IS PHOBIA A SYMPTOM OR CLINICAL STRUCTURE: A COMPARISM OF FREUD AND LACAN’S VIEWS USING THE CASE STUDY OF LITTLE HANS.(clinical essay)

Is Phobia a Symptom or a Clinical Structure

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Date Phobia is a persistent irrational fear of specific things or people and this happens when people tries to avoid certain objects . When this fear becomes excessive or uncontrollable , it is when it is referred to as phobia . There are two types of phobia and these are , general and specific . The type of phobia in question is that on specific items and the case in hand is that one of Little Hans who developed a specific

phobia on horses . Sigmund Freud used this case to develop his theory called Oedipus complex and on Castration anxiety . The same case was used to attack Feuds interpretation on phobia by Jacques Lucan . They both while referring to the case of Han tried to answer the question , is phobia a symptom or a clinical structure ? They gave their views depending on their understanding but neither was able to give a definite answer as whether it was a symptom or a clinical structure . This is what this essay will basically focus on

This is one case that Freud in his bid to understand the complexity of phobia he used and was a case of a five years baby who developed fear on horses that was dependent on other factors such as the sexuality of this child plus the relationship he had with his mother . Sigmund never interviewed the kid but he was very close to his father who used to brief Sigmund with all the latest information concerning Hans ' growth and development . As I have send above , Freud never studied the baby himself but advised and instructed his father Giraf on what to do . It is those reports that helped him to analyze how Little Han was doing and behaving (Rathus , 256

What exactly happened was that when Herbert was four years old and in a company of their hose helper in a local park he witnessed a horse pulled cart probably due to the heavy load it was carrying collapsed and killed one person who was standing by the road . Because Little Herbert was a witness to this , he developed specific fear on horses and on vehicles carrying heavy loads . This even worsened such that he was even afraid to go alone in the streets . His father understood that Hans was developing these fears due to some sexual related issues and not because of what he saw . According to his father , this sexual excitement emanated from the relationship that Han had with his mother . When he was young he used to sleep with his mother in the same bed but he was changed later when his sister Hanna was born . Little Han could see his father 's long penis because they used to sleep in the same bed thus he related the horse 's long penis with his father . These fears also arose because he was doubted where children come from and this was more particularly when her sister was born . The...