A psychoanalytic exploration of the role of anxiety, symptoms and inhibitions in hiding desire and preventing movement

Abstract

Inhibitions, symptoms and anxiety are common reasons for people to attend psychotherapy. When a person’s life or an aspect of it isn’t turning out as they had hoped or isn’t giving them pleasure and it seems they always fail at the same things in the same way it is natural to be curious why these patterns keep repeating themselves. This thesis will explore inhibitions, symptoms and anxiety from a psychoanalytic perspective focusing on the work of Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan. It will examine the function these processes serve, how they work and how they relate to each other. The psychoanalytic treatment will then be addressed; looking at what the treatment aims to do for the client and the position the analyst needs to take up in order to serve the client most effectively. Author keywords: Anxiety, inhibition, symptom, desire, Lacan, Freud