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Obsessional Personality and Anal-Erotic Character

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 February 2018

I. M. Ingram
I. M. Ingram*
Affiliation:
University of Glasgow
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Extract

Popular psychiatric terms are often used uncritically and it is salutary to examine our usage from time to time. “Obsessional” is such a word; it may describe a symptom or a type of personality, with immediate possibilities of misunderstanding. Here it is used to describe a type of personality, as in the phrase “obsessional personality”. The current usage of this phrase will be examined and it will be compared with the usage of the “anal-erotic character” of psychoanalysis. The two terms differ: the obsessional personality is purely descriptive while the anal-erotic character is based on a theory of personality development; yet they are often used synonymously. Do they differ in descriptive detail? If so, how and why? An attempt will be made to answer these questions by an analysis of descriptions of the terms.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Journal of Mental Science , Volume 107 , Issue 451 , November 1961 , pp. 1035 - 1042
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1961 

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