Individual Differences 1:Psychodynamic Approach

• Fixation - The focus on a particular stage of psychosexual development because of over - or under - gratification during that stage. The fixation is on the appropriate body organ for that stage.

• Regression - Is a type of ego defence mechanism. When an individual comes in contact with stress or disturbing thoughts or impulses, they may regress back to an earlier stage of development rather than deal with their issues in an adult way

• The anxiety provoking thoughts are temporarily pushed into the unconscious. Someone who is fixated at a particular psychosexual stage may regress back to that stage as an adult in response to stress.

• An example of this is the oral stage, when the limbido is focused on the mouth. If they are fed too much or too little they could become fixated on this stage. Meaning that they may show traits which satisfies oral desires such as smoking, kissing, chewing gum etc. Freud claimed that schizophrenics become fixated at the very earliest stage of development.

  • If an individual with this oral fixation encounters an excessive amount of stress, they may regress back to this earlier stage, and the schizophrenic becomes essentially like a new born again.

• Fixation - The focus on a particular stage of psychosexual development because of over - or under - gratification during that stage. The fixation is on the appropriate body organ for that stage.

• Regression - Is a type of ego defence mechanism. When an individual comes in contact with stress or disturbing thoughts or impulses, they may regress back to an earlier stage of development rather than deal with their issues in an adult way

• The anxiety provoking thoughts are temporarily pushed into the unconscious. Someone who is fixated at a particular psychosexual stage may regress back to that stage as an adult in response to stress.

• An example of this is the oral stage, when the limbido is focused on the mouth. If they are fed too much or too little they could become fixated on this stage. Meaning that they may show traits which satisfies oral desires such as smoking, kissing, chewing gum etc. Freud claimed that schizophrenics become fixated at the very earliest stage of development.

  • If an individual with this oral fixation encounters an excessive amount of stress, they may regress back to this earlier stage, and the schizophrenic becomes essentially like a new born again.

It would be fixated on the mouth and would show traits such as nail biting. The id would want this whereas the superego wouldn’t, as it is undeveloped the id’s commands would be performed. No self control ruled by desire, self centered. Could be narcissistic and impulsive, no ego could make it difficult to engage with reality.

• Freud argues that this regression back to a new-born state involves the loss of all attachments other than those focused on the self. The schizophrenic becomes disengaged from the outside world and entirely inward focusing. This detachment from reality combined with still having possession of an active mind leads to the creation of alternative realities that are not part of the real world.

• The ego is essentially non-existent, so the fantasies and the wish fulfilment of the id can go unchecked. This can lead to the self-obsessed, narcissistic ideas of schizophrenia such as delusions of grandeur or of persecution. The attachments to the real world that have been lost are reinvested in the fabricated existence of the schizophrenic.

• Freud argued that this was the schizophrenic’s attempt to recover a sort of normality. They have the need to interact with something external to oneself, but combined with a distrust of all that is real leads to the necessity to create an alternative reality (e.g. hearing voices or seeing people that are not real).

• During the late 1940’s and early 1950’s, a number of studies had suggested that the mother-child relationship was disordered in cases where the child was schizophrenic (Lidz and Lid\, 1949). Fromm-Reichman suggested that the trigger for schizophrenia came from mothers who were overly dominant in the home, and dominant particularly towards the schizophrenic child.        

However, while being controlled and overprotective, they were also cold and distant. The overprotection stifles the child’s development, and their distant leaves the child feeling emotionally insecure. She called this type of mother schizophrenogenic (schizophrenia causing).

• Freud’s theory does have some explanatory power. It provides an explanation as to why schizophrenics lose touch with reality as he argues that schizophrenia is a regression to an infant like state. This theory can also explain some of the symptoms of schizophrenia such as delusions of grandeur.

• One big problem with this theory is that it could be argued that schizophrenic behaviour does not resemble that of infants (Sterling and Hellewell, 1999). Young children typically show enthusiasm and motivation to engage with others. The lack of motivation and emotion in many schizophrenics is very different from the behaviour of children.

A big issue with this theory is that it places the blame for schizophrenia squarely on mothers. This could, and probably did create a great deal of shame and guilt for the mothers of schizophrenic children. Thankfully, due to the lack of research evidence, this theory has fallen out of fashion, and today is regarded as an embarrassing, sexist holdover from a less enlightened time.