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In spite of his premature death, Karl
Abraham (1877-1925) made a considerable contribution to the history of
psychoanalysis by being at the origin of frequently opposing streams, such as
theories of the relationship with the object, the Psychology of the
Ego, Kleinism etc. Abraham's interest in
relational patterns corresponding to the various stages of psychosexual development
worked out by Freud, opened the gate for modern psychoanalysis in both the United
States and great Britain, later to focus their work on this very aspect of theory
and practice.
Karl Abraham studied the
role of infant sexuality in character development and mental illness and, like
SigmundFreud, suggested that if psychosexual development is fixated at some point,
mental disorders will likely emerge. He described the personality traits and
psychopathology that result from the oral and anal stages of development
(1921;1924a). In the oral stage of development, the first relationships children
have with objects (caretakers) determine their subsequent relationship to reality.
Oral satisfaction can result in self-assurance and optimism, whereas oral fixation
can lead to pessimism and depression. Moreover, a person with an oral fixation will
present a disinclination to take care of him/herself and will require others to
look after him/her This may be expressed through extreme passivity (corresponding
to the oral benign suckling substage) or through a highly active oral-sadistic
behaviour (corresponding to the later sadistic biting substage) (1924a). In the
anal stage, when the training in cleanliness starts too early, conflicts may result
between a conscious attitude of obedience and an unconscious desire for resistance.
This can lead to traits such as frugality, orderliness and obstinacy, as well as to
obsessional neurosis as a result of anal fixation (Abraham,1921) . In addition,
Abraham based his understanding of manic-depressive illness on the study of the
painter Segantini: an actual event of loss is not itself sufficient to bring the
psychological disturbance involved in melancholic depression. This disturbance is
linked with disappointing incidents of early childhood; in the case of men always
with the mother (Abraham, 1911). This concept of the prooedipal “bad” mother was a
new development in contrast to Freud’s oedipal mother and paved the way for the
theories of Melanie Klein (May-Tolzmann,1997). Another important contribution is
his work “A short study of the Development of the Libido” (1924b), where he
elaborated on Freud’s “Mourning and Melancholia” (1917) and demonstrated the
vicissitudes of normal and pathological object relations and reactions to object
loss. Moreover, Abraham investigated child sexual trauma and, like Freud, proposed
that sexual abuse was common among psychotic and neurotic patients. Furthermore, he
argued (1907) that dementia praecox is associated with child sexual trauma, based
on the relationship between hysteria and child sexual trauma demonstrated by
Freud.
Abraham (1920) also showed interest in cultural issues. He analyzed various
myths suggesting their relation to dreams (1909) and wrote an interpretation of the
spiritual activities of the monotheistic Pharaoh Amenhotep IV (1912).
Born in Bremen, Germany, Karl Abraham
had brilliant studies in medicine which brought about his admission to a
position with the Burghölzli Swiss Mental Hospital, next to the famous Eugen
Bleuler.
It was here that he was initiated
into psychoanalysis by Carl Gustav Jung. His first contact with Sigmund Freud
occurred in 1907, and he became one of Freud's most reliable collaborators and
close friend.
Abraham, whom several described as the most balanced of
earliest analysts, was the first to warn Freud against Jung whom he already
perceived as a deviation and a character one should be wary of. He turned back to
Germany where he founded the Berliner Society of Psychoanalysis
in 1910.
Under the control of Karl Abraham and
thanks to the foundation of a polyclinic, Berlin was in the process of becoming a
major psychoanalysis practice, research and training center. Several second
generation analysts were partly trained there.
Source : Some of the information on
this page came from a Wikipedia article and is licensed under the GNU
Documentation License. ©2008 www.geneticmatrix.com.
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Karl
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