Psychology
for Lawyers
James R. Elkins
neurosis
finding ourselves divided against ourselves
Preface
"Neurosis is a 'psychic disturbance
brought by fears and defenses against these fears, and by attempts to
find compromise solutions for conflicting tendencies' This describes
an individual having trouble with coping and handling certain psychosocial
environmental stressors resulting in problems within their selves."
--Karen Horney (1885-1952), bio compiled by Gretchen
Langenderfer <website no longer available> (citing Karen Horney,
The Neurotic Personality of Our Time at
pp. 28-29)
"Freud has been variously quoted as saying that
psychoanalysis could treat hysterical or neurotic misery, but that it
could not treat ordinary human unhappiness. The most a patient of psychoanalytic
therapy could hope for was deliverance from the neurotic misery; psychoanalysis,
in the words of a famous novel, does not promise you a rose garden."
--Grand Strategy, a
blog by J.N. Neilsen
"Chaturvedi (2000) says that
over the last two centuries, the term neurosis has evolved to be used
in at least four different but related ways:
i) as a global term to indicate all non-psychotic
conditions,
ii) as a term to indicate specific neurotic disorders like anxiety,
depression, etc,
iii) as a term to describe assumed underlying defence mechanisms,
iv) as a maladaptive pattern of behavior (with some evidence of anxiety)
following a stressful life situation, which tends to avoid responsibility
and the stressful situation itself (Freeman, 1993, Chaturvedi, 1992).
Today, psychiatric classificatory systems have abandoned
the category of neurosis as an
organizing principle. Neurosis was used in DSM-II but was replaced in
DSM-III by anxiety
disorders, somatoform disorders and dissociation disorders.
* * * *
Current lay usage: (Example) Encyclopaedia Britannica. Neuroses
are characterized by anxiety,
depression, or other feelings of unhappiness or distress that are out
of proportion to the
circumstances of a person’s life. They may impair a person’s
functioning, but they are not incapacitating."
A
Brief Note on the Terms Neurosis and Psychoneurosis
Bill Tillier, Calgary, Alberta [citing the work of S.K. Chaturvedi,
& C.P.L. Freeman, "Neurotic Disorders," in R. E. Kendell
& A. K. Zealley (eds.), Companion to Psychiatric Studies
485-524 (Edinburgh: Churchill Livingston, 5th ed. (1993)]
On Neurosis
[extracted from Craig Chalquist's Karen
Horney Glossary]
"Neurosis: a form of psychological
suffering involving unconscious inner conflicts around basic
anxiety and partially determined by cultural factors.
All neuroses include anxiety, the defenses against it, numerous fears,
a dissipation of energy, pretense, and impairment in vitality, spontaneity,
freedom, enjoyment, and achievement. "The neurotic personality of our
time" refers to the similarities in neuroses in a given culture; in
ours, they include an excessive dependence on affection or approval,
feelings of inferiority or inadequacy, inhibited self-assertion, hostility,
inhibited or compulsive sexual activity, and competitiveness. Origin:
lack of warmth and affection in childhood (children who feel wanted
can healthily endure trauma and frustration) kept alive and urgent by
present-day defenses.
The essence of a neurosis is the neurotic character
structure whose focal points are neurotic trends
organized around the central inner conflict
between neurotic and healthy dynamics. These in turn constitute three
early relationship-management strategies: moving toward people (emphasizes
the helplessness aspect of basic anxiety ),
against people (hostility), or away from people (isolation). The first
tend to be dependent personalities, the second narcissistic, and the
third schizoid. These attempts at solution gradually harden into personality
traits and pervade the entire character structure.The healthy counterpart
is growing with people .
Three later, more internal solutions to conflict correspond
with the three earlier ones and provide a rough diagnostic typology:
the self-effacing solution , in which love is sought via "morbid dependency";
the expansive solution , in which one identifies with the glorified
self (includes narcissistic, perfectionistic, and arrogant-vindictive
types); and the resignation solution , in which one withdraws, becomes
an onlooker, and resists closeness (subgroups include persistent resignation,
rebellion, and shallow living).
Unless treated, neuroses tend to worsen over time because
1. whatever is repressed tends to call forth reinforcing reactions from
the environment, and 2. defenses create vicious circles
that increase the underlying anxiety."
--Craig Chalquist, A
Karen Horney Glossary
Reference: Readings|Web Resources
Psychoanalysis,
Neurosis and Self after Freud
[Ken Sanes, Transparency Now]
Neurosis:
A Freudian Perspective
Neurosis:
A Jungian Perspective
Neurosis
[Daryl Sharp's Jung Lexicon]
Jung's
Theory of Neurosis
[Wikipedia]
Neurosis
[Wikipedia]
Karen
Horney
Reference: Videos
Performing Therapy
On Yourself: Self-Knowledge and Self-Realization
[8:19 mins.] [Academy of Ideas] [the ideas of Karen
Horney; "unconscious neurotic trends"; self-analysis]
The History of
Psychology: Freud, Jung, Psychoanalysis
[34:33 mins.] [the brief commentary on neurosis
("pursuing something you don't really want") begins at 23:04
mins. and ends at 24:27 mins.] [references: Darwin & evolutionary
psychology--4:41 mins. to 9:16 mins.; Freud on ego, superego, and id.--24:39
mins. to 26:12 mins.; C.G. Jung--27:32 mins.; Jung's psychological types--29:27
mins. to 30:43 mins.]
The "Mature"
Personality Theory of Karen Horney
[3:59 mins.]
Neurosis and
Human Growth: The Struggle toward Self-Realization
[3:23 mins.] [audio; reading from Karen Horney's
book]
Freud, Adler,
Jung, Horney and Klein
[33:19 mins.] [commentary on Horney begins at 25:02
mins.]
Neurosis and
Psychosis
[3:43 mins.] [audio] [definitional/informational]
Neurosis
vs. Character Disturbance: Anxiety
[8:18 mins.] [George Simon, author of Character
Disturbance: The Phenomenon of Our Age (Parkhurst Brothers Publ.,
2011)]
Games
People Play
[28:00 mins.] [Jordan Peterson]
Contact Professor Elkins
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