Psychoanalysis.  2021 Apr;32(2):41-51. 10.18529/psychoanal.2021.32.2.41.

Psychoanalytic Perspectives of Social Phobia: Based on Dazai Osamu’s Novel ‘Human Lost’

• Choi HY
• Ha JH

• KMID: 2515195
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.18529/psychoanal.2021.32.2.41

Abstract

Recently, the number of people experiencing social phobia or social anxiety has been gradually increasing. Social phobia is known to be closely influenced by experiences during childhood development based on characteristic temperament, and symp-toms of anxiety have been mainly explained by issues of insecure attachment or occurrences of childhood trauma. When exam-ining the development of social phobia, it is important to distinguish between the mother-child relationship during the pre-oedipal period and the father-child relationship associated with oedipal conflict. The authors analyzed social phobia from a psychoanalytic perspective, based on Dazai Osamu’s novel ‘Human Lost.’ The main character, Yozo, experiences a lack of secure attachment with the mother, and experiences anxiety and fear in their relationship with their father. Even in adulthood, Yozo remains afraid of other people and fails to form stable interpersonal relationships. The authors found that both developmental aspects were involved in Yozo’s social anxiety. In addition to temperamental internal factors and environmental factors such as childhood trauma, psy-choanalytic factors caused by the developmental process are also thought to have had a great influence. In conclusion, it is neces-sary to analyze factors related to relationships with fathers, such as the presence of an Oedipus complex, in addition to adolescent social relationships when understanding patients with social anxiety.

Keyword

Social phobia; Oedipus complex; Psychodynamic psychotherapy; Anxiety; Suicide