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A type of behaviour is described marked by restless energy, impulsive unrestraint, and counterphobic attitudes. The endurance and tirelessness of these persons who constantly seek company and physical hazards and are uneasy when alone, is nevertheless forced and artificial. Two cases are cited with the common infancy feature of having passively to observe highly stimulating adult activity, in the one case frankly sexual, and in the other unrestrainedly aggressive. Both children attempted to abreact the enforced stimulation by masturbation, which was essentially unrelieving and additionally stimulating. The search for stimulation in later life is in reality an attempt to find relief through denial of the painfulness of the overstimulated condition.
Reference is made to the stress laid by Anna Freud on the importance of phallic masturbation in the genesis of acting out in children (1949). In contrast to 'acting out characters' who continue to relate to the outside world by seeking to master stimulation counterphobically, other cases presented became submerged in unreal masochistic phantasies. It is suggested that the differentiating factor is in the nature of the traumatic experiences; the former were involved passively as observers, the latter actively in the overwhelming sadistic activities. All cases make a heavy investment of adult energy in concealing feelings of helplessness and shame.
Case material is advanced to support the contention that the greater intensity of castration fear in boys, as well as the greater frequency of the counterphobic character, may be related to a fundamental difference between the sexes to experience relieving orgastic discharge in childhood.