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Psychodynamic factors in narcolepsy and cataplexy

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Summary

This paper reports, therefore, an individual who was seriously traumatized in the pre-genital and genital phases of psychosexual development by maternal rejections and by castrating qualities of the paternal figure, and who reacted with oral dependent drives and a partial fixation at the homosexual level. In a situation which reactivated his infantile conflicts, he responded to a fantasied homosexual attack by a father surrogate with a passive, submissive role. Subsequently, he had similar attacks of cataplexy as the result of verbally aggressive attacks on men which were provocative of laughter. His narcoleptic attacks may be conceived of as regressive phenomena, the result possibly of the unconscious wish to return to an incestuous relationship with his sister during a somnolent state.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cincinnati General Hospital, Cincinnati 29, Ohio

    Alfred Coodley M. D.

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  1. Alfred Coodley M. D.
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From the department of psychiatry, Cincinnati General Hospital, and the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine.

Formerly major, M. C., A. U. S.

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Coodley, A. Psychodynamic factors in narcolepsy and cataplexy. Psych Quar 22, 696–717 (1948). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01572443

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01572443

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