Deficit of the Structure of the ‘Self’ and Obsessional Neurosis Fusional Deficit and the Structure of the Self

I am fully aware of the vastness of the problem I have chosen to treat, yet I am convinced that any change in perspective exerts its influence over all the phenomena encompassed by the fresh point of view. It follows that obsessional neurosis also falls within the scope of observations based on the centrality of the self in regard to problems of mental health and disorder. It is well known that Freud, in several brilliant essays (Freud 1909, 1913), had linked the obsessional syndrome with castration anxiety and the regression from an oedipal phallic sexuality to the anal eroticism which had preceded it in individual development. For Freud, anal eroticism represented the element activating the complex mechanisms which characterize the syndrome in question. For Klein (Klein M. 1963), an early oedipus was at odds with a weak organization of the libido. Consequently, the ego's struggle began when the sadistic phase was at its climax. At this point sadistic and controlling activities directed at the object and its interior were set into motion and a sadistic imago was internalized and organized itself as the precursor of the super-ego. Attempts at repairing the devastation proved to be inadequate and would be repeated endlessly.