Man in the Trap

Emotional plague reactions  1  are due to sexual repression resulting in stasis; therefore no one is immune and anyone may experience a plague reaction at some time or another. There is, however, a type with specific structure who functions essentially as an emotional plague character. He may belong to any of the usual character types, with the addition of a particular type of pelvic block in a person of high energy. The genital character is free flowing, direct, and life-positive.

The Socio-Political Character Types

The neurotic has been repressed by society so that although he longs for life he cannot live it and survives by flight, contactlessness, or reaction formations. The person suffering from the emotional plague is close enough to genitality so that he does not have these mechanisms available to any extent, but instead, handles his stasis by excluding natural excitation from his environment. He finds it necessary, therefore, to control the mores and attitudes of our culture and is life-negative. He cannot stand natural expression, because it creates a longing in him that is intolerable; that is why he tries to kill natural expression wherever he sees it. In this, he is actively aggressive and extremely competent. He rationalizes his behavior so well that it is accepted for the common good and tends to become organized in social institutions. His effectiveness is enhanced in that it finds response in the emotional plague existing in people generally.

Like character neuroses, the emotional plague is maintained by secondary drives. Plague is a function of character and is thus strongly defended; but unlike neurotic symptoms, the emotional plague is not experienced as ego-alien. It is rationalized to a very high degree and insight is lacking. However, as soon as the real motives behind the plague reaction are exposed, anxiety and anger inevitably develop. Everyone afflicted with the emotional plague is orgastically impotent, either chronically or shortly before the attack.

Characteristics and Symptoms 2

The emotional plague is expressed in many forms: vicious gossip and defamation of character, pornography, bureaucracy, destructive mysticism, striving for authority over others, usury, race hatred, sadistic treatment of children, criminal anti-social behavior, all these are indications of the emotional plague character.

People with plague make the rules for children's behavior, put the taboo on sex, write the divorce laws, and make people conform to laws they can tolerate. They are the ones who report nude bathing or young lovers to the police and tell us what we can read and see. Occasionally the plague breaks out into a pandemic form, such as the Catholic Inquisition of the Middle Ages or the fascism , red or black, of this century.

It is an essential characteristic of the emotional plague that action and the reason given for it are never congruent. The real motive behind his action is always hidden and replaced by a more socially acceptable motive. For example, the plague-ridden mother who cannot enjoy any sexual pleasure, indeed, finds it "dirty," will not allow her children sexual expression under the guise of morality.

The emotional plague individual has no ability to accept change or difference of any kind. He differs from the healthy individual in that he must put restrictions not only on himself but even more importantly on those in his environment so that they conform more exactly to his way of thinking. These restrictions extend even to those who have no contact with his life at all. The mere existence of different ways of living provokes his antagonism. (This is why communism [red fascism] must conquer the world.) He can tolerate no belief which threatens his armoring or which might disclose his irrational motives. The genital frustration from which he suffers is the source of the energy (undischarged) which nourishes the emotional plague. This is the same stasis of energy found in other biopathies.

In those persons who are unable to experience natural orgastic gratification secondary impulses always develop; especially sadistic impulses. In fact, sadism is always present in fully developed cases of emotional plague. Fortunately for his victims, the person who suffers from the emotional plague has to give way temporarily when his motives are exposed and he is confronted, clearly and uncompromisingly with rational thinking. He is like a school-yard bully, protecting the smaller children from him doesn't help or change him.

The characteristic which most clearly distinguishes the emotional plague character from a neurotic character is the life destructive social activity of the former. Since his emotions are confused or irrational his concepts also become confused and irrational. His thinking is blurred. He always arrives at a conclusion before thinking it through; his opinion is set prior to the investigation. The thinking does not serve, as it does with rational minds, to lead toward a correct conclusion; rather it serves to confirm an already existing irrational conclusion and to rationalize it. This is commonly known as "prejudice." The emotional plague is intolerant of rational thinking that might expose it. Consequently it is inaccessible to argument. The given motive of an action is never the actual motive. This is true whether the hidden motive is conscious or unconscious. Such a person seriously and honestly believes his stated goal is correct and rational. But he is acting under a structural compulsion and cannot act except in this manner.

Such a character has no insight at all into the destructiveness or unfairness of his actions. He tries constantly to change his environment so that his manner of living is not interfered with. Everything that he encounters that is contrary to his mode of living or thinking provokes his anger and his opposition. His opposition, however, is so well camouflaged by socially accepted mores that it is difficult to refute or even to detect.

A good example is the attitude of doctors and hospitals toward newborn babies. A very charming and alive young couple of whom 1 am very fond recently had a baby. Before its birth they attended classes, at the hospital, on care of the newborn baby. During the course the instructress emphasized, "Remember, babies like to be wrapped tightly, even in hot weather. Be sure to wrap them up tightly." At the hospital the baby was separated from the mother except for feedings and under no other circumstances was the baby allowed to be with the mother. Also a great deal of pressure was put upon the parents to have the baby circumcised. Many reasons were given for the necessity of this procedure and the doctor became very angry when they refused, finally threatening, "Don't you know he will get cancer if you don't have him circumcised?"

The given motive in all three instances was for the benefit of the baby or mother: (1) "They like to be wrapped tightly." (2) The baby should be removed from the mother to allow her to rest and not be disturbed. (3) Circumcision is done for cleanliness and to prevent difficulties that may present because of the prepuce. It may be long and have a very narrow opening which can interfere with free urination or it may get pulled back over the glans and from restriction cause swelling and pain. Circumcision is also done to reduce the frequency of masturbation, to help prevent the possibility of venereal infection, and lastly to prevent the development of cancer of the penis. These are the given motives, accepted almost universally as reasonable and right.

In the first place, anyone who has seen a baby kicking and waving his arms about, gurgling with joy, cannot possibly believe, "the baby likes to be wrapped tightly."

In the second instance, a new mother and her baby need each other so both can relax and expand in each other's loving contact. When separated the mother worries and the baby is alone and suddenly bereft of the intimate contact he has had for nine months and still needs. He is brought to the mother only for feeding and this determined by the clock instead of his individual needs. This is easier for the hospital routine.

As to circumcision: The first sensation the baby feels from his penis is pain. I have seen babies cry and sob for hours after circumcision, in spite of the belief that they feel no pain from this operation. How incredible that this belief should have become so widespread. There is no doubt a baby feels pain if you accidentally stick him with a diaper pin. The four reasons given are true to some extent but in a negative sense. Today cleanliness is not an issue as it was in the past before daily bathing became common; any difficulties from a narrow opening in a long foreskin can be easily overcome by gentle dilatation; it does indeed reduce masturbation because pleasure is reduced as is his sexual satisfaction; circumcision may help avoid venereal infection -- I doubt it. If it does it is probably more from his inhibited sexuality than from the loss of his foreskin; the incidence of cancer of the penis is extremely small and is usually found only in derelicts who have lived in filth. Whether circumcision would have prevented cancer in these cases I do not know but research has found that more babies die from circumcisions than there are deaths from cancer of the penis. 3

What are the real motives? They are to stifle and kill the natural flowing movements of the living because the plague cannot tolerate it. Bundle the baby so he cannot move, take the baby away from the mother so they cannot thrill in each other's presence, and circumcise the penis so it will retract and remain deadened. The plague believes it is sincere and righteous and is very convincing.

The sex life of the plague character, whether actually or vicariously expressed, is always sadistic and pornographic. Because of his structure he cannot help being pornographically lascivious and sadistically moralistic at one and the same time. This is the core of the character structure of the emotional plague. Even if he could develop insight and understanding he could not change this core. He develops intense hatred against any course of conduct which arouses in him orgastic longing and concomitant orgasm anxiety. To remove such arousal from his environment he demands puritanical moralism of those around him and directs sadistic rage against those enjoying a natural love life.

There is, unfortunately for society, a strong tendency among plague individuals to form organizations which are centers of public opinion whose main characteristic is an intense intolerance for natural love life. These organizations are found everywhere and under the ostensible motive of "culture" and "morals" they harshly condemn any manifestation of a natural love life. They are particularly skillful in character defamation from which they receive a kind of perverse satisfaction of a sexual nature. This is one way of experiencing sexual pleasure outside of the natural genital function. Perversions particularly are often met with in these circles. Their sadistic persecution is directed against the natural rather than against the perverse sexuality of others. And most especially is it directed against the natural sexuality of chil-dren and adolescents. They seem to be violently opposed to natural sexuality and completely blind toward any kind of perversion in themselves and others.

The emotional plague frequently hates work, particularly crea-tive work, for to him it is a burden and a responsibility which he cannot tolerate. He flees responsibility especially from work which demands patient persistence. He may dream of doing important research, writing a book, of excelling in some chosen field but since he is incapable of enjoying creative work he cannot accom-plish the organic development necessary to success in an endeavor. This inability gives him a tendency to engage in activities which do not require patient persistence and organic development. He may become a politician, a prophet, or a crusader for various causes or even an unemployed drifter. At the same time he feels others should work. In fact the less capable he is of working and the less self-confidence he has the more he is likely to boss others and tell them how to work.

Genesis

The emotional plague character is an individual endowed with a high energy, native intelligence, and ability, but with a pelvic block that does not allow discharge of excess energy. Instead of developing neurotic symptom formation to handle this energy, his defense is an active attempt to control his environment in order to prevent excitation, which would create intolerable orgastic longing and force him to sadistic fury. He is essentially an organism ready to burst, and must prevent excitation that would cause such bursting.

Therapy

Plague reactions in the average person usually respond when they are adequately exposed or stasis is relieved. This may even stop the attack in an emotional plague character but it does not change him. Theoretically he could be helped, but practically his high energy held by his particular structure and muscular armor render this impossible with our present knowledge. Furthermore, he seldom seeks help since his symptoms, consisting of a life-destructive social activity, are not ego-alien as are symptoms in the simple neurotic. They are rationalized so effectively that he feels no pain nor is he aware of being irrational and thus has no desire at all to change himself. Besides they give him his only means of satisfaction, a brutal, sadistic pleasure. This destructiveness shows the degree of force necessary for his energy to break through the armor. It emerges in the form of harsh secondary drives no matter how acceptably it may have started. The emotional plague longs for life but cannot live it, he longs for love but is incapable of it, and when he meets it he is driven to sadistic fury regardless of his best intentions.

The emotional plague can be eliminated from the world only through prevention by allowing or reestablishing a natural love life in children, adolescents, and adults.

 
Footnotes

1.  For a more complete understanding of the emotional plague reaction see Reich, The Murder of Christ, op. cit.  back to text

2.  For a more extensive discussion read Character analysis, op.cit.  back to text

3.  Douglas Gairdner, "The Fate of the Foreskin," British Medical Journal (Dec. 24, 1949), P. 1443.  back to text