The Oedipal Complex

I’ve been scrolling through the different threads on here... all the stuff about depression, anxiety... basically just neuroses, I guess. It makes me think about how Freud used to argue that, at its core, every single neurosis is actually an Oedipal complex. Like, he believed neurotic symptoms are just this weird compromise between repressed desires and the ego's defense mechanisms during that genital stage of psychosexual development. I wonder if you guys can actually connect those Freudian explanations to what you're going through right now? Maybe it's possible to really dive deep into your own psyche and trace things back to when that Oedipal complex was first playing out in your life?

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In my estimation, most of Freud's explanations feel rather strained when applied to contemporary issues. While one cannot deny that Freud made monumental contributions to psychology, personality theory, and psychiatry—not to mention his role as the architect of psychoanalysis—he is quite difficult to utilize as a generalist for solving everyday problems. Even if you were to set aside these lifestyle struggles and focus strictly on DSM-based diagnoses, you would likely find that at least 70-80% of those diagnoses fall entirely outside the scope of his theories.
Furthermore, from my perspective, attempting to apply psychoanalysis without the direct guidance and supervision of a trained psychoanalyst is incredibly difficult—if not outright impossible.

Look, let's be real—every guy out there just wants one thing, and there's zero actual depth to it.

you could always throw in an Oedipal complex 😉
and then you're basically set for life. nothing's gonna be able to screw with your short-term memory after that... I don't think so.

Freud leaned way too heavily on the unconscious, making libido the star of the show while ignoring everything else. He completely missed how much our environment or later stages of development actually shape who we become.
It’s honestly hilarious to me that he’d tell his patients—and pretty much everyone else—that their dreams were just reflections of repressed sexual urges (we're talking full-on Oedipal stuff in extreme cases)... yet when it came to himself, he claimed he didn't have those kinds of dreams and that his own were just symbols of ambition. He couldn't even practice a little self-criticism, so how could he possibly be objective with anyone else?!

Is a daughter’s relationship to her father also called an Oedipal complex—or is there a different term for that?

Nathan Gonzalez6 said:Is a daughter’s relationship to her father also called an Oedipal complex—or is there a different term for that?

It's known as the Electra complex—though, if we are looking at the broader psychological development, the term "Oedipal phase" is generally applied to both genders (which, I should note, was Freud's original concept).

Douglas Long2 said:It's known as the Electra complex—though, if we are looking at the broader psychological development, the term "Oedipal phase" is generally applied to both genders (which, I should note, was Freud's original concept).

Thanks, 🙂

Thanks, Douglas Long2 🙂

That’s fine by me, 🙂 though I must admit—I find it a bit difficult to stomach when Freud starts rambling about castration anxiety or resentment toward the same-sex parent 😲
—not to mention his whole grim obsession with Thanatos 😈
. The heirs of his work have since built upon those ideas, refining them into something much more substantial.

He supposedly "diagnosed" his own daughter, Anna, with a negative Oedipal complex 🙂—all because she was reportedly jealous of her father-in-law, apparently trying to get closer to her sister instead.

I'm not entirely sure... I've spent quite a bit of time studying Anna Freud—so, really, my introduction to his work came exclusively through her lens. I haven't actually read anything by Siggy himself, but—I don't know—there’s just something about him, isn't there? He seemed like a genuine genius; his sense of logic was so profound it almost bordered on madness. Truly one in a million. And if he hadn't dedicated his life to this field, who knows... perhaps he would have ended up in a mental institution. So much of what he proposed makes perfect sense to me, yet—and bear with me here—it feels: a) undeniably incomplete; b) somewhat inaccessible to the average mind (I wonder what kind of people actually seek out psychoanalytic approaches? It seems most applicable to deeply contemplative types who enjoy constant analysis); c) and this might sound like a sweeping generalization, but I feel he was far better suited for diagnostics than for actual therapy; d) plus, he certainly misstated himself in several places—I can't think of a better way to put it, but "phallicism"?😕 — please, let's be reasonable...

By the way, I would be immensely grateful if someone could recommend some more modern psychoanalysts—ideally nothing too dense or impenetrable (as you can tell from the ramblings I've written here, I am certainly not a psychology major).

If you're looking for something a bit more modern, you might want to dive into Erich Fromm—there’s actually a ton of really interesting stuff there...

Ah, the intersection of Jung and communism. 😁

Douglas Long2 said:It's known as the Electra complex—though, if we are looking at the broader psychological development, the term "Oedipal phase" is generally applied to both genders (which, I should note, was Freud's original concept).

That simply won't hold water. If we're acknowledging an Oedipal complex, then logically, there must be an Electra one as well. 😉

Freud was an absolute master of self-promotion; honestly, you could almost call him a pioneer of modern marketing (regardless of what Kotler 😬 might think), because it is truly staggering how effectively he managed to sell his "product."

The thing is, his psychoanalytic method relied on patient sessions that—for them to supposedly have any real effect—had to drag on for at least three or four years, though five or six was preferred... and let's talk about this supposed "effect." In order for a patient to resolve their issues (...unconscious stuff, blah blah, childhood traumas, complexes, and so on...) it was deemed absolutely vital that the patient themselves arrived at the realization of the root cause of their psychological struggles. To put it bluntly, "Freud" just sits there asking questions while the patient talks and talks, all while Freud isn't allowed to actually reveal what the problem is—assuming he even knows what it is in the first place—because the patient has to define the problem themselves to solve it, and only then will they find the remedy. But oh, please, go attend five years of weekly sessions just to see if anything happens... Freud, give credit where credit is due 🙏
...
anyhow, according to Freud, homosexuals were essentially mental patients whom he would confine to institutions for treatment. And as a little side note, there is a documented story about some individual whom he allegedly "cured" (I can't recall the exact nature of the trauma involved) only for it to later emerge that the same person ended up in a psychiatric ward following an attempted murder, severe depression, or whatsoever... but Freud somehow managed to cover that up.

the bottom line is this: obviously, not every mental disorder stems from a miserable childhood, nor can everything be fixed through psychoanalysis; many illnesses are rooted in biological malfunctions (the nervous system) and require medication.

I REST MY CASE

I remember being about three or four years old; whenever my mother would sit in a chair with her legs stretched out—she’d be wearing a skirt—I would push my toy cars underneath her, pretending to play, but I was actually just watching her legs and even touching her tights with my fingers. Honestly, I loved doing that.
I can't say for sure if I was doing it for sexual gratification back then, but it probably was.

IS THIS NORMAL? 😳

this guy in my class... I’m pretty sure he’s got an Oedipal complex

1.the proof? basically every other word out of his mouth is about his mom
2.I even overheard him telling someone he can sleep (not sure if he meant sexually) with her
3.he's constantly coddling her, feeding her, all that stuff

it's just... the dude is obsessed. one time he showed up with some girl and his mom straight up spat on her... yeah, I'm saying it, the guy definitely has an Oedipal complex

electricotter20 said:this guy in my class... I’m pretty sure he’s got an Oedipal complex

1.the proof? basically every other word out of his mouth is about his mom
2.I even overheard him telling someone he can sleep (not sure if he meant sexually) with her
3.he's constantly coddling her, feeding her, all that stuff

it's just... the dude is obsessed. one time he showed up with some girl and his mom straight up spat on her... yeah, I'm saying it, the guy definitely has an Oedipal complex

It’s definitely possible, and honestly, it isn't normal.
I feel so bad for whatever woman ends up with him—imagine having to marry someone like that. Man, I couldn't deal.😲

An old friend of mine actually seemed to go through the exact same thing.
He got married, but he was always calling his mom, and he was constantly fighting with his wife.
Everything stayed like that until his mother passed away.
Before then, he barely even noticed his wife existed, and they were always at each other's throats.
His mom was always standing right there between the two of them.
Now everything is fine, and my friend says he and his wife finally get along—they actually talk more and aren't so closed off anymore.
I’m happy for him, though—at least he doesn't have to listen to them fighting all the time.