The compulsion of repetition is thus nothing mechanical, nothing dead,
but is very much alive. I fail to see how one can deduce from this a mystical
death instinct. This is the one instance where Freud left the solid ground
of science and wandered off into regions of mysticism, as did Jung with
his special development of the libido theory and his conception of the
Collective Unconscious.
It is not for me to find out what made Freud invent this death instinct.
Perhaps illness or approaching old age made him wish for the existence
of such a death instinct which could be discharged in the form of aggres¬
sion. If this theory were correct, anyone sufficiently aggressive would
have the secret of prolonging fife. Dictators would live ad infinitum.
Freud alternatively uses the terms “nirvana” and “death instinct.”
While nothing could justify the conception of the death instinct, the
nirvana instinct might find some justification. One must protest against
the word instinct and apply rather the word tendency. Every need disturbs
the equilibrium of the organism. The instinct indicates the direction in
102
PAST AND PRESENT
which the balance is upset—as Freud has realized with regard to the
sex instinct.
Goethe had a theory similar to Freud’s, but to him not libido, but
destruction, symbolized by Mephistopheles, appeared as the disturber of
man’s “love for unconditional peace.” But this peace is neither uncon¬
ditional nor lasting. Gratification will restore the organismic peace and
balance until—soon enough—another instinct will make its demands.
To mistake the “instinct” for the tendency towards equilibrium is like
mistaking the goods which are being weighed on a pair of scales for the
scales themselves. We might call this inherent urge to come to rest through
gratification of an instinct, “striving for nirvana.”
The postulation of the nirvana “instinct” may also have been the
outcome of wishful thinking. Those short periods in which the scales of
our organism have regained their balance are the moments of peace and
happiness, only too soon to be disturbed by new demands and urges.
Often we would like to isolate this restful feeling from its place in the
instinct-gratification cycle and make it last longer. I understand that
Hindus in their disapproval of the body and its sufferings, in their attempts
to kill all desires, declared the state of nirvana to be the ultimate aim of
our existence. If the striving for nirvana is an instinct, I am at a loss to
see why they have put such an amount of energy and training into achiev¬
ing their aim, since an instinct takes care of itself and does not require
any conscious effort.
A great deal more could be said about the so-called death instinct.1
The insight into its true nature could have been gained long ago, had not
Freud’s pupils, fascinated by his greatness, swallowed everything he said
as a religion—much as I myself did in former years.
(5) This swallowing of mental material brings us to another form of
the past-present relations: the large class of traumatic and introjected
memories.
A simple example is the stupid pupil with the excellent memory, who
learns whole passages by heart and can repeat them easily on the examina¬
tion papers, but is at a loss to explain the meaning of what he has written.
He has taken in the material without assimilating it. Common to this
class of memories which more than anything else has attracted the interest
of Freud is the fact that they all lie in a kind of mental stomach. Three
things can happen: either one vomits this material up (like a reporter),
or defaecates it undigested (projection), or suffers from mental indigestion,
* In my opinion f as well as $ forces are responsible for death, but death is

not responsible for aggression. In the case of the hardening of the arteries a certain
amount of calcium joins in the tissues of the arteries and makes them rigid, thus
disturbing the proper nourishment of the tissues. A simple example of the $
energy is the ulcer of the stomach, where the stomach juices destroy the walls of
the organ.
103
a state which is covered by Freud’s remark, “the neurotic suffers from

memories.”
To understand this mental indigestion fully and to provide a cure
for it, we have to consider the details of hunger instinct and organismic
assimilation. Disturbances in assimilation will—on the psychological side
—promote the development of paranoia and paranoic character. The
examination of this problem will be the pivot of the second part of this
book.
PART TWO
MENTAL METABOLISM
“Any element of a foreign, alien or hostile character introduced into the

Personality creates internal friction, clogs its working and may even end
in completely disorganizing and disintegrating it. The Personality, like
the organism, is dependent for its continuance on a supply of sustenance,
intellectual, social and suchlike, from the environment. But this foreign
material, unless properly metabolized and assimilated by the Personality,
may injure and even prove fatal to it. Just as organic assimilation is
essential to animal growth, so intellectual, moral and social assimilation
on the part of the Personality becomes the central fact in its development
and self-realization. The capacity for this assimilation varies greatly in
individual cases. A Goethe could absorb and assimilate all science and art
and literature.
He could assimilate this vast mass of experience, could make it all his
own, and make it all contribute to that splendour and magnificence of self-
realization which has made him one of the greatest among men.”—
(J. C. Smuts.)
I
HUNGER INSTINCT
If we cut through the three dimensions of a cube of one inch (Figs. I and
II), we are left with eight cubes instead of one; the volume remains the
same, but the surface area is doubled (Fig. III). Fig. I shows a surface
of six square inches; Fig. Ill shows eight cubes, each having six sides
measuring half an inch: 8 X 6 x | X | = 12 square inches. Having thus
107
doubled the surface of the original cube, we can continue the subdivision,
thereby increasing the surface.
The advantage of a large surface is its quick and thorough reaction to
physical and chemical influences. A tablet of aspirin dissolves more
quickly when crushed. A piece of meat, put into a mild acid, requires
a long time to dissolve, for the acid attacks the surface only, leaving the
inside untouched. If it is minced and spread, however, all the substance
will dissolve in the same time as was necessary to penetrate the surface
in the first instance.
This $ plays the major part in the process of food consumption. The
§[, however, is not to be ignored, as it is present in the approach to food
(appetite), in tasting and in certain synthetic chemical reactions within
our organism. These functions are relatively insignificant in the foetus,
but in the post-natal individual they play an ever increasing role.
In the first stage we find the embryo, which is like any other tissue
of the mother; it gets all the food it requires via the placenta and umbilical
cord—the liquified and chemically prepared meal as well as the necessary
amount of oxygen. In the early stages both these foods are delivered to
the tissues without any effort whatsoever on the part of the foetus, while
later the embryo’s heart takes part in the distribution. With birth, the
umbilical cord ceases to function, the life-line between mother and child
is cut, and, in order to keep alive, the newly-born child is faced with tasks
which—simple to us—may be difficult for the little organism. It has to
provide its own oxygen, that is, to start breathing, and it has to incorporate
food. Breaking up solid structures, as shown in the beginning of this
chapter, is not yet required, but the molecules of the proteins, etc., of
the milk have to be chemically reduced and broken up into simpler
substances. There is, however, one conscious active part which the
suckling has to perform: the hanging-on bite.
In the next phase, the baby’s front teeth erupt, and the first means of
attacking solid food appear. These front teeth act as scissors, involving
also the use of the jaw muscles, though in our civilization their use is
often replaced by that of the knife, with a resulting impairment of the
teeth and their function. The task of the teeth is to destroy the food’s
gross structure, as shown in Figs. I to III.
The mother’s nipples become a “thing” to bite on. “Cannibalism,” as
this stage is wrongly called in psycho-analysis, comes into play. The
biting of the nipple may be painful to the mother. Not realizing the
biological nature of the child’s biting impulse, or perhaps having a painful
nipple, the mother may become upset and even smack the “naughty”
child. Repeated smacking will condition the child to an inhibition of
biting. Biting becomes identified with hurting and being hurt. The
retribution trauma, however, is not as frequently encountered as the
traumatic frustration through the withdrawal of the breast (premature or
108
HUNGER INSTINCT
sudden weaning). The more the activity of biting is inhibited, the less
will such a child develop the ability to tackle an object, if and when the
situation calls for it.
In this case a vicious circle is started. The small child cannot repress1
its impulses, nor can it easily resist such a powerful impulse as that of
biting. In the very small child the ego-functions (and with them the ego-
boundaries) are not yet developed. As far as I can see, it has at its disposal
only the means of projection. The child cannot, at this stage, distinguish
between the internal and external world. The expression “projection”
is, therefore, not quite correct, as it means that something that should be
felt in the internal world is experienced as belonging to the external
field; but for practical purposes we may use the word “projection,”
instead of “pre-differential state of projection.” (See Chapter X of
this Part.)
The more the ability to hurt is inhibited and projected, the more will
the child develop a fear of being hurt; and this fear of retaliation, in turn,
will produce a still greater reluctance to inflict pain. In all such cases an
insufficient use of the front teeth is to be found, together with a general
inability to get a grip on life, to get one’s teeth into a task.
Another outlet for the inhibited aggression is “retroflection,” for which
I have reserved a special chapter.
If dental development stopped after the appearance and use of the
front teeth we would be able to bite a biggish lump into small pieces,
but the digestion of such pieces would strain our chemical apparatus and
require considerable time. The finer a substance is ground, the larger is
the surface it presents to chemical action. The task of the molars is to
destroy the lumps of food; mastication is the last stage in the mechanical
preparation for the forthcoming attack by chemicals, by body juices. The
best preparation for proper digestion is to grind the food into an almost
fluid pulp, mixing it thoroughly with saliva.
Few people realize that the stomach is just a kind of skin, unable to
deal with lumps. Sometimes the organism, in order to compensate for
the lack of chewing, produces an excessive quantity of stomach acid and
pepsin. This adjustment, however, entails the danger of the development
of a gastric or duodenal ulcer.
The different stages in the development of the hunger instinct may be
classified as pre-natal (before birth), pre-dental (suckling), incisor (biting)
and molar (biting and chewing) stages. Before going into the details of
the psychological aspect of these different stages, I should like to dwell
on a theme touched on before—the theme of impatience. Many adults
treat solid food “as if” it were liquid, to be swallowed in gulps. Such
people are always characterized by impatience. They demand the im-
1 Repression is originally based upon the control of the closing muscles of
mouth, anus and urethra.
J09
mediate gratification of their hunger—they have not developed an interest

in destroying solid food. Their impatience is combined with greediness
and inability to achieve satisfaction, a fact we shall illustrate later.
In order to realize the close relation between greed and impatience,
one has only to watch the suckling’s excitement, greed and impatience
when he drinks. The contact function of the suckling is confined to the
hanging-on bite, the rest of the feeding is confluence (fluere = to flow).
When adults are very thirsty they behave in a similar way without seeing
anything wrong in it. But people who gulp solid food mistake solids for
fluids, with the result that they neither develop the ability to chew, to
work anything through, nor the ability to stand suspense.
Compare the impatient eater (who will of course always find an excuse
for his haste, such as “having no time”) with the person waiting for the
tram. To the mind of the greedy eater the filling of the mouth is as much
a “figure” as the tram is to someone impatiently waiting for it. In both
cases the confluence, here the flowing together of image and reality, is ex¬
pected, and remains the primary urge. The filling of the mouth does not
recede into the background, as it should do, and the pleasure of tasting
and destroying food does not become the centre of interest—the
“figure.”
Above all, the destructive tendency, which should have its natural
biological outlet in the use of the teeth, remains ungratified. We find
here the same plus and minus functions as in avoidances. The destructive
function, although in itself not an instinct but a very powerful instrument
of the hunger instinct is “sublimated”—turned away from the object
“solid food.” It evinces itself in harmful ways, such as killing, waging
of wars, cruelty, etc., or, by means of retroflection, as self-torture and
even self-destruction.
Purely mental experiences (wishes, phantasies, day-dreams) are often
treated “as if” they were objective realities. In obsessional and other
neuroses one can, for instance, notice that a wish to do something forbidden
is treated and punished by the conscience in a similar way as the real
misdeed is punished by the legal authorities. As a matter of fact, many
neurotics cannot differentiate between an imaginary and a real misdeed.
In the psychoses the confluence of imagination and reality often
leads the patient not only to expect, but to inflict real punishment for
imaginary deeds.
Hunger for mental and emotional food behaves like physical hunger:
K. Horney observes correctly that the neurotic is permanently greedy for
affection, but that his greed is never satisfied. One decisive factor in this
behaviour of the neurotic is that he does not assimilate the affection
offered to him. He either refuses to accept it, or he deprecates it, so that
it becomes distasteful or valueless to him as soon as he has obtained it.
Furthermore, tins impatient, greedy attitude is responsible more than
11 o
HUNGER INSTINCT
anything else for the excessive stupidity we find in the world. Just as
such people have no patience to chew up real food, so they do not take
sufficient time to “chew up” mental food.
As modem times promote hasty eating to a large extent, it is not sur¬
prising to learn that a great astronomer said: “Two things are infinite,
as far as we know—the universe and human stupidity.” To-day we know
that this statement is not quite correct. Einstein has proved that the
universe is limited.
II
RESISTANCES
The libido-theory maintains that the evolution of the sexual instinct

passes through an oral and an anal stage, and that disturbances or fixations
during these phases prevent the development of a healthy sex fife. Both
observation and theoretical considerations compel me to contradict this
hypothesis. If a person’s main interest lies in his oral or anal functions,
this amount of interest might diminish his sexual interests; and if sexual
taboos are accepted, the interest in eating and—at least in our civilization
—in defaecation might increase. The oral and anal characters are often
the results of push and pull—away from the genitals, and towards the
alimentary openings.
To take the genital character as the highest form of development is
quite arbitrary. Reich, for instance, by glorifying sexual potency, gives
the impression of building up an ideal not existing in reality. I agree
with him that any disturbance in the function of the orgasm will, at the
same time, disturb other functions of the personality, but so will any dis¬
turbance of the ego-functions, of the hunger instinct, and, as F. M.
Alexander and Reich himself have shown, of the motoric system. I have
treated cases of hysteria in which the sexual difficulties were overcome
very quickly—yet their analysis proved to be difficult because of their
badly developed ego-functions.
Within our civilization we certainly find typical oral and anal characters,
but we do not find many references to the anal complex in the Bible or
among many primitive races. Defaecation has become a nuisance, and
since the discovery that the faeces act as germ-carriers in typhoid,
cholera, etc., they have become subject to a hygienic taboo and are
deeply despised. We find the opposite anal behaviour among the
Chinese, where it is not shameful to defaecate on the host’s field; on the
contrary, it is regarded as a favour, for dung is scarce and therefore
highly esteemed.
Though classifying human beings into oral, anal and genital characters,
psycho-analysis has never concerned itself with the different forms of
resistance correlated to those three types. Oral and genital resistances
are neglected, and every resistance is seen as an anal resistance, as an
unwillingness to give away, or as a tendency to keep back one’s mental,
emotional and physical contents. Freud treated his patients like children
i i 2
RESISTANCES
sitting on the chamber-pot, persuading, urging them to bring out whatever

was in their minds without yielding to their embarrassment.
If we acknowledge difficulties in the oral and genital behaviour of a
person, would we not look for resistances specific to these types? A
genital resistance need not necessarily be meanness, which is a typical
anal resistance. A person who masturbates does not always avoid inter¬
course for fear of losing his precious semen—his resistance might be
due to shyness, or fear of contagion or other genital resistances of which
frigidity and sexual impotence are typical results.
In the oral type we find cases of obvious oral resistances dovetailed
with insufficient development of the biting functions. A primitive oral
resistance is hunger-strike, either conscious, as in prisons (in order to
enforce certain demands), or unconscious, in the form of lack of appetite.
If a husband is annoyed with his wife, his aggression may not go into his
teeth, his temper may not find its way into tackling but into refusing
her food—“he just can’t swallow one bite.” I have just come across a
reference showing that W. Faulkner found local contractions (spasms) of
the oesophagus in people receiving unpleasant news, and it is obvious
that they resisted the swallowing of unpalatable information.
An oral resistance of outstanding importance is disgust. It is (mainly
as fed-up-ness) a leading symptom in neurasthenia. Repressed disgust
plays an essential part in the paranoic character. I observed a border¬
line case between paranoia and a paranoic character who suffered from
recurrent vomiting but without the emotional experience of disgust.
No “organic” foundations could be found. Disgust is essentially a human
phenomenon. Although some observations on animals (mainly domesti¬
cated) exist in this direction, one can, as a general rule, say that for the
animal there is no need to return food which it dislikes. It does not eat
any food for which it has not a craving. According to the instinct theory
represented in this book, a piece of meat lying in a meadow does not
exist for the cow, it never becomes “figure,” it is not eaten and therefore
cannot produce disgust. In the training of the human being, however,
disgust plays an important part.
Disgust means the non-acceptance, the emotional refusal of food by
the organism proper, whether the food be really in the stomach or throat,
or only imagined to be there. It has, so to say, escaped the censorship
of taste and got as far as the stomach. If a person seeing some putrefied
matter (or whatever arouses his aversion) is disgusted, he behaves “as
though” the disgusting material were already in his stomach. He has
sensations varying from slight discomfort to biliousness—he might even
vomit, although the disgusting matter is actually outside him. This kind
of resistance belongs to the class of annihilation. Disgust signifies the
undoing of the oral contact, parting from something which has become a
part of ourselves—“and the Lord spat him out of His mouth.”
i 13 H
Disgust at the faeces is the emotional motive behind the training of

the child in cleanliness, and though originally an oral resistance, it forms
the nucleus of the anal complex. The child becomes estranged from its
own physical products and the process of producing them.1
An additional resistance, a resistance against resistance, is of special
importance: the repression of disgust. For example, a child who thoroughly
dislikes certain food, might feel disgusted, and vomit it up. The child is
punished, for it is supposed to eat everything, and is forced, again and
again, to eat food it dislikes. So, looking for a way out of the conflict it
gulps the food down quickly (in order to avoid the disgusting taste), and
tries, mostly successfully after a time, not to taste anything at all. Thus
it develops a lack of taste, an oral frigidity. I intentionally use the term
frigidity, as this process is very similar to that by which a woman, afraid
for various reasons of her genital sensations, develops frigidity, thus
enabling her, on the one hand, to “suffer” the sexual approach of the
man, and, on the other, sparing her the conflicts which would arise between
them, were she to yield to her disgust and fear.
I have only touched on the question of oral, anal and genital resistances,
and I shall have more to say, especially about the dental resistance, for
I maintain that the use of the teeth is the foremost biological representation
of aggression. The projection, but also the repression of (or the resistance
to) their aggressive functions is largely responsible for the deplorable
state of our civilization.
Before entering the discussion of this phenomenon, however, I have to
emphasize once more that it is difficult for most people to accept the
structural similarity of mental and physical processes. One who takes
for granted the theory, or rather the superstition that mind and body
are two different things, joined together, will not easily be convinced of
the correctness of holistic thinking. Accepting the indivisibility of the
organism for situations only in which it suits you, does not mean that
you “have” it. As long as you accept holism with your brain only, and
believe in it in an abstract non-committal way, you will be surprised and
fall back upon your scepticism each time you come into contact with
physico-mental facts.
The statement that a person without the proper taste for food will
also show lack of taste—or, as people say, show “bad” taste—in things
concerning art, clothing, etc., might provoke a great deal of argument.
Without a considerable amount of observations it will be difficult to
1 Its disinterested and insensitive attitude towards its own product provides a
perfect preparation for the life of the modern industrial worker, whose output is
treated similarly to the faeces of the child. As soon as it has been produced, it
is removed without arousing any interest. In striking contrast stands the case of
the medieval arusan, who had personal contact with his work and who saw his
products valued by others.
RESISTANCES
appreciate the fact that our attitude towards food has a tremendous
influence upon intelligence, upon the ability to understand things, to
get a grip on life and to put one’s teeth into the tasks on hand.
Anyone not using his teeth will cripple his ability to use his destructive
functions for his own benefit. He will weaken his teeth, and contribute
to their decay. The fact that he does not thoroughly prepare his physical
food for assimilation will have repercussions on his characterological
structure and mental activities. In the worst cases of dental under¬
development people remain, as it were, sucklings throughout life. Although
we seldom encounter anyone who has remained a complete suckling, who
never makes some use of his teeth, we find many people who restrict
their dental activities to soft food which liquifies easily, or to crisp food,
which conveys the feeling that the teeth are being used but which does
not require the investment of any substantial amount of effort.
The suckling at the mother’s breast is a parasite, and persons who
retain this attitude during a life-time remain unrestricted parasites (e.g.
blood-suckers, vamps or gold-diggers). They always expect something for
nothing; they have not attained the balance necessary for the fife of an
adult, the principle of give and take.
As people are not likely to get very far with such a character, they
either cloak it, or pay for it indirectly. These people are recognized by
their exaggerated modesty and lack of back-bone. At table, such an
inhibited parasite is embarrassed with every dish offered to him, but
closer observation will soon reveal the greed behind the modesty. He
snatches sweets when no one is watching, and he will emerge slyly and
very apologetically with ever increasing demands. Give him an inch and
he will take an ell. The smallest favour he does is inflated to a sacrifice,
for which he expects to be rewarded by gratitude and praise. His gifts
are mostly empty promises, clumsy flatteries and servile behaviour.
His opposite is the over-compensated parasite who does not take
food for granted, but lives in a permanent unconscious fear of starvation.
He is often found among public servants, who sacrifice their individuality
and independence in exchange for security. He lies at the breast of the
state, relying on an old age pension, and thereby having his food secured
for the rest of his days. A similar anxiety compels many to accumulate
money, and still more money, in order that the interest (milk) of the
capital (mother) may flow unceasingly.
So much for the characterological side of the picture. The finding of
origins in the past is not identical with a cure for the present. Historical
thinking merely helps to understand the parasitic character. The mere
realization of his under-development (the feel of it, as I call it; or the
transposition from the Unconscious into the Conscious, as Freud calls
it), may make the patient either feel ashamed of, or accept his oral character.
Only by learning how to apply his biting tools, the teeth, will he be
115
enabled to overcome his under-development. His aggression is thereby put

to work in its proper biological place; it is neither sublimated, nor exagger¬
ated, nor is it suppressed; therefore it harmonizes with his personality.
There can be no doubt that mankind suffers from suppressed individual
aggression and has become the executor and the victim of tremendous
amounts of released collective aggression. Anticipating a thesis to be
proved later, I might say: Biological aggression has turned into paranoic
aggression.
Intensified paranoic aggression is an attempt to re-digest projections.
It is felt as irritation, rage or a wish to destroy or to conquer. It is not
experienced as dental aggression, as belonging to the alimentary sphere,
but is directed as personal aggression against another person, or against a
collection of individuals, acting as screens for the projections.
People who condemn aggression and yet know that repressions are
harmful, advise sublimation of aggression, as prescribed by the psycho¬
analysis for the libido. But can one advocate sublimation of aggression,
at any price?
With sublimated libido one cannot propagate a child—with sublimated
aggression one does not assimilate food.
The re-establishment of the biological functions of aggression is, and
remains, the solution of the aggression problem. Very often, however,
we have to resort to sublimation of aggression, usually in cases of emer¬
gency. If a person suppresses aggression (which is thus not at his disposal)
as in cases of obsessional neurosis, if he bottles up his rage, we have to
find an outlet. We have to give him an opportunity of letting off steam.
Punching a ball, chopping wood, or any kind of aggressive sport, such
as football, will sometimes work wonders.1
Aggression has one aim in common with most emotions: not senseless
discharge, but rather application. Emotions may be surpluses of the
organism (i.e. the organism may have the urge to get rid of them), but
there is a distinct difference between emotions and mere waste matter.
The organism has to get rid of certain waste matter, such as urine, and it
does not care where and how it achieves this end—but there is no bio¬
logical contact between urine and the outside world.3 Most emotions, on
1 A woman once complained to me that, although she liked her husband, she
was always irritable with him when he came home, and every night they had un¬
pleasant scenes. I advised her to scrub the floors in the afternoon, and the next day
she told me with pride that her floors had never before looked so nice and clean
I asked her about her husband, and she said: “Oh! yes I quite forgot to tell you—
it was the first nice evening we have spent together for years.”
Another less pleasant way of sublimating aggression is shown by the fate of
galley slaves. When whipped by the overseer, they were, of course, enraged against
him, but their only outlet was to vent their wrath on the oars, and this application
was exactly the purpose the whipping was meant to achieve.
1 The connection between urinating and extinguishing fire, as remarked upon,
by Freud, is not a biological, but a cultural phenomenon.
I I6
RESISTANCES
the other hand, require the world as object. One may choose a substitute
such as stroking a dog instead of a friend, as affection needs some kind of
contact; but, like other emotions, it will not give satisfaction if it is sense¬
lessly discharged.
In the case of sublimated aggression, an object is easily procured:
a problem may be a hard nut to crack, the drill of a bore bites into metal,
the teeth of the saw cut wood. All these are excellent outlets for aggression,
but they will never equal dental aggression, the application of which will
serve several purposes: one rids oneself of irritability and does not punish
oneself by sulking and starving—one develops intelligence, and has a
good conscience, because one has done something “good for one’s
health.”
I have stated that aggression is mainly a function of the hunger instinct.
In principle, aggression can be part of any instinct—take, for example,
the part that aggression plays in the pursuit of the sexual object. The
terms destruction, aggression, hatred, rage and sadism are used in psycho¬
analytical literature almost as synonyms, and one never knows definitely
whether reference is made to an emotion, to a function, or to a perversion.
Though our knowledge is not sufficiently advanced for clear-cut dis¬
tinctions, we should nevertheless try to bring some kind of order into
this terminology.
If the hunger tension becomes high, the organism marshals the forces
at its disposal. The emotional aspect of this state is first experienced as
undifferentiated irritability, then as anger, and finally as rage. Rage is
not identical with aggression but it finds its outlet in aggression, in the
innervation of the motoric system, as the means of conquering the needed
object. After the “kill,” the food itself has to be attacked; the tools, the
teeth, are ever ready, but they require the motoric forces to do the job.
Sadism belongs to the sphere of “sublimated” aggression, and is mostly
found mixed with sexual impulses.
The sublimation of the hunger instinct is, in some ways, easier, and in
some ways more difficult, than that of the sex instinct: easier in that we
always find objects for aggression (all work, especially all manual labour,
sublimates aggression—a non-aggressive blacksmith or wood-cutter is a
paradox). Sublimation is more difficult in so far as dental aggression always
requires an object. Self-sufficiency, as it is sometimes found in connection
with the sex instinct, cannot exist. There are people who live a sex life
without any object in reality, contented with phantasies, masturbation
and nocturnal emissions, but nobody can gratify the hunger instinct
without real objects, without food. Freud gives a convincing illustration
of this fact in the story of the dog and the sausage,1 but again he takes it
* For a considerable time one can make a dog pull a cart, just by dangling a
sausage before his nose; but sometimes one actually has to give the dog something
to eat!
I 17
as proof for the urgency, not of the hunger, but of the sex instinct and the
impossibility of its frustration.
There is not the slightest justification for calling only the sex instinct
an object instinct. Aggression is at least as much object-bound as sex,
and it can in the same way as love (in narcissism or in masturbation)
have the “Self” as object. They both may become “retroflected.”
i i8
Ill
RETROFLECTION AND CIVILIZATION
Our plight began with Moses. No religion contains such an overwhelming

number of rules regulating the consumption of food as the Mosaic one.
Some of them, like the taboo on eating pork, appear to be rationally
justified by later scientific discoveries; but it is nevertheless quite possible
that Moses imposed his food laws because he himself was very fussy about
it, and either generalized his dislikes or wanted to make sure that the
tithe (the io per cent of the food the priests received) suited his taste.
In addition there is an irrational factor which complicates the picture.
The Jew makes a distinction between two classes of food “milky” and
“meaty.” This corresponds to the distinction between the food of the
suckling and that of the “biteling,” whose desire to eat its mother must
be stopped. Thus dental aggression, though not entirely prohibited, is
strictly limited and regulated, and remains partly unexpressed. This
unexpressed aggression must have stimulated the opposition of the
Jews against their leader.
Every privileged class has to fear the aggression of the oppressed class,
and Moses rightly considered such aggression (which he unconsciously
enhanced by his food regulations) as a danger to himself. If the aggressive
tension of an oppressed class becomes too strong, the rulers usually divert
it towards some outside enemy. They stir up a war or look for a scape¬
goat in some other class, race or creed. Moses, however, used another
trick: retroflection.
Primitive tribes pray to their fetishes for help in their distress, and the
fetish, should it turn out to be ineffectual, is discarded. The ancient
Greeks behaved similarly, but their gods were too well established to be
ejected, and, besides, there were so many of them. Thus, if one felt
frustrated or cheated by one god, one switched over to another and
became his customer. In order not to become the object of such disloyal
behaviour, the dictator—Moses—projecting himself into Jehovah declared
Him to be the only god. Once he was infuriated when, during his absence,
the Jews built a rival god, the Golden Calf, a god they could see and
touch—and one which has remained till to-day, though not openly
worshipped as such. To secure his leadership, Moses applied the trick
of retro fleeting the aggression.
Retroflection means that some function which originally is directed
119
from the individual towards the world, changes its direction and is bent
back towards the originator. An example is the narcissist a person who
instead of directing his love outwards to an object falls in love with
himself.1 2
Whenever a verb is used in connection with a reflexive pronoun, we
may look for a retroflection; if a person talks to “himself,” he does so
instead of talking to someone else. If a girl, disappointed by her lover,
kills “herself,” she does so because her wish to kill him is retroflected
by the wall of her conscience. Suicide is a substitute for homicide or
murder.3
W e understand now what Moses achieved by retroflecting the aggression
of his followers. The religious Jew does not blame Jehovah for any
failure or misfortune. He does not tear out His hair, does not belabour
His chest he retroflects his own annoyance, blames himself for every
mishap, tears his own hair, beats his own chest.3
This retroflected aggression was the first step in the development of
our paranoic civilization. The “means whereby” for the “end gain”
of repression came into existence. This repression starts a vicious cycle.
With the help of retroflected aggression, another wave of aggression is
stifled and again retroflected, and so it goes on.
Moses intention was apparently to do away with aggression only as
far as it threatened his authority. In the Christian religion, however, the
process develops further: all instincts must be repressed, and a split
between body and soul is inaugurated; the body as the carrier of the
instincts is despised and condemned as sinful. Sometimes even exercises
are prescribed to deaden the body and its functions.
At the same time another mistake is made. The emotional equivalent
of aggression is hatred. Instead of allowing outlets for aggression the
dogma is introduced that hatred can be compensated, or even replaced,
by love; but in spite of, or perhaps because of, vigorous training in
charity, increased intolerance and aggression result. These effects are not
neutralized by love, but directed against the “body” and against those
who do not believe in the truth of that special branch of religion. This
mistake, this belief that one can neutralize aggression by love and religion
1 Psycho-analysis acknowledges two kinds of narcissism, primary and secondary.

The term narcissism should be reserved for what psycho-analysis calls “secondary”
narcissism. The “primary narcissism” has nothing to do with the behaviour of
the Greek youth, who retroflected the love for his twin sister on to himself. In
“primary narcissism” there is no retroflection. It is identical with what I call
senso-motoric awareness.
2 Retroflection shows a dialectical complication, which can be neglected in this
context, but will be dealt with in the last part of this book.
3 If the Jews would call a halt to such retroflection and turn their aggression
into its original direction, they would attack Moses-Jehovah; with this their
religion would fall to pieces, but so would their melancholia.
120
RETROFLECTION AND CIVILIZATION
gains increased significance in our present time. Two writers of high

distinction, A. Huxley and H. Rauschning, are completely at a loss as
to what to do with aggression. They, too, see no other way of dealing with
it than by prescribing idealism, love and religion.
After aggression had been suppressed, the body disavowed and the
“soul” glorified, the age of industrialism brought about a new difficulty:
to-day the soul of the workman is of no interest to the manufacturer.
He needs the functions of the “body” only, and especially of those parts
of the organism that are required for the work (factory hands; Charlie
Chaplin in Modern Times). Thus devitalization progresses further:
individuality is being killed. This process affects highly specialized workers
as well, upsetting the harmony of their personality.
More and more activities are projected on to, and invested in, the
machine which thus assumes a power and life of its own.1 It joins hands
with religion and industrialism, joins in the destruction of mankind:
every time we use a lift or a motor car the leg muscles become slightly
more atrophied, or at least, lose the opportunity of becoming stronger.
That the wholesale destruction of mankind is not yet done by machines
is really a miracle, but it has already been demonstrated ad nauseam that
tanks and aeroplanes are more important than mere man-power.
This is what we call progress!
* The usefulness of machines (like that of religion and other projections) is

more than compensated for by its disadvantages.
I 2 I
■
MENTAL FOOD
In addition to the characterological and social results of dental inhibition,

there is a further consequence: Stupefaction. Without understanding this
fact, we cannot comprehend why the majority of mankind fail to notice
the decay of civilization.
“Though the mills of God grind slowly, they grind exceedingly small.”
Man is crushed between the jaws of war and exploitation, in spite of all
the advantages of civilization and in spite of all the delusions with which
our pride in “progress” tries to drown the “discontent within our civiliza¬
tion.” Our despair of finding salvation remains unabated, the dream of
regaining lost contact with Nature is still a dream, while every attempt
to have recourse to religion, to a creed, whether it be communism, fascism,
theosophy, psycho-analysis or philosophy, will break down sooner or
later. It will either lead to contradictions within the very systems, or
clash with reality, with collective destruction.
The Christian religions attach the utmost importance to faith. They
maintain: faith is power, belief is virtue. Criticism is forbidden; inde¬
pendent thinking is heresy.
What has this to do with dental inhibition? The rite of the Lord’s
Supper provides the answer to this question. With the aid of projection
the believer experiences the hallucination that a wafer is the body of
Christ he projects his phantasy of Christ into the wafer and incorporates
(introjects) this image afterwards. In some churches he has to swallow
the wafer without touching it with his teeth. If he bit and tasted, the
wafer would become an ordinary wafer, a banal piece of food, and the
symbolic illusion of the procedure would be destroyed. The sense of this
ceremony is essentially a training in gulping down whatever Religion
preaches.
This attitude is adopted not only in religion, but also in the education
of children, by asking them to swallow any nonsense such as the story
of the stork and babies. Genuine interest is often squashed: “Curiosity
killed the cat.” In Germany, where the only mental food for the people
is provided by the government (mainly through newspapers and radio),
the average German “goebbels” down whatever is dished out to him;
he consumes and absorbs the Nazi slogans and ideologies to the same
degree as his chewing powers, his critical attitude is impaired. Even if
122
MENTAL FOOD
mental assimilation is imperfect, aliquid semper haeret, something must

enter the system, particularly when it is presented to people who suffered
traumatic food experiences during and after the last war.
Nazi propaganda sees to it that the mental food should be such as will
go down easily. Its promises, flatteries and “sweets” for vanity, like the
“Herrenrasse theory,” are eagerly swallowed. Aggression and cruelty are
first “sublimated” on Jews and Bolsheviks, then on small, and finally on
big nations.
My experiences in psycho-analysis were influenced by my own oral
under-development. Believing, as I previously did, in the libido-theory
(especially in Reich’s ideal of the genital character), and not realizing its
implications, I made a kind of phallic religion of it, rationalized and
justified by what seemed a sound scientific foundation. By chewing
psycho-analytical theories, however, and by pondering over every un¬
digested morsel, I found myself becoming more and more capable of
assimilating its valuable parts, and of discarding its errors and artificial
constructions. As this process is still going on, this book, at least in parts,
must needs be of a sketchy character. It may contain contradictions which
have escaped my observation; but since this new approach (though it
merely covers a fraction of the organismic functions) has already met
with good practical results in refractory cases and with enthusiasm from
people who certainly showed no signs of a “positive transference,” I
decided that it was time to draw attention to the necessity of a “psycho¬
analysis” of the hunger instinct and the disturbances of mental assimilation.
The mental metabolism must be low in those extreme cases of dental
inhibition provided by that type which is over-fond of sweets, swallows
only the easiest mental food (like magazine stories), and is incapable of
digesting anything that requires thinking or that has a remote resemblance
to science or “highbrow” literature. Such people, however, have at
least the sound instinct not to swallow things which do not agree with
them, in contrast to those who gulp down mental food and retain un¬
destroyed morsels in their mental intestines. As they cannot stomach
them they usually vomit them up and constantly repeat them. The am¬
biguous meaning of the word “repeat” indicates the indigestibility of
such “brought-up” material.
An example of this type is the average reporter. He rushes through
the town, greedy for news, but does not use the acquired knowledge for
himself. He does not enrich his own personality, but spits out what he
has learned in the pages of next morning’s paper. People who compile
compendia are often of the same type. They bring up other people’s
knowledge, but its assimilation, the real “having” of it, remains very
small. Gossiping is a further example. Here, however, the woman who
reports the latest scandal to her girl friend often adds quite a dose of gall
to her acid remarks.
123
ego, hunger and aggression
The last examples do not belong to the complete-dental-inhibition

group. They refer to people who use their front teeth, but not the
grinding molars. They have morsels in their stomach, but not big
lumps.
For the psycho-analytical situation, too, the correlation of mental and
dental behaviour is of great importance. Frequently a person who is
being analysed, tells after the interview all his interesting experiences to
his wife or friends. He may think (and herein fool even the analyst) that
his behaviour is a sign of interest in the treatment, but the analyst soon
discovers that the patient has accepted very little of his statements; by
reporting the details of the interview to someone else the patient gets
rid of all he has taken in, and nothing remains to be assimilated. So it is
small wonder that the cure makes very little progress.
Observations of this nature may have induced Freud to remark that
the interpretations alone are insufficient, as the patient does not really
accept them; but except for the “transference” slogan, Freud omits to
show how interpretations are accepted, and which resistances prevent
the patient from digesting the mental food. I have not found any remark
showing concern about the details on which the patient’s willingness and
ability to accept the analyst’s words depend. Although under the influence
of “positive transference” (enthusiasm), the patient is more prepared to
accept interpretations, it is equally true that he will react with hostility
if the analyst says something distasteful to him. This reaction is a spon¬
taneous defensive impulse, and not the sudden appearance of “negative
transference.”
No one can easily accept interpretations of his repressed Unconscious,
i.e. of those parts of one’s personality one avoids facing by every means.
If one could, there would be no need for repressions and projections.
Thus the demand that the patient should accept exactly what he wants
to avoid is paradoxical. Reich’s method of trying to bring home the
truth through concentration on the armour is certainly progress, which,
however, is largely undone by pushing the mental food down the patient’s
throat, by mocking and even bullying. By brushing aside the oral resistances
and making the patient swallow ideas which he cannot digest, artificial
attitudes and actions are induced instead of an organic development of
the personality. I had occasion to observe this fact on twro of Reich’s
former patients.
In contrast to Reich, the orthodox psycho-analyst pretends to demand
nothing from the patient, but actually demands the impossible—namely,
the compliance with the basic rule and the acceptance of his interpretations.
My advice is to deal not with the Unconscious but, as far as possible,
with the Ego. Once a better functioning of the Ego is achieved, and the
ability to concentrate is restored, the patient will be more willing to co¬
operate in the conquest of the Unconscious. The readiness with which
124
MENTAL FOOD
a person considers the statements of someone else depends largely upon

his oral development and freedom from oral resistances.
The simplest form of oral resistance is direct avoidance. Children close
their mouths tightly when they are asked to eat something distasteful to
them, just as they close their ears with their hands whenever they do
not want to listen. As adults are usually better versed in the technique
of politeness and hypocrisy, it is often difficult to distinguish whether
they are genuinely uninterested (no mental appetite lack of figure-
background formation), or merely repressing a potential interest. Such
inhibitions of contact are: ignoring the presence of others; mind wander¬
ing; polite, but indifferent listening; pretence of interest; obsessional
contradicting. In everyday life one often hears the remark: What did
you say? I have been miles away! Please say it again. This does not
happen if a person is interested—if the topic suits his taste.
No one sends out messages without being reasonably sure that they
will reach their destination. How can the analyst be sure that a patient
who says “yes, yes” all the time, has received the message—for instance
an interpretation? In order to establish a sound mental appetite and
assimilation, we have to recondition our patient; we have to correct his
“wrong” attitude towards physical and mental food. But we cannot
correct a “wrong” attitude without:
(1) Providing the contrast of the “right” one. ^ ^
(2) Realizing that to the feeling of familiarity we give the term right
and to the feeling of strangeness the name “wrong” (F. M. Alex¬
ander). Our conscious feeling is usually not right, but righteous.
The phase of the so-called “negative transference” coincides with
the patient’s or pupil’s unwillingness to part with his familiar
thoughts and feelings. What the analyst or teacher says at that
stage sounds “wrong” to him. „
(3) Draining the “energies” and fixations from the “wrong” and
opening the road for the “right” behaviour.
One seldom accepts an opinion contrary to one s own conviction;
this is readily observed in every discussion. Therefore I do not take it
for granted that the patient will accept what I say, but make it my task
to pay not less attention to his oral resistances than is usually given to the
anal ones. For many cases I consider it as bad analytic technique to say a
few sentences only at the end of the session, leaving it to chance whether
the analyst’s resume or interpretations are accepted or not. True enough,
if one keeps the patients mentally starved for a whole hour, some will be
hungry to hear what the analyst has to say: but those who can be treated
in this summary way are the exceptions. In the majority of cases one has
to watch carefully the oral resistances, and one has to differentiate between
the hopeless situation of complete lack of interest and the promising
125
one, in which the patient’s interest is merely inhibited. If I notice mind-

wandering I ask the patient to repeat what I have said. He will soon
realize his lack of contact and his inattentiveness; and with patience one
can induce him to remember bits and pieces—to recall half-heard sentences
and to rehash them. By this method he regains much material which he
would otherwise have lost. Once patients realize their inattentiveness,
the cure of their “bad memory” begins.
On the other hand, if there is a resistance against the resistance—if,
for instance, the patient forces himself to listen like a student to a tedious
lecture—he might suffer torture, and as he takes it in without appetite
he will derive little benefit. The analyst must have a clear idea of the
patient’s digestive tolerance, and dose his mental medicine and food
accordingly. “Sweets,” e.g. praise in the proper place, will be useful in
showing appreciation of a genuine effort in a difficult situation (Adler’s
encouragement). Sometimes a patient is fed with such an amount of psycho¬
analytical wisdom, that he gets “fed up,” disgusted with the analyst,
and leaves the analysis. Subsequently a miraculous improvement might
take place which is not seldom attributed to non-analytical circumstances.
What actually happened is that the “hoarded” material has afterwards
been assimilated, and the knowledge acquired through—but away from—
the analytical treatment has enabled the former patient to solve his conflicts
on his own.
An oral resistance well known to the analyst is the intellectual resistance.
Everything the analyst says is accepted and the patient talks very intelli¬
gently with pleasing readiness about analytical theories—about his incest
wishes, his anal complex, etc. He advances as many childhood memories
as the analyst may like, but everything is “thought” and not “felt.”
This type has an intellectual stomach like the rumen of a cow. The wisdom,
although ruminated, does not pass through the intestinal walls and never
reaches the tissues of the organism proper. Nothing is ever assimilated,
nothing reaches the personality, but all remains in the mental rumen—
the brain. Such greed for knowledge is deceptive. These intellectuals
can swallow anything, but they do not develop a proper taste, an opinion
of their own; they are ever ready to hang on to this or that “ism” as
their specific dummy (cf. Chapter VI). When they switch over from one
intellectual dummy to another, it is not that they have assimilated the
content of one “ism” and are ready for new mental food. The old dummy
has become distasteful to them mostly as a result of disappointment,
and they get hold of another “ism,” with the deceptive hope that the
new dummy will be more satisfactory.
When they bring forward their empty theories, the analyst should
make them explain in detail what they really mean. He should even
embarrass them by making them realize the contrast between their
complicated phrases and little meanings. Only if they learn to chew and
126
MENTAL FOOD
taste every word they speak, and if, at the same time, they feel the un¬
destroyed morsels of food—of the real food—going down their throat, is
there a hope of their understanding or assimilating what the “ism” means.
Only those who grind their mental food so thoroughly, that they get
the full value of it, will be able to assimilate and reap the benefit of a
difficult idea or situation. Everyone will gain much more for his knowledge
and intelligence by reading one good book six times than by reading six
good books once. The chewing applies likewise to criticism: if someone
is touchy, and his dental aggression projected, every critical opinion is
experienced as an attack and this often results in inability to stand even
benevolent criticism. When, however, dental aggression is functioning
biologically, one does not shun, one even welcomes, criticism. One cannot
learn much from careless praise, but criticism may contain something
constructive, thus converting even the most mischievous attack into a
benefit. Criticism should be neither refused, nor swallowed, but should
be chewed up carefully and should in every case be taken into consideration.
127
V
INTROJECTION
Those to whom I have shown the importance of the analysis of the hunger
instinct the structural similarity of the phases of our food consumption
with our mental absorption of the world—have been surprised that Freud
should have missed this point. Compared with the fact that Freud dis-
co\ered the implications and complications of sexual repression, this is
of minor importance. After the complete analysis of one group of instincts,
the analysis of other groups was bound to follow sooner or later. The
material which Freud had at his disposal for building up his theories was
P°or and faulty (e.g. the association psychology’). Though I consider the
libido theory to be out of date, I am not blind to the fact that it was the
most important step in the development of psycho-pathology, and had
Freud not concentrated on it, psycho-analysis might never have been
bom.
Many people, expecting an integration of their Weltanschauung from
the study of man’s objective and subjective worlds, have tried to make
the body of their philosophy walk on two legs—Marxism and Freudism.
They have tried to build bridges between the two systems, but failed to
see that the economical complications with which Marx was concerned
resulted from the instinct of self-preservation. Although fully realizing
man s basic need for food, clothes and shelter, Marx did not follow up
the implications of the hunger instinct in the same way as Freud did
with the sex impulses—his sphere of research was mainly that of social
relations and only rarely the individual.
Little has been said in communist and socialist literature about sexual
needs and problems about the instinct of race-preservation—compared
with what is written about the feeding problem—starvation, self-preserva¬
tion or reproduction of working power. Freud has sexualized the hunger
instinct, whereas communism passed through a period when sex problems
were looked upon ‘as if” they belonged to the sphere of hunger (glass-
of-w ater-theory), just as many people in our civilization speak of sexual
appetite and thus confound sex instinct and hunger instinct.
The psycho-analysis of Alarxism has as little influence on economic
issues, as the Marxist denotation of psycho-analysis as a product of
bourgeois idealism diminishes the value of Frued’s findings. Declaring the
castration complex to be the mechanism by which the oppressed classes
128
INTROJECTION
arc kept down—as Reich does—is as arbitrary as assuming that neuroses

will automatically disappear in a classless society.
Marx was in a way a forerunner of Freud: “Marx discovered the simple
fact (heretofore hidden beneath ideological overgrowths) that human
beings must have food, drink, clothing and shelter first of all, before
they can interest themselves in politics, science, art, religion and the
like. This implies that the production of the immediately requisite material
means cubsistence, and therewith the existing phase of development of
a nation or an epoch, constitutes the foundation upon which the state
institutions, the legal outlook, the artistic and even the religious ideas
are built up. It implies that these latter must be explained out of the
former whereas the former have usually been explained as issuing from
the latter.” (F. Engels.)
This is the common basis of Freud and Marx: the needs of man (for
Freud the instincts of race preservation and for Marx the instincts of
self-preservation) are primary; the intellectual super-structure is deter¬
mined by the biological structure and by the need of gratification of these
two groups of instincts.
Although some wars are known to have started from libidinal causes,
like the Trojan war, most are waged as fights for hunting grounds and
other means to feed the people, or, in modem times, to feed industries
or the insatiable greed of morbid conquerors.
Freud’s attitude to communism was hostile—at least during one period
of his life. In the Russian revolution he saw mainly destruction. He had
an emotional aversion to destruction, as shown by his peculiar theory
about death as well as by his archaeological interests. The past for Freud
must not be past, it must be salvaged and brought back to life. Above all,
this aversion to destruction manifested itself in his attitude towards
introjection.
* * ■*
Freud certainly made most valuable discoveries regarding introjection,

as in the case of melancholia, which he realized as an unsuccessful attempt
to destroy an introjected love-object. He as well as Abraham maintained,
however, that introjection in itself can be a normal process. They over¬
looked the fact that introjection means preserving the structure of things
taken in, whilst the organism requires their destruction. Partial introjec¬
tion is conceived by psycho-analysis as part of the normal psychological
metabolism, whilst I consider this theory to be fundamentally wrong,
mistaking a pathological process for a healthy one. Introjection in ad¬
dition to its occurrence in melancholia, formation of conscience, etc.
is a part of a paranoic pseudo-metabolism, and is in every case contrary
to the requirements of the personality.
Take the instance of the Ego. According to Freud the normal Ego is
129 1
built up by a number of identifications. Helene Deutsch, in striking

contrast, considers the pathological nature of ego-identifications, and even
holds that identifications can accumulate to such a pathological degree,
that such “as-if” personalities (who quickly, but superficially, accept any
role required by a situation) cannot be psycho-analysed successfully. I
have proof, however, that the “as-if” personality can be analysed, provided
one approaches the problem not from the libido theory, but from the
point of view of mental assimilation.
The intake of the world shows three different phases: total introjection,
partial introjection and assimilation, corresponding to the suckling, “bite-
ling” and “chewling” phases (the pre-dental, incisor and molar stages).
The relations of the attacking subject and the attacked object are simple
in the instances of Figs. I to III.
In Fig. I we have the straightforward aggression, which in Fig. II is

retroflected (e.g. self-destruction). In Fig. Ill, aggression is projected:
aggressor and victim have apparently changed parts; the aggressor ex¬
periences fear in place of the desire to attack.
Complications arise once we take into account
Total Introjection
To anyone of the pre-dental group—behaving “as though he had no

teeth”—the introjected person or material remains intact, isolated as a
foreign body in the system. The object has been gulped down. It has
evaded contact with the aggressive teeth, as demonstrated by the instance
of the Lord’s Supper. The image is incorporated more or less in toto.
(a) In melancholia (Fig. IV), the impulse to attack is directed against

the introjected object. It is retroflected from the real food (laziness in
using the muscles of the jaw; often hypo-tonus of the face muscles).
130
INTROJECTION
(b) In the case of a severe conscience (Fig. V), aggression is projected

on to an introjected subject, which as conscience then attacks those parts
of the personality that meet with its disapproval; these attacks range
from slight pricks to the most cruel punishment. The “Ego” answers
with remorse and feelings of guilt. The German Gewissensbiss (being
bitten by the conscience) expresses the oral origin of the conscience, as
does the English remorse (murder-bite).
(c) In the “as-if ” personality (Fig. VI), aggression or love is projected
on to a person who is afterwards introjected. By this means the “as-if”
person avoids the fear of attack, and retains the benevolence of his en¬
vironment. The dynamics involved in this process are too complicated to
be dealt with in this context.
In the last three instances mentioned the “introject” is not dissolved.
The result is a temporary or permanent fixation; as destruction is avoided
and assimilation does not take place, the situation remains necessarily
incomplete.
Partial Introjection
corresponds to the “biteling” stage, and is regarded by Freud as normal.

Here only parts of a personality are introjected. For example, if a person
speaks with an Oxford accent, and his friend envies him, the latter might
mimic the accent but not the whole person in question. To regard this
as a healthy ego-development is paradoxical. The Oxford accent may by
no means be an expression of the friend’s self. An “Ego” built up of
substances, of introjections, is a conglomerate—a foreign body in the
personality—just as is the conscience or the lost object in melancholia.
In every case we find foreign, unassimilated material within the patient’s
system.
Assimilation
Psycho-analysis does not pay attention to the differentiation of the

dental stage, and therefore the development of the total and partial intro-
jective phases is not pursued to the state of assimilation. Instead of paying
attention to this very important feature of living beings (scotoma), a switch¬
over is made in psycho-analytical theory from the mouth to the anus.
Van Ophuijsen was the first to see that the anal-sadistic phase originates
in the oral aggression, just as Freud realized that the anus learns many
of its functions from the mouth. The mouth, however, neither ceases
functioning nor developing with the beginning of what Freud calls the
anal stage. The source of aggression is neither the anal zone nor any
death instinct. The assumption that oral aggression is a mere transient
phase in the development of the individual would amount to maintaining
that dental aggression does not exist in adults.
Any introjection, total or partial, must go through the mill of the
131
grinding molars, if it is not to become, or to remain, a foreign body—a

disturbing isolated factor in our system. The “Ego,” for instance, as I
intend showing later, should not be a conglomerate of introjections, but
a function, and to achieve a proper functioning of the personality one
has to dissolve, to analyse such a substantial Ego and reorganize and
assimilate its energies, much as Reich puts the energies invested in the
muscular armour to better use.
Emergency actions, like vomiting or diarrhoeic defaecation of unused
morsels, will not further the development of the personality. The psycho¬
analytical equivalent to this, the catharsis, has been abandoned, since it
was realized that the cathartic success was as short-lived as the intro-
jective treatment of hypnosis.1 One of my most difficult cases was an
elderly man suffering from a stomach-neurosis and a jealousy-paranoia.
He was quite satisfied to make a clean breast of everything that had
happened to him. He always collected and produced all kinds of patho¬
logical material and felt tremendously relieved when he could just confess
and spit out all his trouble. But when I stopped him, and made him chew
the “cud,” he became obstinate. The progress of his cure was very slow,
and depended on the amount of aggression we could set free and invest
in his chewing abilities. Simultaneously, as was to be expected, his
stupidity, which previously had been immeasurable, decreased.
If Freud’s statement—that the neurotic suffers from memories—is
not taken as an explanation of the neurosis, but as an indication of a
symptom, we realize the great (though limited) therapeutic value of
classical analysis. But if tackled piecemeal it is a Herculean task to dispose
of the Augean mess—the undigested rubbish we carry with us from the
past, all the unfinished situations and unsolved problems, all the grudges
and unpaid debts and claims—the unmaterialized retaliations (revenge
and gratitude). This task, however, is much simplified if, instead of
tackling each item singly, we restore the full organismic assimilation once
and for all. This can only be done if we take into account the mental
metabolism and look upon psychological material in the same way as
upon physical food. We must not be satisfied with making unconscious
material conscious, with “bringing up” unconscious material. We must
insist that it should be re-hashed, and thus be prepared for its assimilation.
If this holds good already for partial introjection it applies much more
to the total introjection, or to total inhibition of dental aggression. The
destructive use of the teeth in melancholia (and other instances of total
introjection) is so inhibited, that the unemployed aggression turns into
self-destruction of the individual. Contact with any introjected material
is usually impotently aggressive, manifesting itself as spitefulness, grum-
1 The promising features of narco-analysis must not deceive us. It is a purely
symptomatic treatment and cannot bring about permanent changes in the per¬
sonality.
132
INTROJECTION
bling, nagging, worrying, complaining, irritation, “negative transference”

or hostility. This corresponds exactly to the unused potential of the
physical destruction of the food. It is the distorted application of $ in
the psychological metabolism.
Melancholia is mostly a phase of cyclothymia of the maniac-depressive
cycle. In the maniac period the unsublimated, but dentally inhibited
aggression is not retroflected as in melancholia but is directed in all its
greediness and with most violent outbursts against the world. A frequent
symptom of cyclothymia is dipsomania which is on the one hand a sticking
to the “bottle” and on the other a means of self-destruction.
Through the treatment the introjected material—by being split up—
is differentiated into assimilable material, contributing to the development
of the personality, and into an emotional surplus to be discharged or
applied. In psycho-analytical terminology: remembering is of therapeutic
value only when it is accompanied by emotions.
Increased mental metabolism is accompanied by hyper-acidity, increased
movement of the bowels and excitement which may change into anxiety
if the oxygen supply is impaired. Reduced metabolism is characterized
by depression, deficient flow of digestive juices, dryness in the mouth,
hypo-acidity and dry aspastic constipation.
The phenomenon of introjection is a comparatively recent discovery,
but folklore shows that it has been well known through the ages. The
figures in fairy tales often have a more or less fixed symbolic meaning.
The fairies stand for the good mother, the witch or step-mother for the
bad one. The lion stands for power and the fox for shrewdness. The wolf
symbolizes greediness and introjection. In the story of Little Red Riding
Hood the wolf introjects the grandmother, copies her, behaves “as-if” he
was she, but his real self is soon unmasked by the little heroine.
In a lesser known of Grimm's Fairy Tales the Wolf swallows seven kids.
The kids are rescued and replaced by pebbles—a good symbol indeed
for the indigestibility of the introject.
In both stories the introjected objects, though having been swallowed,
are not assimilated, but remain alive and intact. Or is the libido-theory
correct; was the wolf not hungry at all, but in love with grandma?
133
VI
THE DUMMY COMPLEX
Perhaps the most interesting of all oral resistances is the “dummy”

attitude. While our knowledge of it is still scanty, sufficient observations
are at hand to warrant their publication. The discovery of the dummy
complex has shed light on a number of obscure analyses, and I hope—
once it has been checked up by other analysts—that it will bring further
contributions mainly to the question of fixations.
In order to understand the dummy attitude we have to return once
more to the suckling and its difficulties in attaining the biteling stage.
The main activity of the suckling is confined to the hanging-on bite,
which is not a “bite through,” not a biting off of a part of the breast
but which establishes confluence between mother and child. Thus only
the beginning of the feeding process presents any conscious difficulty;
once the baby has made a vacuum pump of his mouth and the milk
begins to flow, no further effort on its side is required. The sucking
movements are subcortical, automatic, and while the feeding takes place,
the child gradually falls asleep. Only a few weeks after the birth other
conscious activities—like consciously expelling the nipple from the
mouth, or consciously making sucking movements—can be observed in
connection with the feeding process.
A conflict may arise when the child’s teeth start growing. If the flow
of milk is insufficient, the child will be provoked into mobilizing all the
means at its disposal for achieving satisfaction, which implies the use of
the hardened gums and the attempt to bite. Any frustration at that stage,
any withdrawal of the breast without immediate substitution of more
solid food will lead to dental inhibition. The child will get the impression
that through the attempts to bite, its equilibrium will not be restored,
but will rather be further upset and that, therefore, the milk-yielding object
must not be approached in any manner different from before. The differ¬
entiation into breast, which must be left intact, and food, which must
be bitten and chewed and destroyed, does not take place.
This early dental inhibition leads to the development of two distinct
character features: a hanging-on attitude (fixation) on the one hand, and
the “dummy” attitude on the other.
People with these characteristics hang on to a person or a thing and
expect this attitude to be sufficient to “make the milk flow” by itself.
134
THE DUMMY COMPLEX
They might take great pains to get hold of something or someone, but
they will relax their efforts as soon as they have achieved this. They try
to stabilize any relationship at the very first phase of contact; thus they
may have hundreds of acquaintances, but none develops into a real
friendship. In their sexual relations only the conquest of the partner
matters, but consequent relationship quickly becomes uninteresting and
they become indifferent. There is a striking discrepancy in the attitude
of such persons before and after marriage. A proverb says, “Women can
make nets but not cages.”
The attitude of such cases towards study and work suffers from similar
difficulties. They know something about everything, but they cannot
appropriate anything which can be achieved only with a specific effort.
Their work is rather uncreative, mechanical (automatic), limited mainly
to routine. In short, their aim is still—like a baby’s—the successful
hanging-on bite, which restores equilibrium and dispenses with the
necessity for further effort (biting).
But in the life of grown-up people the hanging-on attitude can only
very occasionally be completely successful. In most situations one has to
make proper contact—one has to tackle the matter on hand, to “put
one’s teeth into it,” e.g. one has to sustain one’s interest and activity
over a period of time—in order to derive any benefit for one’s own per¬
sonality.
How do people cope with the failure of the hanging-on attitude? How
can they get round the necessity to bite? How can they dispose of the
surplus aggressiveness, which must arise from the dissatisfaction with
the hanging-on relationship (resentment), without incurring the danger
(as they feel it) of causing change and destruction?
If there is a fixation to the infantile hanging-on attitude, we may expect
that the means whereby this attitude is maintained are equally infantile.
The frustrated and dissatisfied infant looks for—and sometimes is even
given—a dummy, something indestructable, to which biting can be applied
without repercussions. The dummy allows for the discharge of a certain
amount of aggressiveness, but, apart from that, it does not produce any
change in the child, that is, it does not feed it. The dummy represents a
serious impediment in the development of the personality, because it
does not actually satisfy the aggressiveness, but deviates it from its bio¬
logical aim, namely the gratification of hunger and the achievement of
the restoration of the individual’s wholeness.
Anything that the baby gets hold of may be used as a dummy—a
pillow, a teddy bear, the cat’s tail (as in Mrs. Minniver), or the baby’s
own thumb. Later on in life, any object might become “dummified” if
only the hanging-on bite is applied to it. In such instances the individual
lives in mortal fear of the dummy developing into the “real thing”
(originally the breast) and that the hanging-on bite might turn into a
*35
“first bite.” He is afraid that the fixation object might be destroyed.

This object can be a person, a principle, a scientific theory or a fetish.
At the time of my writing, the British people have suffered great distress
in relinquishing the idea that the battleship was invaluable. The battleship
had become a fetish to them, but in practice it is a very expensive nuisance,
only “good to be sunk,” as a prominent politician has characterized it.
Parliamentary discussions often become dummified (and even mum¬
mified). Instead of being developed into action, matters are talked to death,
or brought to a standstill by being pushed from a commission to a sub¬
commission and from there to another sub-sub-commission. Instead of
progress and integration a deadlock is the result, a state of affairs which
is mostly justified by a conservative tendency, by the wish to keep every¬
thing intact and unchanged. The present system must under no circum¬
stances be destroyed; the dummy or fetish must be saved.
The dummy as an object which remains whole and undestroyed pro¬
vides a perfect screen for the projection of the individual’s holistic tendency.
The more the holistic functions are projected, the more are they lost for
the building-up of the personality, the greater will be the disintegration,
and the more marked the danger of developing a schizophrenia. As long,
however, as reality provides the dummy, it serves a very useful purpose;
it prevents the individual from sliding off into a true paranoia (an extensive
projection of aggression) by keeping him busy with some real though
unproductive occupation.
But all the attempts of such types—like the obsessional character—to
preserve things in their original state are doomed to failure. The lack of
change, that is the non-application of aggressiveness in the service of
individual holism, disintegrates the personality, thus defeating its own
ends. Only by re-establishing the destructive tendency towards food as
well as towards anything that presents an obstacle to the individual’s
wholeness, by re-instating a successful aggression, the re-integration of an
obsessional, and even of a paranoid, personality takes place.
There is hardly anything that cannot serve as a dummy, as long as it
helps to avoid changes in reality. Take for instance the obsessional thoughts,
which can go on for hours and hours, keeping the patient busy without
leading to a decision or conclusion (chronic doubting). Take the sexual
fetishism, the fixation of a man, for instance, on girls' panties or shoes
as a safeguard against real sexual contact. Take the day-dreamer who
prefers his phantasies to the “real thing.” Further, take those patients
who for years and years continue to see a psycho-analyst and imagine
that their mere attendance at the sessions is sufficient proof of their
intention to change their attitude to life. Actually they have only exchanged
one dummy for another, and as soon as the analyst touches some essential
complex, the patient generally manages to avoid being impressed by
dummifying himself.
136
THE DUMMY COMPLEX
An extreme case of this sort was provided by a patient, who, whenever

he had to face any difficulty in life, became completely wooden. He felt
as if he were a doll, and all his complaints, all his interests were centred
in his dummy, in his own mummified personality. Another patient, in
any difficult situation, produced the obsessional idea of imagining knives
going through him without causing pain or drawing blood. In this phantasy
he became the perfect dummy whom no amount of aggressiveness could
destroy. Other cases just feel sleepy or drowsy, whenever they perceive
the “danger” of provocation in any situation.
The classical psycho-analytical situation, in which the patient is hardly
aware of the analyst’s presence, lends itself particularly to dummification.
Here the patient is actually encouraged to regard the analytical situation
not as a “real” situation and the analyst not as a “real” person; thus the
whole relationship between patient and analyst becomes “un-real,” that
is something that in itself is of no importance and of no consequence.
Every emotion or reaction is interpreted as a phenomenon of “trans¬
ference,” i.e. as something that does not directly apply to the actual
situation. Thus the analytical situation presents itself as the perfect dummy,
for which all obsessional and paranoid characters are looking. This accounts
for the fixation of those patients to the analysis which might go on for
years on end, in spite—or rather because—of the lack of success.
137
VII
THE EGO AS A FUNCTION OF THE ORGANISM
(a) Identification/Alienation
When we attempt to put into practice the conclusions from the previous
parts an apparent contradiction is met: the statement that the healthy
Ego is unsubstantial seems to be at variance with my demand that the
analyst should deal with the Ego rather than with the Unconscious.
This contradiction is removed if we word the demand: the analyst should
make use of the Ego-functions rather than appeal to the Unconscious.
The function of the lungs is mainly the exchange of gases and vapour
between organism and environment. Lungs, gases and vapour are con¬
crete, but the function is abstract—yet real. The Ego, so I maintain, is
similarly a function of the organism. It is not a concrete part of it, but is,
rather, a function which ceases, for instance, during sleep and coma,
and for which no physical equivalent can be found either in the brain
or in any other part of the organism.
In psycho-analytical theory, the conception of the Ego as a substance
is fairly generally accepted. 1 o quote one instance: Sterba interprets the
psycho-analytical cure as a building up of isolated islands of Ego, which,
in the course of time, will consolidate into one solid, reliable unit.
Another analyst, Fedem, likewise assumes the substantiality of the
Ego. For him the Ego consists of that mysterious material called libido.
The libido in addition to being capable of occupying images and erogenetic
zones, of energizing many activities and being the representative of the
object instincts, is now credited with the ability to expand and contract.
At the same time the dualistic concept of libidinal object instincts as
opposed to the Ego instincts is conveniently forgotten. In spite of the
theoretical confusion there is, however, a valuable nucleus in Fedem’s
observation: the fact that his libidinal Ego has changing boundaries.
Once we discard the libido-theory we shall see that the concept of the
Ego-boundaries will assist us considerably in the understanding of the
Ego.
Two of Freud’s statements add to the confusion: (a) the Ego is differ¬
entiated from the Unconscious; (b) the Unconscious contains repressed
wishes. If a wish has been repressed, it must have been strong enough to
have Ego quality (“I” want . . .). The contradiction, however, disappears
as soon as we realize that we have two kinds of Unconscious: the biological
138
‘THE EGO AS A FUNCTION OF THE ORGANISM
Unconscious (in the sense of the philosopher Hartmann), and the psycho¬
analytical Unconscious, which consists of previously conscious elements.
We may conclude then: the Ego is differentiated from the biological
Unconscious, but consequently certain Ego aspects have become repressed,
and now constitute the psycho-analytical “Unconscious.” To the observer
the Ego quality of the latter remains obvious, but not to the patient. If,
for example, an obsessional neurotic says: “There is a vague feeling at
the back of my mind that I may experience an impulse through which
some harm might befall my father, whom I dislike thoroughly because of
his unpleasant habits!” he originally means: “I would like to kill that
swine.”
Freud says further about the Ego that it has command over the motoric
system. This statement indicates that the Ego is not identical with the
whole personality. If “I” command the motoric system, “I” must be
different or apart from it: a general commanding an army is a part of,
but apart from the rest of the army.
Yet, if I say: “I am travelling to the city of X,” the Ego stands for the
whole personality. A confusing number of statements without any central
conception! To demonstrate my own conception of the Ego I have first
to add to this confusion, not by piling up more theoretical statements,
but by giving further practical aspects of the Ego.
Below a number of Ego aspects are enumerated in such a way as to
show each aspect against its opposite as background, as we have previously
done with the term “actor.”
The Ego is In Opposition to

a function a substance
a contact function confluence
a figure/background formation de-personalization and dreamless
sleep
elusive stable
interfering organismic self-regulation
the awareness of the self awareness of another object
instance of responsibility the Id
the boundary phenomenon itself an object having a boundary
spontaneous dutifully attentive
servant and executive of the master in its own home
organism
appearing in the ectoderm mesoderm and endoderm
identification/alienation the feel of indifference
We may obtain some provisional orientation from the psycho-analytical

classification of the Id, the Ego and the Super-Ego or Ego-Ideal consti¬
tuting the human personality.
139
Freud uses the two terms Super-Ego and Ego-Ideal almost synonym¬
ously; but, nevertheless, we may differentiate them as conscience and ideals,
and characterize them as follows:
The conscience is aggressive, and expresses itself mainly in words;
the aggression is directed from the conscience to the “Ego,” the tension
between conscience and Ego being experienced as feeling of guilt.
Ideals mainly exist in pictures; the emotion involved is love, its direction
being from the Ego towards the ideal; a tension between Ego and ideal
is felt as inferiority.
The Id represents the instincts, expressing themselves in sensations;
'the tension between Ego and Id is called urge, drive, wish, etc.
Ideals Conscience Ideals Conscience
% \ A
% ^
if
\ f*
EGO
O
&0
i
c
D V
C/O
ID ID
We can now apply this conception in the following example: a little
boy feels the desire to “pinch” some sweets. Also, like many children,
he is obsessed with the ideal of being grown up, but big people, in his
imagination, don’t crave for sweets; so he thinks he should fight his appe¬
tite. In addition his conscience tells him that stealing is a sin. Feeling
these three experiences simultaneously his poor Ego would be caught
between three fires. He, however, does not experience his Ego as a
substance. The healthy child does not think “an ideal is obsessing me;
the hunger is torturing me and my conscience forbids me to steal sweets.”
He experiences: “/ want to be grown-up; I am hungry but / must not
steal sweets.”
From an objective point of view, his conscious experience is determined
by conscience, ideals and Id, but subjectively he is hardly aware of that.
He achieves this subjective integration by the process of identification—
the feeling that something is part of him or that he is part of something
else.
Thus I agree with Freud that the Ego is closely related to identification.
140
Freud, however, overlooks the one fundamental difference between the

healthy and the pathological Ego. In the healthy personality identification
is an Ego-function, whereas the pathological “Ego” is built up of intro-
jections (substantial identifications) which determine the personality’s
actions and feelings, and limit their range. Super-Ego and Ego-Ideals
invariably contain a number of permanent, partly unconscious, identifica¬
tions; but the Ego becomes pathological if its identifications are permanent
ones instead of functioning according to the requirements of different
situations, and disappearing with the restoration of the organismic balance.1
A difficulty arises from the term “identification” itself, which has
different aspects, e.g. copying somebody, siding with someone, concluding
that two things are the same, sympathy (Einfuehlung) or understanding.
The different aspects of the same word are responsible for two opposing
theories in psycho-analysis: Freud’s and Fedem’s.
Freud’s opinion that every Ego is built up of identifications or intro-
jections (in the sense of imitating someone, behaving “as if” one is some¬
body else) applies only to types which have developed a kind of Ego
conglomeration—a fixed outlook on fife, or a rigid, or an artificial character.
In a rigid character we see that the Ego-functions cease almost completely,
as the personality has become conditioned to habits and behaves auto¬
matically. Freud has realized this fact by saying that analysis can only be
successful as long as the character has not become petrified. The complete
identification (e.g. with conventions) will, in such a person, occasion
intense conflicts as soon as the Ego has to function as the executive of
(and identify itself with) an instinct of which he disapproves according
to his principles. He might find himself starving, but to appropriate a
loaf of bread would be such a horrible crime to him, that he would
alienate this urge. He would rather die of starvation than risk going to
jail for a few days.
In education, such stern morals may lead to severe misunderstandings.
If carbohydrate hunger makes a child take sweets, wherever it can find
them, the parents (projecting their legalistic outlook on the child) may
be very worried over the “criminal” they have produced.
(b) Boundary
As the term “identification” has become synonymous with introjection,

Fedem (possibly realizing that introjection is not the only existing form
of identification) created the conception of the Ego and its boundaries.
1 A simile might at least hint at this difference. One of the functions of the
kidneys is the excretion of salts. The salts are merely passing through the urogenital
system. Under certain pathological conditions the salts precipitate and form a
solid, foreign body in the organism and interfere with the well-being, and eventually
with the functions, of the kidney.
141
His theory assists us greatly in understanding some Ego-functions, pro¬

vided we eliminate certain mistakes of his.
A physical phenomenon may serve to demonstrate the dialectic of the
Ego-boundaries:
§ t
f *
f t
f *
fl t
f t
Fig. 2
Two metal plates, A and B, are separated by an insulating layer. If

one condenser plate is charged with positive electricity, negative electrons
will gather on the opposite plate; but if there is a direct contact, positive
and negative electrons will neutralize each other (Fig. i). Ego-boundaries
behave in exactly the same way. We have only to replace + and — by
f and $, which appear in the psycho-analytical terminology as libido and
hostility (Fig. 2).1
Fedem assumes that the Ego is a libidinal substance with permanently
changing boundaries. By this he means that we identify ourselves with
everything we accept as familiar or as belonging to us. Our Ego, according
to Fedem, can withdraw its boundaries within our personality, or stretch
them beyond it.
Especially in obsessional neurosis the Ego has limited functions- a
death wish, as mentioned previously, is disowned; it is not acknowledged
as belonging to the Self. The obsessional character refuses to identify
himself with, or take responsibility for such thoughts, responsibility and
blame being the same to him. Every inhibition and repression narrows
down the Ego-boundaries.
We enlarge our Ego-boundaries when we identify ourselves with our
family, our school (old school tie traditions), our football club, our
country. A mother may defend her child “as though” she were fighting
for herself; if a football club has been slighted, any one of its members
may take revenge, “as if” he himself had been insulted.
In all these instances the object of identification remains outside the
* châaef3PhS °f ****** $h0W ** (+) dectron8 have § and ("> electrons
142
personality. It is not introjected and the identification is a fictitious one

(“as if,” “as though”). The mother was not attacked, and nobody had
insulted the club member himself.
Mr. X sees a house and says, “I see a house.” He does not say, “The
optical system in Mr. X’s organism sees a house.” He identifies himself
with this system of his. The next moment the house might recede into
the background of his consciousness and he might find himself concen¬
trating on some voices. He then quickly identifies himself with his acoustic
apparatus and with his curiosity about these voices. He might say, “I
hear voices/” or else, “7 hear voices,” thereby emphasizing that he stands
in contrast to others who may not have heard a sound.
Now let us assume he heard voices but there were none. If he identifies
himself with the fact that he is imagining, and says “I imagined that I
heard voices,” his Ego is functioning correctly; but if he identifies himself
with the content of his hallucination when he lacks the insight into the
fact that he has a fictitious, an “as if” identification, he behaves “as if”
he heard voices. *
The “as if” identification itself is not pathological; only the mistaking
of a fictitious for a real identification falls under this category. Sometimes
the fictitious identifications can accumulate to such a degree that we
speak of an “as if” character (H. Deutsch). “As if” identifications are
found in introjections (the child who plays mother) as well as in the
enlargement of the Ego-boundary.
The corresponding “as-if” alienation is present in repressions, pro¬
jections, and in a similar narrowing down of the Ego-boundaries.
Although the patient expresses that such and such thoughts and wishes
are not his, they belong, in fact, to his personality: alienation by re¬
pressing and projecting is, in the end, always unsuccessful. Psycho¬
analysis recognizes this fact as “return of the repressed.”
In the identification/alienation function we see once more the working
of holism. We see the formation of wholes—the oneness of mother and
child, the integration of a number of people to a club; the greater the
identification of the members with the club the more solid will be its
structure, sometimes even to the point of petrification. The narrowing
down of boundaries is also done in order to preserve a whole. Those
parts of the personality which apparently endanger the accepted whole
are sacrificed. (“And if thine eye offend thee pluck it out.”) A similar
idea is found in political purges.
Fedem’s theory shows a definite mistake and a one-sidedness. The
mistake is that he considers the Ego as a substance with boundaries, while,
in my opinion, only the boundaries, the places of contact, constitute the
Ego. Only where and when the Self meets the “foreign” does the Ego
start functioning, come into existence, determine the boundary between
the personal and the impersonal “field.” Fedem is one-sided in that he
M3
considers only the integrative energy of the libido and neglects the simul¬
taneous appearance of
The members of a football club tend to melt together into one unit
(§). Members of a clan are more attached to each other (§) than those of
another clan. Ideologies unite those who believe in them (§). In times
of danger when the security of a country is threatened, the unity of its
citizens is of the utmost importance in its defence.
A sound holism requires mutual identification. The club which does
not identify itself with its members—protecting their interests and
compensating them for their devotion—will disintegrate. The £ which,
in collective group, is added up and found on the outside of its boundaries
returns to the individuals.
Federn does not look at the Ego-boundary from without, where the ^
gathers. Just as the accumulation of positive electricity on one condenser
plate is accompanied by that of its opposite on the other plate, so the
integrative energies within the Ego-boundaries are complemented by
hostility without.
Wherever two holistic structures meet, they themselves are kept together
and separated from each other by more or less pronounced hostility.
Two football clubs show this in a mild form of rivalry towards each other
in general, and in their matches in particular. Between schools wre see
competition; between nations, wars. Family Smith feels superior to Family
Brown, who in turn despises the members of the Smith family. The
Montagues and Capulets are examples of hostile clans; but Romeo and
Juliet break through the boundaries, their desire to join each other being
so much stronger than their family ties.
The more hostility threatens from without the greater will be the
integrative function of individuals and groups. In the moment of danger
the organism will marshal all faculties at its disposal; whenever a country'
is attacked this aggression from outside may result in uniting its citizens.
The mother who has just been angry with her child will the next moment
protect it against an extraneous insult.
Love is identification with an object (“mine”); hate alienation from it
(“away from me!”). The wish to be loved is the desire that the object
should identify itself with the subject’s wishes and demands. Intense
mutual love is expressed in terms like, “one heart and one soul,” “hand
in glove,” etc. In sexual intercourse mutual identification is imperative;
“to be one flesh,” reads a passage in the Bible.
The boundary' between two farms is formed by a fence. This fence
indicates the contact between the two farms, but isolates them from each
other at the same time. In nomadic times there were no boundaries,
there was a confluence. With personal ownership there came the division
of land and the creation of friendly or hostile neighbours. If to-day the
farmers joined in a collective group, the confluence would be re-
144
established, but the boundaries between the collective farms (cf. the
socialist competition in Russia) would remain. There would also be a
confluence if a farmer coveted his neighbour’s farm and incorporated it
into his own property.
Isolation emphasizes separation, whilst contact emphasizes the approach,
aiming at undoing the isolation either by withdrawing hostility, and
replacing the I and You by We, or by making the whole complex mine
or, by surrender yours.
Does f create t or vice versa? Both assumptions are incorrect. There
is no causal connection between these two functions. Wherever and
whenever a boundary comes into existence, it is felt both as contact and
as isolation. Usually neither contact nor isolation exists, as there is a
confluence but no boundary. This confluence is interfered with by (f[)
and (:}:), libido and aggression, friendship and hostility, sense of familiarity
and of strangeness or whatever one chooses to call the energies forming
the boundary.
A good example of the simultaneity of §| and ^ is embarrassment.
Here one finds simultaneously the tendencies to make contact (exhibition)
and to hide. Its pre-differential stage is shyness. Both possibilities, attach¬
ment as well as separation, are open to the shy child. Shyness is therefore
a normal phase in the child’s development; but making friends with every
Tom, Dick and Harry or shrinking from every contact are unhealthy
extremes if they are permanent attitudes instead of adequate responses.
By exclusively identifying itself with the demands of the environment,
by introjecting ideologies and character features, the Ego loses its elastic
power of identification. As a matter of fact, it practically ceases to function
other than as the executor of a conglomeration of principles and fixed
behaviour. Super-Ego and character have taken its place, in a similar
way as in our time machine-made articles have replaced individual
handicraft.
K
145
VIII
THE SPLIT OF THE PERSONALITY
There is a well-known proverb w'hich declares that a bundle of sticks is

stronger than the same number of single sticks. Does this proverb imply
a mere scientific fact? Certainly not. Proverbs have a moral. This one
implies: join a number of sticks and they will have more power to resist
and to attack! Or vice versa: if you need a strong stick a number of thinner
ones joined together will serve the same purpose!
Such an integrative function is another aspect of the Ego. The Ego
in a kind of administrative function will connect the actions of the whole
organism with its foremost needs; it calls, so to speak, upon those functions
of the whole organism which are necessary for the gratification of the most
urgent need. Once the organism has identified itself with a demand, it
stands as wholeheartedly behind it as it is hostile towards anything
alienated.
A man makes two statements: “I am hungry,” and later on, “I am not
hungry.” From the logical point of view this is a contradiction, but only
as long as we regard this man as an object, and not as a time-space event.
Between the two statements he has had something to eat. So both times
he is telling the truth. A more complicated situation is met with, if we
put a hungry person in an airtight box. He who has just said, “I am
hungry,” feels now, “I am choking,” and not even, “I am hungry and I
am choking.” From the survival point of view breathing is more important
than eating.
How is it that we do not experience such contradictory statements as
incompatible facts? Identification (and what is said about identification
applies in every case to alienation as well, since both are mutually necessary
counter functions) follows the figure/background formation. A healthy
Ego-function answers the subjective reality, and the needs of the organism.
If, for instance, an organism develops hunger, food becomes “gestalt”;
the Ego identifies itself with the hunger (“I am hungry”) and answers
the gestalt (“I want this food”).
In the case of the person who would rather die than steal the bread,
the Ego alienates the taking of food. Without the figure/background
formation, however, he would neither see nor imagine the bread, and there
would be no possibility of the Ego alienating the impulse to take the
bread, and identifying itself with the law.
146
1
Were the Ego-functions identical with the figure/background formation,

they would be superfluous, but they are indispensable for the adminis¬
trative task to direct all available energies to the service of that organismic
need which is in the foreground. With this fact we encounter a further
bi-functional aspect—that of master and servant. Freud’s remark, “We
are not master in our home,” is correct in so far as the Ego accepts orders
from the instincts within the biological field, and from conscience and
environment within the social field. The Ego, however, is not merely a
servant of instincts and ideologies; it is also a middleman with many
responsibilities. (Pushing the responsibilities on to causes does not further
the Ego-development.)
The desire to master ourselves results from insufficient co-operation
between organism and Ego-function. If someone, for instance, decides
that defaecation is a nuisance, and that his intestines have without fail
to do what he wants, this mastering attitude is a mis-application of the
Ego-functions. His Ego-functions ought to secure the adequate gratifica¬
tion of the defaecation urge, with a minimum of energy and an optimum
of organismic functioning. A dictatorial, bullying self-controlling Ego
(which, correctly expressed, means the identification function with a
bullying conscience), far from taking the responsibility for the organism,
pushes it (mostly as blame) on to the Id or the “body,” as if it was
something not belonging to the Self.
The concept of the “Id” is possible only as a counterpoint to the
concept of the Super-Ego. Thus it is an artificial, un-biological construc¬
tion created by the alienation function of the Ego. A boundary appears
between the accepted and refused part of the personality, and a split
personality develops.
In other words, by taking the Ego as a substance we have to admit
its incompetence. We have to accept the Ego’s dependency upon the
demands of instincts, conscience and environment, and we have to agree
fully with Freud’s poor view on the Ego’s power. Once, however, we
realize the Ego’s power of identification we acknowledge that our conscious
mind is left with an instance of very considerable importance—with the
decision to identify itself with whatever it considers as being “right.”
We find in this identification/alienation function the beginning of a
“free will.” This function is often misapplied, but this does not alter the
fact that in it we have encountered the principle of the conscious control
of the human Self. Society has to determine which identifications of the
individual are desirable for its smooth holistic function, without damaging
the individual’s development, its physical and mental health. Although
this programme sounds simple, it is outside the scope of mankind at the
present stage of our civilization. In the meantime the individual can do
no more than to avoid multiple identifications which without fail must
lead to the impairment of the personal holism—which must result in
M7
internal conflicts, splits of the personality and increasing unhappiness.

These splits, conflicts and unhappiness in the individual are the micro-
cosmic equivalent of the present world situation.
“Dissenting clamours in the town arise;

Each will be heard and all at once advise.
One part for peace and one for war contends;
Some would exclude their foes, and some admit their friends.”
Virgil
★ ★ ★
The intuitive knowledge of these § and $ functions, forming the

boundaries, is Hitler’s great advantage. His aggression not being invested
in its dental outlet (bad teeth—porridge eater) finds its way basically
into crying and shouting. When he does not get what he wants he becomes
irritable, first whining, then shouting and screaming at the top of his
voice, until the whole of his environment becomes panicky and does
everything to pacify the cry-baby (you can’t hurt an innocent baby and
Hitler always pleads innocence). Later he finds, the more followers he
gets the more aggression he can apply; the more aggression he can apply
the stronger become the internal ties of his group. He finds the uniting
symbol of the gallows-cross, the slogan, “One people, one country, one
leader,” an ideological term which attracted many classes of the German
people. Finally, he supplies the emotional food for the German vanity:
the idea of the “master race.”
Parallel with the application of § goes his knowledge of the working
of Recognizing the importance of wholes, he knows that unity makes
strength; so he sets out to destroy every powerful adverse organization,
be it an industrial council, a trade union or the Church. He cracks the
nutshell and throws away the indigestible material, he swallows the
members and assimilates the money of the broken up organizations.
“One by one,” he tackles first the internal, then the external organizations
and states. He applies the oral technique in strategy as well. He cuts the
hostile armies up with the incisors of his blitz and grinds them down
with the molars of his tanks. If his incisors—the spearheads—are blunted,
if the molars of his bombardment are not successful enough to grind the
enemy to pulp, then he is lost. The best he can do is to hang on with his
teeth, trying not to let go.
One essential aim of his technique is to split wholes—for instance
nations—with the help of the fifth column. The idea is, on the one hand,
to join all the members of the fifth column in a solid unit by stirring up
their common grudges and hatreds, by stressing their own relationship
with each other, and by presenting himself as the only saviour. On the
other hand, he encourages the training in destruction which, in turn,
increases the cohesion of the fifth column. The greater the oral under-
148
development (e.g. the lack of reasoning power or the dependency on

Church and State) which he encounters, the easier it is for him to find
sufficient people who “believe” in him.
* * *
Only the conscious exploitation of the Ego-boundary phenomenon is

Hitler’s privilege. The boundaries occur, of course, everywhere and range
from the split which, especially in times of election, goes through the
U.S.A. to the split personality.
If a football club is not keeping up its aggression in competition and
there are no other attractions to keep the members together, the club
will either disintegrate or, at least, break down into fractions. People
with certain affinities will draw together and form cliques. They will
start teasing each other, quarrelling about small items and, finally, if
there is no occasion to re-establish the common outside boundary, they
will fight each other. The result will be a split, or even a separation.
If separation takes place the hostility will cease, but only under one
condition—that no contact remains. The boundaries with their
functions come into existence only where some contact is left.
Where both a split and contact exists there will always be the boundary-
function either as open or latent hostility or, as the inhibited tendency
to re-integration by identification, as latent friendship or love. The place
of contact in such cases is identical with the place of conflict. “It takes
two to make a quarrel.”
A split between the individual and the world exists in the case of an
imprisoned criminal, whose isolation is materialized by the prison bars.
A friendly attitude by either side (mercy and repentance respectively)
may remove the separation and re-establish contact. But the contact-
phenomenon is not permanent; it is constituted by the experience of re¬
union, and will be replaced by confluence, once the former “criminal is
again accepted by society.
In the case of the criminal the split is inaugurated by society, but the
individual can likewise create such splits. The desire for solitude brings
about a boundary as a passing phase, whilst misanthropy or a generalized
persecution idea leads to a more permanent isolation. A political conviction
which is different from the majority may create a new party, a new creed
will create a new sect.
In order to avoid conflicts—to remain within the bounds of society or
other units—the individual alienates those parts of his personality which
would lead to conflicts with the environment. The avoidance of external
conflicts, however, results in the creation of internal ones. Psycho-analysis
has correctly stressed this fact over and over again.
A child badly wants a certain toy. He does not get it, but knows it is
possible to buy it with money which is in Daddy’s pocket. To take this
149
money, he knows, would lead to a serious conflict with his father, who
says that stealing is a sin and that one gets punished for it. Identifying
himself with the father’s dictum he must alienate—suppress—his desire.
He must either destroy it by resignation and crying, or throw it out of
his Ego-boundary—by repressing or projecting it. Repression is done by
retroflecting his aggression which originally was directed against the
frustrating father and is now directed against his desire. Projection—by
a different and more complicated process—restores the harmony between
himself and the father but at the cost of destroying his own.
Holism requires internal peace. An internal conflict is opposed to the
very essence of holism. Freud once said that a conflict in the personality
is like two servants quarrelling all day long; how much work can one
expect to get done? If a split exists within the personality (for instance,
between conscience and instincts), the Ego may be either hostile toward
the instinct and friendly towards the conscience (inhibition), or vice
versa (defiance).
How the same act evokes different reactions, evaluations and even
conflicts, and how the varying reactions depend on the mode of identifica¬
tion, may be shown in the following examples of killing:
(i) Someone has shot his neighbour. Society or its representative, the
crown prosecutor who identifies himself with the victim calls it murder
and demands punishment. (2) Someone has shot his opponent in a war.
Society identifies itself with the soldier, the victim this time being outside
the identification boundaries. The soldier might receive a reward. (3) The
same as (1) but here the judge, on learning that our “killer” had been
deeply offended by the neighbour, might sympathize »with the accused.
By identification with both the killer and the killed the judge will be in a
conflict about the accused’s guilt. (4) The same as (2) but the soldier’s
Super-Ego has retained the dogma that killing is a cardinal sin. He will
likewise be in conflict by identification with both his country’s and his
conscience’s demands.
In (3) the judge says, I condemn you,” and “I do not condemn
you.” In (4) the soldier feels, “I must kill,” and “I must not kill.” Such
double identifications are intolerable for the organism. A decision is
required. One of the identifications must cease. In fact, only by under¬
standing the possibility to refuse identifications as undesirable and as
dangerous, and to alienate them, can we grasp the true sense of the Ego
and its development as selector or censor.
Identification with organismic needs is originally effort-free, but
alienation is not. The closer a wish is to organismic needs, the more
difficult becomes alienation when the social situation demands it. Most
of us have experienced how difficult it is to dissociate oneself even from
a morbid curiosity of staring at a deformed person. In spite of all efforts
to turn one s eyes away, one discovers oneself looking again and again
150
in the disapproved direction. If it is already nearly impossible to alienate

such morbid curiosity or an unpleasant habit such as a tic or stammering,
how much more difficult must it be to alienate a really powerful impulse.
“Would you stop for a candy?”
I have mentioned before that in the identification function we have
the nucleus of a “free will,” which will come into being as soon as in the
process of reconditioning we replace “right” and “wrong” by “identifi¬
cation” and “alienation” respectively. Having identified ourselves with
certain methods, we call them “right” and alienate others, calling them
“wrong.” This “feel” of right and wrong is often deceptive, as familiarity
or habits are perceived as right, and strange or unaccustomed attitudes as
wrong. F. M. Alexander has made an excellent study of these difficulties
encountered in the process of reconditioning.
Such mistaking of the familiar attitude for the “right” one is daily
encountered in analysis. Many analysts speak of this as lack of the patient’s
insight into his illness. This reproach entirely misses the point. The
biologically correct attitude might have been alienated to such an extent
that the patient cannot any more conceive it as being natural. His resistance
is an identification with certain ideological demands which he does not
experience as a changeable identification—but as a fixed “right”
outlook.
The analysis of a symptom may elucidate the meaning of the foregoing,
and show how the mobilization of the Ego-functions is necessary for the
re-establishment of the healthy functioning of the whole personality.
Mrs. A suffers from a headache, after a girl friend has insulted her.
She is unaware of the fact that she herself is producing the headache,
and is not willing to take responsibility for it—she rather blames her
constitution, her proneness to headaches, or her inconsiderate friend.
Psycho-analysis, too, relieves her of responsibility by finding the cause in
converted libidinal energy. If she took more responsibility for her head¬
ache (and less aspirin), and if she knew exactly how she produced it, she
might decide not to produce it at all.
She says that after the friend’s insult she felt like crying, but did not
shed a single tear. This looks as if crying were converted into headache.
But just as I cannot conceive how repressed libido can change into a
headache, so I cannot accept such a conversion of crying. Every conjuring
trick has its rational explanation. Identified with dignity and pride, she
was incapable of identifying herself with the biological need of finding
relief in crying, so she contracted her eye and throat muscles to stop the
flow of tears. Intense muscular contraction leads to pain; the squeezing
of head muscles results in headache. Anyone may convince himself of this
“production of pain” by tightening a fist as hard as possible.
To return to the patient: without dissolving the Ego-conglomeration
(in this case, the permanent contractions) she cannot yield to the impulse
151
of crying and acquire adequate Ego-functions, i.e. identifications with

her actual needs. Her headache is the signal of an unfinished situation;
she is unable to finish, get rid of her resentment, because she has a tre¬
mendous reluctance to let herself go.
In this reluctance she is assisted by her senso-motoric system.
IX
SENSO-MOTORIC RESISTANCES
When the analyst points out to the patient that he has a resistance or is
in a state of resistance, the patient often feels guilty “as if” he should
not have such unacceptable characteristics. Psycho-analysis concentrates
correctly to a great extent on resistances, but often with the idea that
they are something unwanted—something that can be done away with,
and that should be destroyed wherever they are met with, in order to
develop a healthy character. Reality looks somewhat different. One cannot
destroy resistances; and in any case, they are not an evil, but are rather
valuable energies of our personality—harmful only when wrongly applied.
We cannot do justice to our patients as long as we do not realize the
dialectics of resistance. The dialectical opposite to resistance is assistance.
The same fort which resists the aggressor assists the defender. In this
book we can retain the term “resistance,” as we are essentially the enemies
of the neurosis. In a book on Ethics we would prefer the term “assistance”
for those mechanisms which help us in repressing the condemned character
features. It should, however, be kept in mind that without appreciating
the patient’s outlook on his resistances as assistances we cannot success¬
fully deal with them.
The rigidity of the resisting energies presents the cardinal difficulty.
If a motor-car brake or a water tap is jammed, adequate functioning of
car or water supply is impossible. The analytical situation has the task
of recovering the elasticity of such rigid resistances. It is not that the in¬
ternal resistance disappears and that a negative transference is created. It
is rather that, in addition to the Ego-boundary which lies between the
disturbing internal wish and the conscious personality, another boundary
(between patient and analyst) comes into existence. The analyst is looked
upon as an ally of the forbidden impulse, and is consequently alienated.
The censor, full of mistrust and hostility, is on guard against the disturber,
lest identification with the “strange” ideas of the psycho-analyst should
take place. The organism identifies itself with this hostility and resists
or even attacks the analyst.
The figure-background formation has one serious drawback. The
organism concentrates on one thing at a time. It achieves thus a maximum
of action on one place but a minimum of attention for the rest. Any un¬
foreseen attack thus constitutes a danger. The unexpected—the surprise
153
attack—is as detrimental for the individual as it is for any army or nation.

Just as fortifications and permanent defences compensate for a weakness
in man-power, so we find in the individual organism skin and shells on
the physical, character formation on the behaviour plane. But, as mentioned
before, the boundaries cannot be hermetically sealed. Some contact with
the world must remain. A castle must have communications like doors to
receive food or to send messages. A big breach on the wall, instead of a
door, would constitute an open communication, a confluence. If, for
instance, the fence of a farm were broken, the cattle could escape through
- this confluence with the outer world, and the farmer would have to fall
back from the mechanical guard of the fence upon a living defender, a
watchboy or a dog. These, however, might fall asleep and the opening
remain unguarded, the confluence thus being re-established.
Such guarded communications are the body openings. They require
quite an amount of conscious attendance (Ego-functions) otherwise they
might become places of confluence. Using the simile of the castle, patho¬
logical resistances may be compared with locked doors (the key of which
has been mislaid), and total absence of resistances corresponds to the
gaps in the wall resulting from the complete removal of the doors. The
impulsive irresponsible character, as found in cases of “juvenile delin¬
quency, clearly shows the absence of necessary resistances, the lack of
brakes which he should apply to safeguard himself against the retaliation
of society. By analysing resistances on the assumption that they should
not exist, we run great risks. It will often happen that resistances are
not fully dealt with, but are repressed and over-compensated—embarrass¬
ment by pseudo-courage, shame by impudence, disgust by indiscriminate
greediness. In juvenile delinquency” the repression of resistances appears
often as defiance and heroism making itself shown as “tough guy” ideal.
The mere dissolution of the resisting energies entails another danger.
Many people have developed hardly any other Ego-functions than those
of resistance, be it against their own impulses, or against demands made
on them. They aim at developing a strong Ego, a character full of “will¬
power.” To them an efficient personality is identical with a “strong”
character—one able to suppress smoking, sex-impulses, hunger and so
forth.
If one deprives them of these resisting and domineering functions,
there is nothing left in which they are interested. They have never learned
how to enjoy themselves, how to be aggressive, or how to love, and while
their resistances are being analysed, they become completely conflised, while
their identification with those vital functions has not yet been established.
Moreover, the resisting energies of such people are very valuable, and
if they have good domineering and resisting qualities, they will find
ample opportunity of using them beneficially. What must be achieved is
the undoing of retroflections. The patient must learn to direct the resisting
154
SENSO-MOTORIC RESISTANCES
energies towards the outside world, to apply them in accordance with the
demands of the situation, to say “No” when a “No” is required. If one
has to deal with a drunken, incapable person, it is more important to
control, even to get rid of, his molestations, than to control oneself. A
child which always complies with the often idiotic and irresponsible
demands of its parents and resists its own impulses, will cripple its per¬
sonality and become a meek and dishonest character. If, at times, it
manages to resist their demands, if it puts up a fight, it will in later life
be in a better position to stand up for its rights. The actual situation is
the criterion as to whether resistance is useful or not. Obstinacy, a con¬
centrated conscious resistance, has likewise to be judged from the point
of view of its usefulness. Obstinacy about taking good advice is different
from the obstinacy of a determined nation against unprovoked attacks.
If we fully understand two facts, the centrifugal sensoric and motoric
functions, and the phenomenon of retroflection, we get a clear conception
of the somato-neurotic resistances. Of these the motoric resistances,
consisting mainly of increased muscular tension, have been dealt with
extensively by Reich’s armour theory. What I have to add is that these
cramps are in fact retroflected squeezing. They are symptoms of a hanging-
on attitude (hanging-on bite; hanging on to a person or to one’s posses¬
sions, faeces, breath, and so on; cf. Imre Hermann’s analysis of the
clinch reflex).
* ★ *
Of the sensoric resistances, the most frequent is scotomization, a minus

or a deficient function by which the perception of certain things is avoided.
Less well known is the fact that increased sensoric activity is likewise a
resistance. We all know people who are touchy, over-sensitive and easily
hurt. Their touchiness, highly developed and cultivated, serves as a means
of avoiding situations which they do not want to face, their favourite
expression being, “This gets on my nerves.” Such hyper-aesthesia takes
the form, for instance, of migraine with its over-sensitiveness to fight,
etc., when Madame wants to avoid an unpleasant discussion with her
husband. In the sexual situation she is so sensitive that every approach
hurts her, a defence which disappears when she is in harmony with the
man. Others develop touchiness (as assistance!), not for defensive, but for
aggressive purposes. If you refuse to comply with one of their wishes,
they look so hurt as to make you feel you have committed a crime; and
the next time, although you recognize the emotional blackmail, you do
not dare refuse their demands.
The picture of hyper-aesthesia—the readiness to be hurt—would not
be complete, without considering the projection of hurting. Every person
who is easily offended, easily hurt, has an equally strong but inhibited
inclination towards inflicting pain. This sometimes finds its outlet and
aim in a round-about way. Melancholic characters, for instance, enjoy
155
making other people feel miserable, and often admit that they mostly
succeed in making others feel awkward, embarrassed and irritable.
The production of the opposite resistance, of de-sensitivization (hypo-
aesthesia and anaesthesia) requires still more research work. Sometimes
hypo-aesthesia is produced by prolonged medium-tensed muscular con¬
tractions, sometimes by concentrating on a “figure” different from that
required by the situation (dummy).
A patient complained of lack of sensations during intercourse. Inquiries
into details of his experiences revealed that during the act he “thought,”
instead of being concentrated on his feelings. Often in his phantasy he
was busy reading a newspaper, a behaviour which analysis revealed to
be a training against over-sensitiveness, against his ejaculatio praecox. By
diverting his attention from his sensations to the newspaper he had
conquered his complaint, but had changed hyper-aesthesia into anaesthe¬
sia, without healthy gratification being possible in either case.
De-sensitivization is often accompanied by a feeling of being wrapped
in cotton wool, or by a mental black-out. Yet, whenever a patient main¬
tained that he felt or thought nothing, I found that the black-out or an¬
aesthesia was not complete, but that it was merely a hypo-aesthesia, a
kind of dimming. Thoughts were present (but rather in the background),
and so were feelings, although they were described as being of a stale or
dull nature.
In a case described by Freud, the patient complained about a permanent
veil, which was tom only during defaecation. I presume this “re-veila-
tion” was identical with his feeling of the contact of the faeces with the
wall of the anus, that is with the exit-contact. The absence of this contact
constitutes an unguarded confluence between personality and world.
This confluence, the absence of the Ego-boundary, is essential for the
development of projections.
Small children shut their eyes tightly if they do not want to look.
This is a plus-function, an activity. It is an additional muscular impulse
preventing their curiosity from becoming effective. It appears that the
veil of Freud’s patient is similarly a cover, an additional function, a kind
of senso-motoric hallucination. By properly describing and analysing
such cover-functions, one can unmask their aim: the avoidance of some
emotional experience. In cases of anal numbness I was given descriptions
such as: “The faeces pass through a rubber tube”; or, “It is as if an air
space exists”; or, “The faeces do not touch the wall.”
Similar descriptions are given in cases of genital frigidity. Here, too,
hallucinated layers are found side by side with the minus functions,
like lack of concentration and of adequate figure-background formation.
Oral frigidity (numbness of taste, lack of appetite) plays a considerable
part in the disturbance of the Ego-development. It prevents the experience
of enjoyment as well as disgust, and it promotes the introjection of food.
156
X
PROJECTION
Whilst with the help of the existing analytical literature we were able
to form a clear picture of the origin of introjection, we are still in the
dark about the genesis of projection.
There exists a pre-different stage for which, to my knowledge, no
name has yet been coined. One often observes a baby throwing its doll
out of a pram. The doll stands for the child itself: “I want to be where
the doll is.” This emotional (ex-movere) stage differentiates later into
expression and projection. A healthy mental metabolism requires develop¬
ment in the direction of expression and not projection. The healthy
character expresses his emotions and ideas, the paranoid character projects
them.
The importance of the subject of expression can hardly be over¬
estimated if one bears in mind two facts:
(1) It is incorrect to speak of the repression of instincts. Instincts can
never be repressed—only their expressions can be.
(2) In addition to the inhibited expression of instincts (mainly in action)
every neurosis shows difficulties in expressing the “Self” (mainly
in words). Expression is replaced by play-acting, broadcasting,
hypocrisy, self-consciousness and projecting.
Genuine expression is not deliberately created; it comes “from the
heart,” but it is consciously moulded. Every artist is an inventor, finding
means and ways—sometimes new ways—of expressing himself.
Projection is essentially an unconscious phenomenon. The projecting
person cannot satisfactorily distinguish between the inside and outside
world. He visualizes in the outside world those parts of his own personality
with which he refuses to identify himself. The organism experiences them as
being outside the Ego-boundaries and reacts accordingly with aggression.1
1 Certain complications are left out here for simplification. God, for instance,
is a projection of man’s omnipotence wishes, but by partial identification (“My”
God) the aggression comes into play only against a foreign god or in situations
where “God’s will” is not accepted, as after disappointments.
People often are said to remember God only when they need Him. This is not
a memory, but every time a new projection. When in a difficult situation they feel
helpless and wish for power and magic resources, they project such omnipotence
wishes, and the all-powerful God is re-created.
157
ego, hunger and aggression
Feelings of guilt are unpleasant to bear; therefore children and adults

with an insufficiently developed sense of responsibility are inclined to
project any anticipated blame on to something else. A child who has
hurt itself on a chair, blames the “naughty” chair. A man who ruins his
business may throw the responsibility on to “bad times” or “fate”—some
scapegoat or another will always be at hand.
These projections of guilt have the advantage of giving temporary
relief, but they deprive the personality of the Ego-functions of contact,
identification and responsibility.
In analysing patients who had previously been treated by other analysts
I noticed that some of them showed an extraordinary number of pro¬
jections. Repressed parts of their personalities had been made conscious,
but the patients had not accepted the facts and functions brought to the
surface. They were bad “chewers” and had never managed to assimilate
the released material. This material had been ejected from the Unconscious
directly to the world, without passing the Ego-boundaries. One case, by
projecting his sexual impulses on to his friends, had almost developed a
persecution mania. Another showed a marked increase of fear developed
through projecting his aggression on to the world. By releasing the
repressed material without assimilating it both cases went from the rain
into the trough.
A mother told me that her child had experienced a nightmare. He
woke up crying that a dog wanted to bite him. I found that in his attempt
at playing “doggie” with his mother and eating her up he had met with
a stem refusal, and he had been told not to be naughty. I made no attempt
to explain to the child the meaning of the dog as totem animal and its
role within the Oedipus-complex; I simply took it for granted that the
child had projected its frustrated aggression on to the dog in the dream.
Thereby his role of an active biter was changed into the fear of being
bitten. I advised the mother to encourage both the dog-play and the
child s aggression. The nightmare has not recurred.
A person who is inclined to project, resembles someone sitting in a
house lined with mirrors. Wherever he looks he thinks he sees the world
through the glass, whereas he actually sees only reflections of the un¬
accepted parts of his own personality.
Except in dreams and in a fully developed psychosis, one always finds
the tendency to use an adequate object as a screen or receiver for the
projection. The child with the nightmare would have developed a phobia
of dogs, if he had not regained his aggressiveness. The frightfulness of
aggressor nations is increased by the same amount of aggression
which the victim projects into them, and it is decreased to its actual level
when the victim refuses to be intimidated and makes use of his own
aggressiveness.
Not always is it the outside world, however, which serves as a screen
158
PROJECTION
for projections; they can also take place within the personality. There
are people whose stern conscience cannot be explained merely by intro-
jection. Parents who, according to the introjection-theory, reappear
within the personality as conscience, may in reality be anything but
stem. In one of my cases the parents had been extraordinarily sympathetic,
but had killed their child’s aggression by kindness. This patient suffered
from severe feelings of guilt and intense reproaches from his conscience.
He had projected his aggression—his tendency to reproach—into his
conscience which he subsequently experienced as attacking him. As
soon as he managed to be openly aggressive his conscience lost its grip
on him, and his feelings of guilt disappeared. An over-stern conscience
can be cured only when self reproach changes into object approach.
The Russian “saints” in pre-Soviet literature, by curbing their aggres¬
siveness and renouncing sin increased their feelings of guilt. On the other
hand, a child may have very intolerant parents, but if it keeps up its
fighting spirit and does not project its own aggression into the parents
or into its conscience, it will remain healthy.
Projections can attach themselves to the most unexpected objects and
situations. One of my patients spent most of his time worrying about
his genitals, and how to feel sensations in them. He often imagined that
his penis had disappeared into his stomach, that it was not manly enough,
or that it was weak. Whatever theme cropped up, he always returned to
the subject of his penis. The analysis of his genital and oral difficulties
brought improvement, but no solution. It then struck me that his Ego-
functions were limited to complaining and to rare spells of crying and
annoyance. Where were the remaining features of his personality? They
were projected into his penis. He did not feel that he was running away
from certain situations, but in such cases he had the feeling that his
penis had disappeared into his stomach. He did not feel weak, his genitals
were weak. Instead of attempting to overcome the dullness of his life,
he permanently tried to arouse more sensations in his penis.
Such a case is certainly exceptional. What we see rather frequently,
however, is projection into the past. Instead of expressing an emotion
within the actual situation, the patient produces a memory. Instead of
saying to the analyst, “you are talking a lot of bilge,” he appears to be
indifferent, but remembers suddenly a situation where he attacked a
friend for talking “a lot of bilge.” Such overlooking of projection into the
past helps psycho-analysis on the one hand to maintain the dogma of
the all-important past and, on the other hand, interferes with the clearing
up of the actual conflicts.
Usually the bulk of unwanted material is projected on to the outside
world. Sometimes it is very difficult indeed to discover projections, for
instance in the case of the neurotic’s need for affection, a phenomenon
that has always proved a stumbling block in analytical theory and practice.
159
Karen Horney has recognized the important part that this character-
feature plays in the neurotic of our time, and I have already explained
that this need cannot be satisfied, because love, if and when offered, is
not really accepted and assimilated.
Psycho-analysis and individual psychology (Adler) proclaim the dogma
that the neurotic has remained more or less infantile. The need for
affection is certainly present in every child, and the inability to love is
frequently a characteristic of the neurotic; but the ability to love is by
no means reserved for adults. The child hates and loves with an intensity
which grown-ups can only envy. The tragedy of the neurotic is not that
he has never developed love, nor that he has regressed into the state of a
child—it lies in his inhibition to love and still more in his inability to ex¬
press his love. If unaccepted love is followed by disappointment, the
painful experience makes him shrink from yielding to his emotions. It
is as if he had decided, “Let others do the loving; I won’t run such a
risk again.” Every time he arouses love, however, the situation becomes
precarious anew; he feels tempted to answer love with love, but he is
ashamed of being ridiculous and romantic. He feels afraid of being taken
advantage of or having to suffer rebukes. If, in addition to this, he is an
oral character, the need for affection coincides with his general greed.
The neurotic projects the (inhibited) love, and consequently (in his
expectations and phantasies) he conjures up visions of receiving just those
affections which he suppresses in himself. In other words, he does not
suffer from an inability to love, but from an inhibition—from the fear of
loving too much.
Just as the neurotic’s “need for affection” has its anchorage in the
projection, so has the other symptom which classical psycho-analysis
regards as neurotic symptom number one. I am referring to the castration-
complex which is based on the fear that the genitals might be completely
or partially destroyed. To prove the existence of such a complex, every
part of the body is interpreted by the Freudians as penis. Even the
demand of the mother for the child’s stool is explained as a castration.
Psycho-analysis, however, overlooks the decisive fact that with all the
so-called penis-substitutes only one factor remains constant—namely that
of damage: every disciplinary education threatens, and sometimes inflirts
damage, be it to the penis, eyes, buttocks, brain or honour. The neurotic’s
recurring fear of suffering damage cannot be cured by squeezing every
possible penis-symbol into the castration-complex, but rather by undoing
the projections of the neurotic’s aggression—of his unexpressed desire to
threaten and to inflict damage.
A young man with a strong, though unhappy, mother-fixation, admitted
that he shrank from sexual intercourse for fear something might happen
to his penis inside the vagina. His dreams revealed that he was afraid of
a vagina dentata. The female genital was a kind of shark to him, which
i 60
PROJECTION
would bite off his penis. This was apparently an unambiguous castration
complex. He was an artist and showed an unusual abhorrence of any
reviews of his work, because of the sharp biting criticism they might
express. He avoided the threats to both his penis and to his narcissism.
Further symptoms brought the solution of his neurosis: he hardly
ever used his front teeth and was afraid of hurting even a fly—two pheno¬
mena mostly found together. Biting and hurting were projected, but
not only into the vagina, so that his fear of being hurt was not confined
to the penis. To consider the penis as the only, or even the primary
object, is in my opinion an arbitrary decision, and mistakes a symptom
for a cause. Even if a neurotic of this type could be convinced that there
is no danger in the vagina, his troubles would not be over, for his castra¬
tion-complex is not the centre of his neurosis; it is but one result of his
projected aggressiveness. He may become sexually potent, but the fear
of damage (e.g. to his prestige) may nevertheless remain and he would
merely search for another screen for his projections. Our patient’s diffident
attitude changed, after he had learned to use his aggression, to put his
teeth into things and to get his share out of life. During the treatment I
heard him express some very sharp criticism.
Projections are, in the strictest sense, hallucinations. The little boy’s
nightmare is such a projective hallucination, which in genuine paranoia
is a central symptom. Where enough sense of reality remains, the hallu¬
cinations are rationalized; we may then speak of a paranoid character.
Typical of it is the looking for “points,” for realities which may serve
as proof to the paranoid that he is not hallucinating. The morbidly jealous
husband, for instance, will lie in wait and try to trap his wife in order to
discover whether she smiles at anyone else; and if this happens, he
interprets her smile in accordance with his preconceived ideas of
jealousy.1
A man was haunted by the fear that one day he would be killed by a
tile falling from a roof. He avoided going near the rows of houses, and by
walking in the street took the increased risk of being run over. He could
not, of course, be convinced that his chances of being killed by a tile
were a million to one. One day he brought a newspaper cutting to me and
triumphantly showed me that a man had been killed by a tile: “You see,
I was right; such things do happen.” He was looking for points and at
last had found one. His fear was dissolved through undoing the projection
of his particular urge to lean out of the window and to throw stones at
those people who had treated him “unjustly.”
Milder cases of paranoid characters show a certain selectivity which
emphasizes some characteristics in a person, and scotomizcs others. The
attacked features correspond to the projections, to the alienated parts of
the paranoid personality. Projections are thus very suitable means of
1 Jealousy is always due to unexpressed, projected wishes.
I6I L
avoiding the solution of the ambivalence attitude. By projecting one’s

own hostile attitude it is easy to be tolerant. Does one not deserve a pat
on the back for being so good in the midst of such a bad world?
As an organismic conception cannot be satisfied with the inquiry into
the mere psychological aspects, we may attempt to find what, on the
somatic side, corresponds to the process of projection.
XI
PSEUDO-METABOLISM OF THE PARANOIC

CHARACTER
Two figures may show, in a simple form, the activity of the alimentary
tract of the organism: Fig. I illustrates the healthy food metabolism;
Fig. II, a pathological phenomenon which resembles metabolism, but is
actually a frustration, and may be called pseudo-metabolism.
t*1
♦ • I
Fig. I Fig. II.
The alimentary tube is a skin separating the organism proper from

the outside world (as does the epidermis). As long as the food is within
the tube and has not penetrated its walls it is still isolated from the organ¬
ism. In a sense it remains part of the outside world, as does the oxygen
in the lungs before being absorbed through the alveoli. Both oxygen
and food become part of the organism only after having been absorbed.
Without proper preparation (chewing, etc.) food does not become
absorbable. People who do not chew properly may discover whole mealie-
coms, berries and similar objects in their stools. Introjected material
remains outside the organism proper, and is then correctly felt as something
strange to the Self, something which provokes dental aggression or the
desire to get rid of it. This material is defaecated not as waste matter,
163
but as projection. It does not disappear from the projector’s world, but
only from his personality.
Under the influence of resistances the healthy state of eating and
defaecating often changes into the pathological conditions of introjection
and projection; with the help of sensoric resistances (hypo-aesthesia), os
and anus become places of confluence instead of regulated communication.
When I first discovered cases in which the patient did not accept, but
projected the material released by psycho-analysis from the Unconscious,
I tried to puzzle out how this material could slip out without Ego-contact
—without the patient becoming aware of this process. I found the solution
in the structural identity of physical and mental processes. In all these
cases there exists an anaesthesia, a frigidity of the anus. Thus the analytical
material, like the faeces, does not (to use Fedem’s terminology) filter
through the Ego-boundaries; or, as I would prefer to express it, the Ego
is non-existent, not functioning. As there is a confluence between organism
and world, it is not noticed that parts of the personality are leaving the
system.
One result of the anaesthesia, which sometimes stretches far up the
rectum, is that the feeling of the urge to defaecate is considerably reduced,
an unsureness which manifests itself mostly in a permanent tightening of
the constricting muscle of the anus and in chronic constipation. The con¬
trol of defaecation is not functioning biologically; the anus is, for safety’s
sake, rigidly locked; the defaecation is a forced one and often piles develop.
The passing of the faeces through the anus is not felt; it takes place
without adequate sensations. Instead of full awareness, mind wandering
—sometimes even a kind of trance—accompanies the defaecation.
In the healthy organism the mental and physical food is assimilated
and transformed into energies, which are applied in activity; they appear
as work and emotions. Indigestible material is discharged and discarded
as waste; it is expressed, but not projected.
In pseudo-metabolism the material taken in is insufficiently assimilated
and passes out of the personality more or less unused, carrying with it
energies from the system. They slip out without having fulfilled their
task in the organism. If the material were only discarded and treated as
waste the harm done to the organism could be retrieved. To a considerable
degree the loss could be compensated for by an increase in the quantity
of food. (An “introjector” is greedy, and a certain amount of the swallowed
food will always find its way into the tissues, in spite of the lack of oral
destruction.) It appears, however, that to the same degree as the powerful
digestive instinct remains ungratified the organism craves to regain its
own substance. In a primitive way, we meet this tendency in the per¬
version of coprophagy and on a higher level in the aggressiveness of the
paranoid against his projections.
* * *
164
PSEUDO-METABOLISM OF THE PARANOIC CHARACTER
To understand the pathology of the pseudo-metabolism (especially

the paradoxical tendency of the paranoic character—that of being both
hostile to, and fascinated by, his projections), one has to emphasize the
part which repressed disgust plays in the process. Introjection is identical
with the food too hastily passing the oral zone. If certain food were
tasted, it would evoke disgust and vomiting; to avoid this, it is quickly
swallowed and disgust repressed. The result is general oral anaesthesia
and, exactly as in the anus, a place of confluence is created. (This oral
anaesthesia has been known to medicine as a hysterical symptom for a
long time.) Once the censor—the taste and feel of the food—is silenced,
there is not much discrimination left. Physically (food) as well as mentally
(knowledge) everything is indiscriminately swallowed. Hand in hand
with this lack of differentiation goes lack of concentration—mind wandering
and other neurasthenic symptoms.
If we look upon repressed memories as an accumulation of undigested
morsels, we see two ways of getting rid of them—assimilation or ejection.
To be assimilated, the material must be re-chewed, and to be re-chewed,
it must be brought up. Disgust is the emotional component of vomiting.
If this undigested material is not brought up (repeated) it passes in the
opposite direction, is ejected.
Ejection is not felt as separation, once anal anaesthesia has created
confluence: ejection becomes projection. The organism continues its
attempts to attack and to destroy the newly projected material which
attaches itself to suitable objects of the outer world. Whenever these
objects become “figure,” the organism answers with aggression—with
hostility, vindictiveness and persecution.
This paranoic persecution is a very remarkable phenomenon. It is an
attempt to establish the Ego-boundary which did not exist at the moment
of projecting. But the attempt is bound to fail, as the paranoic wants to
attack and treat as outside material that which is really a part of himself.
He cannot leave the “project” alone because his aggression is fundamentally
alimentary. However, as this aggression is not applied as dental aggression
the destruction is unsuccessful and leads only to re-introjection. The
digestive and re-digestive situation still remains unfinished—the enemy is
incorporated, but not assimilated, and is later projected again and ex¬
perienced as the persecutor.1 And so on and on. Anaesthesia of both
mouth and anus result in a lack of awareness: the feel of the food (tasting
the flavour and realizing its structure), and the feel of defaecation have
ceased to be Ego-functions.
As the unassimilated material is not merely ejected and discarded but
projected into the world, it increasingly contains previously projected
material, which again remains incompletely digested. A vicious circle is
' The persecuting of one’s projections changes in the true paranoia by pro¬
jection into the idea of “being persecuted.”
165
started and established and the paranoid character, gradually losing

contact with the real world, becomes isolated from his surroundings.
He lives in an “imaginary” world. Of this he is usually unaware, for,
owing to the failure of mouth and anus to regulate the communication,
he remains in confluence with the projected world which he mistakes
for the real one.1
The following example may illustrate the development of the projection/
introjection cycle: A boy admires a great footballer. His enthusiasm is
ridiculed; so he suppresses it and projects his admiration on to his sister
by imagining her as the hero’s admirer. Later he introjects the hero and
wants to be admired himself. To gain this admiration he “shows off”
by clowning and by bringing into play the rest of his childish repertoire.
Instead of getting admiration he is scolded and laughed at by his sister.
The boy becomes shy and has secret day-dreams of being an outstanding
sportsman. He is now on the road to becoming a neurotic, but he is not
yet a paranoic. This, however, may happen if at the same time he resents,
begrudges the successes of his former hero who has, in his imagination;,
become his competitor. If he then projects the grudge and thereby
experiences the belief that the world begrudges his (phantasied) merits,
he creates a wall between himself and his environment; he becomes silent
and secretive, or in turn irritable and explosive. The foundation of a
paranoic character, perhaps even of a future paranoia, has been laid.
I have intentionally over-simplified the paranoic metabolism. There are
many more places by way of which introjections and projections enter
and leave the organism, but the frequency with which one finds alimentary
disturbances connected with paranoid symptoms is so obvious that one
feels justified in taking the pseudo-metabolism as a primary symptom.
In the sexual sphere we find, among other symptoms, jealousy and
voyeurism. A young man was too shy to have intercourse with his fiancee
but projected his ideas on to a friend and became jealous of him. It was
easy to show him that he visualized exactly what he failed to express as
his own wish. A re-identification cleared the situation quickly.
This was not so easy with another patient. Here the process had
developed further. This man was married and after the projection he had
introjected his imagined competitor. He behaved in sexual intercourse
as if he were the other man. Not being in complete agreement with
his biological needs, but being instead concentrated on a performance of
imitating his friend, the contact with his wife was insufficient: the act
remained unsatisfactory and fundamentally unfinished. This enhanced
the vicious circle of projections and introjections.
In another case insufficient feel of the penis created confluence. In
1 If at least the disgust were not repressed its powerful barrier would prevent
the projections from being re-introjected and the vicious circle could be interrupted.
Disgust is an Ego-boundary—though certainly not a pleasant one.
I 66
PSEUDO-METABOLISM OF THE PARANOIC CHARACTER
this instance the penis was projected on to the female and a lifelong
search for a woman with a penis started. Here we have a real castration
complex, or, rather, a hallucinatory castration corresponding to the
absence of adequate sensations.
We have previously dealt with another aspect of the castration complex:
namely, that projected aggression creates fear that some part of oneself
(e.g. the penis) might be damaged. There is one complaint, however,
which psycho-analysis also attributes to the castration complex but which
cannot be explained by projected aggression. Many men believe that the
loss of semen makes them weak or insane; others live in constant fear of
losing their money and becoming poor. If an activity is projected, the
Ego experiences itself as being passive; in the case of projected aggression,
it experiences itself as being attacked. The loss of energy, however, is
felt as a function of the own organism and not as the result of an attack.
The person who projects indeed loses energies, instead of applying
and expressing them. The boy in the above example, instead of experien¬
cing his enthusiasm (and with it an intense joy in living), goes to no end
of trouble to induce people to become enthusiastic about his own person.
By projecting his enthusiasm, he loses it; this is the first step in reducing
the personality.
A paranoid patient complained that in spite of very reduced sexual
activities he suffered continuous loss of energy. He had an ejaculatio
praecox. He projected his semen, hardly felt the discharge and experienced
nothing even approaching a genuine orgasm. Instead of a temporary
confluence of his personality with his wife, instead of the oneness which
characterizes sexual intercourse, there was always sexual over-excitement,
but no personal contact.
It is true, in the moment of the orgasm there is a confluence, a oneness
between the man and the woman so that world and individuality cease
to exist. But this confluence is the climax of the rising curve of personal,
skin, and finally, genital contact. The dissolving of the contact/isolation
phenomenon into confluence is experienced as intense satisfaction.1
People with an ejaculatio praecox are characterized by an undeveloped
contact zone and weak Ego-functions. They have as little genital contact
possibilities as their food contact is impaired. As they demand the im¬
mediate effort-free flowing of the milk, so they let their semen flow,
without passing and creating the contact boundary, e.g. without the
experience of satisfaction. Ejaculatio praecox is characteristic of a person
incapable of a concentrated effort. The effort is projected and is expected
to be exerted by someone else instead. Such cases appear either infantile—
dependant on a mother substitute—or as a boss having employees and
servants to do the work for them. Both (sometimes the two attitudes are
found in the same person) are lost if they have to stand on their own feet.
« A well-known example is the sweet reconciliation after a quarrel.
167
Whilst in the example of ejaculatio praecox the specific effort is pro¬

jected and only an unspecific excitement (irritation) remains as expression
of the personality, we find also the reverse: the frigid personality who
projects his excitement, but exerts a most extraordinarily concentrated
but fruitless (dummy) effort. In the sexual situation these frigid characters
avoid the necessary discharge and expression of intense excitement, but
they do anything to excite their partner. They themselves remain empty,
dissatisfied, disappointed, or at best they enjoy a poor substitute, a sadistic
pleasure in having achieved their aim of exciting the partner while re¬
maining unmoved themselves. Their frigidity is a fortification which they
try to penetrate, but their sexual as well as their oral gratification is nearly
as insufficient as in the case of ejaculatio praecox. They tire themselves
out to such an extent that after intercourse they are not happy but just
exhausted. Both types, the ejaculatio praecox and retardata, never achieve
a finished situation—a proper balance as required by the organism.
The neurotic who is in permanent need of affection and appreciation
is in a similar situation. Even if he obtains the desired love, he does not
get the expected satisfaction. His pseudo-metabolism is usually rather
simple; he is greedy for appreciation, but once he gets it (praise or criticism)
he either refuses it or introjects—swallows it indiscriminately. He does
not derive the benefit of the gift, he does not assimilate but he projects
the appreciation, and continues the vicious circle. Loss of energies by
projection, that is by lack of assimilation, brings about the atrophy of the
paranoic character’s personality.
i 68
XII
MEGALOMANIA-OUTCAST COMPLEX
As the various introjection /projection cycles in the paranoid character

occur simultaneously they have to be isolated for the purpose of analysis.
One of these cycles deserves special interest. It is present in every paranoid
and is, in a milder form, frequently encountered in everyday life. An
appropriate name for this cycle would be megalomania-outcast complex,
or, to use more familiar words, superiority-inferiority complex. Of this
one half, the inferiority complex, has become the public favourite No. I.
Whilst A. Adler, the father of the “inferiority feeling,” maintains that
its source is a childhood trauma based on some somatic inferiority, W.
Reich sees in it a symptom of sexual impotence. Both of them, however,
overlook the fact that the inferiority feelings appear in situations where
arrogant, etc., people do not succeed in keeping up their superiority pose.
In this chapter I intend describing a peculiar relationship between
inferiority-feeling and a special evaluation derived from the evaluation of
the faeces. Those cases which suffer more severely from inferiority-
feelings experience themselves as outcasts, as not being accepted by the
rest of the world. At other times they show arrogance—megalomaniac
phantasies (often concealed in day-dreams), in which they are kings,
leaders, the best cricket players, etc., and thus entitled to look down
upon their fellow men. In the proper paranoia these phantasies become
convictions.
We have dealt with one root of such phantasies, the projections which
change admiration into an obsessional wish to be admired. Even if these
wishes cannot be satisfied, the imagined wish-fulfilment shows a narcissistic
aim and gain, namely, to be “top dog,” to be better, stronger or more
beautiful than others, or at least than the competitor. Being on top the
day-dreamer can despise and deprecate the world; he can look down on
his fellow creatures. A boy dreamt his father—a very impressive per¬
sonality—was a little dwarf.
The vicious circle continues: “The bigger you are, the harder you
fall.” Despising is projected on to others and the day-dreamer feels
himself despised, rejected—an outcast. He soon introjects the despiser
and treats others as outcasts.
Retroflection is a complication of this cycle worth mentioning: in certain
cases megalomania and outcast periods coincide; the paranoic’s character
169
is then split in two; he retroflects his contempt and despises “himself”

for characteristics or actions—he is despiser and despised at the same time.
The greater the difficulty he has in accepting his real self, the greater is
the urge to justify himself by demanding the impossible of himself and
his environment. During the period of projection he imagines that demands
are continuously being made upon him. One of my patients could not
bear one empty hour in her life—she had to stuff her time-table as she
stuffed her stomach; but as soon as she made her appointments they
became a demand upon her, a duty worrying her to death.
Often one finds a difficulty in accepting compliments, affection, presents,
etc. In their outcast periods the inability of such people to accept signs
of love is projected, and they feel themselves not acceptable, unworthy,
and nothing can convince them of the contrary. If this is retroflected,
they cannot accept themselves as they really are. They do not like their
own odour, cannot stand the sight of themselves, and so on.
The outcast-megalomania complex differs from the more comprehensive
phenomenon of pseudo-metabolism by being charged with evaluations
which are more or less identical with the common outlook in regard to
the faeces. In the psycho-analytical interpretation faeces stand mostly as a
symbol for something valuable, for a child (resemblance to the birth
situation) or for money (expression by its opposite). These interpretations
may be correct for the baby situation. At that time the faeces are often
considered by mother and child as a present, but soon during the training
in cleanliness, the child learns to despise them and to introject the disgust
which the environment displays towards them.
For the adult of our time faeces have the unambiguous, symbolic
meaning of something filthy, disgusting, intolerable—something that
should not exist at all. “You are a piece of dirt—a piece of shit,” is an
extremely grave insult. This symbolic meaning of something filthy,
disgusting, intolerable is the basis of the “outcast” or inferiority feel¬
ing. In the period of introjection—of identification with the faeces—the
paranoid character feels himself as dirt; in times of projection—of aliena¬
tion—he thinks himself superior and looks upon the world as dirt.
A reminder of the faecal origin of introjections is the bad (“dirty”)
taste paranoic characters often feel in their mouth, and they are only too
willing to consider many things and actions as “bad taste.” Bad smell
from the mouth might really be present, as according to my observation
every paranoid character shows disturbances of the alimentary functions.
In the case of a stomach neurosis one can always look out for accompanying
paranoid features.
When during the analysis a paranoid character begins to face the
projections as being the despised parts of his own personality, he experi¬
ences disgust and a strong urge to vomit. This is a good sign. It indicates
the re-establishment of censor and Ego-boundaries. The projections are
170
not blindly introjected any more. When the taste is re-established, the
disgust (aroused by the faecal origin of the projections) will come to the
surface. Without the reappearance of disgust the analysis of any ali¬
mentary or paranoid neurosis is hopeless.
* * *
Psycho-analysis has already recognized that most neuroses have a

psychotic nucleus. In obsessional neurosis the paranoic nucleus has up
till now been regarded as being insensitive to treatment. This nucleus,
however, can be dissolved if we pay sufficient attention to its alimentary
component.
We find all kinds of intermediate forms between the paranoic and the
obsessional character, but there are certain decisive differences. The
paranoic functions are mostly unconscious and the Ego-functions are
deeply disturbed; in the obsessional process the Ego-functions are
qualitatively exaggerated (nearly solidified) though quantitatively dimin¬
ished. Furthermore in obsessional neurosis numbness plays a far lesser
part, the dominating factor being the actual conscious avoidance of
contact. Undoing the “feel” of being dirty is mostly attempted by con¬
tinual washing and avoiding contact with dirt. Thus the feeling of being
dirty is projected to a far lesser degree than by the paranoid. In the oral
attitude of the obsessional neurotic we find less complete introjection
(than in the case of the paranoid), but more actual avoidance of biting
and hurting. We find, too, a rigidity in the muscles (mainly of the jaws).
It seems as though the obsessional neurotic attempts, in biting, to avoid
the contact of the upper and lower front teeth, thus establishing an oral
confluence. In contrast to the paranoid he often uses his molars, but he
is incapable of making a “clean cut”; he is afraid of hurting directly,
and accumulates a tremendous amount of aggression (resentment).
Therefore hurting and killing play a predominant part in his obsessional
thoughts.
The danger that these phantasies of killing may be transformed into
action does not exist at the obsessional end, but increases towards the
paranoic end of the scale of intermediate stages (cf. the excellent studies
of paranoics in the film Rage in Heaven, and Cronin’s novel, Hatter's
Castle).
Both obsessional neurosis and paranoia are characterized by a strong
leaning towards confluence. Of this the paranoic is not aware, but the
obsessional character lives in permanent fear of losing his individuality
and self-control. He prevents the danger of sliding into a paranoic con¬
fluence by establishing rigid boundaries. His defence—like the Maginot
Line—suffers from lack of mobility. The holding on to such rigid
boundaries gives him a false sense of security, similar to that which the
171
French people had experienced; they were insufficiently aware of the

existing confluence via the Low Countries (as conventional boundaries
do not exist for Hitler), and of the necessity of elastic defence boundaries.
The Maginot Line became a dummy—an indestructible, but rigid, and
therefore unadaptable, object.
Further investigations will throw more light on the relationship between
obsessional neurosis and paranoia. One thing seems certain: both ill¬
nesses, unlike hysteria and neurasthenia, show very little inclination to
remissions or spontaneous cure, but rather a tendency to go from bad to
worse. This is not surprising if one remembers the vicious circle of the
paranoic pseudo-metabolism and the increasing avoidance of the obses¬
sional character, both of which progressively disintegrate the personality.
In their advanced stages both types have lost the ability to smile—to
appreciate humour. They are always deadly serious.
The discovery of the paranoic nucleus in the obsessional neurosis
entails one danger. One might be tempted to make a short cut and treat
the core alone. This would be a bad mistake and would only increase
the dummy activities and the suffering of the obsessional character.
One has therefore to sharpen the blunted aggressiveness. For this purpose
one can use a symptom which I always found present in this type and which
has the advantage of being a contact phenomenon, although often dis¬
torted by projection. The obsessional character likes to hurt and embarrass
people by making fools of them, an attitude which at times is cleverly
hidden (for instance in making people feel stupid, impotent or confused)
but in the early stage is expressed in a very primitive way. A quite intel¬
ligent young man asked his father, who had a university degree, silly
questions like: “Daddy, you are so clever, I am sure you can tell me
how much is three times four?” If, however, the obsessional characters
project their fooling, they don’t even derive pleasure from it, but live in
permanent fear and under the illusion of being made a fool of.
I reatment of obsessional neurosis must prevent a further spreading of
avoidances of aggressiveness and instigate its direct expression. Once
this is achieved the treatment coincides with that of the paranoic character,
in whom we have to stop the vicious progress of the projection/intro-
jection circle and to reverse the development by re-establishing the
healthy functioning of the Ego.
It does not matter where one first interrupts the vicious circle, provided
one works holistically, keeps its structure in mind and attends thoroughly
and completely to all three essential points:
(i) T he thorough destruction and tasting of physical and mental food

as preparation for its assimilation; special attention to be given to
the unearthing of repressed disgust and the chewing up of intro-
jections.
172
(2) The feel of the defaecation-function, and the development of the

ability to stand embarrassment and shame. Learning to recognize
and to assimilate projections.
(3) The undoing of retroflections.
We have, by now, dealt with all the points of the above prescription
except for the “ability to stand embarrassment and shame” (in point 2),
which requires some more attention.
173
XIII
EMOTIONAL RESISTANCES
Corresponding to body, mind and soul as three aspects of the human

organism, there is a differentiation between somatic, intellectual and
emotional resistances. Such classification of resistances is, of course, an
artificial one. In every case all three aspects will be present, but in varying
degree and composition. Mostly, however, one aspect will be predominant
and-will afford a more convenient approach than the others.
Previous chapters have dealt with the senso-motoric (somatic) resist¬
ances. Intellectual resistances are justifications, rationalizations, verbal
demands of the conscience, and the censor, the importance of all of which
has been demonstrated by Freud. But in spite of stressing in the basic
psycho-analytical rule the importance of embarrassment, his theoretical
interests lay more with the details of the intellectual than with those of
the emotional resistances. Even to-day the emotional resistances—except
hostility—have still not been approached by psycho-analysis with the
degree of interest they deserve.
We may superficially classify emotions as complete and incomplete,
§ and positive and negative.
Among incomplete emotions we find worrying and sadness as repre¬
sentative examples. Sadness, for instance, can last for hours and days if
it does not gather enough momentum for discharge in an outburst of
crying which will restore the organismic equilibrium.
Worrying is related to grumbling and nagging, and corresponds to the
nibbling of food. The worrying person does not take full action, his
aggression is partly repressed and returns as nagging and worrying. It
suffers the usual fate of repressed aggression—it is either projected and
thus reversed to passivity (“I am worried by this or that,” “The idea of
having to go to that dance worries me all the time”), or retroflected (“I
am worrying myself to death”).
A mother’s annoyance with her daughter for being out late will, if
unexpressed, turn into worrying or into phantasies of accidents. If she
explodes, once the daughter is home, the situation will be finished; but
if she does not dare to do so, or if she has to keep up a mask of friendliness
and love, she will have to pay for this hypocrisy with insomnia or at least
with nightmares.
A boy stops worrying his mother as soon as he has got his sweets, as
174
soon as action has been taken. Among adult “worriers” there are always
people who do not take action themselves but expect others to do it for
them. The obsessional character’s inability to take action subjects him
to continuous worrying; the paranoid’s permanent irritability is due to
unrecognized and unfinished attempts at re-hashing his projections. A
patient of mine, an obsessional-paranoid type with predominant obses¬
sional features, worried for weeks about a tiny stain on his coat. He did
not remove this speck, as he did not want to touch dirt. He felt like nagging
his wife to remove the speck for him, but he suppressed that urge, too,
and went on worrying himself and his wife subvocally. An imperfect
situation indeed, while to finish the situation, to remove the speck, would
have taken him only a few minutes.
The emotion corresponding to unfinishable situations is resentment,
the understanding of which is not possible before the significance of the
hanging-on attitude has been grasped. The hanger-on cannot let go,
resign and turn to a more promising occupation or person. At the same
time, he cannot successfully deal with the one on which he has his fixation:
by intensifying the “hanging-on bite” he tries to get more and more
out of an already exhausted relationship, thus not getting any more
satisfaction, but exhausting himself and increasing his resentment. This
in turn promotes an even stronger hanging-on attitude, and so on ad
infinitum in an ever increasing vicious circle.
He does not want to realize the uselessness of his endeavours as, on
the other hand, he cannot recognize his potentialities of turning to new
fields of occupation (dental impotence). The “resenter” projects his
dental potency into the fixation object and endows it in this way with
indomitable power to which the “resenter” himself has to submit. Through
the projection he has lost his own power of meeting it adequately. He
can neither refuse nor accept what the fixation object does or says. Though
he cannot accept, he will find himself harping on what has been said;
“nagging,” but not chewing and digesting it. Would the “resenter”
assimilate the situation, he would have to let go, to give up the fixation
object, to finish the situation by going through the emotional upheaval
of the mourning labour in order to achieve the emotional zero point of
resignation and freedom.
The need of the organism to finish emotional situations is best demon¬
strated by comparison with the processes of excretion. One can retain
urine for quite a few hours, but one cannot urinate for longer than a
minute. The holding-in of emotions leads to an emotional poisoning,
just as retention of urine causes uraemia. People are poisoned with bitter¬
ness against the whole world if they fail to discharge their fury against a
particular object.
Again I have to give warning against the idea that emotions are
mysterious energies. They are always connected with somatic occurrences
175
to such an extent indeed that often the unfinished emotion and unfinished
action are hardly differentiated. Likewise, the term “katharsis” or
“emotional discharge” is an expression to be used temporarily till we
know more about the functions involved in this process.
* * *
§[ and % emotions are either autoplastic or a//oplastic. The alloplastic £

takes the form of object destruction (pleasure from crisp food, running
amok, etc.); the autoplastic destruction is resignation, mourning labour,
accompanied, if successful, by crying. Suppression of crying is harmful,
as it prevents the organism from adjusting itself to loss or frustration.
When someone hurts you, crying—not necessarily in public—is the
curative process. The educational principle “a boy does not cry” promotes
paranoic aggression. Even sergeants sometimes say, “Don’t hit back;
cry!”
The ancient Greeks were by no means ashamed of crying, yet Achilles
was a pretty “tough guy.” In modem literature, especially Russian and
Chinese, one finds many references to the man who weeps. Parallel with
their greater emotional independence goes the ability for independent
action (Guerilla warfare).
A differentiation of $ has, it seems to me, taken place: alloplastic
destruction appears to be more of a physical, autoplastic more of a chemical
nature. Autoplastic destruction turned outwards appears as impotent
rage, or verbal vindictiveness. It is more like spitting than biting and is
of little value to the organism.
* * *
To understand “positive” and “negative” emotions we have to recall

the dialectical law that quantity changes into quality.
Every emotion, every sensation changes from pleasantness into un¬
pleasantness, when its tension or intensity increases beyond a certain
limit. A hot bath may at first be pleasant, but the higher the temperature
is raised, the more unpleasant it becomes, until a point is reached where
we are burnt and life is endangered. To most people tea has an unpleasant
bitter taste, but by adding one or two spoons of sugar, the taste becomes
pleasant; by adding more and more sugar it becomes nauseatingly sweet,
undrinkable for most people. Children like to be hugged, but they will
not like it if you “squeeze the life” out of them. Under pathological
conditions pride can change into shame, appetite into disgust, love into
hatred. Children pass readily from laughing into crying. Enthusiasm and
apathy, elation and depression are some more examples of emotional
opposites.
The unpleasant character of negative emotions entails the wish to
avoid the emotions themselves which, however, cannot change back into
*
176
their pleasant opposites if we do not allow—by discharge—their change

from over-tension to a bearable tension, and further on to the organismic
zero-point.
Emotions can be controlled, but it is very doubtful whether they can
be repressed and pushed into the Unconscious. Under favourable con¬
ditions they are discharged in minute quantities (annoyance, for instance,
as sulking); in less favourable conditions they are either projected, or
else their control requires a permanent watchfulness.
The inability to face unpleasant situations mobilizes the Quislings of
the organism: embarrassment and shame.
Shyness is the pre-different stage of shame, the counter-pole of which
is pride. In these emotions—as in self-consciousness—the personality
tends to become the figure against the background of its environment.
If the child’s attempt to express its achievement receives interest, praise
or encouragement, its development will be furthered; but if reasonable
appreciation is withheld, praise and limelight become more important
than the actual doing of things. The child, instead of concentrating on an
object becomes self-centred. Starve a child of sensible praise, and it will
acquire a permanent—often unsalable—greed for it. Expression turns
into exhibition, but his attempts to show off are mostly discouraged.
The achievement itself is overlooked while his exhibitionism is condemned
and suppressed. Suppression then turns exhibition into its negative, into
inhibition; instead of “getting it out” the child “keeps k~m,rTgx-Kabere
and i«-habere).
If the child’s genuine expressions are deprecated, pride turns into shame.
Although in shame the inclination to become background, to disappear,
is felt it is not successful; the isolation from the environment is done
symbolically; the face and other parts are covered (with blushing, or by
the hands), the child turns away, but in a kind of fascination remains
rooted to the spot. The physiological aspect is especially interesting.
Corresponding to the intense feeling of exposure the blood rushes into
the actually exposed parts (cheeks, neck, etc.) instead of into those parts
through the activity of which the feeling of shame arose (brain: numbness,
inability to think, light-headedness; muscles: awkwardness, inability to
move; genitals: deadness, frigidity in place of sensations and erection).
As our expressions are manifold we can feel ashamed of nearly every¬
thing. Imagine the embarrassment of a typical peasant girl, dressed in
her Sunday best, who is superciliously scrutinized by a fashionable lady.
With genuine naiveti and without the wish to be foreground-figure she
would not even experience self-consciousness.
It makes all the difference to a child who has built a castle in the
garden, whether the mother is interested and appreciative, or whether
she shouts, “Look how dirty you are! What a mess you have made! You
really ought to be ashamed of yourself!” This last oft-heard reproach is
177 M
of particular consequence in education, in so far as it does not confine

the blame to any particular activity or situation, but deprecates and
stigmatizes the whole personality.
I have called shame and embarrassment Quislings of the organism.
Instead of assisting in the healthy functioning of the organism, they
obstruct and arrest it. Shame and embarrassment (and disgust) are such
unpleasant emotions that we try to avoid experiencing them. They are
the primary tools of repressions, the “means whereby” neurosis is pro¬
duced.1 As the Quislings identify themselves with the enemy and not
with their own people, so shame, embarrassment, self-consciousness and
fear restrict the individual’s expressions. Expressions change into re¬
pressions.
The value of adhering to the basic analytical rule now becomes evident.
Endurance of embarrassment brings the repressed material to the surface,
leads to confidence and contact, and helps the patient to accept previously
refused material via the amazingly relieving discovery that the facts
behind the embarrassment may not be so incriminating after all, and may
even be accepted with interest by the analyst. But if the patient suppresses
his embarrassment instead of expressing it, he will develop a brazen,
impudent attitude, and will “show off” (without genuine confidence).
Brazenness produces loss of contact. Giving way to embarrassment
(repression) leads to hypocrisy and feelings of guilt. Therefore the analyst
must not fail to impress upon the patient that under no circumstances
should he force himself to say anything at the cost of suppressing embar¬
rassment, shame, fear or disgust. The danger of repressing either the
resisting emotions or the actions which would produce the unpleasant
emotion has always to be kept in mind, and likewise the demand that
for an analysis we need the complete situation; resisting emotions plus re¬
sisted actions.
Taking agoraphobia as an example, we see that our patients either
avoid crossing a street, and allow their fear to dictate their action or,
rather, their non-action; or else, if their environment or conscience
insists on self-control, they will suppress their fear. They can only do so
by getting tense and numb, thus complicating their neurotic attitude still
further.
A successful treatment of phobia requires the endurance of both the
fear and the attempt at action. I have developed a curative method com¬
parable with the “approach” in aviation. The flying pupil makes several
approaches until the situation is favourable for landing. Similarly every
attempt the patient makes at crossing the street will bring a piece of
resistance to the surface, a piece which has to be analysed and changed
into an adequate Ego-function, until the balance is in favour of the
crossing. Let us assume the agoraphobia results from an unconscious
1 They, in turn, have at their disposal the muscular system.
I?8
1
suicide wish. The decreased awareness resulting from the numbness can
only increase the patient’s chances of getting killed, if he forces the
crossing. If we leave his fear principally intact and make him realize at
first that he is not afraid of the street itself but of the vehicles, and if we
allow him his exaggerated fear of the vehicles, we have already built a
bridge to normality. Later we will probably find behind his fear of being
killed the wish to kill somebody else, and we may find that wish to be so
strong that his fear is apparently justified.
One of the most interesting neuroses is what one might call a “para¬
doxical neurosis,” the outcome of a resistance against the resistance.
Thus, with repressed shame we get an impudent (pudere = being
ashamed) cheeky (cheeks not blushing) character. Repression of disgust
does not lead to the restoration of appetite but to greediness and stuffing.
Certain perversions owe their paradoxical aspect to an endeavour to
master emotional resistances. The masochist, although consciously
seeking pain, is a person afraid of pain, and in spite of all his training he
will never be able to stand more than a certain amount of it. The exhibi¬
tionist is permanently busy with suppressing his shame. The voyeur
(peeping Tom) has an unconscious aversion to seeing what he feels an
urge to look at.
One of Freud’s definitions of neurosis is that it is a repressed per¬
version. Just the opposite is the case. A perversion is a neurosis because
and as long as its content remains an unfinished situation. The voyeur
does not accept what he sees and he has to repeat his peeping again and
again. Once he is convinced that what he sees is correct his curiosity is
gratified and thus nullified.
Common to all these cases is the fact that the suppression of the emo¬
tional resistances absorbs most of the subject’s energy and interest in
life. Their endeavours in the long run are as exhausting and useless as
the attempt to keep a ball under water by permanently counteracting its
tendency to rise. Shame, disgust, embarrassment and fear must be allowed
to break surface, to become conscious.
The awareness of, and the ability to endure, unwanted emotions are
the conditio sine qua non for a successful cure; these emotions will be
discharged once they have become Ego-functions. This process, and not
the process of remembering, forms the via regia to health.
The ability to stand unpleasant emotions is required not only from
the patient but even more from the therapist. The psycho-analytical
method still suffers from the personal difficulty of its founder: Freud’s
inability to stand his own feeling of embarrassment. In personal contact—
as I have experienced myself and heard from others—he suppressed his
embarrassment by impoliteness, even downright rudeness. In analysis—
as he himself admitted—being under the patient’s eye made him feel
uncomfortable and embarrassed; he avoided the unpleasant tension by
179
arranging the analytical situation in such a way as not to be exposed to the

patient’s stare.
That this arrangement could become a dogma strictly adhered to by
psycho-analysis, is no wonder; who would not like to be spared embar¬
rassment? Yet apart from the consequences for the analyst, it proves a
definite handicap for the analytical treatment, as it makes it easy for the
patient, who cannot see the analyst looking at him, to scotomize the
fact that he is under observation himself, to avoid the awareness of em¬
barrassment and shame, and with it a healthier Ego-development.
* * *
More important than all these emotional resistances is the unemotional

resistance which we call “force of habit.” Neither the libidinal cathexis
nor the death-instinct, neither the conditioning nor the engram theory,
reveals anything of its true conditions. The dummy attitude and the fear
of the unknown explains a little of the reluctance to change, but the
inertia and the true nature of habit remains the darkest riddle of all.
For practical purposes we might be satisfied with this knowledge: habits
are economical devices which relieve the tasks of the Ego-functions, as
concentration is possible only on one item at a time. In the healthy
organism habits are co-operative, aimed at the maintenance of Holism.
Under certain conditions, for instance with advancing age or changing
environment, habits become inadequate. Instead of assisting Holism,
they disturb it, leading to disharmony and conflict. In such cases de¬
automatization is required—a contrasting of unwanted habits with the
training in desirable attitudes.
F. M. Alexander’s approach to this question is most interesting. He is
in favour of “inhibition” before acting. (The experience of this inhibition
is identical with Friedlaender’s “Creative Zero-point.”) This is not the
place to deal with his neglect of the organismic drive, and the factors
which determine the “forgetting to remember” (e.g. unconscious sabo-
tage, fear of changes). What I want to point out is that his “inhibition”
brings about the de-automatization of habits, the chance to feel the drive
behind the habit.
Let us takeâsjan .example a pcrson-whxx shows the habit of jumping
up and walking about during a conversation. By remembering to inhibit
this habit he may Be able^to overcome it, but the essential drive of his
getting up remains untouched. He might be habitually confused or panicky
but he is not aware of more than a slight,nervousness. His getting up
and walking, away from the people with whom he deals, his withdrawing
into ajshell, i^ his jinly^ way of sortlngôur hhT ideas. Another possibility
is that in the course of conversation he might have become annoyed.
Instead of expressing this he tries to run away. Again, he know/s nothing
of this drive except that he feels restless.
i 80
By inhibiting his impulse, however, by keeping it in suspense, he

becomes aware of the “naked” impulse.1 I maintain that very little good
is achieved by neglecting the meaning of his impulse and reconditioning
him, if at the same time we do not deal with his powerful internal drive.
Encouraging his expression is, and always will remain, the best and
simplest way to do this. If he were to ask his associates to wait for a
moment because he is confused or if he gave vent to his annoyance, he
would change an unpleasant habit into an adequate mastery of the
situation.
Those, however, are details. They do not detract in the slightest from
the value of Alexander’s contention that one should come to a stand¬
still before rushing into action or thinking. By mere reconditioning he
minimizes (but without completely avoiding) the danger of enhancing a
paranoic attitude. People who break habits and have not the faculty
for “sublimation,” let alone the power of expression, will invariably
project the impulses which originally led to the formation of their habits
and will be left not happier, but emptier.
Alexander is mostly interested in, and deals with, over-tense people;
his “inhibition” coincides with the releasing of the hanging-on bite
(Verbissenheit), and if he succeeds in replacing this infantile attitude by
conscious planning he certainly achieves a fundamental change. He
correctly stresses the difficulty which his pupils have in bringing about
changes. Fortunately not the whole of mankind is fixed in the hanging-
on attitude; fortunately there are a number of chcwers left, people who
are willing and capable of bringing about changes within themselves and
without.
* * *
Alexander’s method of “inhibiting the wrong attitude” and concen¬

trating on the correct one is as insufficient and one-sided as is Freud’s
approach, which concentrates mainly on the analysis of undesirable
attitudes. A combination, a synchronization of analysis and recondition¬
ing, is required. Destruction and construction are mere aspects of the
basically indivisible process of organismic reorganization.
1 In this respect Freud’s technique resembles that of Alexander, in that it
carries out treatment under frustration—a very “active” technique strongly
interfering with the patient’s spontaneous impulses.
.
.
PART THREE
CONCENTRATION THERAPY
I
THE TECHNIQUE
The practical application of scientific discoveries demands the develop¬

ment of a new technique. The fact that the French people neglected to
keep pace with the new technique of modern warfare inaugurated by the
invention of tanks and aeroplanes was one important factor contributing
to their defeat.
The invention of a new drug like “M & B 693” simplified the treatment
of many diseases. The discovery of the microbes, on the other hand,
led to the development of a special antiseptic technique making operations
more and more complicated.
The wide application of “M & B” became possible only through the
classification of diseases according to their bacteriological origin. This
re-classification brought a simplification which would have been impos¬
sible only a century ago. Who would have thought at that time that such
heterogenous illnesses as gonorrhea and pneumonia could be related to
each other (the germs of both belonging to the cocci-family)?
Theories are wholes, unifications of numerous facts. Sometimes a
simple theory has to be corrected when new factors, not fitting into the
original conception, are discovered. Sometimes so many additions have
to be provided that we come to a confusing complexity instead of to a
working hypothesis. When such a situation arises we have to pause and
seek a re-orientation, look for new common factors that can simplify the
scientific outlook.
' We find an example in the “transference” theory. As long as the con¬
ception of “libido” occupied its all-important place in psycho-analysis,
transference was identical with being fond of the analyst. When, in the
patient’s hostile attitude towards the analyst, aggression was admitted,
one spoke of “negative transference.” Again, after it was realized that
no patient could be as frank as was hitherto expected, and the analysis
of resistances received more attention, the “latent negative transference”
came into existence. And a further development in psycho-analysis, if it
adheres to the “transference,” may make it necessary to add even more
“handles” to the latent negative transference.
The new technique developed in this book is theoretically simple:
its aim is to regain the “feel of ourselves,” but the achievement of this
aim is sometimes very difficult. If you are “wrongly” conditioned, if
185
you have “wrong” habits, it will be much more difficult to rectify this
state of affairs than to acquire new habits. I can recommend the books
of F. M. Alexander to those who want to realize how strong an acquired
habit, or, as we could call it, a fixed “gestalt,” can become. The acquisition
of a new technique, even without considering the undoing of wrong
attitudes, is by no means easy. You have only to remember how long,
for instance, it took to acquire the technique of writing, how painfully
every letter had to be produced and reproduced over and over again,
how long it was before you succeeded in combining these letters into
words, until you were able to write fluently. Only when you look upon
the acquisition of the new technique, which I want to demonstrate, with
the full awareness of the difficulties looming ahead, shall I be able to
assist you in acquiring the alphabet of “feeling” yourself.
I use the term “alphabet” intentionally, as it is not necessary to adhere
to the sequence as set out in the following chapters. You might pick and
choose according to your inclination and taste—at least in the beginning.
Once, however, you start to feel some benefit and once you begin to gain
confidence in this method, undertake the process of reconditioning as
far as possible in the order presented.
Our technique is not an intellectual procedure, though we cannot
completely disregard the intellect. It resembles the Yoga technique
though its aim is completely different. In Yoga the deadening of the
organism for the sake of developing other faculties plays a prominent
part, whereas our aim is to waken the organism to a fuller life.
By assuming that we are “Time-Space events” within the changing
fields of our existence, I am also in accordance with the present trend of
science. Just as Einstein achieved a new scientific insight by taking the
human self into account, so we can gain new psychological insight by
realizing the relativity of human behaviour, of “right” and “wrong,” of
“good” and bad”; by replacing these terms by “familiar” and “strange”;
and, finally, by operating with the Ego-functions “identification” and
“alienation.” Every bit of Ego-consciousness, far from making us more
selfish (as popular conception assumes), will make us more understanding
and more objective.
i86
II
CONCENTRATION AND NEURASTHENIA
Before we begin with our technical ABC we have to introduce one more
theoretical aspect. It has long been realized that the essential element
in every progress, in every success, is concentration. You may have all
the talents, all the facilities in the world, but without concentration
these are valueless. (Schiller: Genius is concentration, Genie ist Fleiss.)
It has further been realized that concentration has something to do
with interest and attention, the three conceptions often being used as
synonyms. Do these expressions reveal anything? Interest means to be
in a situation; concentration means to get right into the centre (nucleus,
essence) of a situation; and attention means that a tension is directed
towards an object. There are no magic roots in these expressions. They
are simple descriptions of a state, an action and a direction. Common
to all three terms is the fact that they are different expressions of the
figure-background phenomenon. The healthy figure should be strong
and relatively stationary, neither jumpy, as in the case of association
mentality (neurasthenia, many psychoses, scatterbrains), nor rigid (ob¬
sessions, perversions, fixed ideas). These deviations from the healthy
zero-point have lately been successfully studied by Experimental Psy¬
chology. It has been found that a normal perseveration index exists, and
that too high or too low perseveration figures are indicative of mental
disturbances.
For nearly everybody concentration has still a magic reference, best
expressed by Freud’s idea of libidinal cathexis. Concentration is not a
movable substance, but a function. It is a mere Ego-function in the case
of negative artificial concentration. It is a function of the Unconscious
in fixations or in “Imago” concentration. The harmonious function of
both Ego and Unconscious is the basis for the “positive,” biologically
correct concentration.
While the unconscious concentration, the domain of classical psycho¬
analysis, need not be dealt with in this chapter, we have to draw the
critical attention to the “popular,” the one-sided outlook on concentration.
Most people mean by concentration a deliberate effort. Actually this is
the “negative,” inadvisable type of concentration.
The perfect concentration is an harmonious process of conscious and
unconscious co-operation. Concentration in the popular sense is a pure
187
Ego-function, not supported by spontaneous interest. It is identification

with duty, conscience or ideals, and is characterized by intense muscular
contractions, by irritability, and by such an amount of strain that it
leads to fatigue and promotes neurasthenia or even nervous breakdowns.
It is artificial and negative, as it lacks natural (organismic) support. An
artificial wall is built up to keep out everything which might attract
interest, which tends to become figure instead of remaining background.
We find two kinds of unsound concentration: the one just described,
and the conscious obsessional concentration. In the obsessional concen¬
tration the compelling1 is projected, and the person in question fives as
if he were forced, compelled to do things against which he protests, and
which he would like to reject as strange and senseless. In the negative
concentration, however, the compelling is not projected but retroflected,
and he compels himself to attend to matters in which he is not sufficiently
interested. More than on his task he is concentrated on the defence
against any disturbance (noises, etc.). He contracts his muscles, knits
his eyebrows, tightens his mouth, clamps his jaws and holds his breath
in order to keep down his temper (unconsciously directed against the
very work he is doing)—a temper which is ready to explode at any moment
against any interference. The more unconscious attraction he feels for
the disturber, the more ready is he to “bite his ruddy neck off,” which
indicates the appetite, the dental nature of his aggression.
If you have understood the hanging-on and dummy attitudes you
will recognize them in those twro kinds of concentration. In the negative
concentration you hang on to your work with clenched jaws; in the
obsessional concentration you persist in a dummy attitude without benefit
or change. On the ice-rink I met a man who practised the same figures
for two years. He was always eager to take advice, but he never put the
advice into practice, he never changed. He could not bear any deviation
from that which felt right and familiar to him. The fear of the unknown
made him stick to his petrified pattern.
Correct concentration is best described by the word fascination; here
the object occupies the foreground without any effort, the rest of the
world disappears, time and surroundings cease to exist; no internal
conflict or protest against the concentration arises. Such concentration is
easily found in children, and often in adults when engaged in some inter¬
esting work or hobby. As every part of the personality is temporarily
co-ordinated and subordinated to one purpose only, it is not difficult to
realize that such an attitude is the basis of every development. If, to quote
Freud, compulsion changes into volition, the most important stepping
stone to a healthy and successful fife is laid.
★ ★ ★
' The obsessional character is an inhibited slave driver.

I 88
We have put down avoidance as the main characteristic of neurosis,

and it is obvious that its correct opposite is concentration. But, of course,
it is the concentration on the object which according to the structure of
the situation demands to become figure. In plain words: we have to face
facts. Psycho-therapy means: assisting the patient in facing those facts
which he hides from himself.
Psycho-analysis describes the process in this way: free associations
will automatically lead to unconscious problems on account of their
magnetic attraction; or, the pressure of the instincts is strong enough to
reach the surface, though often distortedly, and on by-paths.
Gestalt-psychology would probably formulate: the hidden gestalt is
so strong that it must show in the foreground, mostly in the shape of a
symptom or other expression in disguise.
We must not lose the thread leading from the symptom to the hidden
gestalt. The method of free associations is unreliable and lends itself
easily to all kinds of avoidances. By concentration on the symptom we
remain in the field (though on the periphery) of the repressed gestalt.
By persevering with such concentration we work towards the centre of
the field or “complex”; during this process we encounter and reorganize
the specific avoidances, e.g. resistances.
The avoidance of the biologically required gestalt goes always hand in
hand with concentration on objects of heterogenous spheres (detraction
of mind, dummy). Through avoiding the natural figure-background
formation the negative, forced concentration leads to neurosis or, in an
acute situation, to neurasthenia, of which the lack of power of concentration
has always been recognized as a prominent symptom. Here are two
examples of how—through the neglect of the principle of organismic
self-regulation—one-sided concentration must turn into its opposite,
into mental instability.
An extremely conscientious officer was much concerned with the fact that
he had repeated breakdowns, which gained him the reputation of shrinking
from his duties. He struck me as a sincere person, and I believed him
when he told me that he simply could not go on with his work after
three or four months. What happened was this: during each day he had
to deal with quite a number of problems, many of which could not be
brought to a conclusion the same day. They represented a number of
unfinished situations. Before going to bed he read some fantastic story
and slept badly, as the unfinished situations disturbed his sleep and he
started next morning with increased fatigue. This reduced his capacity,
and more tasks remained unfinished. Increased night worries, increased
fatigue and further diminishing of working power started and continued
the vicious circle, until his lack of ability to concentrate forced him to
stop altogether. When I met him, he was in a state of exhaustion; his
work, piled up to an unconquerable mountain, left him with a feeling of
189
utter impotence; he felt like howling from despair. The solution of his
difficulty was found in the decrease of the number of problems he had
to tackle, to finish as many as possible during the day, and to dispose
of all unfinished problems before going to bed. After having learned that
the crux of his trouble was simply due to unfinished situations, he learned
to confine his work problems to office hours, not to start a fresh task
before he had finished the task at hand, and to play in his leisure hours.
By drawing this balance he not only worked better, but regained his
enjoyment of fife.
The second case is still simpler. A boy, working for his matric, com¬
plained that he could not concentrate on his studies. All kinds of day¬
dreams interfered and distracted his attention. He adopted my advice to
separate his day-dreams from his studies. As soon as a day-dream appeared
he allowed himself ten minutes or so for day-dreaming and then returned
to his work. In the beginning even this was not easy. He was so used to
the internal conflict that no sooner had he started day-dreaming, than
sentences and pictures of his text-books intruded. He then followed up
this material till a day-dream reappeared. By not resisting either call he
learned to sort out the two spheres and was soon in the position to cope
with his studies without effort.
Positive concentration complies with the laws of holism in every respect.
Not only are all functions put to one purpose—in negative concentration
only a part is put to its purpose—but we are also capable of concentrating
fully only on those objects which mean the completion of an incomplete
whole.
★ ★ ★
In addition to lack of concentration there are two other important

symptoms of neurasthenia to be mentioned. One is headaches, backaches
and the whole scale of fatigue symptoms all based on mal-co-ordination
of the motoric system. These will be dealt with in the chapter on Body
Concentration. The other symptom is fed-up-ness with fife, lack of
interest, and increasing dissatisfaction with everybody. This symptom is
the expression of disgust with life. The disgust, I admit, is often not felt
as such, but appears frequently as neurasthenic dyspepsia and lack of
appetite.
By concentrating on our meals we achieve several aims at once. We
learn the art of concentrating; we cure nervous dyspepsia; we develop a
taste of our own; we develop intelligence and individuality. Although
the chances are small that a more severe neurosis could be cured by
following the advice given in this book (the resistances against persevering
with the exercises probably being too great), anybody having a tendency
towards neurasthenia can convince himself of the effectiveness of the
method.
190
But how do we get out of the dilemma if we have no power of con¬

centration and if at the same time we must not force ourselves to con¬
centrate? The solution lies in the trial-and-error method. Without forcing
himself, the baby tries again and again to master the difficult mechanism
of walking until it has achieved the proper co-ordination of his motoric
system. In adult life we find a good example in the flying pupil. A great
part of his training to fly is taken up by approaches. Sometimes he over¬
shoots the landing ground and sometimes he glides in too early. To force
himself to do a landing would in either case be foolish if not dangerous.
Trial-and-error is the approach which I advise the reader to follow, as
it is the only one that can lead to success. Do not mind the failures, as
every approach will bring to the surface a piece of resistance which can
be worked through and will give rise to a better understanding and as¬
similation. The perseverance in the approaches, in spite of many failures,
will, in itself, be a great contribution to the development of a healthy
and comprehensive personality. If in addition you can learn to analyse,
to understand the sense of your “wrong” attitudes instead of condemning
them, you are bound to win in the end.
191
Ill
CONCENTRATING ON EATING
The exercises in this chapter are the quintessence of this book. Give
this chapter preference to every other exercise, especially if you feel like
sneering at me for harping too much on the subject of correct eating. I
do so because it is of vital importance in achieving an intelligent har¬
monious personality. It is the “means whereby” of the removal of the
bottle-neck of mental inhibitions. If you find yourself belittling the
importance of the chapters on the hunger instinct and especially if you
feel like skipping them, you can take this as an indication that you have
dental inhibitions and deep-seated neurotic attitudes.
Let me once more explain in brief the fundamental difference between
the pre-dental and dental stages. The suckling is actively concentrated
on one action only—the hanging-on bite. This hanging-on bite means
the creation of a vacuum which is similar to that of a rubber cap when
pressed against a window. There is no need to hold it there as long as
the suction action continues. After the preliminary hanging-on bite the
conscious activity of the baby ceases. The suckling, to keep up the vacuum
continues with unconscious, subcortical movements. During this time
the baby becomes more and more drowsy until, finally, it falls asleep.'
We interpret the “smile” of the just-fed baby as an expression of
happiness, but it is merely complete relaxation, the collapse of the
hanging-on bite motoric.
From this picture we must draw two conclusions. Firstly, the suckling’s
feeding rhythm with its decreasing tension shows a curve completely
different from the curve of sexual gratification with its increasing tension
and sharp decline—a fact which provides one more proof against the
libido-theory.
The second conclusion, which interests us more in this connection,
is the fact that the suckling needs only a short spell of concentration
while the adult, in his need for coping with solid food, has to concentrate
during the entire eating process. The proper assimilation of solid food
requires the continuous and conscious concentration on the destruction,
the taste and the “feel” of the permanently changing ingested material.
It is no use attempting to correct one’s eating until this fundamental
difference is completely understood. This should not be difficult as at
some time you must have seen a greedy, impatient eater behaving like a
192
suckling displaying real interest in the food only before the meal; as soon
as he sits down at the table, his behaviour shows the characteristics of
the hanging-on bite; he concentrates only on the first taste and bites;
then, like the suckling, he falls into a state of trance, at least as far as the
eating process is concerned, his interest being invested in thinking, day¬
dreaming, talking or reading. The solid food goes down his throat “as if”
it were a drink, and his inability to bring about a change in the structure
and taste of his food (just as in drinking no change in structure or taste
takes place) becomes reflected in his basic attitude towards life. He is
afraid, or incapable of bringing about changes in himself or his environ¬
ment, even when desirable. He cannot say “No” as he is afraid bene¬
volence might change into antagonism. He sticks to worn out customs in
preference to replacing them with better institutions, and he is afraid of
the risk which a change-over, even in a proposition with better prospects,
might involve.
He will never gain independence, the confluence with his environ¬
ment1 being as desirable to him as the confluence with its mother is to
the drinking suckling. The feeling of individuality which demands the
awareness of separating boundaries has not been achieved. Or else, an
artificial wall, represented by the tightening of the mouth, the refusal to
have any contact with the world at all, has been built, leading to loneli¬
ness, lack of interest and contact, misanthropy and boredom. Both
phenomena, the complete confluence (lack of individuality) and complete
resistance against the confluence (pretence of an individuality) can be
found as extremes in the symptoms of automatism and negativism in
dementia praecox.2 In the first phase, the patient follows automatically
every command given, and in the latter does just the opposite to what
he has been told. In less extreme cases we find over-obedience and
defiance.
What methods have we at our disposal to sail through the Scylla of
confluence and the Charybdis of seclusion? How can we achieve that
change which makes such substance of the outside world as we require
our own, without becoming Nazi-like destructionists ? How do we set
out to achieve the transition from the pre-dental to the dental stage?
The answer seems simple: we have to use our teeth. Fletcher has
given the prescription to chew every morsel thirty or forty times. But
Fletcher’s method is obsessional, and a person without obsessional in¬
clinations cannot stand such monotonous counting and will soon drop
1 The so-called herd or mass instinct is a phenomenon of confluence.

1 Dementia praecox is essentially a disturbance of the Ego-boundary function
and of the holistic structure of the personality. Sometimes it is possible to
re-establish the holistic function through shock-treatment, which makes the dis¬
integrated parts of the patient rally and join in the services of the instinct of self-
preservation—for the purpose of “survival.”
193 N
it, whilst an obsessional character will welcome it, without deriving much
benefit from it. It would provide him with another dummy, another
excuse to concentrate on a meaningless action. His interest would be
invested in a continuation of his queer behaviour and not in the biological
function required to bring about the liquifaction and other changes of
solid food. Could you imagine a ruminating cow counting every one of
her jaw movements and deciding that thirty chews is the exact number
required to finish each mouthful?
No. We have to set about it in a different way, and the beginning will
be most difficult. We have to keep our mind on the eating; we have to
be fully aware of the fact that we are eating. This sounds simple, perhaps
even silly. You think, of course, that you are aware of your eating. But
are you? Or do you read, talk, day-dream or worry while eating? How
often is your mind full of anxiety that you might miss the bus, or be
late for work or for a theatre appointment? How often do you, while
eating, speculate on the outcome of affairs that you have to attend to?
How often do you swallow the newspaper with your meals ?
Once you have decided to become aware of your eating, you will begin
to make astounding discoveries. At first it will be extremely difficult to
keep your mind fully on the process of eating, even for a short time.
Within a few seconds you will probably find that your mind has wandered
away, and you are anywhere but at the table, consuming food. Do not
force yourself to concentrate, but call yourself back each time you notice
that you are slipping away from the concentration, and slowly you will
learn to concentrate for ten or twenty seconds and then up to a minute
or even longer.
Whilst you are prolonging the duration of your ability to concentrate,
start to develop another attitude—that of being satisfied with pure
observation without premature interference. After what you have already
learned I feel sure you will be impatient to improve your biting and
chewing, but such a premature interference will disturb and spoil a
sound development. It will serve no other purpose than to hide from
yourself the basic reluctance to chew. Not until you have fully felt the
gulping down of undestroyed bits and pieces, not before you realize
that you are drinking solid food instead of eating it, should you set out
to remedy it, otherwise it would mean senseless blind obedience, and not
insight into one of the most important biological processes.
Without fully realizing the familiar, but “wrong,” attitude—in this
case greed and impatience—you cannot prevent it from returning as
soon as your mind slips away. You have to make the impatience conscious,
then change impatience into annoyance, after that into dental aggression,
and finally to consolidate it as interest in the working through of every
task—in a patient but energetic chewing up of your physical and mental
food.
194
Should you, after a while, still experience difficulty in concentration,

apply the description technique. Analyse (I do not mean psycho-analyse)
your experiences. Describe all the details of what you feel and taste:
hot and cold, bitter and sweet, spicy and insipid, soft and hard. But not
nice and nasty, appetizing and revolting, tasty and unpalatable. In other
words, develop your appreciation of facts in contrast to their evaluation.
Last, but not least, concentrate on the structure of the food, and
censor every undestroyed morsel, which seeks to escape the grinding mill
of your molars. Do not rest till you have reconditioned yourself to the
perfect “censor” who should feel in his throat every morsel which is
not liquified and who should automatically push it back into his mouth
for complete destruction. By this time you should have at your disposal
the means to master the art of eating. The knowledge of the details and
the full awareness of the eating process will work together to bring about
the required change in your food. Good taste will develop, and you will
stop introjecting your physical and, likewise, your mental food.
A few remarks might serve to drive home still more the advantages
gained from proper eating. The stomach and intestines are a mere skin,
and the food (as for example, a piece of solid meat on your plate) has to
penetrate this internal skin. This can never take place without complete
liquifaction. The juices provided by the glands of your mouth, stomach,
etc., will not flow without sufficient movements of your jaw, and they
cannot mix with the food if the food is not properly minced.
Above all, avoid the danger of introjection, avoid the swallowing of
mental and physical morsels which are bound to remain foreign bodies
in your system. To understand and assimilate the world you have to
make full use of your teeth. Learn to cut right through until the front
teeth meet. If you are in the habit of tearing and nibbling, get out of it.
If you tear your food apart instead of biting through it, you remain in a
state of confluence instead of contact; the mental gap—the door between
the outside and inside world—remains open. This concerns especially
those people who cannot make a clean cut, who cannot bite off their
share of it. They cannot “parti”cipate (“tez7” nehmen), take their part.
If you are afraid to hurt people, to attack them, to say “No” when the
situation demands it, you should attend to the following exercise: imagine
yourself biting a piece of flesh out of someone’s body. Can you imagine
biting it clean off or do your teeth only make an impression, as if you
were biting on rubber? If, in your imagination, you are able to bite right
through, can you experience the proper “feel” of the flesh on your teeth?
You might condemn such an exercise as vicious and cruel, but this
cruelty is just as much part and parcel of your organism as it is of the
animal’s in its struggle for life. Your biological aggressiveness has to find
outlets somewhere and somehow; even behind the mask of the mildest
person, a person with a sweet, forgiving character, there lurks a latent
195
aggressive nature which must come out in one way or another, as pro¬
jection or as moralizing or as killing with kindness.
What, if you come to think of it, has mankind gained by repressing
the individual biological aggressiveness? Look at the ingenious means of
destruction and the amount of suffering in the present war. Is that not
proof enough of the fact that just through the vicious circle of pseudo¬
metabolism aggressiveness has developed to the present paranoic stage of
wholesale destruction?
The more we allow ourselves to expend cruelty and lust for destruction
in the biologically correct place—that is, the teeth—the less danger will
there be of aggression finding its outlet as a character feature. Those
pathological fears we might harbour, too, will greatly diminish; for, the
more the aggression is invested in biting and chewing, the less aggression
will be left for projection. The result will inevitably be a decrease in the
number of fears (phobias).
A person who has aggressiveness at his disposal must not be confused
with the man who is permanently irritable, who grumbles and grouses
day in and day out, and who at the same time is incapable of tackling
and finishing his problems. Permanent irritability is one more example
of an incomplete situation, of half-hearted and wrongly applied aggression.
Such a man is a “nagger” and not a “biter.” Related to the latter is the
“confluence” type. With these types one always finds the gap between
the front teeth. Such a person either walks about with his mouth half open
or, as over-compensation, tightly clenched. He is specially afraid of being
an individual or, alternatively, he is concentrated on proving to himself
and the world that he is an individual, that he has an opinion of his own,
even if it is only one which is permanently in opposition to everything.
I knew a man who, out of opposition to his bourgeois family, became a
Communist. He then joined a part}’ which, though Communist in prin¬
ciple, was in opposition to the accepted Communist doctrines. He soon
found faults with this party too, and became a fascist. “Mary, Mary,
quite contrary.”
For those who find fault with their individuality, there is an exercise
improving the contact zone (Fedem’s Ego-boundary). Let the teeth of the
upper and lower jaw just lightly touch each other. Neither contract the
jaw muscles hard, nor relax so much that the lower jaw drops; there should
be neither hyper- nor hypo-tonus in the muscles concerned. In the
beginning you might feel a slight, or even a marked, trembling (chattering
of the teeth as in cold weather or in fear). In that case change the un¬
conscious tremor to conscious small, quick biting movements, and then
try' again.
Once you have started to recondition your mode of eating, there is a
little exercise which is of special value in curing impatience and muddled
thinking. Train yourself to interrupt the continuous flow of food. Many
196
people push new food into the mouth before they have cleared and liquified
the previous mouthful. This attitude is another symptom of treating
solid food as a liquid. If you exaggerate the healthy attitude, if you learn
to keep your mouth empty between the bites for a few seconds, you
will soon find yourself capable of finishing all the big and small items of
your life; your mental stomach—your brain—will be in much better
order. Hence, much of your messy and incoherent thinking will disappear
and you will find no difficulty in clarifying your ideas and concepts.
This applies not only to your thinking, but to your general activities as
well. If you belong to those who start on a new job before finishing the
one at hand, if you frequently find yourself landing in a mess, then the
above exercise is exactly what you need.
If you have succeeded in putting the foregoing exercises into practice
you will have achieved a great deal. You will have found that you have
often come across resistances, such as excuses, listlessness, lack of time,
and so on, but with some determination and perseverance, these exercises
he within the orbit of everyone’s possibilities. A much greater resistance
is bound to be encountered when we approach the exercises dealing with
disgust. These, however, should not be attempted before the previous
exercises have become more or less automatic.
* * *
The ambivalence of our attitude towards food in particular, and the

world in general, is so deeply rooted that most of us still have the childish
attitudes of thinking that everything is either “poofy” or “m-m-m.” I
am amazed to find how many people use, as their immediate reaction
towards every piece of music they hear, or every cinema picture they see,
every person they meet, the expressions “awful” or “marvellous.” In
most cases their effort goes in the direction of refining their critical
abilities instead of deepening their experiences. Some people admit not
being able to sit through a screen performance without keeping up a
running commentary, without continuously saying to themselves “Oh,
that’s fine” or “How stupid,” etc., their whole interest being con¬
centrated on evaluating and not on being moved. With this type of
individual, I invariably find that 90 per cent of their thinking consists
of prejudices. They can be characterized as having a selectivity paranoia.
In order to overcome such an attitude it is necessary to cure their oral
frigidity by bringing their repressed disgust to the surface and disposing
of it. They eat with their judgment and not with their palate.
In the tasting exercises you will have noticed that it is much easier to
concentrate on foods which you like than on those which you dislike or
which are foreign to you. You will also have experienced, to a certain
extent, that the limit of your taste has widened and, once you have over¬
come the effort of concentration, that you enjoy your food more than
197
you did before. (If the exercises are correctly carried out the whole
process should now be effortless.) Very few people are aware of their oral
frigidity. Not only has the real gourmet, lingering over and enjoying
every course of his dinner, become a rarity, but our general attitude
towards the consumption of food has become more and more barbarous.
The numbness of the palate is over-compensated by all kinds of stimulating
spices, and by all kinds of perverted behaviour. One patient of mine
could not enjoy soup unless it was burning hot, because otherwise the
taste seemed insipid to her.
The sound sense of the animal which will not touch food which is
too hot or too cold has been completely lost by many people. This attitude
is displayed not only towards food but towards other spheres of pleasure
as well, leading to degeneration all along the line. In the dance hall the
music must be hot, the partner exciting, when gambling the stakes must
be high, and in the sartorial world everything not in the latest style is
completely worthless. In these circles, where the language used consists
of strings of superlatives, the state of intelligence is correspondingly low.
We find all kinds of stimulants in different classes of society, and these
stimulants, to retain their effect, have to be administered in increasing
doses. There is the habit of drinking, for example, common to all classes.
The drunkard never uses his teeth and palate properly. If he did—if
he were a real “biteling”—he would not need to take to the bottle. To
cure a drunkard it is necessary to undo the retroflection of self-destruction
and bring the pleasure of destruction back to the teeth.
In severe cases of oral frigidity the food exists only as long as it is on
the plate. Once it is in the mouth it is not felt, much less tasted. This is,
of course, an extreme case of introjection. Such behaviour goes hand-in-
hand with heavy drinking, intense use of spices, and stuffing oneself
without ever reaching real satisfaction; periods of irresistible greed
alternate with rigid food discipline. The picture is completed on the
mental side by a perpetual greed for affection, power, success and thrills,
which, however, never yield any genuine pleasure or satisfaction.
Although it is easy to make people understand the importance of
analysing anxiety, fear or embarrassment, it is an arduous task to drive
home the significance of realizing and analysing the powerful emotion
(or sensation) of disgust. To obtain a clear picture we have to distinguish
not less than four layers involved in its development. The basic layer
is the healthy, natural, undistorted appetite with all its tensions and
gratifications which might be interfered with in two ways: an original
and intense appetite may be condemned for being directed tow’ards
poofy things, or the child is supposed to ingest things against which
its organism protests violently. This protest, the disgust, provides the
second layer. Once the disgust has developed, objections against it are
raised by many parents. Disgust and vomiting are regarded as naughtiness
198
and the child who dares to bring up its spinach or castor oil is threatened
with punishment. Thus the third layer, the oral frigidity, is established
in order to avoid disgust, vomiting and the threatened punishment.
Afterwards, to get some kind of pseudo taste from the food, the numbness
is covered by a fourth layer, the layer of artificial stimulation.
The crux of the analysis of disgust is the same as that of embarrass¬
ment. Generally, either disgust dominates the situation, in which case
you refuse to approach the object of disgust, or else the determination to
incorporate something which would normally evoke disgust gives the
ruling: you repress the disgust, and numb your taste and smell. The
task at hand is to stand disgust, not to repress it and, at the same time,
not to shrink from the object of disgust, not to avoid contact with persons,
foods, smells or other things which are revolting to you. To achieve the
analysis of oral frigidity, you must learn to become fully aware of the
experience of disgust, even if it means vomiting or going through great
unpleasantness. But do not attempt the unearthing and cure of disgust,
before you can fully concentrate on your ordinary meals. Even if the
disgust is only half discharged, if you feel it as a sudden spell of coughing
or as a bilious sensation, it will help tremendously in overcoming an
indifference towards food and the world in general. Whatever your
inclinations towards your environment may be, you will always find
them identical with the degree of your appetite or disgust. Those who
can be disgusted with people and their actions are certainly more alive
than those who accept anything with a dull and bored mental palate.
As the physical and mental intake obey the same laws, your attitude
towards mental food will change with your progress of the preceding
exercises. Psychological examinations of patients with stomach diseases
as well as my general psycho-analytical observations have proved this
over and over again. Approach mental food from the point of view of
assimilation. Distinguish between sloppy, sweetish literature and solid
material that can contribute to the growth of your personality. But do
not overlook the danger that “highbrow” literature will be nothing but
an unnecessary burden if it is merely introjected—if it remains a foreign
body in your system. One sentence properly chewed and assimilated is
of greater value than a whole book which is merely introjected. If you
want to improve your mentality, settle down to the study of semantics,
the best antidote against the frigidity of the mental palate. Learn to as¬
similate the nucleus of words—the sense, the meaning of your language.
199
IV
VISUALIZATION
If a pair of scales is off balance, you have, in order to restore the balance,
to add weight to the lighter scale. This is what I try to do with this book.
Often I might appear to be just as one-sided as the theories which I
criticize. I have, however, endeavoured to keep the complete organismic
structure in mind and to throw my weight into the neglected scale. I
consider the analysis of the hunger instinct as a step-child of psycho¬
analysis without underestimating the importance of the analysis of the
sex instinct. I stress the importance of the active behaviour of our sense-
mind as counterweight to the mechanistic passive concept. In reality
there is never such a thing as an individual or an environment. They
both form an inseparable unit in which, for instance, stimulus and readi¬
ness or ability to be stimulated cannot be separated. The rays of light
do exist—but there must be an organismic situation (interest) for which
they can exist.
Although everybody will be willing to realize that our organism is
very active in the consumption and assimilation of our food, the cor¬
responding activity of our senses is less readily recognized. We are so
used to thinking in terms of the reflex arc theory, we take so much for
granted that some outside stimulus makes our organism react in a kind of
mechanical way that it requires an effort to realize that perception is an
activity, and not a mere passive attitude. Neither does food flow into our
system of its free will, nor do the acoustic waves of a symphony concert.
In the latter case we have to go through a good deal of activity in order
to bring our organism into the desired acoustic field. We have to get
tickets, take ourselves to the concert hall, and during the performance
itself our activity goes on unceasingly. Do not imagine that the hundreds
of people in the audience conceive the same music; they do not even
perceive the same sounds. A passage which means chaos to one listener
is a clear “gestalt” to another. The bassoon which one attentive listener
discovers beside the double bass, does not even strike the ears of the
untrained person. How much of the acoustic waves you will take in,
depends on many factors: on your musical approach, on your emotional
identification, training, and, most of all, on your power of concentration.
If you are tired, if the listening involves too much strain or if for
other reasons the orchestra cannot hold your interest, your mind slips
200
VISUALIZATION
away, loses contact with the performance. If you find yourself in that
state, if you notice that the music has completely ceased to be figure and
that you have not the slightest idea what has been played, then you will
become convinced of two things: of the importance of the figure-back¬
ground phenomenon and its connection with concentration, and of the
amount of activity involved in the use of your senses.
We are assisted in our delusions about the passivity of the senses by
our knowledge of the photographic camera, and we are only too ready
to assume that our organism simply takes pictures and that the rays of
fight impress themselves on the plate while the pictures are storing
themselves away somewhere in the brain. We forget that every photo¬
grapher has to invest a great deal of activity before he manages to take
a single picture. We forget what an amount of labour is condensed into
a single photographic plate and that our organism has to be a continuous
working chemical plant and a continual photographer. We also do not
sufficiently realize that the photographer’s work is determined by his
interest (hobby, livelihood or learning).
The senses in man have developed from mere signallers to organs of
the “mental stomach” and of a second and third human world. On the
second plane (the world of imagination) plans and simplifications, in¬
take and assimilation play the decisive part. We have already dealt with
memories as undigested morsels and with hallucinations and the mis¬
taking of the imaginary7 field for the real one. The third plane is the
world of evaluations (M. Scheler). In this chapter we shall be concerned
with the way in which to organize the use of our senses for the greatest
benefit of the whole organism.
The best way to approach this problem is through our ability of visuali¬
zation. Most of our mentality consists of pictures and words. The un¬
conscious has a greater affinity to pictures, the conscious mind to words.
In order to achieve a good harmony between Ego and Unconscious we
should have the greatest possible control over our visualization, a control
which is clearly lacking in day-dreams. Day-dreams are often so much
beyond the influence of conscious control that many people only know
of the fact that they are day-dreaming without having any trace left except
the feeling that they were in a trance, that they were somewhere else.
On the other hand, any conscious effort to visualize things is an im¬
possibility for many people. Every conscious effort to get a picture in
their mind is either frustrated (the mind is a blank) or we encounter a
jumble of meaningless pictures, for instance, before falling asleep.
The greatest difficulty is, of course, encountered by people who
apparently have no visualization at all. This is a symptom of a severe
neurotic disturbance and is outside the scope of self-treatment. Here we
can only hint at the unconscious habit of excluding pictures with the
help of intense contractions of different eye muscles. With the relaxation
20 1
of these contractions, pictures will re-appear. (This will be dealt with

more extensively in the chapter on Body Concentration.) Behind this
visualization deficiency one often finds a fear of looking at things which
one wants to avoid or which might evoke emotions or memories of any
kind. Sometimes a refusal to gratify one’s “peeping” propensities may
have spread, so that all looking becomes included in this taboo. People
who look at things without seeing them, will find the same deficiency
when turning their gaze inwards, when calling up mental pictures, while
those who employ their observation, who look at things squarely and with
recognition, will have an equally alert internal eye, making visualization
comparatively easy. People whose minds are full of words or resent¬
ment or day-dreams generally do not look at the world at all, but merely
stare at or look through things without a real interest in their environ¬
ment. If we do not create, or rather re-create the world with our eyes,
creation cannot take place within the personality.
Let us assume that you belong to the majority of people who can
visualize things. Find out how your internal vision works. Close your
eyes and watch whatever picture might appear on the screen of your
mind. Here, again, you might find a tendency to flight, a desire to resist
the picture that presents itself. Or else there may be a jumble of pictures,
or you may find yourself jumping from one to another, unable to sustain
any one of them for more than a split second. This jumping about from
one picture to another characterizes the person, who, in life, too, is jumpy,
restless, unable to concentrate.
The first step necessary to remedy this is to realize that the pictures
do not jump, but that you are jumping from one picture to another.
Try to become fully aware of your jumping about, and soon you will
notice tiny movements in your eyes every time you turn your glance
from one picture to another. Allow this restlessness in your eyes and
vision to go on. Try not to interfere, not to resist your unsteadiness,
until you have a clear conception of the nervousness of your eye balls.
Do not push the responsibility on the pictures and do not go ahead
until you properly realize that it is you who is wandering, not the pictures.
And then find out what makes you jumpy. Is it shyness, impatience,
lack of interest, fear, etc. ? (This analysis is important, in order to increase
the Ego-functions.) Only after you are fully aware of your emotional
attitude towards your internal pictures, can you begin with the analysis
of senso-motoric resistances. If an image, after staying for a few seconds,
becomes blurred, or if you are mentally jumping away to another picture,
you should find out what things you are trying to avoid in connection
with the visualized image. Do not be satisfied to call the jumping away
an association. We do not want associates, we do not want the next best
thing, but the person or thing itself. Concentrate again and again on the
same image till the reason and purpose of avoidance “jumps” into your
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VISUALIZATION
awareness. When, without interfering, you have discovered what is getting

between you and your pictures, go into reverse: be bold and persevering
and interested so that you stop jumping about and look the pictures
squarely in the face.
When you have mastered this exercise, or if you are not a jumper at
all but can see scenes and hold a picture at least for a few seconds, then
the task is much simpler. It is sufficient if, out of a jumble of pictures,
you can find one or two which you can look at for several seconds. The
greatest benefit is derived from static images which appear like those
projected by a magic lantern or from the analysis of dreams which often
repeat themselves. These are introjected pictures, undigested morsels in
your mental stomach. Having found your picture, do two things: first,
ascertain your emotional reaction towards it. Do you like or dislike the
person or thing seen, or do you feel indifferent? Do you experience any
resistance towards this picture? If you do, express it. Be abusive if you
do not like it, and if the vision is of someone or something you love do
not be too shy to say so. If you are alone, express (and this means dis¬
charge, get rid of) your resistance aloud, and as realistically as possible.
An organism, remember, responds to a situation. Your reaction to this
artificial picture-situation is more or less coinciding with your real be¬
haviour. By enticing pictures into the psycho-analytical laboratory you
get a good substitute for the external reality. In many cases it is the best
possible preparation for the real approach. People with contact difficulties
invariably tend to visualize inanimate things, or paintings or photo¬
graphs or busts of people instead of the living persons themselves. This
is not necessarily—as Freudism maintains—the symbolic expression of
unconscious death-wishes, but a projection covering up the lameness and
fear of reaction—the emotional deadness of the patient himself. Should
you, therefore, find yourself selecting inanimate objects and pictures,
realize that you want to avoid the living objects and, with this, your
emotional reactions.
Try these concentration exercises first on everyday events. Perhaps
you are taking driving lessons. If you rely exclusively upon these lessons
your progress will be much slower than if you practise in imagination
what you have been taught, adhering to all the details. In your phantasy
go for a long drive with yourself at the wheel, remembering and adhering
to all the rules you have been taught: you will be amazed at the growth
of your confidence and competence. If you are learning shorthand, put
the thoughts that crowd in your mind into symbols, especially just before
going to sleep; visualize in signs the words you speak, and speed and
accuracy must ensue. It requires at least as much concentration to do
things correctly in your mind as with your muscles, with the added
advantage that, while during the actual driving or shorthand lesson you
may be distracted by other things without noticing them, you cannot
203
possibly practise anything in phantasy without investing all your interest,

thereby checking up your power of concentration. You have, however,
to observe every possible detail; one cannot drive a car or write shorthand
in “outline.”
When you have gained confidence in your power of conscious imagi¬
nation, and after you have managed to hold an image for some time,
enlarge on the detail description. Very good material is often offered by
dreams, which always contain a great deal of unassimilated material.
(That is why most of them are so incomprehensible.) Take the single
items in turn, but return again and again to the whole dream. According
to Freud the first essential in the unravelling of a dream is to attend to
each individual item, independently of the context as a whole. I call
this: tearing the dream apart, using your mental front teeth to cut it into
bits and pieces. The second part, the chewing up, the dissolving of morsels
and the setting free of resistances, is done by Freud through the medium
of free associations. I have shown the danger of these free associations
leading to free dissociations, and therefore I prefer the method of chewing
up, contacting the dream morsels. The resistance, the avoidance of the
contact, emerges more clearly. This chewing up is done by detail des¬
cription. You cannot possibly describe anything in detail without con¬
centrating on it.
While the repression of a detail makes the screen memories and the
dreams unintelligible, the detail description of dream morsels and the
blotted out details will bring about their assimilation and understanding.
Just as in the detective story the good detective distinguishes himself by
observing the details which others miss, so the revelation of details com¬
pletes the dream or picture, and solves a problem which would otherwise
remain baffling.
Detail description is, however, only a “means whereby.” It is like the
mason’s scaffold which is removed once the house is completed. By
translating our observations into words we use description as a means
whereby we keep our attention focussed on details, which, through the
process of chewing up, undergo a development. The picture itself might
change, other pictures and memories, belonging to the same sphere,
might appear, but it is essential not to wander from the central picture
until it is completely assimilated, understood and dissolved.
On account of an outward similarity it will in the beginning be very
difficult to see the decisive difference between the material which con¬
centration yields on the one hand and associations on the other. The
psycho-analyst will probably bring forward, as proof for the association
technique, Freud’s experiments to recover forgotten names. I maintain
that names come to the surface not through associations, but through
concentration. If you go on associating you will not find the forgotten
name, but there is such a fascination (the highest form of concentration)
204
VISUALIZATION
in the existence of a blind spot that you will return to it again and again.
Few unfinished situations exert such a pressure to finish them as do
forgotten names.
Concentration therapy provides a shorter and superior way to “emo¬
tional revival” than either ordinary conversational talk or the technique
of free associations. A man who, for instance, speaks rather disparagingly
of his father when asked to visualize him and to concentrate on the details
of his appearance, might suddenly burst into tears. He will be surprised
by his sudden emotional outburst and amazed that he still has so much
feeling left for the old man. The cathartic value of concentrating on the
image of a person or event to whom or which one has an emotional
relationship is nearly that of hypno- or narco-analysis with the additional
benefit that it strengthens the conscious personality.
A more difficult, but very valuable step in obtaining a four-dimensional
mental fife, a fife re-creating the outside reality, is the training of the
other senses—like hearing, smelling and tasting. To achieve this four¬
dimensional plastic mentality you have to make your imaginary contact
as complete as possible, and by this I mean doing more than just visual¬
izing pictures. If you visualize a landscape you can describe all the details:
the trees, the meadows, the shadows, the grazing cattle, the fragrant
flowers. But you must do more. You must walk in it, climb the trees,
dig the rich brown earth, smell the blossoms, sit on the shadowed grass,
listen to the birds singing, throw stones into the stream, watch the bees
about their busy-ness! Give free range to every possible impulse, chiefly
those which (like tumbling a girl beneath a hedge, or stealing fruit from
the apple orchard, or urinating into the ditch) in reality would cause you
embarrassment, but which occur to you in phantasy.
This senso-motoric approach, especially that of touching, gives you the
proper feel of things and introduces experience of the four dimensions.
It will develop your sense of actuality, and will help to bring about that
eidetic memory (identity of perception and visualization) which in dreams
themselves is always present.
205
V
SENSE OF ACTUALITY
Thinking in four dimensions in accordance with the outside world,

coupled with the ability to distinguish between internal and external
reality, is a basic requirement of mental hygiene. In our training we were
up till now concerned with isolated exercises only; we started with two-
dimensional pictures and added the third (depth) and even the fourth
dimension (duration or extension in time). The experience of this time
factor is necessary if we want to have a fuller life, e.g. more compre¬
hensive experience. Self-realization is only possible if “time-space aware¬
ness” penetrates every corner of our existence; fundamentally it is the
sense of actuality, the appreciation of the identity of reality and
present.
This sense of actuality must not be confused with Freud’s “sense of
reality.” Freud contrasted the “impulsive” biological behaviour with
the need for sublimation and postponement of gratification as demanded
by society. But to call the ability to stand suspense before attaining
pleasure the “principle of reality” is not correct. Pains and pleasures and
a hundred other experiences are just as much reality as are environment
and the ability to stand suspense. Even the hallucinations in delirium
tremens are psychological realities, though the victim is incapable of
distinguishing between internal and environmental fields.
The ever-moving reality of the present can be compared with a railway,
the rails presenting the duration and the running train the actuality.
The ever-changing scenery outside and our internal experiences (thoughts,
hunger, impatience, etc.) would then symbolize “life.”
Sense of actuality means nothing else but the appreciation that every
occurrence takes place in the “present.” I have found a great number of
people, mostly “hanging-on” characters, who have the greatest difficulty
in grasping that this ever-changing something, elusive and unsubstantial, is
the only existing reality. They want to hang on to what they have. They
want to freeze the fluid present, to make a permanency out of it. They
become confused when the reality of one moment is no more a reality
in the very next second. They are inclined, rather than to live the present,
to preserve it by taking photos. They adhere to worn-out customs. They
have great difficulty in switching from one situation to another. When
awake, they cannot go to bed; when in bed, they cannot get up. When
206
SENSE OF ACTUALITY
consulting a doctor, they cannot finish the interview, and find dozens of
reasons and questions to prolong their visit.
The anticipatory character—described in Part One—has somewhat
less difficulty in regaining the sense of actuality. He is apparently more
trained in thinking in terms of time.
★ ★ ★
Most human contact is made through the instrument of language.

This fine tool is generally so badly used, words contain such multiple
meanings, that already an understanding of everyday events becomes
difficult. When A uses a word he might mean something quite different
from what B understands. The revolutionary science of semantics—the
meaning of the meaning—will, I hope, provide a remedy for this Baby¬
lonian confusion. Language is not a mere conglomeration, but an organiza¬
tion of meanings, and its skeleton is grammar. Mental and emotional
disorder produces both distortion of meaning and wrong application of
grammar. Grasping the meaning of certain parts of grammar will con¬
siderably assist you in the undoing of neurotic avoidances.
Following Russell, we may distinguish three possibilities in language:
(1) Expressive speaking by which, as the name indicates, we express
ourselves and—through emotional discharge—bring about a change
within ourselves (autoplastic action).
(2) Purposive or suggestive speaking, which intends to bring about a
change in the mind of someone else (a//oplastic action).
(3) Descriptive speaking.
The three different kinds of language have their specific relation to
time. The relation pf expression is, although causal, that with the present;
the urge which causes the expression must still be present, otherwise
expression changes into description or play-acting.
Suggestive speaking tends towards the future. Propaganda, for instance,
aims at bringing about desired changes in other people.1 Without such an
alloplastic aim the whole technique of advertising and salesmanship
becomes senseless.
The importance of differentiating between autoplastic and alloplastic
behaviour may be demonstrated by two examples of crying. If a child
cries genuinely, his crying is caused by a hurt and is more in the nature
of a reaction than of an action (autoplastic behaviour). If, however, a
spoilt woman starts to cry in order to move her husband to pity because
“she has nothing to wear,” then we see the purpose of her crying—the
action of her behaviour; indeed, in this case, we speak of “acting.” Her
purpose is to bring about a change in his heart or his purse (alloplastic
action).
* Auto-suggestion (retroflected suggestion) is an apparent exception.
207
Description has the strongest connection with the present. A picture,

a situation, must be present either objectively or in imagination, otherwise
it is not possible to describe it; and for description we need words into
which we translate things or images, and from which we re-create the
image we are refering to. Thus the double translation will easily lead to
misunderstanding as soon as words with ambiguous meanings are used.
While most animals possess the ability to impress and express, there is
nothing equivalent to description in animal kingdom. Description is the
recreation of occurrences. Before the time of photography, verbal des¬
cription provided the principal means by which men could convey facts
to each other. The importance of an adequate description is fully recog¬
nized by science. An occurrence, in order to be describable, must fulfil
three conditions: it must be existent, present (in environment or mind),
and real (materially or mentally). The three terms, “existent,” “present,”
and “real,” can be condensed into one word: “actual.”
By describing experiences in detail you develop a capacity for observa¬
tion and a sense of actuality at the same time. Throughout the theoretical
part of this book I have been laying the utmost stress on this sense of
actuality—on the importance of realizing that there is no other reality
than the present.
How can this sense of actuality be developed? To begin with, you
must realize in what tense you live. Are you in contact with the present?
Are you awake to the reality of your surroundings, or do you wander off
into the past or future? In order to get the full benefit from the exercise
of realizing tenses, you have to take stock of how much of your time is
spent in attending to actual reality and how much in remembering or
anticipating. At the same time realize that the actual process of remem¬
bering or anticipating always proceeds from the present moment, and that,
though you are either looking backwards or forwards, you always do this
from the bearing of the present. Once you have fully found your bearings
in the present you will soon learn to realize yourself as a “time-space
event.” Train your sense of actuality by watching your inclination to
slide off into the past or future. At the same time find out if you upset
your balance by avoiding to look into either past or future.
The flight into the past is mostly characteristic of people who need
scapegoats. These people fail to realize that, despite what has happened
in the past, their present life is their own, and that it is now their own
responsibility to remedy their shortcomings, whatever they may be.
Whenever these people who hang on to the past encounter difficulties,
they spend all their energy in complaining, or in finding “causes” outside
themselves. “Reasons are as cheap as raspberries.” As this search cannot
be successful they become more and more depressed and querulous and
develop all kinds of illnesses and tricks in order to get sympathy from
others. They may go so far as to use the pattern of the entirely helpless
208
SENSE OF ACTUALITY
child. Psycho-analysis calls such an attitude “regression,” but this re¬

gression is in most cases merely a trick and not an unconscious event (cf.
Burlap, in Huxley’s Point Counter Point).
Psycho-analysis, after having made a general law out of the tautological
platitude that every phenomenon has its origin in its history, applied it
on every possible occasion. Freud’s conception of regression is a typical
example. When the neurotic encounters difficulties in life, he regresses,
so Freud maintains, to certain stages in childhood, a regression which
can almost be measured in years. What happens, in my opinion, is rarely
an historical regression; it is the mere fact that the patient’s true self,
his “weaknesses,” become more clearly visible. His pretences, over¬
compensations and such achievements which have not become an integral
part of his personality, are being thrown overboard. The anxious person
who generally manages to appear cool, calm and collected is, in times of
stress, more concentrated on his problems than on keeping up appearances.
He does not regress to the state of his childhood anxiety. His nucleus,
his true self, was never anything else but excitable; his under-development
has never ceased to exist. He has fallen back to his true self, perhaps to
his constitutional nature, but not to his childhood. If an over-polite
patient during a psycho-analytical treatment becomes abusive and flies
into a rage, every analyst will welcome this behaviour as a discharge of
suppressed emotion. The patient behaving like a naughty child changes
from latent to open hostility, thus revealing for a moment his true self
(like Beckmesser in the Mastersingers). But the fact that children, too,
have fits of temper and use “bad” language cannot be taken as proof that
such behaviour in itself is infantile.
So much for indulging in the past. It is from the aspect of futuristic
thinking that we can derive even greater practical knowledge about
ourselves, once we realize the fundamental mistake of failing to distinguish
between planning and dreaming. Much futuristic thinking consists in
day-dreaming of all sorts. In extreme cases people might show symptoms
of being in a state of trance, coming back from excursions into the Un¬
conscious with feelings of surprise or terror at finding themselves standing
before the mirror with raised shaving brush and noticing that for the last
two minutes they had been completely unaware of their surroundings—
that their Ego had ceased to function. The day-dreamer runs away from
the present in his attempt to compensate for frustrations. He does not
realize that his dreams never lead to the restoration of his organismic
balance. He does not realize that they merely cover up a frustration,
just as a morphia injection covers up, but does not cure, a painful
disease.
If you are “broke” you can easily get away from the realization of the
truth by day-dreaming of winning a sweepstake, whereas in reality you
would be quite satisfied with a five-pound note. Sex starvation might
209 o
make you have day-dreams about being in love with a famous film star,
whereas in reality you could be quite satisfied with your nice neighbour.
Indulgence in day-dreaming, the expectation, the hope that it might
come true, leads to ever greater disappointments in actual life. These
disappointments will increase the day-dreaming and so start a vicious
circle.
I have shown in the chapter on Organismic Balance that an organismic
minus produces a mental +, but in the case of day-dreaming you produce
a mental + + +. Does it help you to day-dream about a million dollars ?
To pay off the small debts that worry you, you would require much less.
The whims of a film star would probably make you very unhappy, if you
were married to her.
What you can learn from day-dreams is the direction of your needs.
If you w'ant to fly from New York to Montreal (this means nearly due
north) you take your bearings from a magnetic needle which has the
North Pole as its aim. But you do not identify yourself with this goal,
you do not fly to the North Pole itself, you abstract only the direction
from the needle’s behaviour. In the same way take only the direction
from your day-dreams, using them as a help to understand where your
needs he—money or love or whatever it may be. The day-dreams serve
the good purpose to show the aim, the direction of your ambitions, but
with that their usefulness is exhausted. If you invest too much time
and energy in wishful thinking, you achieve a pseudo-happiness for which
you have to pay heavily with disappointments and the weakening of the
Ego-functions. In order to cure such disfunction, you must learn to re¬
organize your energies, to face the unpleasant situations which you imagine
you cannot tolerate, and which you try to overcome by day-dreaming.
Be unhappy about the unpleasantness; and, if experienced and expressed
fully, the unhappiness itself will be of benefit. Then take steps in the
direction indicated by your day-dreams; set about actually building these
‘‘castles in the air” which so intrigue you, but build them on solid ground.
Do not be content with taking non-existing jumps into a non-existent
paradise, but do something to link those dreams with reality. Translate
the “impossible” into the “possible.” If you day-dream about becoming
a famous author, the probability is that you have latent talents in this
direction which should be cultivated. If you imagine yourself a great
lover, you obviously have amorous abilities; unhitch them from the film
star, where they can never be fulfilled, and you will soon find someone
worthy of your attentions. If your day-dreams are of painting or engineer¬
ing or acquiring wealth, do something about it; follow their direction
even though you will have to lower your standard.
One has, however, to differentiate between the day-dream which
pictures the ideal situation and the day-dream which glorifies an ideal.
This form of idealism forms a part of the megalomania-outcast complex,
2io
SENSE OF ACTUALITY
and is a very important sign of our paranoic civilization. About the detri¬
mental influence of idealism I shall say a few words in the last chapter
of this book. For the time being understand one point: sense of actuality
means the experience of this very second—not the experience of what
did happen even only one minute ago!
2 I I
VI
INTERNAL SILENCE
Experiments have shown that a chimpanzee and a human child show

little difference in their intelligence from birth to that time when the
human child learns to understand and use words. The unification of
diverse concrete events by abstract terms and the simplification brought
about by the use of word-symbols gave man his first and decisive superi¬
ority over the animals. Like many other tools, however, the word has
turned against man. As the powder of Chinese fireworks has turned into
gunpowder, as the transport plane has become the bomber, so has the
word turned from a means of expression and conveyance to a deadly
weapon directed against our natural selves and has become more a tool
of concealing than revealing.
Words can hardly ever equal genuine feeling, which has nothing to do
with hazy emotions or mysticism. Bergson has reinstated the term “in¬
tuition” for that deepest knowledge of our existence which stretches
beyond images and words. Words have become part of our daily routine
as much as have other commodities of life: food, shelter, transport or
money. But imagine yourself transplanted to a lonely island! Your out¬
look will change completely; everything will adopt a different meaning.
The things around you will take on a much deeper significance, while
language, and especially abstract language, will lose its importance.
Every word you use will need to have its precise referent. The biological
will overshadow the intellectual existence.
In warfare already, although the soldier is as far as possible provided
with the necessities of life, the biological self asserts itself, and the intel-
lect at least that part which has no contact with the soldier’s foremost
needs is thrown overboard. Every return to the deeper layers of our
existence will bring about a re-orientation of the intellect1 and its repre¬
sentative : language. There is one way by which we can contact the deeper
layers of our existence, rejuvenate our thinking and gain “intuition”
(harmony of thinking and being): internal silence.2 Before you can master
' Intellect is always bound up with words—intelligence is not!

1 After having finished this book I came across Korzybski’s Science and Sanity.
Although he represents a far deeper semantic analysis than I have ever attempted,
and although his structural differential provides an apparently very effective
2 12
INTERNAL SILENCE
the art of internal silence, however, you have to practise the “listening”
to your thoughts.
Verbal thinking and speaking have, as previously shown, a pre-
differential state: verbal thinking is a kind of imaginary talking. Similarly
there exists a pre-differential state which differentiates into speaking and
listening and which corresponds on the acoustic level to the eidetic attitude
in the visual sphere. If you can succeed in regaining this speaking/listening
unity, you can tremendously increase the knowledge and awareness of
what and how you think.
As an initial exercise read aloud or recite anything you like, and listen
to your manner of speaking; but you must neither criticize nor change
your speech. The secret of success is the same as in every concentration
exercise: not to make any special effort except that you should become
aware of one specific action. Once you notice in the training situation that
you can hear yourself, listen occasionally to your voice when in company.
After that make an earnest attempt to become aware of your so-called
thinking. This exercise must be carried out at first in solitude. When you
try to listen to your thinking you will in the beginning probably not suc¬
ceed. You will become confused like the famous centipede, and your
internal talking will stop under scrutiny. But as soon as you relax your
attention, your internal “babbling” (called “thinking”) will start again.
Repeat this attempt over and over, especially when your thinking is a
genuine subvocal speaking—when you would use sentences like: “I say
to myself,” or when you prepare to meet somebody and rehearse in your
mind what you are going to say. Persist until you get the “feel” of your
thinking, the identity of listening and talking. When this happens you
will notice two more phenomena. Your thinking will become much more
expressive, and at the same time that part of your thinking which is not
a genuine expression will begin to disintegrate. Your obsessional internal
talking will break up, and you might feel like nearly going insane when
you hear bits and pieces of your incoherent language floating about,
senseless phrases coming into your mind and waiting to be rehashed.
Few actions will develop the sense of actuality to such an extent as will
the listening to your thinking, especially when you experience the re¬
organization of your thinking and the rediscovery of the language as a
tool of meaning and expression.
Such reorganization of thinking is absolutely necessary for people
method for experiencing the unspeakable level, I consider the method set out in
this chapter to be simpler and more practicable than his.
Nobody can read his book without deriving the greatest benefit from it. Later
on I hope to be able to deal extensively with his magnificent approach to the psycho¬
logical” problem. At present I have only to state that my attitude differs con¬
siderably from his wholesale condemnation of identification (see the chapter on
Ego-functions) and that I consider the figure-background concept to be preferable
to the abstraction theory.
2I3
who have difficulty in making genuine contact. This applies to timid,

awkward or stammering people as much as it does to persons of the
opposite nature, persons who always have to take the floor, who cannot
stop talking, who bubble over whenever they meet anybody, and who
cannot take in anything that anyone says, any more than they themselves
can contribute anything useful, interesting or amusing.
With the improvement of the “feel,” a deeper knowledge, a “psycho¬
analysis” of the characteristics of your personality will follow. You will
discover your Self in the monotony, the lecturing, the broadcasting, the
wailing or the boasting of your internal voice. Once you have recognized
your specific characteristic, take it as an expression of your whole per¬
sonality, and try to discover the same attitude in your other actions and
behaviour.
Learn to value each word, learn to chew up, to taste, to experience the
power which is hidden in the “logos” of every word. Winston Churchill
is said to have been at one time an awkward, diffident speaker. Now he
tastes every word, every sentence he utters. The result is a powerful,
penetrating speech in which every word carries its weight. He has the
“feel” of his thoughts and this leads to forceful expression. It would be
blasphemous to apply the same word “talking” to the verbal effusions of
some babbling society lady, who is hiding beneath a torrent of words the
fact that she has nothing to convey.
After you have mastered the internal listening, you can proceed to the
decisive exercise: that of training in internal silence. External silence
already is a situation which many people cannot tolerate. When they are
in company they feel they must talk and, if there is a silence for a few
minutes, they feel embarrassed and search their minds for a topic with
which to break it. In a situation which calls for silence—a beautiful
mountain view or the roar of the sea—they must go on chattering. They
have lost contact with Nature to such an extent that they have to cling
to talk as their only means of some kind of contact.
It is much more difficult, even for people who are not chatter-boxes,
to cope with internal silence. Internal silence must not be mistaken for
a blank mind (trance, petit mal, cessation of all mental functions). In this
exercise we are exclusively concerned with the mastery of only one mental
function: subvocal talking. Try to keep internally silent, to suppress
your verbal thinking, yet to stay awake. In the beginning you will find
this very difficult, and you will realize the obsessional character of your
internal talking. You will notice, despite an earnest attempt to comply
with this exercise, that only for the first few moments will you be able
to keep your mind empty of words. Without noticing it, your attention
will slacken and you will produce verbal thoughts again. If you are
persistent, you will learn to prolong the silence, and you will thus make
room for the fuller play of your senses. You will visualize things or perceive
214
INTERNAL SILENCE
your subtler “body’’-sensations more clearly. Once you succeed in keeping

this internal silence for a minute or so, the energies, or, rather, activities
which were replaced by talking, will come up from the deeper biological
layers—your biological Self will stir under its covering crust of words.
Try, then, to apply this newly-gained power of concentration towards
the outside world. I recommend listening to music. Nowhere else can
you check up so effectively on your power of concentration. In full con¬
centration there is no room for both listening to the music and thinking
or dreaming.
If you listen to music you will have the advantage of remaining in the
acoustic field. After you have gained full command over the acoustic
concentration you can proceed to the final exercise to fill your mind with
the experiences of the other senses. Look, for instance, at a picture which
attracts your interest, or a flower garden, or a sunset, or even your own
room. Try to take in all the details without internal broadcast or verbal
description. Silently, without verbiage, learn to appreciate what interests
or attracts you.
Perhaps the most valuable outcome of the training in internal silence
is the achievement of a state beyond evaluation (beyond good and bad),
e.g. a genuine appreciation of reactions and facts.
215
VII
FIRST PERSON SINGULAR
During our visualization exercises we discovered that, by switching our

mentality from “the pictures coming into our minds” to “ourselves
looking at pictures,” we improve our Ego-functions. We turn from a
passive to a more active attitude. Such an activity corresponds to the
general active, centrifugal character of the organismic behaviour, which is
much more pronounced than reflex-theory and religion make us believe.
I have previously shown that the Ego is a symbol for the fact of identifica¬
tion; thus if we do not identify ourselves with our external or internal
visualization, we deprive ourselves of a vital function.
Usually only such pictures as are connected with our problems, with
unfinished situations and organismic needs, will appear in our mind.
In addition to those images which signal genuine requirements our
internal bioscope contains many pictures which we, originally, conjured
up either as illustrations of our ideals, or as resistances—as a counterweight
against condemned emotions. Once we realize fully that none of these
pictures—even the day-dream—appears without good purpose, we
should be ready to take more responsibility for the “working of our
mind.”
As a general rule we can say that these pictures which we deliberately
conjure up are resistances and not expressions of a primary need. But
even so it is advisable to identify ourselves with every picture and to say:
“I see such and such a person in my mind.” The avoidance of responsibility
and the avoidance of the Ego-language are closely related. As responsibility
is so often connected with blame, shame and punishment, it is small
wonder that people shrink frequently from responsibility and disown
their actions and thoughts.
When the Army Medical Officer comes across a doubtful illness, he
lands himself in a conflict largely due to his unsureness and his inability
to decide where to look for responsibility. Should he look for causes or
for purposes? The malingerer, for instance, produces the “cause” for
his illness and the Army Medical Officer runs after the cause. Headaches,
backaches, amnesia and dyspepsia are more or less easily produced, but
if these are not sufficient proofs the malingerer calls back a former illness,
not in a mechanical regression, but for the purpose of producing a cause,
an historical fact which will give him former doctors as witnesses. Only
216
if the Medical Officer is the winner in the battle of wits, does he dare to
say that the patient’s “I” and not his “It” is responsible for his illness.
Only then does he recognize the purpose and not the cause.
In our society it is often very difficult to apply the Ego-language. As¬
suming you have had a late night and do not feel like getting up. You
are late at the office. Will you say to the boss, “I did not want to get up,”
or will you shield behind a tram that did not arrive, a lift which did not
work, a headache which might or might not be present? Just imagine
the upheaval were you to tell him the truth. The situation, however, is
different when you can be truthful, be it with yourself or your friends.
But even if you imagine that you are strictly truthful with yourself, you
still might be mistaken. How often are you annoyed that “the tram just
went off,” instead of admitting that, by dawdling, you missed it?
It is even more difficult to realize that you yourself produce all the
neurotic symptoms, and not a mysterious “It” or “libido”, that—as I have
mentioned before and am going to show in greater detail later on—you
contract your muscles and thus produce your anxiety, frigidity, headaches,
and so on.
The importance of this conception can hardly be over-emphasized.
Without taking full responsibility, without rechanging neurotic symptoms
into conscious Ego-functions, no cure is possible. We might not go to
such extremes as the obsessional character who maintains that “there was
a thought in my brain,” instead of saying, “I thought this and that”—
although very few of us, indeed, are completely free from such manner
of speech. Most people on being tackled about a dream will admit, “I”
dreamt this last night; but when they have killed somebody in their
dream they deny that they themselves imagined the killing, and they
refuse responsibility for their dreams.
Every’ time you do apply the proper Ego-language, you express yourself.
You assist in the development of your personality. Therefore, at first
you must realize if and when you are shrinking from the use of the “I.”
Later translate the “It” language into “I” language, first silently and
eventually aloud. You will readily realize the difference between the two
kinds of speech when you hear somebody saying: “The cup slipped out
of my hand” instead of “7 dropped the cup” “My hand slipped”
instead of “7 gave him a slap,” or “I have such a bad memory” instead
of “7 forgot” or even more truthfully, “7 did not want to remember,
7 did not want to be bothered.” Are you in the habit of blaming Fate,
Circumstances or Illness, etc., for the mistakes you make in fife? Are
you shielding behind an “It” similar to that in Freud’s mocking remark:
“Insecurity and darkness robbed me of my watch”?
If you put “It is raining” and “It occurred to me, that . . .” on the
same plane, your ability to differentiate between inside and outside world
does not look too perfect.
21?
Many intellectuals look enthusiastically to Groddeck’s theory of the

Id. After they had dethroned God and Fate, but were not yet strong
enough to take sufficient responsibility themselves, they found the neces¬
sary support in the conception of the Id. They needed a prima causa and
found a solution by transferring God from his heaven into their own system.
Their “Id” concept showed a striking resemblance to Jung’s mysterious
Collective Unconscious and impeded rather than developed their Ego-
functions.
Just as Freud introjected Rank’s Birth Trauma to fill a gap in his
historic explanation of anxiety, so did he with the acceptance of Grod-
. deck’s “It” or “Id” (both being synonyms). The “Id” fitted nicely into
Freud’s scheme of “Super-Ego,” “I” and “Id”—but brought about a
confusion: the organismic needs and the repressed parts of the personality
are placed into the same pigeon-hole, a conception inherited from the
Christian hostility against the body.
Adler shows good insight into the part which the conscious personality
plays in the training of the production of symptoms. On the other hand,
Freud has shown how hypocritical our conscious mind is. The Ego-
language is not always an expression of organismic needs. If you cannot
sleep you will have the greatest difficulty in realizing that “you” as repre¬
sentative of the organism do not want to sleep, that “you” want to sleep
only as representative of habit and hypochondria. Of course, you could
say, “I want to sleep, but my ‘Unconscious’ does not want to sleep.”
But what difference is there between such an expression and a statement
that “Darkness and Insecurity steal watches”?
The Ego’s meaning is that of a symbol and not of a substance. As the
Ego indicates the acceptance of, and identification with, certain parts of
the personality, we can make use of the Ego-language for the purpose of
assimilating disowned parts of ourselves. These disowned parts are either
repressed or projected. The “It” language is a mild form of projection
and results, like any other projection, in a change from an active into a
passive attitude, from responsibility into fatalism.
Thus, although the expression “I thought” looks, at first glance,
like an irrelevant change from “a thought occurred to me,” I must
deliberately point out in a pedantic manner that this is not so. Though
the difference between the two modes of expression looks insignificant,
its rectification will have the most profound repercussions on the whole
personality. It is fundamentally identical with Freud’s remark that with
the cure compulsion changes into volition.
In order to bring about a proper Ego-language we have to adhere to
the basic rule of concentration therapy: never attempt a change before
you are fully aware of all the details of the incorrect attitude. Observe
at first the use of the “It” language in others as well as in yourself. Resist
a premature change, and you will make most valuable observations.
2i8
You will discover a great deal about the motives of avoidance: feelings
of guilt, shame, self-consciousness and embarrassment.
As the most important step translate (as far as that is possible) the “It”
language into the Ego-language. A very valuable help is the expression
“I produce”—leaving, for the time being, in abeyance the way in which
you produce, say, a headache. And last, but not least, apply the Ego-
language. Learn to speak and not only to write “I” with a capital letter.
In trying to do this you will find, in the beginning, a great amount of
difficulty mainly in connection with the just mentioned disagreeable
emotions. Correct Ego-language, e.g. correct identification, is the basis of
self-expression and confidence. How important a part self-expression
plays in the prevention and cure of neurosis, should be known to you
by now.
There is, however, one exception to the rule. Just as metabolism is
fundamentally different from pseudo-metabolism, so the genuine Ego-
language differs from a “Pseudo-Ego-language.” I am referring to those
little overtures with which many people embroider their speech: “I
thought,” “I mean,” “I feel.” These overtures are not expressions, but
avoidances of emotions; they are mostly inhibitions in making contact—
avoidance of the correct use of “You.” “I think you are cross with me”
is emotionally much weaker than “Are you cross with me?”
In these cases not the “I” but the “You” is avoided. The speech is
as much censored and reshaped as in the “It” language. In both cases
freedom from self-consciousness is very dearly bought. It is paid for with
the deterioration of the personality.
VIII
UNDOING OF RETROFLECTIONS
I am writing on a table. This table consists, according to the present

standards of physical science, overwhelmingly of space filled with billions
of racing electrons. Yet I behave “as if” the table was solid. Scientifically
the table has a different meaning from the practical one. With me in my
occupational field it “is” a solid piece of furniture. A similar discrepancy
between appearance and fact exists in the case of the Ego. I could have
started this chapter like this: F. Peris identifying himself with an urge
to convey certain facts. . . . Instead of this long-winded sentence I use
the symbol “I,” knowing well that, had not the major part of his per¬
sonality identified itself with the urge to write, he would not have produced
this book.
Identification is mostly an unconscious process. Conscious identification
occurs in conflicts, for instance between ideal and organismic need.
Conscious identification (“I”) if it encounters resistances creates volition
(“shall not”), mostly in the form of interference against environment or
organic self-regulation (retroflected interference). Volition thus probably
originates from “negation.”
If a child shuts “his” eyes when soap gets into them, this appears
from the linguistic point of view to be a retroflection. But it is not. It is
merely a reaction—a reflex, but not a retroflex. The eyes shut without
any conscious Ego-function. This child, however, might identify himself
not with his organism but with some Roman Ideal, like Mucius Scaevola,
and decide not to close his eyes in spite of an intense burning. Negations
of such kind are the basis of “will power.” In this case an active part of
the child’s personality interferes with another one which thus becomes
passive and suffering.
A genuine retroflection is always based upon such a split personality
and is composed of an active (A) and a passive (P) part. Sometimes A
and sometimes P will be in the forefront. “I get annoyed with myself”
has more active character, “I deceive myself” more passive character. In
the latter instance not the deceiving but the wish to be deceived—the
unwillingness to see the truth—is the essential factor.
The main characteristics of the four principal inhibitions are these:
(i) In repression, the material as well as the Ego-functions are dis¬
torted or have disappeared. Classical analysis has dealt so extensively
220
with this phenomenon that we can neglect it in this book, except that we
must draw attention to the great part retroflection plays in producing and
keeping up repressions.
(2) In introjection, the material remains essentially intact, but has
changed from the environmental to the internal field. Passivity becomes
activity. (The nurse hits the child. Child introjects, plays nurse and hits
another child.) The Ego-functions become hypertrophied and pretentious
(“as if” functions).
(3) In projection, the material, completely unchanged, slips from the
internal into the environmental field. Activity becomes passivity. (The
child wants to hit the nurse. Child projects and expects the nurse to hit
him.) The Ego-functions become /rypotrophied and hallucinatory.
(4) In retroflection,: relatively little material is lost and the Ego-
functions remain largely intact; but the Self is substituted for an object
with the purpose of avoiding apparently dangerous contacts.
This loss of contact with the environment often leads to catastrophic
results. The emotional discharge is inadequate, and, if aggression is
retroflected, the expressions and functions of the subdued parts P become
impaired. But the therapy of retroflections is simpler than the therapy
of either repressions or projections, as a mere change of direction is
required and the conflicts leading to retroflection lie partly on the surface.
Furthermore, the process of retroflection is intelligible, whilst in the case
of repression, we have often to be satisfied with the mere fact, without
knowing exactly how repressions occur.* In retroflection, however, we
can always deal with a conscious part (Ego or A) of the personality,
which directs its activities against another part (remaining “Self” or P),
even if the accent lies on P. Even if you intend to teach yourself chemistry
you will at times prefer to be taught.
In the following example of flagellantism—the tendency to beat one¬
self—one can appreciate the importance of the accent being on A or P.3
1 I was tempted to use for this phenomenon the term “introversion,” but this
would lead to confusions with Jung’s character classification. Jung uses the oppo¬
sites “introversion” and “extraversion” to indicate two more or less normal types
Introversion-extraversion are not correct dialectical opposites. The healthy per¬
sonality is normally directed towards the world—is extraverted. The dialectical
deviations from the normal are the melancholic-introverted and the super-extra-
verted paranoid types. No wonder that the term “introvert” has found its way
into medicine and literature, whilst the expression “extravert” has been entirely
neglected as being meaningless, and is not even mentioned in the average en¬
cyclopaedias.
1 We neither know how the “libido” is undertaking its journeys through the
organism nor have we yet the slightest idea how, in the topographical concept, the
transfer from one system into another takes place. As long as these suppositions
have not been demonstrated we have to regard them as speculations and not as
“hard facts.”
3 Freud is not always clear in his appreciation of activity and passivity. The
psycho-analyst asks of the patient that he lie on a couch in a “passive” state and
22 1
(A) A boy liked to play at being a coachman. In his games with his
playmates he was always the driver and enjoyed whipping his friends,
who invariably had to be the horses. When he was on his own he often
continued the game, but had to whip himself, being driver and horse at
the same time.
(P) Another boy, while doing homework, hit his knuckles very hard
whenever he made a mistake. He did this in anticipation of being hit by
the teacher.
Reich and others have interpreted moral masochism as the policy of
the minor evil, of bribery. A great deal of self-imposed suffering has to
be explained this way: “Look, God, I am punishing myself (with fasting
and sacrifices); so you cannot be so cruel as to punish me in addition.”
As the organism is primarily active, the last example already shows
that for the more passive retroflection a certain amount of projection is
required. At least some of the believer’s cruelty and lust to punish must
have been projected on to God.1 In some instances A has been so com¬
pletely projected that only a hint of the original activity remains visible.
In self-pity, for instance, the pity for other people can hardly be traced;
the retroflection in this case means: If nobody is sorry for me, I have to
be sorry for myself.
The example of the suicide wish is very instructive. Here again the
mixture of retroflection and projection shows the over-balancing of
part P. A girl has been deserted by her lover, she considers suicide. The
situation is simple as far as part A is concerned. Her first reaction is: “I
shall kill him because he left me. If I can’t have him nobody else shall.”
(As usual in these cases the aggression does not get into the chewing up
and digesting of the unpleasant event.) But then her aggression turns
into suffering: “I can’t live without him, life is too painful. I want to
escape, die.” The wish to kill has turned into the wish to die.
“Life is painful, fate is cruel.” The aggression which, in the act of
suicide, turns against P is projected; not she, but fate (or the beloved)
is cruel. Furthermore, her condemnation of him is projected into her
allow his thoughts to appear in his conscious mind. The psycho-analyst means,
however, that the patient should lie in a state of indifference, in an inactive—or
impassive—state. If we admit that Freud demands remembering instead of acting,
and becomes very indignant when a patient becomes active, we realize that Freud
unconsciously (in spite of his angry condemnation of active therapy) distributes
the roles in the analytical situation in such a way that the analyst takes the active
and the patient the passive part—another relic of the hypnotical situation.
Expression by activity and acting is emphasized by two branches of psycho¬
analysis : Child-analysis, and the technique of Moreno who treats psycho-neuroses
by urging the patients to write, produce and act their own plays as a means of self-
expression and self-realization.
1 Parallel with Christ’s milder character, his God is mild in contrast to Moses’
and his God’s vindictiveness. The Christian Church, however, makes up for this
negligence of human nature by projecting cruelty into a Devil and a Hell.
222
conscience. “If I kill him I’ll be guilty of murder.” This anticipation of

punishment is, as already mentioned, the root of moral masochism.
“Before they punish me, I’d rather do it myself.” Finally, the panic, the
danger of being killed, deprives her of the last vestige of reason, and
suicide emerges as the triumphant solution which apparently gratifies all
her revenge wishes. “If I kill myself he’ll suffer for the rest of his life.
He (projecting her own unhappiness) can never be happy any more;
and he will be sorry for what he has done to me.” After all the ramifica¬
tions, the original wish to destroy him is gratified—but only in her fantasy.
What price revenge?
Compared with this complicated process, the knowledge of the un¬
complicated retroflection is theoretically simple and sufficient for practical
purposes; but if we want to apply this knowledge in treatment we are
bound to come up against the brick wall of moral resistances. I have
hardly found anyone yet who did not feel that the undoing of retroflection
went against his principles. We are bound to encounter such remarks as:
“It is not fair,” or “I’d rather do this to myself than to anybody else,”
“I would feel guilty if I did that.” If we simplify the retroflection into the
picture of a ball bouncing back from a wall, we must realize that without
a wall the ball would not bounce back, but would fly straight forward.
If a man urinates too close to a tree he is bound to soil his clothes. Without
the wall of conscience, embarrassment, moralistic taboos and fear of
consequences, retroflection would not exist. Activities would contact the
world and we would not have to undertake the task of straightening out
the bent arrow.
Similar to the cure of insomnia, the cure of pathological retroflections
is essentially a semantic procedure. Once you understand fully the
meaning of “retroflection,” the main task is accomplished. Exercises are
of importance only as far as they assist you towards becoming aware of
the structure of retroflections. Here are three exercises to this effect:
First notice that whenever you use the word “myself,” you might be
retroflecting some activity. The same applies to a noun in connection
with “self,” for instance, self-reproach.
As a second step, find out if the retroflection is more of an A or of a
P nature, if self-reproach stands more for reproaching somebody, or of
being reproached.
Thirdly, meditate on what reasons you can give—“why” you should
not retroflect. Find the rationalization which probably is covering up a
resistance.
From the practical point of view the most important retroflections are:
hatred directed against the self, narcissism, and self-control. Self-des¬
truction is, of course, the most dangerous of all retroflections. Its minor
brother is the tendency to repress (repression is retroflected oppression").
★ ★ ★
223
The ability to suppress one’s emotions and other expressions is called

self-control. By idealization, self-control is split off from its social sense
and often becomes a virtue cultivated for its own sake. Self-control thus
changes into over-control. The tendency to domineer others is in such
cases retroflected and is applied, often with great brutality, against their
own organismic needs. People with too much self-discipline are inhibited
disciplinarians and bullies. I have still to see a case of nervous breakdown
which is not due to over-control, and to its aggravation by the nagging
of friends to “pull yourself together.”
Most people understand by self-control both the repression of spon¬
taneous needs and the compulsion to do things without that important
ego-function—interest.
The example of a motor car suggests itself. The motor car has many
controls. The brakes are only one of them, and the crudest at that. The
better the driver understands how to handle all the controls, the more
efficiently will the car function. But if he drives with the brakes permanently
on, the wear and tear on brake and engine will be enormous; the per¬
formance of the car will deteriorate, and sooner or later there will be a
breakdown. The better a driver understands a car’s potentialities, the
better can he control it and the less will he mis-handle it. The over¬
controlled person behaves in exactly the same way as the ignorant
driver. He knows no other means of control than the brakes—than
repressions.
The cure of a nervous breakdown (the result of over-control) has first
of all to effect the undoing of the retroflection. The self-controiled person
always has dictatorial tendencies. By leaving himself alone and ordering
other people about, he gives his Self a breathing space, and allows his
organismic needs to express themselves. He must learn to understand
his requirements and to identify himself with them, and not only with
the demands of environment and conscience. Only when he learns to
strike the balance between egoism and altruism—between identification
with his own and other people’s requirements—will he find peace of
mind. The harmonious functioning of individual and society depends
upon: “Thou shah love thy neighbour as thyself.” Not less, but also not
more.
Retroflection remains an ego-function, while in repressions and pro¬
jections the ego-function is obliterated. As I pointed out before, the ego,
by retroflecting, merely replaces an outside object by the self. The woman
who controls her crying, and interferes with the biological adjustment
to a painful situation, generally shows a tendency to interfere with others,
and to condemn those who “let themselves go.”
Let us assume, a girl with a puritanical outlook on life represses her
delight in dancing. Every time she hears dance music she stifles rhythmic
movements in her legs, and becomes clumsy and awkward. To be cured,
224
she must first of all realize that her puritanical outlook is mainly a “means
whereby” she suppresses both her own pleasure and that of others.
Once she has realized the pleasure she derives from interfering with other
people, she will leave herself alone and will interfere rather with people
who try to prevent her from dancing.
A very interesting example of retroflection, which sheds light on the
inferiority complex, is given by Karen Homey in The Neurotic Personality
of Out Time. A beautiful girl with pathological inferiority feelings, on
entering a ballroom, sees her plain-looking competitor and shrinks from
competing with her, thinking, “How can I, an ugly duckling, dare come
here?” I, personally, do not regard this as a feeling of inferiority but as
one of arrogance concealed behind retroflection. We see the situation in
its proper perspective if we imagine her, instead of talking to herself,
addressing the other girl: “How dare you, you ugly duckling, come
here.” The girl in question is inclined to deprecate people, but retroflects
the sneering on to herself.
This last case is a retroflected reproach. If our beauty would tackle
the plain girl instead of herself, she would make a great step forwards in
the cure of her neurosis. She would change her inferiority complex—her
self-reproach into an object-approach.
Such an approach is often difficult, as it is loaded with self-conscious¬
ness, embarrassment and fear. My advice, therefore, is: the undoing of
such embarrassing retroflections should, at first, be carried out in phantasy
only. Although the discharge cannot be satisfactory, we may achieve
several aims with this exercise: (a) we may change the direction and give
P a chance to come to the surface; (b) we may recognize many danger
signals as mere blinds; (c) we may increase the amount of free aggression
which, in turn, can be applied for assimilation. This temporary setting
free of aggression is a phenomenon for which psycho-analysis uses the
name “transitory symptom.”
Your possibilities of approach and contact will show a decisive improve¬
ment if you undo the retroflection of your “thinking.” “I said to myself,”
What for? If you can say it, you must know it. So what sense is there in
conveying a message to yourself? Such talking to himself is found in
every child; later on when his talking becomes silent, we call it “thinking.”
If you examine your thinking, you will notice that you give yourself
explanations, you broadcast what you experience, you rehearse what
you intend to say in a difficult situation. In your imagination you mean
to explain, broadcast, complain to other people. My advice is to apply
as an exercise the re-direction of all your thinking (first in your phantasy
and then, if possible, in actuality) to a living person. This is a simple and
efficient way to make good contact.
Assuming you are in company racking your brains for something to
say, thinking to yourself, “I must find a theme to start a conversation,”
225 P
then you can simply change the direction of your sentence and order the
company: “You must find a topic to start a conversation.” The contact
is established and the torturing silence broken.
Introspection is another retroflection and is very often found in people
who are interested in psychology. It is the tendency to observe oneself,
to study oneself instead of observing and studying other people, a state
of brooding inactivity, which is in direct conflict with that senso-motoric
awareness mentioned before in this book (and with the cultivation of
which I will deal later). That the undoing of self-observation is not easy
will be gathered from the following example. A patient told me: “Yester¬
day I had more pluck. I answered my wife more energetically than usual,
and when I observed myself I could not find any unpleasant reactions.”
What he had really observed was not himself, but her, because he was
still afraid of his own courage and consequently felt relieved that he saw
no unfavourable reactions in her. People repress their object-observation
and change it into self-observation in the desire to avoid unpleasantness,
embarrassment and fear, not wanting to be taken as impolite and in¬
quisitive.
Introspection is different from hypochrondia in so far as in intro¬
spection the accent is on A while in hypochrondia it is on P. Thus the
hypochondriac’s tendency to make passive contact reveals itself by his
readiness to see a doctor.
Many years ago Stekel had already realized that masturbation is often
a substitute for homosexuality; although the homosexual’s problem is
much more complicated, a great amount of retroflection is certainly
present. A masturbation-fixation has the meaning of playing with one’s
penis because another is not available or else is taboo. The accent can
likewise be either on A or P.
In a situation like the last one, the avoidance of contact is easily appre¬
ciated, but in no case does the retroflection absorb all activity. We are
never so self-centred that we do not interfere with others, although we
might do a great deal of self-interference or self-correction or self-control
or self-education. Sometimes even the self-reproach is so thinly veiled
that we hardly discern anything but the direct reproach. The woman
who complains, “Why must I have such a naughty child?” or “Wrhy
must my husband always be so late?” does not mean to criticize herself,
but the mischievous child or the unpunctual husband.
The most damaging retroflection is the one of destruction and vindic¬
tiveness. The admission that one feels revengeful is so much in conflict
with one’s ideals that a frank, straightforward tendency to retaliate is
seldom encountered. Up to the time of puberty it seems to be more or
less admitted, but most adults display their pleasure in vindictiveness
vicariously by reading crime stories, or following court proceedings, or
indulging in righteousness, or pushing the execution of their revenge on
226
to God or fate. Admittedly, revengefulness is not one of the pleasant

characteristics of humanity, but being vindictive at one’s own expense
not only develops hypocrisy, in the guise of pity, but produces inhibitions
which leave situations incomplete; whilst retaliation, whether it takes the
form of gratitude or revenge, definitely closes an account.
IX
BODY CONCENTRATION
I was treating a young man supposed to be suffering from a neurosis of

the heart. I told him that he really suffered from an anxiety neurosis,
and he laughed.
“But, doctor, I am not an anxious person; I can even see myself in a
burning ’plane without feeling the slightest anxiety!”
“Indeed,” I replied. “And can you also feel yourself in the ’plane?
If so, describe in detail what you experience.”
“Oh, no, doctor,” he gasped, “I couldn’t possibly.”
He began to breathe heavily, his face flushed, and he displayed all the
symptoms of an acute anxiety attack. I had succeeded for a few moments
in making him feel himself, instead of merely visualizing himself as he
wanted to be.
How did he manage to be so unaware of his anxiety? He abstracted
from the complete situation, which included anxiety, the mere picture
of himself, and he did this by avoiding the feel of himself. The moment
he felt himself, his anxiety came to the surface. He, as an observer, had
shown me not his real self but the hero he would have liked to be.
I could have brought forward interpretations based on the libido-theory.
I could have interpreted the aeroplane as a phallus symbol, the burning
as the fire of love, and the image of himself as the potent conqueror.
This interpretation would have been correct, but I realized that his
primary difficulty was in “avoidance”; he avoided physical sensations in
many spheres, not only, and not primarily, in the sexual. His ideal was
victory over the body. This ascetic attitude resulted in an intellectual
hypertrophy and a sensoric hypotrophy.
By immobilizing our motoric system, we immobilize at the same time
our sensations; we can re-mobilize both by proper concentration. By
re-establishing the differentiated movements of our “body” we dissolve
the rigid personality’s numbness and awkwardness, and we reinstate the
motoric Ego-functions. To feed a person suffering from too much
intellect and too little feeling with still more intellect, e.g. interpretations,
is a technical mistake. To dissolve a neurotic symptom in one’s organism
one needs the awareness of the symptom in all its complexity, not intel¬
lectual introspection and explanations; just as to dissolve a piece of sugar
one needs water, not philosophy.
228
BODY CONCENTRATION
Our aim is—through concentration—to re-establish the Ego-functions,

to dissolve the rigidity of the “body” and the petrified Ego, the “character.”
This development must at first move in the direction of a regression.
We want to halt the progress of a neurosis and of the characterological
ossification and, at the same time, regress to the biological layers of our
existence. The more remote we are from our biological self during working
hours, the more urgent becomes the cry for holidays. We all require
—at least occasionally—a respite from the stress which profession and
society lay upon us, a regression to our natural self. Every night we
return to such an animalistic state and over week-ends we return to
“nature.”
The neurotic symptom is always a sign that the biological self wants
attention. It indicates that you have lost the intuition (in the sense of
Bergson)—the contact between your deliberate and spontaneous Self. To
regain this contact you have first of all to refrain from asking irrelevant
questions, like the eternal “Why?” and replace them by relevant ones,
“How?” “When?” “Where?” and “What for?” Instead of producing
causes and explanations, which may or may not be correct, you must
want to establish facts. Through full contact with a neurotic symptom
you will be in the position to dissolve it. To acquire the correct technique
of concentration on the “body,” the description technique is especially
useful. In the beginning you will feel a strong reluctance to go into
details, but if you keep to the details without faltering you are bound
to come across specific resistances, and eventually to self-explanatory,
self-evident solutions. Express the resistances but keep on the detail
description. Later on apply the perfected technique, the silent concen¬
tration; but for the time being keep up the verbal description as an
excellent aid in keeping your attention on the symptom.
The theory of somatic concentration is very simple. We repress vital
functions (vegetative energy, as Reich calls their sum) by muscular
contractions. The civil war raging in the neurotic organism is mostly
waged between the motoric system and unaccepted organismic energies
which strive for expression and gratification. The motoric system has to
a great extent lost its function as a working, active, world-bound system
and, by retroflection, has become the jailer rather than the assistant of
important biological needs. Every dissolved symptom means setting free
both policeman and the prisoner—motoric and “vegetative” energies—
for the common struggle of fife.
If we call the contractions of the muscular system “repressors,” then
the remedy for repressions obviously appears to be relaxation. Unfor¬
tunately deliberate relaxation—even if carried out as thoroughly as
Jacobson prescribes it in You Must Relax—is insufficient. It has the same
disadvantage as have superficial resolutions; though you might be able
to relax if you concentrate on relaxation, in any state of excitement the
229
“muscular armour” is bound to return. Moreover, Jacobson, like F. M.

Alexander, neglects the meaning of contractions as repressors.
By mere concentration on muscular relaxation the repressed biological
functions (which are feared, despised, not admissible into consciousness)
are bound to come to the surface before the patient has been warned
and before he is properly prepared to deal with them. If, however, some¬
one is undergoing psycho-analytical treatment (even of the old type) he
will assist it considerably by training himself in Jacobson’s method at
the same time. More repressed material will come to the surface and can
be dealt with in the analytical session.1
If properly understood, relaxation can be a help in acute emergency.
Sometimes on the screen and in cheap literature you hear the expression,
“Relax, sister!” addressed to somebody over-tensed and over-excited.
Relaxing in this case means letting go of the hanging-on attitude (“Ver-
bissenheit”), getting one’s bearings, switching from the blind emotional
to the rational aspect, recovering one’s senses. In such cases relaxation,
even as a short interruption of the tension, can work wonders.
Two more shortcomings of Jacobson’s method should be mentioned:
Relaxation becomes a task and, as long as you are undertaking a task,
“you” (the personality) cannot relax. In a state of complete relaxation the
figure-background formation takes care of itself; but during an exercise
a conscious (though under favourable conditions small) effort for the
figure-background formation is required. We must also not overlook the
fact that the tonus of a healthy, motoric system is neither hyper- nor
hypo-tonic; it is elastic, alert. Relaxation, if carried out according to
Jacobson’s instructions, might lead to a state of flaccid paralysis—to a
hypo-tonus. But it certainly has its merits; it increases the sense of motoric
awareness. It makes one realize the existence of contractions.
And now to the exercises.
(i) Do not attempt any special analytical concentration-exercises before
you are perfectly clear about the difference between forced concentration
(hanging-on bite) and concentrated interest. If you cannot hold your
interest, without an effort, on any senso-motoric phenomenon (a picture
1 A perfect relaxation can be achieved in Narco-analysis. Under sodium pentotha*
the repressing motoric system, the self-control, becomes un-tensed, and pent-up
emotion is released. The motoric resistances, however, are not analysed and re¬
organized. An improved method uses a weak mixture of nitrous oxygen (e.g. Minet’s
machine). This technique has several advantages: (i) The patient handles the
apparatus himself. (2) He is conscious all the time. (3) He becomes acquainted with
the “feel” of relaxation. (4) He experiences intense “physical” sensations. Hidden
neurotic symptoms, such as anxiety, the feeling of bursting, vertigo, etc., come to
the fore. (5) He is capable of describing his experiences to the analyst, thus assisting
him to peel off the “armour” layer by layer. (6) No special Anaesthetist is required.
The method of inhaling is simpler than that of intravenous injection, and toxic
implications do not arise. Very few contra-indications exist from the Physician’s
point of view.
230
BODY CONCENTRATION
in your mind, an itch on the skin, a pain in the neck, a problem to be

solved), then there is something fundamentally wrong in your mental
make-up.
This does not apply to the concentration on the outside world. There
you cannot rely on the organismic selection; there you might want to
concentrate on items which do not evoke your natural interest but are
selected by duty, snobbery, conventions, etc.
If you have understood the organismic balance as set out in the theo¬
retical part of this book you will realize that the external figure-background
formation follows primarily the internal urges, and once the internal
concentration is achieved, the external one will follow suit. There is no
objection to concentrating on external fascinating objects and in describing
their details. This will convince you of the ease which characterizes
healthy concentration and which you must know if you want to avoid
the pathological, the forced concentration. Whenever you find yourself
getting all tense with “wrong” concentration, remember: “Relax, sister!”
Let go and get unconcentrated even to the degree of indulging in free
associations. After this make another approach.
(2) There is no need to create special conditions for concentration
exercises. After a short while you should be able to do them everywhere
and whenever there is no need to keep contact with your environment.
Eventually there should be a continuous self- and object-awareness as
long as you stay awake. In the beginning, however, it is advisable to
assist the direction of interest by selecting a quiet place. An easy chair
or a couch will be of help to you at the start. In psycho-analysis I have
dispensed with the classical arrangement.1 I sit face to face with the
1 Here the patient lies on a couch and the psycho-analyst sits behind him like
an invisible God above the clouds, who must not be seen just as the pious Jew
must not form an image of God, or as the Roman Catholic believer must not see
his father-confessor.
How can a patient ever form a contact with reality if the analytical situation is
kept on such a mystical level? The patient has nothing to go by but the analyst’s
voice, and sometimes not even that. I once had an analyst who did not open his
mouth for weeks; to indicate that the session was finished he merely scraped the
floor with his foot. His few remarks during the many months I spent with him
were sometimes ingenious interpretations of my Unconscious, but at that time I
was far from being able to accept them. At other times they were mere projections
which I was likewise incapable of recognizing as such. Only after I had heard,
many years later, that he was suffering from paranoia, the truth struck me forcibly.
I stopped blaming myself for my inability to understand and to appreciate his
remarks and directed the blame on to his inability to make himself understood
and to appreciate my situation.
Change the psycho-analyst from the awe-inspiring image to a human being
on the same level as the patient. Stop interpreting the patient’s fear and protest
as “God transference!” As long as the analyst goes on behaving as a priest with
all the rites of the fixed analytical position and obsessional timing (an interview
must by hook or crook last exactly fifty-five minutes), the patient must correctly
23I
patient, but I still let him lie on the couch for the purpose of internal
concentration exercises, thus providing adequate situations for both the
external (overcoming of self-consciousness, facing the “enemy”) and
internal concentration.
(3) All balance exercises are useful. Gymnastics as long as they cultivate
body-awareness and not the “he-man” stuff, sport as long as it is not
one-sided and the slave of ambition, develops such holistic feeling. In
walking, feel yourself walking and interrupt the “thinking” as often as
possible. Above all, when you have nothing to do, just be satisfied with
being aware of your body as a whole.
(4) If you cannot feel the whole of your body, let your attention travel
from one part of it to another, chiefly selecting those parts which for you
exist only dimly. But do not yet attempt concentration on the scotomized
parts—on those parts which apparently do not exist in your consciousness
at all. Occasionally, during your daily routine work become “body”
conscious; open a door consciously, yet exactly as you do it always,
without any particular emphasis or change of your usual attitude. Do not
set out to open that door (or whatever conscious movement you want to
perform) in an especially graceful or he-mannish way. This would only
make you self-conscious, not body-conscious. There is a story of a centi¬
pede who was asked which leg he moved first and how he managed to
walk with all his legs at the same time. When he tried to do it deliberately
he got so confused that he could not walk at all. Instead of merely becoming
aware of his movements, he interfered with them.
(5) In executing these exercises one has to remember what has been
said before about “jumping” when observing mental pictures. Jumping
from one part to another does not constitute good contact, although it is
better than forcing your attention on to one single part, by which process
you may succeed merely in squeezing a symptom away. You will experience
this squeezing away as the disappearance of the symptom. If you feel an
unpleasant itch, and it disappears while you are concentrating on it, you
might feel highly satisfied, while in reality it has only been driven under¬
ground and has not vented its voice in the language of the organismic
needs. It will probably come back once you have relaxed the squeezing
grip-
If you are a “jumper,” go from one sensation to another, and each
time be satisfied in extending the contact from a fraction of a second to
several seconds. You will then soon be able to select a symptom at will
and analyse it. Many a symptom—those with minor resistances—will
interest and even fascinate you. The revelation of its sense will come as
a real “eye-opener.” But if the sensation or symptom should disappear
interpret the analyst as a religious object, and no suggestions that this is a trans¬
ference-phenomenon will silence his reactions as a believer or dissenter in the
psycho-analytical religion.
232
BODY CONCENTRATION
without development, without having revealed its sense, you might recall
it either by working on it from memory, or, still better, by attending to
the means whereby it is repressed—to the muscular contractions.
(6) Once you can keep your mind for some time on one place, you may
start with the attempt to realize the muscular concentrations involved in
the “negative” concentration. The hanging-on “bite” is the pattern from
which all the repressing contractions are formed. The hanging-on “atti¬
tude” is the exhausting negative concentration in a nutshell. It is the basis
for awkwardness, mal-co-ordination and many unpleasant neurotic
symptoms. You cannot achieve any natural contact by forcing yourself
to concentrate. Your ability to direct your attention must be very feeble
indeed if you have to play the corpse, hardly daring to move a muscle,
or if you have to be constantly on the alert waiting to jump at anybody’s
throat who may willingly or unwillingly disturb your so-called concen¬
tration. How exhausting it must be for you to achieve anything in life if
the basis of achievement, the concentration, is so artificial and expensive.
I have elsewhere denoted “fascination” as the highest form of concen¬
tration. Up till now, however, you had to deal with so many resistances
that you could hardly expect to be fascinated. This will come after constant
repetition has made you realize how to change unpleasant sensations into
pleasant ones. Therefore, once you have learned the feel of your muscular
contractions, try to get them under your control for the purpose of releasing
the repressed organismic functions and increasing your motoric agility.
Once you have reached that point you will gain confidence in these
exercises. You will then feel the first waves of fascination. Your activity
and memory as well as your ability to get a quick grasp of situations will
improve steadily and this will accumulate until you have achieved a good
“feel of yourself.” All these exercises will then become obsolete.
(7) To get your over-tense muscles under control you have to change
spasms into Ego-functions. These contractions can appear anywhere.
They can appear as writer’s cramp in your arm and hand or as stammering
in your speech. In anxiety-fits you find your chest muscles becoming
stiff; in sexual inhibitions the small of the back becomes rigid. Disturb¬
ances of contact will appear as tightness in the muscles of the jaw and the
arms.
Begin with concentration on the eye muscles, as we have already
started with them in the chapter on visualization. There is no need to
know the muscles involved, let alone their Latin names. When originally
these muscles became contracted and nervy, you did something with
them without knowing their anatomy and names. Once upon a time,
before it became a habit, “you” contracted every one of the now cramped
muscles intentionally; when you wanted to chase away some sensation,
emotion or picture out of consciousness, you retroflected your motoric
functions as a means of squeezing away what you did not want to feel.
233
You did this with a deliberate effort well known to you, an effort similar
to your muscular activity when you have to keep down, for instance, an
urge to urinate.
It is difficult to determine how far the influence of conscious Ego-
control reaches. In the course of evolution, many of the lower centres of
the organism have become autonomous and beyond the reach of conscious
control.1 The system of striped muscles, however, is within the range of
conscious control. It is, for instance, being used for the purpose of re¬
pressing. To undo repressions you have to re-establish conscious com¬
mand of your motoric system.
Wherever you encounter over-tenseness, cramps, spasms, contractions
in your system, proceed in the following manner:
(a) Get the proper “feel.” Do not attempt any dissolving before you
can keep your mind for at least ten to fifteen seconds on the spot.
(b) Watch for the slightest development, like an increase or a decrease
in tension, numbness or itching. Very promising is the appearance
of a slight flutter or tremor or an “electric” sensation. Every change
indicates that contact is made between conscious and unconscious
instances.
(c) Be satisfied at first to describe the contraction in the “It” language,
like: “There is a tension round my right eye,” or “the eyeballs are
very restless.”
(d) Make an attempt to change the contractions into “Ego-functions,”
but without additional activity. Feel that “you” are knitting the
forehead muscles or straining the eyes, or whatever is being done
by you. If you are not successful, turn to exercise (e).
(e) If you have to avoid the responsibility for “your” contractions of
the muscles, the change-over from the “It” to the “Ego”-fimction
will be difficult. In this case it is helpful to take refuge in auto¬
suggestion. Repeat a sentence like this: “Although I do not feel I
am contracting the muscles I know that subconsciously I am doing
it. Therefore I imagine or I believe I am doing it.” This auto¬
suggestion might be helpful as you tell yourself—in contrast to
Coue’s method2—the truth, the reality.
(J) Take over the control: relax and tighten up, by a fraction (!) of an
inch, the muscle in question.
(,g) Find out the purpose of your contracting. Find out what you are
1 An “indirect” influence can be achieved, for instance, by a vivid imagination.

A good actor, by putting himself into the imagined field of action and identifying
himself with the person in question, can produce emotions which by direct conscious
effort would not appear. (Hamlet admires this ability—contrasting it with his
own emotional lameness.)
2 Coue’s method is based upon self-deception, not upon self-realization.
234
BODY CONCENTRATION
resisting; express the resistance: “I don’t want to see my grand¬

mother,” or “I’ll be damned if I am going to cry.”
(h) With the expression of the resistance, you have done all that is
required. But persevere. Other resistances will come out and make
conscious the conflict between repressor and repressed. Every
picture admitted, every tear shed, puts a bit of energy at the disposal
of your conscious personality.
* ★ *
The opposite to the contraction, the flaccid paralysis as a resistance,

has been very little examined. Theoretically, the hypo-tonus should not
play any part as a resistance; and as far as I can see, it does not occur in
retroflection, in the repression of unaccepted parts of the personality. It
occurs, however, in projections. It is a symptom of confluence and de¬
pression. It occurs as what one would describe as a jellyfish existence—
as a technique of non-resistance. Such people are smooth and slippery
as an eel. With them you feel as if you are striking into an empty space.
They favour expressions like: “You can do to me what you like,” or
“It does not matter anyhow.” In its extreme form the flaccid paralysis
occurs as playing possum or as fainting. It is an atavistic behaviour, but
can be useful to the homo sapiens of to-day for avoiding unpleasant
situations.
* * *
The concentration technique is extremely simple in regard to sensoric

resistances as long as some sensations are present. Only an intellectual
effort is required to concentrate on hyper-aesthesia or pains. Pains
demand so much attention that they are the most impressive figure-
background formation. As W. Busch expressed it:
“Only in the molar’s hole
Is the suff’rer’s mind and soul.”
You have to stand and express the pain, to concentrate with interest
and without shouting for relief. It is often necessary to go ‘ through
hell, but not “around” it. Pain is the organism’s main signal for con¬
centration. The diseased organ originally wants attention, not morphia.
Although in a number of organic diseases the cure will be assisted by
crying, hyperaemia (resulting from correct concentration) etc., it is not
advisable to rely in any way on it. On the contrary! Wherever there is the
slightest suspicion of an organic disease, the physician must be consulted.
Many medical men have nowadays sufficient knowledge of medical
psychology to enable them to decide whether an illness should be ap¬
proached from the physical or mental direction, or from both. Concen¬
tration is in any case a better approach than the methods of Coue or
235
Christian Science, which only deny and scotomize an existing reality.

Analytical concentration is certainly the method in question for all
“nervous” pains, and those illnesses which are symptomatic of an un¬
conscious suicide wish.
A simple way to convince oneself of the effectiveness of concentration
is: attention to tiredness. If you feel tired and you have not the time to
sleep, lie down and concentrate for ten minutes on the symptoms of
feeling tired. Your eyes might be smarting, your limbs might be heavy
and your head aching. Watch the development of these phenomena in a
kind of dozing state and you will be surprised, after only a short period
of practice, how refreshed you will feel when you rise. You must not
fall asleep, but must retain that middle state between awareness and sleep.
A very arduous task, equal in difficulty only to the training in Internal
Silence, is the attention to a mental scotoma. You have probably had the
experience of searching for something only to be told that it was lying
right in front of you. It was there but for you it was not there. You had
a blind spot as far as that thing was concerned. The recovery is a release
of tension—a discovery and surprise, which took the mental cover off.
In many neurotic and especially hysterical symptoms such scotomization
(mostly in the form of anaesthesia), plays a predominant part. Most
cases of nervous sexual impotency, for instance, are not caused by, but
are identical with, scotomization of the genital sensations.
Previously I have warned you against a premature attempt to deal
with a scotoma, but by now you should be advanced enough to attend
to it. If, by letting your attention wander through your body, you discover
places which you cannot feel at all, find out at first the boundaries between
felt and unfelt parts. After that, keep your attention on the unfelt region.
This requires a considerable capacity for concentration. Eventually you
will find that there is some particular feel—a hypo-aesthesia like a numb¬
ness or a dullness, a veil or a cloud. Feel this “as if” experience like a
reality, until one day you can almost literally lift the veil; at that moment
the biological sensations and images will come out into the open, at first
for a fraction of a second only, but later increasing their duration, and
finally assuming their proper place in the functioning of the personality.
In the theoretical part I have pointed out that the scotoma is mostly
coupled with projections. The image, sensation or impulse disappears
from the internal field and reappears in the environmental field. Therefore,
if we tackle simultaneously with the scotoma the question of projection,
we increase the internal push and assist considerably in the stabilization
of the personality.
236
X
THE ASSIMILATION OF PROJECTIONS
Where and whenever anybody—from the apparently healthy individual

to the advanced paranoic—is projecting, he will be only too ready to
rationalize and justify his projections. For many people it is almost impos¬
sible to conceive that, for example, even the idea of a personal God is a
projection, a mere hallucination.
The symptom of that patient who suffered agony from fear that one
day a tile would fall on him dissolved as could be expected: It indicated
an unfinished situation, the completion of which was kept in abeyance
by the projection of the falling stone. He harboured the desire to throw a
stone at an enemy, and changed this persecutory activity into the passivity
of being haunted by the fear of a falling stone. This example shows that,
although he projected his death wishes to spare himself feelings of guilt
(in his conscious mind he ceased to be a potential murderer), he failed to
achieve his purpose, which was to diminish his suffering. On the contrary,
by reacting as if the projection were a reality, he suffered more agony than
all the guilt feelings could have produced.
By projecting we change the whole “environmental field.” After we
have, for instance, projected our omnipotence wishes we act “as if” the
omnipotent god was a reality who could perform all the miracles which
we would like to be able to perform ourselves. This god might become
such a reality that we change our whole behaviour and character lest we
be punished by this creation of our imagination.1 This reactive change
coincides with another one, which occurs dialectically and simultaneously.
Not only the “environmental field” but also the “intra-organismic field”
changes. In the latter “omnipotence” changes into “impotence.” Even
this is not quite correct for both changes are isolated in this description,
whereas actually only one change takes place involving the aspects of the
“environmental—intra-organismic field.” If you pour water from a jug
into a glass, the emptying of the jug and the filling of the glass occur
simultaneously.
Very disturbing is the patient’s reaction upon his projections in the
analytical situation, where projected interference creates a grave obstacle
in the understanding between analyst and patient. What mostly happens
in the analytical situation (and, of course, in all the other corresponding
1 The creation itself is likewise projected. God becomes a creator.
237
situations of everyday life) is this: the psycho-analyst finds something

that he wants to bring home to the patient. He points out a certain be¬
haviour, say biting of the nails. Let us assume that this habit was con¬
demned by our patient, but that his attempt to repress it was unsuccessful;
he only scotomized it; it became an unconscious habit. The analyst’s
aim is to make this specific attitude a figure to be concentrated upon and
to be dealt with. He wants to add consciousness in order to facilitate
the clearing up of that specific attitude. The patient, however, mistakes
the analytical, scientific attitude for a moralistic one through projecting
his own inclination to moralize, to condemn and to interfere into the
analyst. As he himself disapproves of nail-biting so he imagines the analyst
does the same. He then reacts to his projection “as if” the analyst, and
not he himself is disapproving. He is ashamed and therefore interferes
with himself, and aims at repressing or hiding his unpleasant behaviour
instead of discussing it openly. The result is that instead of expressing and
disposing of the unwanted feature he drives it again underground. Many
weeks might pass before it reappears. As a counter measure to this danger
of re-suppressing W. Reich has developed the technique of concentrating
continuously on the patient’s central character-feature—an excellent
approach and certainly more fertile than the technique of indiscriminate
interpretations.
Although Freud has discovered the great part which projections play
in some psychoses, they were rather neglected in neurosis. The psycho¬
analytical interest being more centred in repression, insufficient attention
was paid to projection and retroflection, with the result that the psychotic
nucleus of the neurosis often remained untouched. Only lately has the
projection mechanism come more into the limelight, especially through
Anna Freud, Annie Reich, etc., though still not sufficiently, and still
overshadowed by the transference analysis.
The transference conception apparently effected a tremendous simpli¬
fication of psycho-analytical treatment. By following the prescription to
interpret everything that happened in the analytical situation as transfer¬
ence, psycho-analysis expected, after finding the original pattern, a neurosis
to dissolve. A number of patterns are repeated since early childhood, but
psycho-analysis looks far too much upon them as senseless, mechanical
repetitions and not as unfinished problems which demand completion, in
the analytical situation as well as everywhere else. In addition there remain
sufficient problems of everyday life to be dealt with, not necessarily arising
from childhood traumas but from constitution or social conditions. Special
attention should be paid to the process of projection, which in itself is not
a transference but a “screen” phenomenon. The film of a movie picture is
not taken out of the projector and transferred on to the screen but remains
in the machine and is merely projected.
The orthodox ps^ cho-analyst will agree with me when I introduced
238
another formula for the termination of the analytical cure by maintaining

that not only has the psycho-analyst to understand the patient but the
patient has to understand the psycho-analyst. He has to see the human
being and not a screen upon which he projects his “transferences” and
the hidden parts of his self. Only when he has succeeded in penetrating
the veil woven out of hallucinations, evaluations, transferences and fixa¬
tions, has he learned to see things as they are: he comes to his senses by
applying his sense. He achieves genuine contact with reality in lieu of a
pseudo-contact with his projections.
The obstacles which the orthodox analyst creates are several. Every
personal contact with the patient is taboo, as it might disturb the “trans¬
ference.” Many projections are treated not as such but as transference
phenomena, and the analysis of the paranoic nucleus cannot be effected.
How does this mistake arise?
The patient often sees something in the analyst which bears a re¬
semblance to important persons of his childhood, but seldom is the image
picture of the analyst identical with the original image, which has since
gone through the procedure of pseudo-metabolism and possibly other
changes. Every analyst has experienced that the “transferred” image
changes in the course of the analysis, and that now this and then that
feature of the image comes to the foreground. One could compare the
so-called transference situation with a river. The history of a river shows
its origin in one or several springs. Is, however, the water of the river
still identical with that of the springs? Has it not on its way absorbed
many chemicals and organic matter? Has not such a change occurred
that the drinking of the two waters might mean all the difference between
health and illness?
The following is typical of the way in which a “transference” is dis¬
solved, and how, in most cases, “transference” turns out to be anything
but a simple transfer from the image of the original person on to the
analyst: let us say, the patient sees in the analyst a hard person lacking
understanding, just as—so he maintains—his father was. Later it appears
that his father was not so hard after all. So we have to correct the trans¬
ference mechanism. We have to concede that he could not simply have
transferred the father-image on to the analyst. What he had seen in the
analyst was what he imagined his father was. As a child he had projected
his own intolerance into the father. Later (perhaps for the purpose of
ruling small sisters) he had introjected, copied this, his own image of
his father, and finally disagreeing with “being like father” projected again.
As usual, he will react in the analysis to his projections and attribute
his own fears and restrictions to the stemess of the analyst. The whole
complicated process, both aspects—the cruel father and the cruel analyst—
boil down to the simple fact of projection of the unadmitted cruelty in
the patient’s own personality. In other words: dealing with the transference
239
means an unnecessary complication—means a waste of time. If I can

draw water from the tap in my room, it is unnecessary to go down to
the well.
As usual, we shall achieve our task in steps, and the first one is the
awareness of projections. Just as you were astonished when I mentioned
that you were not aware of the fact that you are not concentrated on your
meals so you will now deny the fact that you are a “projector.” But make
an earnest endeavour and search if you are really free from projecting.
Projections can occur everywhere. I have previously pointed out the
intra-organismic projection of aggression on to the conscience. I have
also mentioned the case where Ego-functions were projected into the
genitals.
The intra-organismic projections together with a dummy attitude are
safeguards against the paranoic projection, and often enough one sees
how the obsessional character develops the unending struggle between
persecutor and victim within himself. A demand on the part of the
conscience is answered by a determined attempt on the part of the re¬
maining personality to obey, but this is soon followed up by defying the
conscience. Increased feelings of guilt result, superimposed by ever
heavier demands from the conscience, and so on ad infinitum.1
There is one sphere in which it is not difficult to discover the pro¬
jections—the world of dreams. There are at least two kinds of dreams,
pleasant and unpleasant. The pleasant dreams are direct or indirect
completions of incomplete situations: they coincide with the wish fulfil¬
ment in Freud’s terminology. The unpleasant dreams invariably contain
projections, their best known prototype being the nightmare. The person
or animal which dominates the nightmare is always an unwanted part of
yourself. If you dream you are being bitten by a poisonous snake it might
be correct to interpret the snake as an aggressive phallus symbol, but
it is more useful to search for the poisonous snake hidden in your own
character. Whenever the dental aggression is not expressed, but pro¬
jected, you will find yourself, in your dreams, chased by dogs, Hons and
other animals symbolic of biting. Projected wishes to be a burglar, a
killer, a policeman or other puerile ideals will appear in the dream, as
fear of being assaulted or arrested.
The projective nature of dream parts is easier to grasp than most other
projections; whilst in the ordinary projection parts of the outside world
are mistaken for what actually is intra-organismic, we find in the dream
1 An important difference between the paranoic and the obsessional character
is this: while the obsessional character shows definite restrictions in his sphere of
activity, and while his conflicts take place within the organismic field, the paranoic
develops an over-activity, but directed only towards and taking place within a
pseudo-world. Being unable to distinguish between the real and projective world
he will try to solve his internal conflicts in the environtnental field. Restrictions of
object contact is present in both types.
240
a zero-point—the knowledge that a dream takes place within our or¬

ganism, but has at the same time the quality of taking place in the outside
world.
★ ★ ★
After the first step of realizing the existence of projections and the
second one of recognizing them as belonging to your own personality,
you have to assimilate them. This assimilation is the very cure for all
paranoic tendencies. If you merely introject the “project,” you only
increase the danger of becoming a paranoic. Therefore you must get to
the nucleus—to the sense of every projection. If you feel persecuted by
a policeman and you merely introject him, you then imagine you are a
cop or you want to become one. A proper assimilation, on the other
hand, will show that you want to watch or punish a certain person. If
you maintain that you are a bear you will be certified as insane, but it is
quite a different matter, if you express the sense of this identification and
say that you are as hungry as a bear. Someone projected the wish to bully
his wife and dreamt that he was being chased by a bull.
The first step might be an interesting intellectual pastime—namely,
to accept that under certain conditions you would like to be a burglar
or a policeman; but the actual re-identification with the persecutor
might be difficult. The resistance which introduced the projection will
be encountered as soon as you try to think out all the consequences of
being the bogey yourself. It is not easy to admit, when you have frightening
dreams, that you find a fiendish delight in frightening other people, or
that you are a poisonous snake or a man-eater.
The dream drawings on the following pages are very instructive. The
dreamer had a severe psycho-neurosis. He had religious ideals of being
mild, unselfish. He was unable to hit back when attacked. His aggression
was largely projected. The result: an anxiety neurosis, exemplified by the
nightmare of the first picture. The aggressor—the train—is not even
visible. In the second picture we find the solution: consciously he identifies
himself with the victim. He suffers all the tortures which the other man
(symbolizing his own projected aggressiveness) inflicts upon him. Actually
he had a very strong, though repressed, sadistic streak in him.
The difficulty in undoing religious projections lies in the embarrassment
to own up to certain omnipotence ideas, as, for instance, Heine has
expressed it:
“And if I were the Mighty God
and sitting in the sky . . .”
We do not often imagine we are God, but there are very few who do
not occasionally say: “If I were a dictator then . . .”
In people and certainly in every neurotic there is one character difficulty
241 Q
where the undoing of projections is especially helpful. This is the need

for affection, admiration and love, and concerns foremost the narcissistic
character—that type which K. Homey has described in great detail.
This type does not express affection, etc., but projects and wants it over
and over again.
There is one decisive difference between projected aggression and
NIGHTMARE
projected love. If you are afraid to express “I hate you,” you will soon
imagine yourself being hated by the world, and likewise if you are too
shy to say “I love you,” you will find yourself expecting love from the
world. The difference is, of course, that we would prefer to be persecuted
by love rather than by hate. To change the narcissistic attitude into one
of object relationship is not as difficult as in the case of the projected
aggression. At least we are spared the working through of ideological
resistances, as love is the religious favourite number one.
242
To put into practice what we have just learned we had best turn to
our day-dreams. Assuming that you see yourself admired for your skill
in sports, or decorated for some heroic deed, or spoiled and mothered
by the girl of your choice, make an earnest attempt to reverse the situation
TORTURE
and look for instances where you could allow yourself to admire a sports¬
man, become enthusiastic about a hero, or spoil and mother someone else.
Not only will you develop a more active and adult attitude by undoing
these projections, but you will also achieve that position in which you can
finish situations and restore the organismic balance which is and remains
disturbed by affection which tends to overflow but cannot find an outlet.
Projected affection, as pointed out previously, produces the insatiable
greed for affection.
243
The greatest difficulty which is encountered in dealing with projections

is their affinity to objects of the outside world. The more reasoning power
someone has, the more he is afraid of “imagining” things. He will therefore
rationalize the projections, justify them by finding proofs and correlations
in the outside world. As in this case projective activity and figure-back¬
ground formation (interests) coincide, he will develop an uncanny ability
to discover the objects which correspond to the projection.
Often a mere selectivity of certain aspects and scotomization of others
(monovalent attitude) is sufficient to bring about a paranoic distortion.
In this case we can speak of “Selective Paranoia,” which is about the
worst possible solution of the ambivalence conflict. If you look for points
you can always find them. You can misinterpret things, you can value
one side of a person’s character and under-estimate another to suit your
purpose. You can make a mountain out of a molehill, and see the mote
in your neighbour’s eye while overlooking the beam in your own.
The suspicious man should suspect himself, the victimized one certainly
victimizes his environment. If you feel unjustly treated, you can be sure
that you are the last one who is fair in his dealings with others. Take
the instance of a jealous husband! When he projects his own wish to be
unfaithful he will interpret the harmless friendly smile of his wife for
another man as a love approach. He suffers and insists that she should
not make any advances, he goes to great pains to detect the smallest signs
to justify his imagined suspicions, but all the time he fails to look into
himself. In general it can be said that whenever you feel jealous, suspicious,
unjustly treated, victimized or querulous, you can lay heavy odds that
you are projecting, perhaps even that you are a paranoid character.
Against all this unpleasantness of the paranoid behaviour stands one
great advantage. Once you have recognized the projective mechanism,
it is simple to gain tremendous knowledge of yourself. In repression
important parts of the personality disappear from sight and can only be
regained after working through the big walls of resistance, and even
then, as I have often experienced when taking over half-finished analyses,
the released parts may still not become incorporated into the conscious
personality, but are often projected.
Once you can read the book of projections, once you understand the
meaning of Tat twam asi (You are I), you have the opportunity of enlarg¬
ing tremendously the sphere of your personality. Valuable as it is, however,
to recognize and assimilate as many projections as possible, it would be
an unending Sisyphus task as long as the tendency to project remains;
for the disposal of this tendency two more steps are required.
The first is to remove the anal and oral frigidity in order to establish
the proper boundary between personality and outside world. This task
requires a more extensive treatment. It has been dealt with in previous
chapters, and will be further elaborated in the next one.
244
The second step is to learn to express yourself fully. Previously I

pointed out that an unnamed pre-different state exists of projection and
expression, and the fate of a personality depends largely upon whether
the development takes the course of projecting or expressing. People
who can express themselves are not paranoic, and the paranoics do not
express themselves adequately.
The apparent exceptions to this rule are the fits of temper, the waves
of aggression of the paranoic character. These waves are not genuine
expression: they are misdirected hostility which can be very dangerous.1
Owing to the wrong direction they do not bring the specific conflict to
a conclusion. They are, on the surface, aggressive defences against the
paranoic’s own projections and, on the biological level, attempts of re¬
incorporation. Whenever the paranoic character feels guilty and is too
embarrassed to stand and to express the feeling of being in the wrong,
he immediately tries to project the guilt, to moralize and victimize the
environment (cf. Anna Freud’s example of the boy who came home late).
A clear indication of inhibited expression is the use of the “It”
language, and also the application of overtures which change expressions
into statements which put any clear-cut emotions in a haze. Such over¬
tures are “I think,” “You see,” “I wonder,” “It seems to me,” and so
on. Try to speak without these fringes and you will immediately come
up against resistances, embarrassment, attempts to change the wording,
or to keep silent altogether.
If you want to learn self-expression, express yourself first in phantasy
as soon as you feel a resistance. In the chapter on visualization I stressed
the importance of detailed description, but I stressed at the same time
the fact that description is only an intermediate stage, a scaffold to be
removed once the house is built. This time visualize a person against
whom you feel a grudge. Tell him exactly what you think of him. Let
yourself go; be as emotional as you can; break his bloody neck; swear
at him as you have never sworn before. Do not be afraid that this will
become your character. On the contrary, this imaginary work will discharge
much hostility, especially in cases of latent hostility, as, for instance, in
a strained or estranged marriage. It often works wonders! Instead of
forcing yourself to be nice and to hide your irritability behind a mask of
politeness, you clear the air. Often, however, this imaginary action will
be insufficient, especially if in your phantasy you push aside the fear
you would experience when facing your enemy.
After you have calmed down take the next, the most important step:
realize that all the time you have fought your own self only—remember
the mote and the beam. Never mind feeling ashamed of having been so
“silly.” If it resulted in your assimilating your projections it was worth it.
1 The killing of a million Jews does not help the Hitlerites to dispose in the
least of those of their own characteristics which they project into the Jewish race.
245
A few examples might serve to illustrate projective behaviour.

There are two excellent films presenting two different themes of pro¬
jection. One deals with projected aggression of a fully developed case of
paranoia: Rage in Heaven. In the other, the Chocolate Soldier, the pro¬
jective mechanism is less obvious; in this film love is projected. The
hero cannot express the love he feels for his wife and is irritable and
grumpy. He projects his loving activities on to a competitor, the Russian
singer, whom he creates and plays as having all the characteristics which
he is incapable of expressing. Only after he has learned to express himself
through this medium of his creation, the need to project collapses, and
he becomes himself the lover. No more jealousy, suspicion or irritability.
A lady left in her testament the following wish: her gold-fish had to be
looked after, but it had to wear a dress. Here we see a double projection.
No normal human being would see anything indecent in a gold-fish.
She projected her wish to swim in the nude on to the fish, but also her
defence, her shame. Therefore this poor creature had to suffer a dress,
even after her death.
More complicated but rather amusing is the story of a Chinese, as
related by Arthur Schmidt. A Chinese visits an acquaintance of his. He
is asked to wait in a room which has a beam across the ceiling. Upon the
beam stands a jar of oil. A rat, disturbed by the visitor, runs across the
beam and knocks the jar over. The jar hits the guest rather painfully
and the oil stains his precious garment. The victim is red with rage when
his host enters. After exchanging the usual formal greetings the visitor
says: “When I entered your honourable apartment and seated myself
below your honourable beam, I frightened your honourable rat, which
took flight and dropped your honourable oil jar upon my despicable
clothes. This is the cause of my unsightly appearance in your honourable
presence.”
246
XI
UNDOING OF A NEGATION (CONSTIPATION)
Few of Freud’s remarks have impressed me as deeply as his answer to

the reproach that he was turning everything upside down. He denied it:
“If people are standing on their heads, then it is necessary to turn them
upside down—to put them on their feet again.”
In this book we call such a reversal “undoing” (“re”-adjustment).
Applying the dialectical terminology, we can describe the repression of a
memory (isolated amnesia) as the negation of remembering.1 The treat¬
ment of such forgotten incidents requires the undoing of the negation—
their return into the mental metabolism. Often, however, it will happen
that the patient, rather than facing the memories in question, prefers to
make a neurotic symptom (general forgetfulness) out of the forgotten
facts. Instead of undoing the negation, he will develop a negation of the
negation.
The man who represses a certain memory—originally aiming only at
the denial of the existence of one specific fact—does not recognize the
purpose of his amnesia, but interprets it as a sign of mental disfunction.
He will complain about his bad memory, develop a habit of jotting things
down, thereby weakening his ability to remember still further. He might
take up a course of commercialized psychology, which persuades him
that by learning senseless verses—so many a day—he will improve his
memory. Actually he will only produce a neurotic layer which has no
bearing on the original issue—he will create a negation of a negation.
We have come across a number of such double negations. We have,
for instance, extensively dealt with the consumption of very spicy food
as being the negation of a palatal frigidity which in turn is the negation
of the desire to vomit. We have called this process (in accordance with
the psycho-analytical terminology) resistance against a resistance.
A double negation, similar to that found in the mouth, sometimes
exists in the anus. The result is constipation—manifest or masked.2
• The biological forgetting, the absorption of an incident by the organism, is
different from forgetting by repression. In the first case, the “memory” is dissolved,
in the second one both the memory and the repressing activity remain very much
alive.
1 By masked constipation I mean a constipation which is overcome not by a
defaecation urge but by habit, for instance by going to the lavatory daily at exactly
the same time
247
For the normal healthy defaecation, only three activities are essential:
to go to the lavatory, to relax the sphincter and to feel the defaecation
itself. Anything beyond these functions is unnecessary, pathological,
and produces a great amount of complications and difficulties. Keep
these three points in mind and learn to understand and to master them.
Contrast the three healthy functions with the pathological procedure!
The main condition for a healthy defaecation is that you must limit
yourself to the mere task of going to the place of defaecation, but only
in the service of a defaecation urge and not in order to overcome your
constipation. No conscious effort is required to go to the lavatory if you
suffer from diarrhoea. On the contrary, your effort will then be directed
to keeping the stool back until you are on the seat. The urge drives you
to the proper place. How different is the attitude of the constipated!
They don’t feel any urge, but go to the lavatory driven by commands.
Realize that constipation is an unconscious reluctance to part with the
faeces, and you have already won half the battle. Actually most people
find this very difficult to accept. But if you “suffer” from constipation,
a real cure is impossible without your taking the responsibility that you
retain, that you don’t let go.
In order to prove that I am wrong, you will tell me that you do every¬
thing possible not to be constipated, that you would not dream of keeping
anything back, because this is detrimental to your health. All this, however,
is justification, over-compensation in the service of the Super-Ego,
dictated by duty, conscience, or what is supposed to be “good for your
health, as your grandma and laxative manufacturers assure you. It
would trouble your conscience if you would consciously allow yourself
to be constipated. In spite of all your assurances the fact remains that in
constipation you simply do not feel and therefore do not obey the urge,
but follow introjected ideas about constipation.
Pluck up courage and wait for the urge to come. K. Landauer told me
once of somebody who was constipated for four weeks. This, of course,
is an extreme case, which I only mention to show that the danger of
constipation is very much exaggerated in our time. What we want to
achieve is self-regulation. One of the best points which W. Reich ever
made is his demand that the regulation of our sex fife by morality should
be replaced by the rhythm of self-regulation. The sexual urge must dis¬
appear not by repression, but by gratification, till the renewed tension
demands our attention again. In the same way “you” must not regulate
your bowels. What is required is their self-regulation.
In the chapter on Body Concentration we were mainly interested in
the muscular contractions. Contraction of the muscles is a repressing
factor, we hold down, keep back such sensations, feelings or emotions,
which we do not want to release. The basis of all “keeping back” is the
withholding of the excretions, as the result of the training in cleanliness.
248
There originates the idea that self-control is identical with suppression.

Psycho-analysis, according to its main interest in repressions, has decided
on constipation as the basic resistance. I have mentioned already that
• Ferenczi realized so fully the importance of the contracting function of
the sphincter ani, that he called the intensity of its contractions the mano¬
meter of resistance. A great amount of constipation, mental as well as
physical, coincides with a rigid contraction of the sphincter, the anal
closing muscle. Concentration exercises and regaining conscious control
of the working of this muscle will assist in the cure of anal mal-functions
and repressions.
In case you never get an urge, or suffer from one of the unpleasant
results of chronic constipation—from piles—what steps are to be taken?
Piles are an excellent example of the result of the negation (forcing)
of a negation (constipation). In the following pictures S represents the
closing muscle, the sphincter, M the internal skin, the mucous membrane
of the rectum.
In Figure I the sphincter is relaxed and the faeces are passing out
without any undue resistance. In the next picture the sphincter is per¬
manently contracted (constipation) and in Figure III the faeces arc forced
out against the contracted sphincter. The internal membrane is pushed
out with them. The result must be piles or even a prolapse of the rectum.
Proper concentration exercises, which aim at controlling contraction and
relaxation, are the only means to bring about an improvement of “psycho-
genetic” piles. By attending to the following exercises, a number of cases
have greatly improved, or have at least prevented a further deterioration,
but the exercise is meant for every case of constipation, not only those
who have already developed piles.
The first thing you have to remedy, whilst sitting on the seat, is avoid¬
ance of awareness of the defaecation activity, for instance reading or mind
wandering or futuristic thinking. You must concentrate on what is going
on at that very moment. Any looking ahead like “I want to get it over
quickly”—“how long will it be to-day?”—“what amount am I going to
produce?”—any anticipation of any kind whatsoever should be realized
249
as such, and you should return to what you actually experience in your
senso-motoric system. Realize that you are pressing or squeezing, and
try to omit both. See what happens if you don’t squeeze. Probably nothing
—but a remarkable insight might dawn on you: the fact that you are just
playing the fool, that you are pretending, that you just sit on the lavatory
seat without any real urge or intention to defaecate.
In this case you had better get up and wait till a real genuine urge
occurs. If you do not want to do this, concentrate on the resistance: find
out how you produce the constipation, how you contract the sphincter
muscle and how, by these means, you keep the content of your bowels
back. Learn to feel the resisting muscle and to contract it deliberately. You
will soon get tired and you will relax the sphincter muscle and dissolve
the constipation in a natural manner. Try to isolate the tense muscle from
its surroundings; a haphazard deliberate contraction of the whole bottom
region does not establish conscious anal control. Once you have learned to
isolate and to control the sphincter consciously, you can contract or relax
it at will.
Should you, however, have developed a scotoma for the defaecation-
sensations, then the above exercise will be difficult. The undoing of the
scotoma and the relaxation exercises will more or less overlap each other.
In our discussions on Body Concentration we were mainly interested in
the kinaesthetic sense, in the feel of the muscles, and we have rather
neglected the possibility of complete anaesthesia. We w’ere interested in
what was actually there and not in the lack of it. The next step in our
exercises, therefore, must be to find the blind spots, the gaps, the places
which wre avoid in the feel of ourselves. Again take stock of the whole of
your body, and observe which parts you jump over or you do not feel.
Can you feel, for instance, the expression on your face? What sensations
have you in your mouth? How much of your pelvis region do you feel?
Are you aware of the existence of your genitals? Of your anus?
You avoid all these “feels” because you do not want to feel. Find out
what you want to avoid and how you manage to avoid the real feel. Do
you let your attention wander too quickly? Do you imagine sensations
like cotton wool or being frozen? Do you notice, once you try to hold
your attention to a spot, that you run away into thinking, day-dreaming,
sleeping or deprecation (“that’s all bunk”), or do you remember suddenly
another urgent duty? Unmask all these tricks as means of avoiding the
contact of your “Ego” with other parts of yourself.1
' This concentration method is, with or without the help of an analyst, the very
way to cure sexual frigidity. There is no case of sexual dissatisfaction with sufficient
awareness of genital contact. In every case the attention is consumed by either
some kind of fear, or thinking, or experimenting. This, in my opinion, is the actual
basis of the castration complex. The castration memories are pure rationalizations.
One can bring the feel of the penis into existence without digging up one single
castration threat. The basis for this sexual frigidity is a negation: the genital
250
The anal sensations are much less intense than the genital ones. Al¬
though their disfunction does not create very conspicuous symptoms, it
is yet responsible for a number of neurotic disturbances. The anal numb¬
ness is part of a vicious circle. The training in cleanliness, or lack of
courage to go to the lavatory whenever you feel like it, induces you to
avoid the feel of the urge. The decreased feel increases the danger of being
surprised by the urge, chiefly in the state of excitement, therefore one
completely locks the bowels by rigid control. In some cases the numbness
is so complete that people have completely forgotten how an urge to
defaecate feels. They invariably show signs of a paranoid character,
although the anal link of the paranoic mechanism is more centred in the
numbness during the defaecation process than in the lacking defaecation
urge.
One condition for the cure of the paranoid nucleus is the proper feel
of the defaecation process, of the contact between faeces and anus. Failing
the proper contact, a pathological confluence—an inability to discriminate
between inside and outside—will result. With the assistance of this new
insight, cases which looked hopeless made an excellent recovery and
achieved a cure of their disintegrated personality. I doubt whether this
could have been achieved otherwise. In any case, their analysis took a
considerably shorter time. In our concentration exercises, therefore, I
stress the utmost importance of the anal concentration, which is not
easy, as the numbness in many a person has attained such a degree that
they do not feel anything at all in that region.
Once you have realized that you feel nothing, try again and again to
penetrate the veil, the numbness, the cotton wool feeling, or whatever
resistance you have created between your “mind” and “body.” Once
you manage to make menial contact, you proceed as in the other concen¬
tration exercises: watch for development and mainly for sensations like
itches or heat, which want to come to the surface, and against which
you will find yourself contracting again.
Next comes the most important point, namely, to feel the functioning
of the defaecation, to feel the passing out of the faeces and their contact
with the passage. Once this feel is established, the vicious circle of the
paranoid metabolism is interrupted, the recognition of projections facili¬
tated and this pathological place of confluence is fenced and censored.
The following speculation might also be of assistance: the anal numb¬
ness resembles the oral frigidity. Generally speaking, the numbness in
defaecation corresponds to the disgust. Thus, whenever you find something
to be wrong with the process of defaecation, make an attempt to get hold
of the parallel phenomenon in the oral sphere. My investigations point
orgasmic sensation was at one time so strong that it became intolerable. Add to
this a shyness in making the corresponding noises and movements, and you can
easily realize the result: an urge to avoid those strong feelings.
251
to a strong relationship between the anal and oral attitudes.1 Although I

have not yet enough material to prove it, it does not seem unlikely that
the projection is originally a vomiting process. This would account for
the non-assimilation and the ejection of the material which cannot be
utilized. Definitely clear is that the interchange of introjections and pro¬
jections works like an avalanche, taking up more and more contact possi¬
bilities till all relationship between the individual and the world becomes
empty and paranoic.
1 This learning by the anus from the mouth confirms Freud’s observations,
but I don’t see the necessity of involving the libido in this process.
252
XII
ABOUT BEING SELF-CONSCIOUS
People speak of a “subconscious mind,” but this term is not recognized

either in psycho-analysis or in gestalt psychology. We can, however,
find one situation where the term “sub-conscious” may be permitted:
when emotions and impulses urge to come to the fore, but are barred
from their proper expression. In this case they are neither repressed nor
expressed; at the same time there is too much self-awareness to allow
their projection. Self-awareness changes into self-consciousness.
In these cases the proper self-expression becomes inhibited as soon
as it is sensed that it might bring about a decisive change either in oneself
or in one’s environment. A conflict, for instance, must not come to a
crisis: it must remain hypocritical. Unexpressed, but incapable of being
repressed, the challenging impulse can neither disappear into the back¬
ground nor dominate the foreground. It must find some medium, and so
we have, under these pathological conditions, to accept the existence of
a subconsciousness, of a middle-ground.
A middle-ground does not exist in the healthy mind. There can only
be foreground figure coming out from and receding into the background.
Sometimes, however, two figures tend to be present at the same time.
We then speak of a conflict. To stand such a situation of conflict, such a
double configuration, is incompatible with the inherent holistic tendency
of the human mind. One figure will always tend to push the other aside,
or else, a synthesis like a compromise or a neurotic symptom will bring
about a kind of unification. Often the two figures will sit on a see-saw,
a state of mind wliich we call indecisiveness and instability.
Under certain conditions, however, an emotion will strive hard, but
unsuccessfully, to come into the foreground, and in such instances we
might talk of a middle-ground, but we must remember that the middle-
ground phenomenon is a pathological occurrence. The inhibiting instance
is partly the censor (according to Freud’s meaning), but it is also and
to a far greater extent the projected censor—the worrying about what
people will say. The censor is a retroflecting, disparaging, critical attitude
in ourselves which, in the projection, is experienced “as if” we were
scrutinized by others and in the limelight. If, for instance, we hide the
expression of annoyance, or love, or envy, or any other powerful emotion
of which we are ashamed or afraid or which we are too embarrassed to
253
reveal, then we experience self-consciousness and its motoric equivalent

—awkwardness.
Recently a man consulted me exclusively about his self-consciousness.
He found it surprising that, contrary to his expectations, he was not
self-conscious with his superiors, but only with his subordinates, and
particularly his typist. Unable or unwilling to express the annoyance she
aroused in him, he felt awkward, ill at ease and self-conscious in her
presence. Not his annoyance but the expression of it was repressed, and
he felt immediate relief after I had urged him to address her in phantasy
as he would like to in actuality, to let himself go. Having a good command
over his imagination, he gave full vent to his vituperation, expressing
freely all his accumulated anger and annoyance, shifting it from middle-
ground to the foreground, where it belonged. Not that in this case phantasy
action alone was sufficient; he told me later that he had changed his
typist. The phantasy explosion had given him sufficient confidence
to enable him not only to dress down but dismiss the supercilious
employee.
The term “self-conscious” is not a bad one. It indicates a retroflection,
the fact that one’s attention is directed towards one’s self and not towards
the object of one’s irritation or potential interest. It suggests an inward-
bound instead of an outward-bound emotion. It is the consciousness of
one’s own condemned or despised features and behaviour.
Often self-consciousness forms a nucleus around which a number of
character features develop. Under its influence some people become
brazen, impudent, offhanded, cynical, rough or profane. Others develop
in the opposite direction and become servile, unctuous (Uriah Heep) or
awkward to such an extent that they knock things over, venting their
aggression by spiffing or breaking things (“by accident,” “I couldn’t
help it”). Avoidance of the object of one’s discomfiture often manifests
itself in the inability to look the hated or loved person in the eye, and the
self-conscious individual, fearing his attitude might give him away,
trains himself to overcome it by developing a rigid stare.
In every fit of self-consciousness there is some suppressed (not repressed)
action or emotion—something unsaid or undone. Very frequently the
inability to say a clear-cut “No!” to demands which one would like to
refuse is the basis of self-consciousness. The grudge against the person
who makes these demands leaves us with a feeling of weakness and
impotency that produces an atmosphere of tension and self-consciousness.
The inability to say “No!” represents the usual fear of bringing about a
change in the world, in this case the fear of foregoing the benevolence
of our environment. The difference between projection and self-con¬
sciousness in this instance is that in projection the “No!” vanishes into
thin air, as soon as it ought to become foreground figure, and reappears
as a feeling that something is denied to you. In self-consciousness, the
254
“No!” remains in the middle-ground, it wants to become obtrusive but

you want to keep it in obscurity.
It is important to avoid confusing self-consciousness with self-awareness.
Unfortunately there is no word conveying the meaning of self-awareness
that does not also suggest that in self-awareness, too, retroflection takes
place. This, however, is not the case. Self-awareness means—at least I
mean by self-awareness—that subjective state of primary feeling that
one exists, as well as the feel of how one exists, a state which psycho¬
analysis calls “primary narcissism.” The term, “intuition,” in the sense
of Bergson would be appropriate, but this word is generally used as
indicating a mental act. Following a widespread scientific custom of
composing terms from the Latin or Greek language, I would suggest
“autaesthetic” to express “being aware of one’s being and doing,” but—
apart from the danger of being confused with “self-consciousness”—I
consider the expression “self-awareness” as being quite capable of con¬
veying what I mean.
When, for instance, you are so fully absorbed in dancing that you feel
the oneness of mind, body, soul, music and rhythm, then you realize the
pleasure of self-awareness, of the “feel” of yourself. But there might be
a disturbance which prevents you from catching the rhythm of the music,
or your mind and body might not be in step, or your partner might
not harmonize with you. If in such cases you feel like venting your dis¬
appointment, but you do not, then you lose self-awareness, and become
self-conscious.
In self-awareness, even the greatest thrill brings not only satisfaction,
but peace of mind which in self-consciousness never exists, because in
self-consciousness there is always something unexpressed, an incomplete¬
ness which can only be overcome by breaking the tension through expres¬
sion. Often it will be enough to do this in phantasy, but on occasion
self-consciousness can only be disposed of by conveying in actuality
your feelings to the person concerned. In any event the phantasy-action
will be successful only if you can imagine your opponent plastically,
four-dimensionally, so that you get the feeling of having wrought a change
in him. Actually, the change will take place in yourself; you will lose,
through the power of expression, your self-consciousness, and you will
gain—and this is so much more important—confidence, a new ability
to deal with difficult situations, and recognition of your environment.
People with high-flying ambitions, who want to be admired, to be the
centre of attraction, often suffer from an intense form of self-consciousness.
They have to be contrasted with people who are also in need of admiration,
but are only too ready to exhibit anything that might gratify their nar¬
cissistic needs. They might display precious jewels, or their well-dressed
children, they might exhibit cleverness or facetiousness, narrate smutty
or not-so-smutty stories, they might do anything to impress others, to
255
squeeze admiration out of their friends. Should this narcissistic need

however, be strongly present, without the “means whereby” at hand, or
should an uncertainty prevail about producing the desired reaction, then
the outcome must be self-consciousness. There are very few young girls
who do not dream of being the belle of the ball, but who, being uncertain
of achieving their goal, will be “all arms and legs.” Compare their awk¬
wardness with the bearing of the sophisticated woman who is sure that
she can collect as many knights as she wants.
Generally speaking, people with ungratified narcissistic wishes w'ill
develop self-consciousness, whenever there is a chance that they might
become the centre of attraction, the figure against the background of their
environment. Whenever they stand out against the mass, for example,
when they enter a room full of people, when they have to rise to make
a speech, when they have to leave the company to go to the lavatory,
they feel self-conscious, expecting all eyes to be on them. The moment
they forget their narcissistic wishes or are concentrated fully on their
objects instead of on themselves, their self-consciousness disappears. In
brief, one way to cure ^//-consciousness is to change it into object-
consciousness.
A similar self-consciousness is experienced by many people if they
feel they are being watched whilst they are working, e.g. when playing
the piano, typing or writing. They are perfectly aware of the change in
their attitude, of their lack of concentration, confusion and general dis¬
comfiture. They often maintain—wrongly—that they suffer from an
inferiority complex. The fact that they lose all their unpleasant feelings,
as soon as their work, and not they themselves, is the foreground figure,
should be sufficient proof that they suffer not from an inferiority complex,
but from self-consciousness. If they are concentrated on the impression
they are making, the concentration on their work is lost and mistakes
and incoherence must result.
The best knowledge about self-consciousness can be gained by a
thorough understanding of the figure-background phenomenon. One can
go so far as to maintain that self-consciousness is the disturber of the
figure-background phenomenon of the “personality.” It is the individual
personality that wants to stand out against the background of the environ¬
ment; if, for instance, a pupil is suddenly asked to step forward he will
enjoy exhibiting himself if he has no inhibitions. He might even glow with
pride and he will slip naturally into the foreground of the picture. If,
however, his unexpressed desire for admiration shrinks from this enforced
publicity, he will blush with shame, want to disappear and become
background again. Finding himself suddenly where he has always wanted
to be, he will become conscious of himself and display this self-conscious¬
ness in gaucherie. Such an attitude may become permanent. The timid
character, the person who always plays second fiddle, the conscientious
256
employee who always does things so perfectly and inconspicuously that

he blends into the background, the producer of a play, the psycho-analyst
who sits behind a patient to escape observation—they are all bent on
avoiding the limelight, and they all condemn any coming to the fore as
exhibitionism. Exhibitionism, however, is the self-conscious form of
expression, brought about by pushing aside feelings of shame, fear and
embarrassment.
The curative steps to be taken are obvious: you have not only to become
fully aware, what emotion, interest or urge you are concealing, but you
must also express it by words, art, or action.
Self-consciousness and day-dreaming often go hand in hand, as the day-
dreamer is full of unexpressed material. The higher his imagination
soars, the greater is the shock he suffers when, in reality, a situation is
approached which contains the chance of realizing his suppressed wishes.
Owing to his pre-occupation with the phantasy-dummy he cannot
apply his motoric-expressive system within the real situation, but remains
self-conscious and paralysed between his wishes and inhibitions.
The value of the field conception becomes particularly evident in the
therapeutic approach to self-consciousness. As one can induce electricity
in a coil of wire by putting it into an electro-magnetic field, so one can
induce self-consciousness in its specific danger-field, and intensify or
diminish it with varying distance. The two poles of this danger-field are
the sufferer’s self-awareness, and his projected criticism (inhibition).
By eliminating one of the two poles self-consciousness will disappear.
In order to free oneself from the unbearable conflict, this is often done by
drinking liquor, by recklessness, impudence or other means whereby an
emotional frigidity is produced.1 This method of overcoming self-
consciousness is the “wrong” one. If self-consciousness is the negation
of spontaneity, then drinking, brazenness and so on are the negation of
the negation. The “right” method, however, cancels the negation by
undoing the retroflections and assimilating the projections; in the case of
self-consciousness this means: you have to change the wish to be admired,
the fear of being stared at, and the feeling of being the centre of interest,
into the activities of being enthusiastic, of observing and of concentrating
one’s interest on to an object.
1 The inability to deal with one’s self-consciousness is a frequent inducement
to become a drug or alcohol addict. I know of two patients in a deplorable state of
progressive alcoholism, w ho could not stand any company in a sober state and who
could give up drinking only after their self-consciousness was cured.
XIII
THE MEANING OF INSOMNIA
It has been more and more realized that the very unpleasant phenomenon
“insomnia” cannot be cured by drugs, relaxation, silence, dark curtains
or the counting of sheep. Admittedly in the single incident these “remedies”
frequently induce a kind of unconsciousness resembling sleep, yet contrary
to the purpose of sleep: to give rest and freshness. Occasional nights of
sleeplessness should not be called insomnia and should under no condition
be treated as a neurotic symptom. I would like the term “Insomnia”
reserved for a state, where the majority of nights are considerably disturbed,
and “Chronic Insomnia” where for a lengthy period rarely a night is slept
through. Only real insomnia should be remedied. As all the above-
mentioned prescriptions are never able to cure insomnia, I propose to
approach the question of insomnia from a different angle altogether.
If the organism is invaded by bacteriae, you will find their enemies,
the leucocytes, in the blood increased; if somebody has incorporated too
much alcohol, he might vomit. Would you regard the increased leucocytes
or the vomiting as phenomena of illness and would you try to suppress
them? You rather would, I am sure, look for the meaning, which in both
cases is unambiguously: organismic self-defence. Insomnia in most cases
is not an illness, but a sympton of a long-range health policy of the
organism in the service of holism. All dopes, be they medicine or a night¬
cap or reading before falling asleep, are means of suppression, contrary
to the needs of the organism.
A statement to the effect that sleeplessness is not a pathological but a
curative symptom, arouses in most people the same bewilderment which
we experienced once upon a time, when we learnt that the earth but not
the sun is moving. Before, however, I am in a position to prove that my
apparently paradoxical statement is correct, I have to say a few words
about rest. You will agree with me that the aim of sleep is rest, and that
drugs produce a paralysis rather than rest. The search for a drug which
leaves the patient without headaches and dizziness is a clear indication of
this. The striving for rest is but one expression of the often mentioned
general tendency of our organism to restore its balance by eliminating a
disturbing influence, or by concluding an unfinished situation. How long
are you interested in a cross-word puzzle? Exactly up to that moment
when you have finished the problem and the solved puzzle becomes an
258
uninteresting piece of paper to be thrown away or, at best, to be collected

for the war effort.
A commercial traveller, a happy-go-lucky fellow, visited a small town.
The proprietor of the hotel begged him to make as little noise as possible,
because his neighbour was very nervous. He promised, but he came home
slightly intoxicated, happy and singing. He started to undress and threw
a shoe against the wall. Suddenly he got a fright, remembered his promise
and went quietly to bed. Just when he was dozing off, he heard an angry
voice from the next room: “When the devil is the other shoe coming?”
We often go to bed with incomplete, with unfinished situations, and
there are hundreds of possibilities in which it is more important for the
organism to finish a situation, than to sleep. In most cases we are not
aware of this organismic need. We only feel that something is disturbing
our sleep, and we vent our rage against the disturber. We misdirect our
annoyance from the unfinished situation to the barking dog or the noise
of the traffic, or the hard pillow, which we hold responsible, or rather
which we take as scapegoats. The actual traffic noise is not a bit worse
than on those nights in which we are ready for sleep.
As I have said before, there are innumerable possibilities of unfinished
situations. The disturber might be a mosquito, and the situation will not
be finished until you have killed the insect and disposed of the fear of
being bitten; or maybe somebody has offended you and your mind is
full of revenge phantasies. An examination, an important interview may
await you the next day, and you rather anticipate difficult situations than
give yourself a rest. An ungratified sexual urge, a spell of hunger, a feeling
of guilt, a wish for reconciliation, a desire to get out of an ugly situation,
all such unfinished situations will upset your sleep.
An old proverb says: “A good conscience is a soft pillow.” You remember
the classical example of insomnia: Lady Macbeth. She tries to persuade
herself that the murder situation is finished: “I tell you yet again, Banquo’s
buried, he cannot come out of his grave. What’s done, cannot be undone.”
But the lady’s auto-suggestions are not successful: “What, will these
hands never be clean? All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this
little hand.”
Some time ago I had to treat an officer with a very strict conscience.
Every day this man had to deal with a number of problems, and his
ambition made him tackle too many different items on the same day.
The unfinished problems went with him to bed, with the result that he
got insufficient rest and started the next day with fatigue. The fatigue
decreased his ability to tackle the next day’s problems and a vicious
circle started, with the result that every few months he suffered a nervous
breakdown that kept him from his work altogether. Once he had grasped
the importance of limiting the number of problems and of finishing
situations before going to bed, he improved rapidly.
259 *
The objections to this approach will be: firstly, sleeplessness is very

unpleasant and the organism needs rest; thus we cannot afford to waste
our precious night-time. Secondly, that my theory applies only to the
psychological aspect.
To deal first with the latter objection. I maintain that the physical
cause of sleeplessness (illness, pain) falls in the same category as the
psychological (e.g. worry)- An illness is always an unfinished situation;
it is only finished with cure or death. In emergency cases, however, when
pain connected with an illness is the disturber, such disturber can be
temporarily eliminated by a pain-drowning drug. (No drug kills pain.)
The first objection—the unpleasantness of insomnia—will soon be dis¬
posed of by a proper approach. Once the patient has grasped its meaning
he will become able to recondition himself to direct his energies into the
proper biological channels and to turn the unpleasantness of insomnia
into a gratifying and productive experience.
If we want to cure insomnia, we have to face a paradoxical situation:
we have to give up the will to sleep. Sleep takes place when the Ego is
melting; volition is an Ego function and as long as you say: “I want to
sleep!” your Ego is functioning and sleep cannot take place. It is a most
difficult task to realize that although consciously we are perfectly convinced
that we desire sleep and are unhappy if we cannot obtain it, the organism
does not want to sleep, as problems have to be attended to, which are
more important than sleep.
If, in addition to your wish to sleep, you get annoyed with your inability
to sleep, then a very unwholesome situation must arise; the subdued
excitement will interfere even more with your sleep; with the undischarged
annoyance you have created an additional unfinished situation. If by violent
tossing and turning in bed you would at least allow the discharge and
expression of excitement! But no! You force yourself to lie still intensely
watching (another conscious activity) for the first signs of drowsiness, and
in the meantime the excitement keeps on boiling, with the result that
you burn up more energy than you would do if you got up and did a
spot of work. Often the attempt to sleep wears people out more than
the lack of sleep itself.
The second step is, instead of getting annoyed with the disturber
(be it the barking dog or the thoughts and pictures which invariably
will be part and parcel of unfinished situations), to become interested.
Do not resist them, but give them all your attention. Listen to the noises
around you, or look at the pictures in your mind, and you will soon
experience the feeling of drowsiness which is the forerunner of sleep.
Often some forgotten memory, or the solution of a problem, will jump
into your mind and will leave you with the feeling of satisfaction and the
reward of restful sleep.
Not every situation can be finished, either that very night or ever,
260
yet the realization of this fact helps considerably even in the case of
insoluble problems. Then there is always the possibility that the situation
may be finished by resigning oneself to the inevitable—to the fact that
nothing can be done about it.
The other day I read the definition that insomnia is sleeplessness plus
worries. This is correct for the obsessional character, but insomnia affects
other types as well. It occurs very frequently in neurasthenia. You all
know that worries keep you awake and that a worrier seldom obtains
restful sleep. This is no small wonder, as the worrier is characterized by
his general inability to finish situations, to take action.
It is a mistaken idea to assume that closing one’s eyes induces sleep.
Just the opposite is the case. Shutting the eyes does not induce sleep, but
sleep induces the closing of the eyes. This is sometimes so intense during
a boring lecture, especially on a hot day or late in the evening, that it is
hardly possible to keep one’s eyes open. People who complain about
insomnia will then often be the first to fall asleep.
The dream is a compromise between sleep and the incomplete situation.
One finds, for instance, that a person who wets his bed, always completes
his urge to urinate by the dream of being in a lavatory. In this case, at
least, I am convinced you will not defend sleep at any price. On the con¬
trary, the obstacle in the cure of bed-wetting is the child’s reluctance to
interrupt its sleep. With a bit more insomnia, much suffering could be
spared for both parents and child.
XIV
STAMMERING
All people stammer. Of course, few will realize this, and often enough
the stammering will be so slight as to pass unnoticed. Even the gushing
society lady who spills her meaningless words and phrases all over the
show, drowning one in a powerful stream of trivialities—even she might
sometimes become stunned, flabbergasted, lost for an expression and might
then begin to stutter. You all know the speaker who hesitates, searching
for an expression, and fills the gaps of time with his “Er—er,” or by
stammering.
Stammering is another variation of the theme: inadequate self-expres¬
sion. We find occasional stammering through embarrassment and self-
consciousness. The same person wrho spoke fluently to you a few minutes
ago in an animated conversation will stammer piteously when called upon
to make a public speech. Therefore what will be said about the chronic
stammerer will apply, to a lesser degree, to all those whose speech is
impeded only in certain situations.
The chronic stammerer is characterized by his impatience, undeveloped
sense of time and by his inhibited aggression. His words do not flow in
a properly timed sequence; he has his mind and mouth crowded with a
heap of words all waiting to come out at once. This is the exact counterfeit
of his greediness, of his desire to swallow everything at once. In every
stammerer one finds, as the remainder of this greediness, a tendency to
inhale whilst speaking, thus betraying his inclination to swallow again
even his owm words. The stammerer will always use his teeth insuffi¬
ciently; his aggression, deprived of its natural function, will search for
queer outlets. Often the stammerer can produce a difficult word after
he had a short outburst of violent aggression. He might, for instance,
hit one hand hard with the other or violently grind his teeth, or stamp
with his foot. This sort of aggression has the same brand of impatience
which is the main characteristic of his stammering. The picture changes
completely, however, when he flies into a violent temper. As soon as he
is ready to give vent to his aggression, he suddenly finds he has the means
at his disposal, and he shouts and swears fluently without a trace of
stammering.
There is another condition where he can, likewise, be free of stammering:
when his language does not express any emotion, or when the motor
262
STAMMERING
of excitement is completely absent, he can correctly perform the task of

reproducing words which either do not mean anything to him, or else
are not the expression of his real self. He might master the technique of
word production to perfection, for example, in elocution or singing, as
long as he is concentrated on the technical side of speaking and not on
the content. But as soon as he has to express himself, he will get impatient
again and the more excited he gets, the worse his stammering will become
—except for those few occasions on which he allows himself to explode.
The treatment of stammering which disregards the reorganization of
aggression and impatience can, in the best of cases, only result in producing
a robot uttering words, but never a personality capable of expressing
himself and his emotions. Thus for the cure of stammering it is absolutely
necessary first to adjust the aggression and to attend to the exercises of
the chapter “Concentration on Eating,” especially the one referring to
the emptying of the mouth after every bite.
The elocutional aspect, however, must not be neglected. There the
stammerer must, in the beginning, be satisfied with producing sentences
in an artificial technique, before he attempts to express his “Self.” He
also must learn—and this is most important—to distinguish between
“training situation” and “real situation.” The overlooking of this dis¬
tinction has wrecked the attempts of many a pupil. He must be dis¬
appointed over and over again, as long as he does not appreciate the
importance of the “situation.” Disappointment leads to despondency and
throwing overboard all those things already achieved. The stammerer
will save himself from disappointment, if he does not expect too much.
In the beginning a proper speaking can only be obtained in the “training”
situation and he must not expect improvement in any “real” situation
until he has overcome his hanging-on attitude. Otherwise he can only
transfer the “training” situation to the “real” situation by desensitizing
his personality—by losing his “soul,” by becoming a mummy.
To avoid such danger, he must prevent his excitement from turning
into anxiety. In an earlier chapter we have seen that anxiety is excitement
with insufficient supply of oxygen. The stammerer always gets into diffi¬
culties with his breathing. He is not aware of the mix-up between his
inhaling and exhaling, he is not aware of proper economical breathing.
It sounds silly and banal to state that the real stammerer is not aware
of the fact that one speaks whilst exhaling, that he must become “breathing
conscious.” Apart from the specific treatment of anxiety, described in
the next chapter, I advise the stammerer to do the following graduated
exercises:
(i) Inhale and exhale without any interference or action but be aware
and distinguish between intake and outlet. There must be no strain
or exaggeration. Simply lie down and concentrate on the “feel”
263
of your breathing. Resist any inclination to change anything.

Continue till—without interfering or mind wandering—you can
remain breathing conscious for a couple of minutes.
(2) Inhale normally and exhale with the sound of “M-N-S” till this
becomes natural. The exhaling should be a kind of collapse,
similar to sighing or moaning.
(3) Take any sentence you like and inhale after each syllable like this:
“The (inhale) rose (inhale) that (inhale) lives (inhale) its/little/
hour /is /praised /be /yond/the /sculp / tured / flower. ’ ’
(4) Repeat this exercise in your phantasy whenever you have an
opportunity. The main thing is to inhale between each syllable.
If you can do this for five minutes you have taken the most im¬
portant step towards proper breathing and conquering impatience.
(5) Only after you have fully mastered the previous exercise do the
same exercises (3 and 4) with complete words instead of syllables.
(6) The next exercise requires a little thinking. Cut all your sentences
into small, grammatically correct groups. For instance:
“It is easier (inhale) to pretend (inhale) to be (inhale) what you
are not (inhale) than to hide (inhale) what you really are (inhale)
but he (inhale) that can accomplish both (inhale) has little to learn
(inhale) in hypocrisy.”
(7) Talk to people in your phantasy, applying the preceding technique.
Do this at first silently, then with a whispering, soundless voice.
After that add more and more sound to your speaking.
(8) Learn to streamline your voice. Train yourself to speak every
word with a crescendo and decrescendo. You cannot overestimate
the importance of this exercise. Tackle those words which provide
the greatest difficulties, for instance those which begin with a
“P.” Take a deep breath, relax your mouth and throat muscles,
and speak the “P” as softly as possible, but accentuate—with a
crescendo—the following vowel.
(9) Transfer tentatively the training situation to the real one, take a
friend who has patience and is willing to assist you, ask him to
stop you every time you fall back into incorrect breathing.
(10) Search in your phantasy for situations of excitement, embarrass¬
ment or self-consciousness, and apply exercise (7) again.
(11) Train yourself in not-speaking. Develop the art of listening.
Rather swallow other people’s words than your own. Above all,
remember: any recurrence of stammering must be a danger signal
to you, warning you to stop and relax. Remember, there are few
situations in life where it is absolutely compulsory to say some¬
thing.
(12) After you have learnt to keep silent and to listen, prepare to attain
the art of internal silence. Paradoxical as it sounds, you will learn
264
STAMMERING
proper talking by proper silence. The exercises on body con¬

centration are likewise of great importance; find out which muscles
you contract (jaw, throat, or diaphragm), not only when you keep
silent (chronic contraction), but also in the speaking situation
itself. The aim is to learn how stammering is produced. Once a
fully conscious control of the production of stammering is obtained
in every detail, speaking without stammering is easily learned.
How few stammerers, however, will be willing to stammer con¬
sciously, to give up their hostility towards it and cease fighting
against it. How few will be willing to take full responsibility for
their stammering!
(13) Once this responsibility is accepted the sense of the stammering
will often reveal itself. The purpose may be to gain time, in order
to hide the primary self-consciousness, or, as in the following
case of my experience, to conceal hidden sadistic pleasure.
The analysis of a young stammerer revealed that he had an elder
brother who stammered badly. Our patient suffered agony when he had
to listen to him. As he was a very impatient character his suspense, his
tension when listening was more intense than in other people. Later on,
he introjected the brother’s stammering and this became the “means
whereby” to torture people around him, just as he had experienced
torture through his brother’s stammering. At the same time he could
plead innocence by pushing the responsibility on to a physical disability.
If you are a stutterer, what do you achieve with this symptom of yours ?
265
XV
THE ANXIETY STATE
Among the many symptoms of inhibited expression the anxiety attack

deserves a special discussion. No other symptom demonstrates the need
for adequate discharge of bottled-up energy as convincingly as does the
anxiety attack, and even more so the anxiety neurosis (habitual anxiety
reaction).
It is comparatively easy to understand the dynamics of anxiety and to
regain control of the specific muscular contractions, provided two points
are kept in mind. Firstly, the excitement which underlies the anxiety
attack must be given free range. Fortunately, if you dislike making an
exhibition of yourself, you can achieve a sufficient discharge on your
own. But you must not mind to be insane for half an hour, if you are
one of those people who regard every emotional outburst as the very
symptom of insanity. Although it is a great relief to have a good cry in
the arms of a beloved, you can cry alone in your own room. You might
pull faces in front of a mirror or, becoming stark raving mad, punch a
pillow till you are exhausted. As a second step you have to transform the
chest armour into a living part of the whole organism: you have to re¬
construct your breathing.
Whilst Freudism has examined the implications of the sex instinct,
Adler those of the inferiority feeling, Horney of the need for affection,
Reich of the muscular resistance, and myself those of the hunger instinct,
the psycho-analysis of breathing has still to be done. Shallowness and
sighing in depression, and chronic yawning in boredom are nearly as
well known as the fight for breath in the anxiety state. I have shown that
this fight for breath is the result of a conflict between the organismic
need for oxygen and the rigidity of the chest. The muscles which tend to
expand the chest are unconsciously counteracted by those which narrow
the chest. By giving in to this narrowing we can relieve the anxiety attack
already at a time before the complete conscious control has been obtained.
We have only to abstain from the over-compensation, from “taking a
deep breath.” This deep breathing—the “big chest”—is a misunderstood
ideal, a fetish of our society. The following analogy will illustrate what I
mean: if you want to wash your hands and you find the basin half filled
with dirty water, you would not pour clean water into the dirtv, but you
266
THE ANXIETY STATE
would first empty the basin completely of its dirty contents. Exactly the
same fastidiousness should apply to breathing.
In the state of excitement or anxiety the oxygen metabolism is in¬
creased, therefore the residual air (the not exhaled rest) contains more
C02 (carbon dioxide) than normally. This bad air has first to be eliminated
before the (oxygen containing) fresh air can make sufficient contact with
the alveolae of the lungs. Increased inhalation therefore is useless. The
conclusion is evident: exhale first as thoroughly as possible. The following
inhaling will come without an effort; it will be the deeply welcomed relief
for which you were longing.
A frequent complication of anxiety is the projection of both the chest’s
narrowness and the organism’s oxygen-hunger. This complication is
called “claustrophobia.” The oxygen hunger is experienced as desire for
open air, the armour of the chest as the inability to remain in confined
spaces. One of my patients, an air mechanic, whenever he got excited
could not even stay in an aeroplane hangar, although there could be no
lack of oxygen supply.
Orthodox psycho-analysis interprets confined spaces as symbols of the
womb or vagina. Such an interpretation is correct in certain cases, but
contributes little to the cure of claustrophobia. There one has:
(1) to interpret the projection of the armour;

(2) to realize the specific contraction of the chest muscles (armour);
(3) to dissolve the rigidity of the armour (providing an adequate
oxygen supply);
(4) to express the bottled-up excitement.
267
XVI
DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE
If you have succeeded in reading through all the exercises described in

this book, you must feel confused and undecided what to do. There seems
such a tremendous task lying ahead of you that you might not dare to
tackle it at all.
But don’t be discouraged! Every one of the exercises can be taken as
a starting point, and every one gives you a chance to achieve concentration.
When you are able to concentrate throughout one exercise, the others
will provide no difficulty.
By calling the technique outlined in this book concentration-therapy,
I mean to convey two facts:
(1) Concentration is the most effective “means whereby” neurotic

and paranoid disturbance can be cured. The “endgain” is a negative
one: destruction of a disturbance.
(2) Concentration is also an “endgain” in itself. It is a positive attitude
which is coupled with the feeling of health and well-being. It is
the symptom par excellence of a sound holism.
The art of concentration supplies you with an important tool for the
development of your personality; but tools, if not applied as such, cease
to be tools. Likewise a tool which is not adequate to its task is not a tool
at all.1 Therefore it is necessary to recognize the importance, structure
and application of concentration. As we have dealt sufficiently with its
importance and structure, I have only to say a few words about the appli¬
cation. As we are concerned with remedying shortcomings of the per¬
sonality, we have to focus our concentration on the “means whereby”
the psychological disturbances are produced.
In Russia, if a weak link in the rebuilding of the nation has become
apparent, the whole country—the officials and the population, the news¬
papers and the radio, the scientists and the workers—concentrate on the
elimination of the bottleneck. There, in mutual identification, everybody’s
interest is invested in mastering the common enemy. The weak point is
thus annihilated, not by repression or destruction, nor by idealistic
demands, but by analysis and reorganization. In warfare, too, concen-
1 A pair of household scissors used for cutting a piece of paper is a tool. If you
use it for cutting a piece of steel, it becomes a ridicule.
268
tration plays a decisive part; this has been recognized by strategists of

all time. The amount of concentration required is, of course, relative:
the weaker the resistance, the less troops and supplies have to be con¬
centrated on the attack.
The human organism effects similarly varying degrees of concentration.
Little conscious effort is required to concentrate on weak spots—like a
painful illness or obsessional thoughts; they even attract attention. On
the other hand, there are the powerful “holoids” which have to be brought
out of the darkness of their autonomous existence into the limelight of
consciousness.
These “holoids” are sub-divisions of the human personality and are
characterized by a very stubborn conservative tendency—a tendency
which we take for granted and justify as “force of habit,” “character,
“constitution,” etc. The “holoids” do not change of their own accord,
and they cannot be reorganized without conscious concentration. With¬
out this reorganization, no reconstruction of the personality can be
achieved.
The organismic “holoids” are known under different names: be-
haviouristic reactions, character features, complexes, “means whereby.”
This last expression (by F. M. Alexander) is especially useful, as it conveys
the meaning of a tool. In Constructive Conscious Control of the Individual,
Alexander brings clearly home the need for sensory appreciation, for
the awareness of the “means whereby,” for their analysis and change
which are indispensable for the desired change of the “endgain.” In his
disapproval of psycho-analysis, however, Alexander oversteps the mark
when he condemns the treatment of psychological “holoids,” e.g. obses¬
sions and complexes. The fact remains that Freud and Alexander inde¬
pendently discovered the need for detailed analysis and complete con¬
sciousness of the “holoids.”
Both methods concentrate on the “means whereby”—on the details
of the procedure. The endgain or purpose is suppressed or forgotten.
With Alexander’s method this is an intrinsic part, in Freudism a by¬
product of the concentration on the actual procedure of analysis. This
one-sided orientation is ultimately as little successful as previously the
one-sided concentration on the endgain, e.g. on the change of habits by
resolution, or suggestion, or on the change of character features by
punishment.
In psycho-analysis one often makes the following observation: as long
as the patient is interested exclusively in his cure and talks about nothing
else, he makes very little headway. The situation changes only if he
becomes interested in the process of being analysed and if he forgets the
“endgain,” the cure. But in spite of the apparent concentration on the
analytical procedure and in spite of continuous minor improvements, the
analysis goes on endlessly without achieving a fundamental change. In
269
the complete concentration of his interest in the treatment the patient

has forgotten—repressed—his wish to be cured. By permanently searching
for causes, the purpose of the treatment is obliterated: the psycho-analysis
becomes a mere dummy-activity.
Alexander, while correctly stressing the decisive importance of re¬
conditioning the “means whereby,” mis-applies the term “forgetting.”
What he means is not forgetting, but a temporary pushing aside of the
“endgain,” the cultivation of the ability to postpone (Freud’s “sense of
reality”). The golfer, who only concentrates on the “means whereby”—
e.g. on how to hold his club or how to turn his wrist—if he forgets entirely
the aim of his endeavours, will either lose interest and stop playing golf
altogether, or become involved in a purely obsessional and meaningless
dummy-activity.
If you are studying music, of course you will not become a musician
by merely striving for the “endgain”: to be a great artist; at best you
will remain a talented amateur. On the other hand, if you concentrate
purely on the means whereby”—the technique—and you forget entirely
about the “endgain”—the appreciation, reproduction and, perhaps, even
composition of music—your practising will become mechanical and
meaningless. In the best case you might become a “virtuoso,” but not
an artist.
The “endgain” must not be forgotten. It must remain in the field of
consciousness. It must stay in the background, but guarding and planning
the different “means whereby,” which are temporarily in the foreground.
Under no condition must the “means whereby” become isolated and
lose their sense as means to an end.
When once upon a time you learned to write, you had only to attend
to the “means whereby,” to the reproduction of letters. The planning, the
attention to the “endgain,” was the teacher’s task. But when you are
grown up you have not always a teacher at your disposal, and if you intend
making use of the exercises of this book you have to keep the inter¬
dependency of aim and technique in your mind. You have to find out
“how” you react in detail (the structure of the “means whereby”); to
realize these details you must feel them (sensory appreciation). If during
this process you ‘forget” the endgain, you will condition yourself to a
flight of ideas or actions. Such forgetting of aims (aimless talking or doing)
is a symptom of insanity. Now you will appreciate that the difference
between “forgetting the endgain” and “keeping it in the background” is
not a quibbling over words, but entails a decisive difference of meaning.
The endgain is originally identical with the biological figure-back¬
ground formation (see Part I, Chapters III and IV). The organism uses
the tools—the “means whereby” at its disposal, and if they have become
madequate develops new ones. The baby’s striving for the endgain—
food entails simple “means whereby”: crying and the hanging-on bite.
270
The adult, to secure his sustenance, has to deal with innumerable “means
whereby,” of which the earning of his livelihood is but one.
In most cases the “endgain” and the “means whereby” it is obtained,
have been welded into one psycho-physical unit. As long as this unit is
working satisfactorily, the organism does not experience the need for
revising a process which feels familiar or “right.” But such satisfactory
working can be deceptive; I have given many examples of this. If you
cannot fall asleep, your means whereby to induce sleep are drugs or the
determination to sleep, whilst actually the insomnia itself is a “means
whereby” for the “endgain”: conclusion of unfinished situations.
We realize that a house cannot be built without the material required;
we understand that the organism in its striving for gratification develops
the instruments whereby the satisfaction can be achieved; in all these
cases we accept easily that the “means whereby” and the “endgain” are
parts of one whole. But to this rule there is at least one exception where
the “means whereby” are either neglected or applied in an anti-biological
manner: idealism, which is an attitude apparently concentrated entirely
on the endgain. I say apparently, because as soon as one examines more
closely the individual cases of idealism, one finds the ideals themselves
to be the means whereby the need for affection, appreciation and admira¬
tion is being gratified. Even if the bearer of high ideals maintains that he
is striving for perfection for its own sake, he is usually mistaken; he wants
to be in God’s good books, or he gratifies his vanity by picturing himself
as perfect.
He is incapable of accepting himself as he is, because he has lost the
“feel of himself” and with that the drive for biological endgains. Having
lost the awareness of his biological being he must invent a “meaning of
life” to justify his existence. These invented aims, called ideals uncon¬
nected with his biological reality—float in the air, and any endeavour to
realize them will leave him with a feeling of inferiority, impotency and
even despair. Those biological aims which either are not yet or cannot
be repressed are, at the same time, experienced as interfering with his
ideals and are fought to the point of exhaustion. Result: nervous break¬
downs and impulsive explosions.
Parents, by upholding impossible standards of behaviour, turn the fife
of their children into hell. They make the fundamental mistake of striving
for perfection instead of for development. With their idealistic, ambitious
attitude they achieve the opposite of their intentions; they arrest the
development, spread confusion and promote inferiority feelings.
There is a famous book which shows the catastrophic results of idealism
clearly enough, if you only understand it correctly: the story of Dr. Jekyll
and Mr. Hyde. Dr. Jekyll represents an ideal, not a human being. He is
an unselfish benefactor of mankind, loyal in spite of frustrations, and
chaste in the face of strong instincts. To materialize his ideal he uses the
271
"“means whereby” of repression; he represses his animalistic existence; he

hides in Mr. Hyde the jackal (Jekyll). The human being has been differ¬
entiated into the opposites “angel” and “devil,” the one praised and
welcome, the other detested and repulsed; but the one can as little exist
without the other as can light without its shadow.
Isolationist, wishful thinking does not like such truth. Yet idealism and
religion—by trying to achieve the impossible, to produce Dr. Jekylls
from human organisms—simultaneously create their opposites: millions
of Mr. Hydes. Without accepting their biological “reality,” “idealistic”
Dr. Jekyll and “materialistic” Mr. Hyde will go on existing till mankind
has finally destroyed itself.
An individual might be cured of opium addiction, he might even be
cured of his mental opium, of idealism. However, will mankind ever realize
that an ideal is only a beautiful mirage, but incapable to provide the real
camel with the real water for the real march through the real desert?
272
Index of Names
Abraham, K., 85, 129 Jones, E., 62
,
Adler, A., 67, 73, 75, 92, 94 10I> l6°, Joule, J. P., 21
Jung, C. G., 27, 72, 102, 218, 221
169
Alexander, F. M., 47, 67, ioo, 112, 125,
151, 180, 181, 186, 230, 269, 270 Kant, I., 14
Avenarius, 21 Koehler, W., 26, 27
Korsakow, 66
Bacon, W., 12 Korzybski, 212
Benedikt, Th., 75
Bergson, H., 66,67, 84,86,212,251,281 Landauer, K., 69, 81, 248
Bonaparte, M., 85 Leibniz, 32
Busch, W., 235 Leverrier, 86
Lewin, K., 101
Chaplin, Ch., 29, 121
Churchill, W., 214 Mach, E., 21
Coue, 234, 260 Marcuse, F., 49
Cronin, 171 Marx, K., 14, 128, 136
Mauthner, F., 21
D’Alembert, 21 Moreno, 222
Dante, 68 Moses, 119, 120
Deutsch, H., 130, 143
Doyle, Conan, 32 Nietzsche, F., 57
Nordinger, S., 20
Eddington, A. I., 20
Ehrlich, 35 Ophuijsen, J. H. W. van, 131
Einstein, A., 86, 91, hi, 186
Engels, 129 Pavlov, 57
Faulkner, W., 113
Fedem, 138, 141-144, 164, 196 Rado, S., 62
Rank, O., 72, 75, 218
Ferenczi, S., 74, 249
Rauschning, H., 7, 121
Fletcher, 193
Reich, A., 238
Freud, S., 7, 13, 17, 21, 27, 35, 36, 41,
Reich, W„ 5, 45, 67, 7°, 72-75,
51, 53, 55, 69,, 72-77, 80-88, 91-93, 123,124,132,155, 169, 222, 230,
97, 100, 102, 103, 112, 115-117, 124,
128-132, 138-141, 147, 150, 156,174, 266
179,181, 187, 204, 206, 209, 217-222, Roget, P. M., 17, 19
238, 240, 247, 253, 269, 270 Russell, B., 82, 207
Freud, A., 64, 238, 245
Friedlaender, S., 13-15, 19, 180 Scheler, M., 201
Schiller, F., 187
Goethe, J. W. v„ 42, 49, 68, 103 Schmidt, A., 246
Goldstein, K., 5, 20, 26, 49 Schubert, F., 68
Groddeck, G., 73, 218 Shakespeare, 30
Smuts, J. C., 28, 29, 33, 102, 105
Harnik, 75 Spinoza, 72
Hartmann, K. v., 139 Steckel, 33, 226
Hegel, 14 Sterba, 138
Heine, H., 241
Heisenberg, 20 Ternus, 32
Hermann, I., 155 Thouless, H., 27
Hitler, A., 148
Horney, K., 75, no, 160, 225, 242, 266 Velde, van der, 230
Huxley, A., 121, 209 Virgil, 148
Jacobson, 229, 23° Weinland, 54

Jaentsch, 42 Wertheimer, M., 54
273
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“Psycho-analysis is founded securely upon the observations of the facts of

The aim of this book is to examine some psychological and psycho-

repressions, but it either under-estimates or else neglects the functions of

HOLISM AND PSYCHO-ANALYSIS

1 Hunger Instinct 107 s

HOLISM AND PSYCHO-ANALYSIS

This book, I am afraid, cannot be swallowed. On the contrary, the more

In this revision of psycho-analysis I intend:

(a) To replace the psychological by an organismic concept (1.8).

Differential thinking shows a resemblance to the dialectical theories,

Actually there are many systems in our organism centred around

The three figures Nos. ia, ib and ic may be helpful in clarifying my

Thinking in opposites is the quintessence of dialectics. Opposites

Similarly the Latin “sacer” means “taboo,” which in translation is usually

Hitler was as much a guttersnipe in 1938 as in 1940, but the emotional

Identity Difference Contrariety

Insufficiency Sufficiency Redundance

ment; little expectation—little disappointment; no expectation—no dis¬

In this book I intend making full use of the above demonstrated

1 A comparatively recent attempt to polarize opposites in order to form a new

to a single god, Jehovah, who was theoretically meant to represent an

If we decide that causal thinking is too arbitrary and if we take our

in a liquid form. If we either diminish this pressure (e.g. in a vacuum,

Affection is the tendency to make friendly contact, to join oneself to

Patient: “Yes, Doctor, I have suffered from this before.”

I wonder if there exists a general practitioner who has never received

muttering and whispering, and a regression to that stage may occur in

Even our mind consists, according to this concept, of a great number

customary term gestalt psychology by the more appropriate field theory

Whilst the study of Gestalt-psychology requires extensive scientific

2. Performer a spectator Performance Hamlet, 3. 2

3. Male an actress Sex Actor on Greek

4. Impersonator the author Literature Shakespeare

5. Professional a private person Personal status Amateur

The first three columns need no explanation, but as it may be more

THE ORGANISM AND ITS BALANCE

A medical student, at the very beginning of his studies, is faced with

all conditions of an unattainable standard of ethics would eventually be

emotional expression, a cry for help: “I am shivering—give me warmth!”

conceiving it as “prima causa” and of falling into a new trap of deification

in collective habits it is less conspicuous. The organism of an obese

Incomplete Situation. Compensation by dream.

Absence of familiar At home

Long cold walk to the urinal No distant walk

No organism is self-sufficient. It requires the world for the gratification

down by the loss of senses (blindness, anaesthesia, etc.), and by social

Farmer <r-m ))))) V Agronomist

Pilot +-m — Corn-field m-y Merchant

We try to approach the objective world by means of definitions, and

ance5 he considers the chemicnl composition of the soil. The nearest

Specific interests are dictated by specific needs.

is gratified. Exactly the same happens to our subjective realities: they

To Freud, cathexis mainly means libidinal cathexis.

The relationship between organism and “mind” corresponds to the