definitions

cathexis (n.)

1.(psychoanalysis) the libidinal energy invested in some idea or person or object"Freud thought of cathexis as a psychic analog of an electrical charge"

Cathexis (n.)

1.(MeSH)Attachment, conscious or unconscious, of emotional feeling and significance to an idea, object or most commonly a person.

Wikipedia

Cathexis

This article is about the psychological term. For other uses, see Cathexis (disambiguation).

Not to be confused with Catharsis.

In psychoanalysis, cathexis is defined as the process of investment of mental or emotional energy in a person, object, or idea.^[1] The Greek term cathexis (κάθεξις) was chosen by James Strachey to render the German term Besetzung in his translation of Sigmund Freud's complete works. For Freud, cathexis is defined as an investment of libido. Freud often described the functioning of psychosexual energies in mechanical terms, influenced perhaps by the dominance of the steam engine at the end of the 19th century.^{[citation needed]}

Freud often represented frustration in libidinal desires as a blockage of energies that have, or would eventually build up and require release in alternative ways. This release could occur, for example, by way of regression and the "re-cathecting" of former positions, that is, fixation at the oral phase or anal phase and the enjoyment of former sexual objects ("object-cathexes"), including autoeroticism.

When the ego blocks such efforts to discharge one's cathexis by way of regression, that is, when the ego wishes to repress such desires, Freud uses the term "anti-cathexis" or counter-charge.^[2] Like a steam engine, the libido's cathexis then builds up until it finds alternative outlets, which can lead to sublimation or to the formation of sometimes disabling symptoms.

References

^ Hall, Calvin S. A Primer of Freudian Psychology. New York: Mentor, 1954.
^ Felluga, Dino. "Terms Used by Psychoanalysis." Introductory Guide to Critical Theory. Purdue U. 31 August 2009. (online)

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Arabic	Bulgarian	Chinese	Czech
Danish	Dutch	English	Estonian
Finnish	French	German	Greek
Hungarian	Italian	Japanese	Korean
Norwegian	Polish	Portuguese	Romanian
Russian	Serbian	Slovenian	Spanish
Swedish	Turkish	Latvian	Persian
Lithuanian	Icelandic	Slovak	Croatian
Hindi	Vietnamese	Hebrew	Thai
Indonesian

definitions

cathexis (n.)

Cathexis (n.)

synonyms

cathexis (n.)

see also

cathexis (n.)

phrases

analogical dictionary

Wikipedia

Cathexis

See also

References

External links