I want to see neuroses more closely by examining the neurosis case known as Freud's werewolf case. This case belongs to an 18-year-old man who contracted gonorrhea. He was diagnosed with manic-depressive disorder. 15 years have passed since the patient's childhood neurosis. This shows that childhood neuroses are useful for understanding adult neuroses, just as childhood dreams are useful for analysis in adulthood. The patient's parents are a happy couple who got married at a young age. Over time, her mother contracted a uterine disease, and as a result, her father moved away from home due to mental health problems. He also has a sister who is two years older than him. The patient was not raised by his mother, who could not take much care of him due to her health problems, but by an elderly woman from the public. In a repressed memory that emerged later, the patient, along with his caregiver, is looking from behind a car in which his parents and sibling were driving. The patient, who was initially a very calm child, became grumpy and angry after his parents returned from a trip. Meanwhile, the sick family is staying with the English governess, and the family attributes this change to this. The patient explains that he was scared and screamed when he first saw a picture of a wolf in a book. Meanwhile, the patient, who is a child, begins to be afraid of many animals. For example, he remembers being afraid of insects, but also torturing them. He states that he was religious for a while and that he would take turns kissing the sacred paintings in his room before going to sleep. According to Freud, it is possible to say that this patient suffers from an obsessional neurosis. He thinks that he had a very good relationship with his father at the beginning of his childhood and that his father loved him very much. He explains that this relationship was damaged towards the end of his childhood. In this case, the character change in the child, the source of phobias and the origin of obsessive religiosity were examined. The first suspicious incident that points to a castration complex is when the English governess shows her behind when they go out into the street and says, "Look at my tail!" was to say. When the childhood period is examined, it is seen that the period between 3 years, 3 months and 4 years old is when there is a seduction. There appear to be neurotic symptoms. This distinction was made through a dream, not a trauma. (Freud, 1918)
The patient stated that in this dream he looked at the window at the foot of his bed, the window opened and there were white wolves on the tree he saw from the window. He said that this was the first anxiety dream he had ever had. The fact that the wolves were white reminded the patient of the farm with sheep where he went with his father. The fear he felt from his father was the biggest cause of his illness, and in this first dream analysis, it was learned that the wolf took his father's place. The patient's phobia dates back to the age of 1 and a half, when he saw his parents having sexual intercourse. Anxiety meant that he refused to be satisfied by his father. The reason why the wolf ate her was because she had sexual intercourse with her father. His desire to be in a passive position was suppressed by his father and was replaced by a wolf phobia. It has been observed that the driving force of repression is the child's narcissistic sexual libido. (Freud, 1918)
According to the approach seen in this case, by analyzing neuroses in depth, it is defended that childhood memories are not the reproduction of symptoms in adulthood, but consist of fantasies that owe their origin to a regression originating from childhood. As neurotic people tend to cling to fantasies that regress them, they should be treated by preventing them from doing so and bringing these unconscious formations to consciousness. (Freud, 1918)
In the analysis, a path similar to the analysis in which these childhood fantasies are believed to be real should be followed. The difference between these will only be revealed at the end of the analysis. At this stage, after these are examined, the patient should be told that these are fantasy products that make him forget his real-life duties and responsibilities, and that the connection between these duties and fantasies should be examined. In this way, the treatment will become useful in real life. If the patient's attention is drawn elsewhere without examination when these fantasies emerge, this neurotic mechanism of the patient will be supported. Therefore, childhood memories should be viewed and examined from this perspective. These memories may not always reflect reality, they are often distorted. In dreams, it changes places especially with these scenes. If the same scenes are returned to in the analysis, the dream should be taken and examined as a memory. (Freud, 1918)
With this case, Sigmund Freud proved that what happened at the age of four or five alone could produce neurosis. In this case, the primal scene involves a sexual intercourse. Whether real or fantasy, the scene of sexual intercourse between their parents is not uncommon in the analysis of neurotics. As the analysis comes to an end, previously unspoken memories may emerge. According to this case, the first scene he remembered without Freud's intervention caused Freud to think that the treatment was over. Because from now on, the resistance mentioned before has disappeared.
If we consider phobias by looking at this case, it is possible to say that the phobia occurs with a genital effect. By developing self-anxiety, the person tries to protect himself from something he sees as a threat. However, since the process of repression leaves a mark, it emerges as a symptom. Since the object towards which the sexual target, perceived as a danger, is directed must be represented by something else in consciousness, it turns into another object with displacement and becomes a phobia. In this case, it was examined that the fear of the father emerged into consciousness as wolf phobia. As a result of this case, Sigmund Freud said that castration anxiety is the anxiety that causes phobias to occur. (Freud, 1918)
The aim of psychoanalytic treatment is not a rapid change or normalization, but to ensure positive progress of developments in life by neutralizing obstacles. (Freud, 1918)
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