Has Castration Anxiety Anything to Do with Psychoanalysis?

ABSTRACT

Following the idea of Green about whether sexuality is related to psychoanalysis, I begin this article with a question that refers to the title of the work: “Has castration anxiety anything to do with psychoanalysis?” Concerned about the lack of bibliographic reference to the concept of castration anxiety, I make a tour of the notion, taking as its point of departure and arrival the intellectual itinerary of Freud. I continue with a brief review of later authors. Interested in rethinking this issue, I wonder whether castration anxiety is expressed in the same manner in the clinical practice of today. The question does not tolerate a hasty response, so I present two clinical vignettes to call attention to castration anxiety as a central factor in the development and understanding of the clinical practice. The last section refers to the discussion and concluding reflections.

Notes

¹ Vigorexia: term utilized by Pope et al. (1995) to describe people who present an obsession to build large masses of muscle.

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Notes on contributors

Jani Santamaría

Jani Santamaría, Ph.D. in Psychology, is Teaching Psychoanalyst of the Mexican Psychoanalytic Association (APM), Psychoanalyst of Children and Adolescents. Member of the Committee on Children and Adolescents of the Psychoanalytic Federation of Latin America (FEPAL), and Coordinator of the Training Program – APM.