Abstract

LOURENCO, Lara Cristina D' Avila; VIANA, Milena de Barros  and  PAULA, Danúbia Cristina de. The function of anxiety in Freudian metapsychology . Nat. hum. [online]. 2011, vol.13, n.1, pp. 65-83. ISSN 1517-2430.

Since Freud's first conceptions on the genesis of hysteria, anxiety plays a critical role for the understanding of the psychic functioning, and serves as a key element of Psychoanalytic theory. The purpose of this study is to analyze and compare theories on anxiety developed by Freud in the metapsychological texts Project for a scientific psychology and Beyond the pleasure principle, particularly emphasizing his hypotheses about the origins and functions played by this fundamental affect . It is concluded that, although 25 years separate both texts, important similarities can be found between them regarding the concept of anxiety and its derivations.

Keywords : anxiety; pain; pleasure; psychism; trauma.

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