Oedipus’ anxiety from past to the present: a case study

ABSTRACT

In his 10th seminar titled ‘L’angoisse,’ Lacan argues that anxiety is due to the possibility of not being castrated. He argues that the reason behind the subject’s anxiety is the question ‘What does the Other want from me?’. This causes anxiety in the subject, who is located as the object of the Other’s desire because, in this position, the subject faces the threat of being devoured by his mother. The subject is protected from anxiety through the function of Name-of-the-Father, which refers to the mother’s lack. As a result of this function, object a has fallen from the subject. Object a exists both as the object of anxiety and the object cause of desire. The subject constantly circles the object to be able to possess it, but the closer he gets to the object, the more anxious he becomes. The concept of uncanny is located at the core of anxiety; it corresponds to the concept of lack of lack. In addition, Lacanian clinical structures differ with regards to their relationship to lack and deal with anxiety in different ways. This study centers on the Lacanian theory of anxiety and aims to explore the relationship between anxiety and obsessional neurosis through a case study.

KEYWORDS:

• Lacanian psychoanalysis
• anxiety
• uncanny
• object a
• obsessional neurosis

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Lacan uses the French word Angoisse to describe anxiety, which is inspired by Freud’s choice of the German word Angst. Despite being translated into English as anxiety, the English term is not an exact equivalent of the word Angoisse used by Lacan in his theory. However, in modern literature, the translation of anxiety remains prevalent (as cited in Hekı̇moğlu & Bı̇lı̇k, 2020). A similar use will be adopted in this article.

2. The interviews with the patient were conducted at the university clinic where the author received the doctoral education as part of the author’s doctoral internship. Before commencing the interviews, the therapist informed the patient that the interviews could be used for educational purposes (like supervision, case presentations, and case studies), preserving the patient’s anonymity, as part of the therapist’s doctoral training process. Patients who agreed to these conditions began the therapy process. The patient who is the subject of this study is aware that his information will be used with his identity concealed and has consented to this. In this study, to protect the patient’s privacy, no information that could reveal the patient’s identity or that is unrelated to the study’s purpose has been included. Only the necessary information for understanding and addressing the case has been altered and provided under a pseudonym. In addition to privacy, another ethical issue in case studies is the timing of when the case study is written. Writing case studies while the therapy process is ongoing can unconsciously influence the therapist’s therapeutic goals and steer the therapy process in response to the case study’s progress. However, in this case study, it was initiated four months after the therapy process had concluded, eliminating such an ethical concern.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Münevver Zuhal Baydar

Münevver Zuhal Baydar ıs a clınıcal psychologıst, psychotherapıst, and supervısor ın Turkey. She ıs a Ph.D. candıdate ın the Clınıcal Psychology program at Mıddle East Technıcal Unıversıty. She teaches courses about foundatıonal clınıcal knowledge and clınıcal skılls to the undergraduate psychology program at Suleyman Demırel Unıversıty. Her theoretıcal studıes and clınıcal practıce are advanced wıthın the framework of Lacanıan psychoanalytıc theory. She ıntensely focuses on Lacanıan anxıety theory and has wrıtten artıcles and book chapters about ıt. Also, she explores Lacanıan concepts of anxıety and gaze ın her doctoral thesıs.