Dependent Relationship: Perversion, Melancholia, Work of Mourning in the Dependent Relationship

Psychoanalysis of relationships

Abstract

In this article, the author considers the phenomenon of dependent relationships from the point of view of perversion: a surveyof psychoanalytic ideas allows us to distinguish key functions of perversion, including the strife against castration anxiety, early frustrations and injuries. For the purposes of the subject of research, perversion is seen as a substitution, a "neosexual scenario" in McDougall terminology, allowing the subject to deal with injuries and frustrations. As the foundation of relations, masochism is investigated, manifesting itself in its moral aspect with reference to the problem of the Oedipus, but also manifesting itself as a way to connect drives. The role of relationships with the primary object in choosing a partner and building relationships of the type under consideration is investigated based on the concept of narcissistic perversion by P.-C.Racamier. The question of the possible functions of the relationship, among which narcissistic integrity, the strife against castration anxiety, as well as the implementation of the drive to the integration of early experience is analyzed in connection with the possibility of ending the relationship and the subsequent work of mourning.