May 2020 Reich’s Phallic Character: The Chronic Depressive – The Case of Bob

Life in Quarantine – the Global Pandemic

We are living and dying in the midst of an historic, once-in-a-century event — a global crisis, the proportions of WWII with stark reminders of the food lines and poverty of the Great Depression. Many of us are facing immediate financial ruin as businesses collapse, and jobs are lost; the anxiety of faltering resources pervade our consciousness.  We read the news and know we are tumbling into a free fall, over the cliff of uncertainty; the unknowable surrounds us, leading to chronic depressive tendencies.

We struggle through a multitude of feelings as they bounce off each other on our own psychic pool table. The early morning might elicit depression: “I will stay in bed, I feel too lethargic to move. I feel like I am sinking, I don’t want to face another day feeling low”; the next moment invites some energy with the thought of an inspired activity: “OK I am going to clean house today, or plant flowers in my garden, I will feel better if I do something, anything productive. I must stay in the moment”.

Mid-morning: “I need to sign in to my remote work as I am lucky to have a job”. Exhaustion sets in from Zooming. “I feel angry and irritable by late afternoon and my mate is getting on my nerves.” “You are too controlling, demanding – please stop and give me some space”. Tempers flare like sizzling fireworks only to fizzle leaving a kind of emptiness and feelings of abandonment. Later a realization emerges: “I could be alone going through this, that might be challenging too. Is it happy hour yet?“ “OK! I feel better, it is time to watch Netflix”. “I better turn off the TV that compels me to watch for hours.” “Time to sleep except I am up at 2:00 tossing and turning for what feels like hours – thoughts of everything crowd my mind. I am sick of staying home; I miss my extended family; I yearn to hug them. I feel a panic in the middle of the night, I have a cough –do I have the virus or is it my allergies?” Sleep deprived I start yet another day in quarantine. “I hope we continue to flatten the curve but the politics of all of this is making me crazy. I am furious at the government’s response – grrrh!” “One positive in all of this is I am perfecting my cooking, eating, cooking, eating, cooking, although it is exhausting – oh if only I could go to a restaurant and eat with others.” The beat of the quarantine goes on.

Depression

Many of us can be prone to chronic depression which may have existed all our lives. A few suffer from a biological, endogenous depression that therapy and medication can lift. Many have had significant trauma that has resulted in a lifelong battle with depression. Depression can manifest as lethargy, difficulty finding meaning and purpose, feeling waylaid through various significant periods in a life until the losses accrue, the missed opportunities pile up and strong depressive symptoms weigh us down; insomnia, a sense of hopelessness and helplessness to conquer rather than collapse in the battlefield. We may feel historic loss from early trauma that haunts us; a loneliness that is at the base of our existence.

This blog is about a character type called the Chronic Depressive which is a style that differentiates a situational depression as a character marker, from the tendency to exist in a semi-state of depression.

Bob has suffered depression all his life to varying degrees. He has been successful in his career as an engineer and advanced to managing ten people in a successful start-up.

He is married and has two children, 5 and 8, and enjoys family life, although at times he feels he doesn’t meet the expectations and lacks the energy to sustain all his commitments. He feels guilty with his wife and his kids. He simply can’t do enough and falters, feeling badly about himself. He is not measuring up.

His history is notable in that his parents divorced early and his dad left the area, leaving him with little contact over the years. He had three siblings and a mom who was strong and steadfast yet couldn’t nurture all of them while keeping food on the table as she worked to support the family. Dad did contribute money but not involvement.

Bob was self-sufficient and muscled forward responsibly. The chronic depressive is a highly responsible type that ends up in a caretaker role administering to others. He was the eldest, and helped take care of the kids and mom. He was dutiful and was rewarded for his loyalty and compliance.  These were traits that helped him through launch, college, and easy career moves, as he was highly devoted to anything he attempted.

Bob never tolerated his aggressive feelings; he couldn’t bear to feel angry as it would interrupt his capacity to be dutiful and caretake, which was his role in the family. What makes him a chronic depressive is just this aspect of his personality.

He is a Phallic Character Type (neurotic versus Pre-oedipal Disorder of the Self), thus he has made it to the Phallic phase but has been dragged back one notch. Due to his chronic depression he cannot mobilize his aggressive, dominating style that the Phallic Narcissist can engage.  If he could access that in an ethical way, he could feel more whole and liberated. As I described in my blog on segmental armoring; this type has tightly held- together lips and a tense, clenched jaw that produce a thin-lipped expression as he represses his anger and aggression. This armor doesn’t allow for vulnerability with soft lips and an open mouth.
https://backclinicsofcanada.ca/xanax-alprazolam/

Chronic Depressive Treatment

Chronic depressives have traits of responsibility, devotion and sacrifice that are both attributes and flaws if not liberated. Character analysis works with these aspects in order to liberate his power, activation for self, and individuation. Individuation is the phase of connection to the deeper Self that was tied down all his life by his caretaker role. Working with the trauma roots allows the rage to be expressed, the sorrow, grief and loss unravels in the biophysical work and all segments of his body are liberated so he can truly feel alive.

Photo Credit: View from the window of Avenue de Breteuil, between 1940 and 1960 by Olga Székely-Kovács. Owned by Judith Dupont, Andilly, France https://www.olga-dormandi.com/