The Mechanism of “Small Deprivations”

There are two contradictory attitudes observable in specific neurotics: they are either overcautious in order to have always a double supply of everything at hand, or, wait to the last second to supplement the needed supply, finding themselves in want. Overcaution and slight panic mixed with anger, respectively, are the conscious results.

Here are a few statements of these patients:

Mr. A.: “I don't know why, but cigarettes give me a lot of trouble. Every time I see that there are only a few left in the package, I remind myself to buy a new one, but forget regularly my decision. The result is that a few times every week I am out of cigarettes, exactly at the moment I need one badly.”

Mr. B.: “My wife tortures me with her sex-demands at the wrong time. She is frigid and basically disinterested in the whole act. Her ability for wrong timing is remarkable: she chooses the time when I am ill-disposed or tired. She admitted once that she asks for sex only because she is afraid that some days later she would perhaps like sex without getting it. She takes in sex for hoarding purposes.”

Mr. C.: “I consider the practice of some clothing stores of furnishing the customer with two pairs of trousers for every suit, one of the most intelligent acts of the clothing industry. I am furious that the practice has been abolished during the war. To tell the truth, I never used the second pair; still, the knowledge of having that extra pair is consoling.”

Dr. D.: “I am an early riser, my wife is still asleep. I paint my best pictures in the early morning hours. While painting, I smoke my pipe. Don't be surprised, other creative people do similar things. Do you remember that Jerome K. Jerome dedicated his book, ‘Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow,’ to his best friend—his pipe? In any case, I love my pipe while working. At that point the tragi-comedy starts: I forget the pipe all too frequently in the bedroom. Of course, I don't want to disturb my wife again; the result is that I'm furious and wo