Telegram
Anxiety
Displacement onto functions less readily suspected of colluding with sexual wishes — whose relation to censorship is clearly visible — becomes a kind of untamed energy in which the erotic dimension gives way to a lower-level internal pressure. What is being held back is left with no route other than emptying itself through secondary discharge: tears, alcoholism, bulimia, excessive smoking, sexual addictions, compulsive and sterile activity, all in search of a relief that proves highly ephemeral. Behind this whole “neutralizing” degradation one may suspect an effect of deobjectalization.
None of this — neither inhibition, symptom, nor fear — manages, as Freud observed so well, to prevent anxiety. Today we would add depression, because the two keep replacing one another without end.
Questions about this article
01Why do defensive mechanisms not always remove anxiety in André Green's account?
In the psychoanalytic model quoted here, a defense can displace internal pressure or provide an outlet without working through the source of conflict. Relief through secondary discharge is therefore temporary, while anxiety may alternate with depression and return.
02What does the post mean by secondary discharge?
It refers to ways of briefly reducing internal pressure through crying, substance use, eating or sexual behavior, or compulsive activity. In the quotation these are examples within a theoretical model, not a universal explanation for every instance of such behavior.
03What does deobjectalization mean in the context of the quotation?
In André Green's psychoanalytic vocabulary, it describes a weakening or dismantling of psychic investment in an object. The post presents it as an interpretation of neutralizing depletion, not as a standalone diagnosis.
04Does the post provide guidance for diagnosing or treating anxiety and depression?
No. It is a short theoretical note based on Green's book. Persistent anxiety, depression, addiction, or disordered eating calls for individual assessment by a qualified professional.