Karen Horney: Theory of neurosis

Horney looked at in a different light from other of the time.[1] Her expansive interest in the subject led her to compile a detailed theory of , with data from her patients. Horney believed to be a continuous process — with commonly occurring sporadically in one’s lifetime. This was in contrast to the opinions of her contemporaries who believed was, like more severe mental conditions, a negative malfunction of the mind in response to external stimuli, such as bereavement, divorce or negative experiences during .

Horney believed these assumptions to be less important, except for influences during childhood. Rather, she placed significant emphasis on parental indifference towards the child, believing that a child’s perception of events, as opposed to the parent’s intentions, is the key to understanding a person’s . For instance, a child might feel a lack of warmth and affection should a parent make fun of the child’s feelings - thereby underestimating the significance of the child’s state. The parent may also casually neglect to fulfill promises, which in turn could have a detrimental effect on the child’s mental state.

From her experiences as a , Horney named ten patterns of neurotic needs. These ten needs are based upon things which she thought all humans require to succeed in life. Horney distorted these needs somewhat to correspond with what she believed were individuals’ . A could theoretically exhibit all of these needs, though in practice much fewer than the ten here need be present to constitute a person having a . The ten needs, as set out by Horney, (classified according to her so-called ) are as follows:[4]

Moving Toward People

Moving Against People

Moving Away from People

Upon investigating the ten needs further, Horney found she was able to condense them into three broad categories:

Compliance

Needs one and two were assimilated into the “compliance” category. This category is seen as a process of “moving towards people”, or self-effacement. Under Horney’s theory children facing difficulties with parents often use this strategy. Fear of helplessness and abandonment occurs — phenomena Horney refers to as “basic ”. Those within the compliance category tend to exhibit a need for affection and approval on the part of their peers. They may also seek out a partner, somebody to confide in, fostering the belief that, in turn, all of life’s problems would be solved by the new cohort. A lack of demanding and a desire for inconspicuousness both occur in these individuals.

Aggression

Secondly, neurotic persons may employ “aggression”, also called the “moving against people”, or the “expansive” solution. Needs three, four, five, six, and seven comprise this category: Neurotic children or adults within this category often exhibit anger or basic hostility to those around them. That is, there is a need for power, a need for control and exploitation, and a maintenance of a facade of omnipotence. Manipulative qualities aside, under Horney’s assertions the aggressive individual may also wish for social recognition, not necessarily in terms of limelight, but in terms of simply being known (perhaps feared) by subordinates and peers alike. In addition, the individual has needs for a degree of personal admiration by those within this person’s social circle and, lastly, for raw personal achievement. These characteristics comprise the “aggressive” neurotic type. Aggressive types also tend to keep people away from them. On the other hand, they only care about their wants and needs. They would do whatever they can to be happy and wouldn’t desist from hurting anyone. Others exist solely to serve the aggressive type and so, they should bow down to them.

Detachment

Thirdly and lastly, is “detachment”. This category encompasses the final three needs, and overlaps with the “compliance” trait. This neurotic trend is often labeled as the “moving-away-from” or “resigning” solution or a detached personality. As neither aggression nor compliance solve parental indifference, Horney recognized that children might simply try to become self sufficient. The withdrawing neurotic may disregard others in a non-aggressive manner, regarding solitude and independence as the way forth. The stringent needs for perfection comprise another part of this category; those withdrawing may strive for perfection above all else, to the point where being flawed is utterly unacceptable. Everything the “detached” type does must be unassailable and refined. They suppress or deny all feelings towards others, particularly love and hate.

Mature theory

Near the end of her career, summarized her ideas in and Human Growth: The Struggle Toward Self-Realization, her major work published in 1950. It is in this book that she summarizes her ideas regarding , clarifying her three neurotic “solutions” to the stresses of life.[5] The expansive solution became a tripartite combination of narcissistic, perfectionistic and arrogant-vindictive approaches to life. (Horney had previously focused on the psychiatric concept of narcissism in a book published in 1939, New Ways in ). Her other two neurotic “solutions” were also a refinement of her previous views: self-effacement, or submission to others, and resignation, or detachment from others. She described case studies of symbiotic relationships between arrogant-vindictive and self-effacing individuals, labeling such a relationship bordering on sadomasochism as a morbid dependency. She believed that individuals in the neurotic categories of narcissism and resignation were much less susceptible to such relationships of co-dependency with an arrogant-vindictive neurotic.

As implied, while non-neurotic individuals may strive for these needs, neurotics exhibit a much deeper, more willful and concentrated desire to fulfill the said needs. Horney, together with fellow Alfred Adler, formed the Neo-Freudian discipline.

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May 29, 2008 | Filed Under Psychotherapists 

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