Rat Man

a landmark case that Sigmund Freud described in “Notes Upon a Case of Obsessional Neurosis” (1909). The name was applied to a patient of Freud’s, a 30-year-old lawyer whose obsessional fear of rats was traced to repressed death wishes toward his father generated by oedipal conflicts. One example of the patient’s obsession was his belief that a rat that appeared to come out of his father’s grave had eaten the corpse; another was a fantasy that a rat had been placed in his father’s anus and had eaten through his intestines. Freud’s analysis of these reactions laid the groundwork for the psychoanalytic interpretation of obsessional neurosis. See also Oedipus complex.

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Psychology term of the day

January 13th 2025

somatic obsession

preoccupation with one’s body or any part of it. This concern may be associated with compulsive checking of the body part (e.g., in a mirror or by touch), comparing oneself to others, and seeking reassurance about one’s body. Somatic obsession is the central feature of body dysmorphic disorder but may also be a feature of obsessive-compulsive disorder if other obsessive-compulsive symptoms are present.