Page:The International Journal of Psycho-Analysis III 1922 1.djvu/40

 32 MICHAEL JOSEF EISLER

Statements. Our investigation of the problem does not go back so far; the clinical pictures of the condition which underlie the in- vestigation admit of a further and, perhaps for practical purposes, a more important conception. We shall keep as far as possible to experiential evidence, but at the same time we shall find that we can support Freud's ingenious conclusions from clinical ob- servation.

One of the most familiar psycho-analytical observations is that in every infant gratification of the oral libido promotes sleep. It is immaterial whether this gratification occurs through taking nourish- ment or through continued sucking of a finger. This intimate association of oral gratification and need for sleep at a time when the individual has no other desire to appease must produce an ex- ceedingly firm connection, to which nothing of equal significance in later phases of development can be compared. Therefore we shall not be surprised if both oral gratification and sleep henceforth show a tendency to become more and more strengthened in their union, which primarily was perhaps a loose one, and in patho- logical cases to act in sympathy with each other. In investigating this notion by suitable examples, and apart from theoretical con- siderations, we shall hope to obtain a better understanding of a number of phenomena. I shall give a somewhat detailed description of the first case for the sake of clearness.

I. A bright and vivacious girl, eighteen years ot age, who was very appreciative of the pleasures of life, became ill with the following nervous disturbance which first appeared after an episode on an excursion. At the prospect of going into company she was seized with a kind of spasm of the throat, i. e. a choking reflex which belongs to the well-known group of globus hystericus. This symptom so alarmed her that she gave up her intention and shut herself up at home. She gradually had to recognise that this trouble was not of a temporary nature, but tended to occur more and more frequently, with the result that she had an increasing aversion to meet acquaintances. At the same time she developed an extraordinary and ingenious capacity for hiding from the world her true condition, of which she was very much ashamed ; and she almost completely succeeded in doing so. The next result of the neurosis was that she considered herself incapable of playing the part of a woman, and she had therefore refused several quite suitable offers of marriage. As a pretext for this state of affairs she said