A very long time ago I came to Lehman ready to be a psychology major, and that changed really fast, but while being one I got to read a lot about Freud. I just wasn’t crazy about the guy, respect him, but thought he was insane.... Anyway... Prior to reading this I knew of the “Rat Man.” “Rat Man” was Freud’s only case (that we know of) of a patient with OCD. “Rat Man” had a terrible fear of ...Rats! (hence the name).
This fear started when this officer told the “Rat Man” a story about what would happen as punishment to some criminals. The officer stated that prisoner were held down and a pot with rats was places on their butt. The rats would try to escape and would actually... eat their way through the prisoner’s anus...jesus...
As a anxious person myself, I understand “Rat Man” and feel really bad for him, his OSD got the best of him. This obviously not only had to deal with the rat story but according to Freud, he had this fear of being punished, which stemmed from him being punished for masturbating as a child.
This painting was painted by Freud's Grandson, pretty awesome, yea?
"Naked man with rat"- Lucian Freud 1978AD
Last little note, imagine this happen to "Rat Man"... just imagine... Haha
Cool blog, I see you understood Rat Man's story, I don't know much about Freud just what they teach in SOC 166
ReplyDeleteIts so funny because I've seen that video before and he probably would have died. I agree with you and i too feel bad for the "Rat man" because his life changed after hearing the story from the officer. Its chilling to see someones life do a complete 360 over a story. I mean, if I heard the story I would have felt bad because it is harsh treatment but I would have taken it with a grain of salt because, I'm no criminal and went about my life normally. It just goes to show how different minds work and how people interpret things differently from one another.
ReplyDeleteI think it is great that Freud's Grandson painted the picture, he was surely influenced by his grandfather......I feel sorry for Rat Man as well, his OCD did get the best of him - he should have been thinking mind over matter.
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