‘Never Twice Without Thrice’: an Outline for The Understanding of Traumatic Neurosis

Following the review of Freud's work on trauma (1916-17, 1920, 1926, 1933, 1939), this article proposes to view the traumatic scene as a screen which acts as an active process in the case of many victims who, like Mrs D, break down a few days after being assaulted. After a first attempt at denial, the ego is submerged with repressed content. Repetition is seen as a means of abreacting the trauma by seeking to bind the enormous quantity of excitations that cannot find discharge. Repetition, because of its compulsive quality, fails. The victim remains in a state of helplessness against which she resorts to denial, splitting and projection (Freud, 1920, 1926). This strategy is seen, however, as maintaining the victim in a state of helplessness. Thus, I suggest that, overwhelmed, the ego finally resorts to a multi-levelled system of defence. On a first level, fixation to the trauma, like in screen-memories, gives way to a first displacement. On a second level, the adoption of an identity built upon being a victim contributes to the strength of this displacement. On a third level, identification with the aggressor consolidates this defensive strategy by giving meaning to the hostility awakened by the sexual assault.