Cathexis refers to the id’s dispersal of energy while anticathexis serves to block inappropriate uses of this energy.
Learn more about how this process works.
But how is this psychic energy used?
Gary Waters / Getty Images
According to Freud, this energy is released through biological means known as drives.
A drive has two parts: a biological need and a psychological need.
These two forces work together to form a drive to eat food when it is needed.
The id is the first location where all of this psychic energy can be found.
The id is responsible for satisfying basic needs and desires and operates through theprimary process.
This energy eventually moves through the other aspects of personality after the idthe ego and the superego.
What Is Cathexis?
Because of this, theegois able to capture some of the energy dispersed by the id.
When this energy becomes associated with an ego-related activity, it becomes known as an ego cathexis.
This dispersal of energy might involve seeking out activities that are related to the need.
What Is Anticathexis?
Remember, the id does not distinguish between reality and fantasy.
Because of this, the id may act in ways that are unrealistic or not socially acceptable.
Fortunately, the ego can also act to block irrational, immoral, or unacceptable actions from the id.
This is known as an anticathexis and acts to block or suppress cathexes from being utilized.
Repression is perhaps the best-known anticathexis.
Repression serves to keep undesirable actions, thoughts, or behaviors from coming into conscious awareness.
However, repressing these unwanted id urges takes a considerable investment of energy.
Johnson B, Flores Mosri D.The neuropsychoanalytic approach: Using neuroscience as the basic science of psychoanalysis.Front Psychol.
2016;7:1459.doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01459
Encyclopedia.com.Cathexis.
Updated March 11, 2020.
Freud, S.The Ego and the Id.
Vienna: Internationaler Psycho-analytischer Verlag; 1923.
Lapsley, DK, & Stey, PC.
Id, ego, and superego.
In: Ramachandran V, ed.Encyclopedia of Human Behavior.
Academic Press; 2011.
