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The Deeper Meaning of the Dad Complex: Do You Know How It Affects Mental Health?
In psychology, the "father complex" is a complex psychological mechanism involving unconscious associations and impulses toward the father figure. These impulses can be positive (admiration and pursuit of an older father figure) or negative (suspicion and fear of the father). Sigmund Freud and subsequent psychoanalysts believed that the father complex, and the ambivalent feelings a boy has toward his father, is closely related to the Oedipus complex. In contrast, Carl Jung believed that both men and women could have a father complex, and that the effects of this complex could be positive or negative.
Freud once pointed out: "The feelings of children towards their fathers constitute the most important factor of resistance in the treatment of male patients."
Freud and Jung's views
The term father complex originates from the collaboration between Freud and Jung in the early 20th century. In 1909, Freud made the father complex the core of his research, pointing out that "the childhood struggle with the father's authority is the root of the obsessive-compulsive behavior of the Lat people." The father complex also occupies an important position in Totem and Taboo, which was written between 1912 and 1913. Although the father complex was subsumed within the broader Oedipus complex in Otto Fincier's 1946 overview of psychoanalysis, it remained a central concept to Freud's 20th century concerns. .
After his disagreement with Freud, Jung continued to use the father complex to explore the relationship between father and son. For example, he described a patient who was dependent on his father as "father's son" and pointed out that a positive father complex might cause the father-dependent patient to have an excessive trust in authority. Jung emphasized that a negative father complex may cause women to distrust and prejudice against all men.
Postmodern Perspective: The Absent Father
Entering the new millennium, postmodern scholars' attention on father complex gradually shifted to the problem of missing fathers, emphasizing the lack of father's authority. As a result of changes in social structures, many psychoanalysts have begun to explore the concept of "father hunger," which refers to the interaction between a child's desire for close connection with his father and the unmet emotional needs of women or men.
The concept was proposed by Margot D. Main in her book "Fathers, Daughters, and Food", which explores how the absence of fathers affects women's self-image and mental health.
Father complex in culture
The concept of the father complex still exists in the culture. For example, the poet Czeslaw Milosz once wrote of Albert Einstein that "everything triggered in me a father complex, a desire for a protector and a leader." Many artists, such as Bob Dylan, choose to use their father's name as a pen name, and express their reflection and pursuit of paternal authority.
But the famous novelist D.H. Lawrence questioned the father complex, calling it a "fool's complex."
Conclusion
Considering the impact of the father complex is not only the key to understanding individual psychology, but also an important clue to exploring social and cultural dynamics. It reveals the complex emotional connections between children and parents, and how these connections breed different behavioral patterns and psychological problems in adulthood. Behind these theories, should we also reflect on how to better understand and resolve emotional gaps in our daily lives and at different levels of interpersonal relationships?
