Victor Bloom MD
At a recent conference of psychoanalysts in Chicago one of the luminaries, Jonathan Lear, presented a unique analysis of the history of psychoanalysis, one that is so basic that it deserves to be shared with the general public. Early in the history of psychoanalysis, one of Freud's basic propositions was that we were guided, like other creatures, by the 'pleasure-principle.' In other words, our instincts lead us to approach pleasure and avoid pain. On the surface, and at first glance, this observation seems to be obvious. We would tend to approach a sugar donut, in order to eat and enjoy it, and we would avoid touching a hot stove. Nothing new here.
But human beings are more complicated than that, and the human condition is incredibly complex. There are good things to eat we would tend to avoid, and painful experiences we gravitate toward. There is the problem of 'forbidden fruit' and the challenge of such painful ordeals as running the marathon. Most choices in life involve a mixture of pleasure and pain, and the trick is to make the most of life and have a balance of pleasure over pain. How to accomplish this goal, while seeking truth is the challenge of philosophy.
Jonathan Lear focused on Freud's dilemma when Freud was faced with the realization that neurotic people suffered from what he called 'the repetition-compulsion.' Some people had a compulsion to repeat a painful trauma. He was confronted with the fact that there were people who were seemingly attracted to pain. How to explain this? We are aware of people who walk on hot coals and flagellate themselves in the name of some sort of religious cult. We are aware, for example, that some people never learn and go from one painful relationship to another. Freud thought that there must be some explanation for this, some quirk of the unconscious that would explain this apparent contradiction, a seeming violation of the pleasure-principle.
He was aware that soldiers coming from the trauma of battle relived their horrible experiences in their dreams and in their waking anxiety states. Psychologists were aware that there were emotional after-effects of surviving horrendous battles and prolonged physical privation and emotional suffering. These states were called "shellshock," " battle fatigue" and "war neuroses."
More recently they have been called, "post-traumatic stress disorder," (PTSD). We have heard of Vietnam veterans who have anxiety reactions on hearing a loud noise, and those who have horrible dreams and wake up clutching their old army rifles. Many are totally disabled and require ongoing psychotherapy and medication in order to be able to function in civilian life.
Why would they have an apparent compulsion to repeat the painful experiences of their military life? Why don't they just get on with it and forget the past? What is this pull to repeat old painful experiences? Psychotherapists work every day to help people who have never been in the military, who have suffered traumatic experiences as children, who "suffer from their reminiscences," as Freud once put it. Of course we tend to relive pleasurable experiences as well. Dali's famous painting of the melting clock is called, "The Persistence of Memory." In a way, in the unconscious, time stands still as memories are permanently imprinted. We never erase memories, we only bury them, and this process of repression exacts a cost and saps psychic energy. Lucky are those whose lives were such that there were few painful memories to repress!
Freud's theory as to why people tend to revisit painful memories and seem to seek out painful experiences is that unconsciously we keep trying to master the trauma, the painful experience. It is as if we say, one more time, and this time I won't be the passive one, in which bad things are happening to me. This time I will make it happen, and it will turn out better! The unconscious mind is primitive and irrational and would re-write history and undo what happened. People in psychotherapy have a chance to understand this painful, repetitive process and choose to overcome this tendency and resolve old conflicts.
Memorial Day is a symbol of resolution. We say these dead have not died in vain. We honor these dead and remind ourselves that theirs was a sacrifice to a good and noble cause, that out of their pain and loss they have made possible our good fortune and well being. We rise above destructiveness, we triumph over adversity, we find ways to transcend death. The dead shall not be forgotten, and in memory they live on, and so we hope to live on after our death. As there are memorials to others that were beloved, we can hope that as we are beloved, there will be memorials to us, and our legacy will not be lost. And so the pleasure of memory outlives the memory of pain.
Dr Bloom is Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Wayne State University. He welcomes comments and questions at vbloom@comcast.net.