September 19, 2011

"[S]he suddenly understood the meaning of the rule that the pillow must not touch the back of the bedstead."

"The pillow, she said, had always been a woman to her and the upright wooden back a man. Thus she wanted—by magic, we must interpolate—to keep the man and woman apart—that is, to separate her parents from each other, not to allow them to have sexual intercourse...."
If a pillow was a woman, then the shaking of the eiderdown till all the feathers were at the bottom and caused a swelling there had a sense as well. It meant making a woman pregnant; but she never failed to smooth away the pregnancy again, for she had for years been afraid that her parents' intercourse would result in another child and so present her with a competitor. On the other hand, if the big pillow was a woman, the mother, then the small top-pillow could only stand for the daughter. Why did this pillow have to be placed diamond-wise and her head precisely along its centre line? It was easy to recall to her that this diamond shape is the inscription scribbled on every wall to represent the open female genitals. If so, she herself was playing the man and replacing the male organ by her head....
Did you know Freud wrote about OCD? As did Locke, Johnson, Kierkegaard, and lots of others.

Do you have a good relationship with your pillows and bedposts?

38 comments:

Henry said...

If the pillow and the bedstead had a pissing contest who would win?

Anonymous said...

I try to be open minded, but seriously, Freud was nuts.

edutcher said...

I occasionally have a fight to keep the pillow from sliding down behind the bed.

Other than that, we get along fine.

On the subject of OCD, the "Monk" series has tried to portray it as something comical when it really can make life Hell on Earth and not just for the sufferer.

There was an episode of CSI:NY a couple of years ago which portrayed a victim of OCD more realistically (something of a surprise since the CSI shows, which The Blonde loves, have gotten progressively goofier over time). The motive for the murder was OCD-related - as expressed by the murderer, "He couldn't just leave it alone!".

Anyone who's dealt with the disease has heard that phrase.

Scott M said...

Is there a current champion for concepts that have been overthought? I believe we have a serious competitor for the title.

DADvocate said...

One of the more interestnig things Freud wrote about was conversion reactions (they call it something different nowadays), i.e. hysterical blindness, paralysis that has no physical basis, and such.

These maladies are rarely seen any more as the psychological causes are well understood and the mantally ill have moved on to less obvious neuroseses.

Scott M said...

and the mantally ill have moved on to less obvious neuroseses.

Sexist.

dbp said...

I made this bed a few years ago for one of my daughters.

Probably a close study of the design will "prove" that I am a total perve.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

Our patient gradually came to learn that it was as symbols of the female genitals that clocks were banished from her equipment for the night.

Oh for crying out loud.

How about the clocks were noisy and kept her awake. Freud needed to be analyzed himself for his obsession in seeing sex in everything.

I have a great relationship with my pillows, headboard and bedposts. However, I cannot stand it if the sheets, blankets and comforter are not square on the bed and even (not hanging down more on one side or the other)when we get into bed.

edutcher said...

denmotherblog said...

I try to be open minded, but seriously, Freud was nuts.

Read some of his stuff. Not what other people wrote about his stuff, but what he wrote.

He may not have nailed everything, but he understood more than a lot of people want to believe.

Mark O said...

Pillows, bedposts, handcuffs, whips and chains and your wife's name.

rhhardin said...

Does the gum lose its flavor on the bedpost overnight?

Not if God keeps his tongue on it.

Fred4Pres said...

We better get Carol Herman's take on this. And Titus' too.

JanT said...

Sometimes a pillow is just a pillow.

Fritz said...

Bed posts? Who has bed posts?

RKearns said...

Which deserves to be mocked more: the subject of this post, or Attachwatch?

DADvocate said...

Sexist.

A Freudian slip.

ricpic said...

I swear, a woman's breast is the hardest rock the Almighty ever made, and I can find no sign on it.

--Bear Claw to Jeremiah Johnson

Scott M said...

A Freudian slip.

Tell me how you feel about your mother.

Ron said...

If the pillow is not happy... nobody is happy.

Anonymous said...

I don't have OCD, I have CDO. It's like OCD, but the letters are in alphabetical order, as they should be.

:-)

gerry said...

He may not have nailed everything, but he understood more than a lot of people want to believe.

I love Dr. Marvin Monroe the psychologist on the Simpsons. Once he exclaimed, when Homer brought the family in for counseling, "Look at my shelves of references! Less than half have been discredited!"

michaele said...

Freud certainly twisted things into complicated knots in order to satisfy his compulsion to give a problem a sexual interpretation.
My 41 year old daughter has suffered from OCD since early adolescence and it's such a cruel mental illness. It's a heck of a thing when you can't trust the incessant whispers from your own brain. She lives a fairly productive life but it's always a struggle and takes a toll.

edutcher said...

Your daughter has my sympathies, but tell her to hang in. I know wht she's going through.

PS As I say, read Freud's stuff. Not everything has the sex angle.

raf said...

like OCD, but the letters are in alphabetical order, as they should be.

L.

I would say "lol" but I am in a social environment where I have learned to suppress outward signs of emotion.

Original Mike said...

"Do you have a good relationship with your pillows and bedposts?"

Reminded me of this.

wv: cometh. Honest!

Mary Beth said...

Nice work, dbp.

dbp said...

Thanks Mary Beth!

Strelnikov said...

We had lunch last week and they both seemed fine.

Steve Burri said...

Does your chewing gum lose its flavor
On the bedpost overnight?

Christy said...

I read Freud when I was 8, saw that he was true. Grew up, stopped believing and turned into a Jungian.

I've a beloved pillow that scrunches up just right! It is ancient and disintegrating, so I'm sewing a new cover for it. Goldilocks loves her pillow.

Didn't Ulysses build his marriage bed using a live tree as one of the posts? Anyone have an Ulyssipal Complex?

Geoff Matthews said...

This reminds me why I hated Freud so much.

Scott M said...

As the most interesting man in the world, all sides of my pillows are the cool sides.

Palladian said...

The back of my bedstead is made of giant pillows. it would have proven a problematic design for Freud's patient.

Jose_K said...

The best book ever on OCD. Notes fron the Underground by Dostoiesky.
He was himself obssesed, The gambler was autobiographic.

Jose_K said...

By the way cloripramine cures OCD. It was banned in the USA. I dont know if still is. But it works. Also do most antidepresant

michaele said...

Jose_K, my daughter was in the original NIH study that tested
clomipramine as an effective treatment for OCD in adolescence. About halfway into the double blind study, they cancelled it to make the drug available to all the kids since it was proving helpful to those that were receiving it instead of the placebo. For some reason (maybe because of side effects) subsequent anti-depressants became the more commonly prescribed medication for OCD. I think it's the rare person who is blessed to experience a full cure but any diminishing of symptoms is appreciated.

William said...

Is it possible that Freud wrote this as a put on? Probably not, but it does read like a parody of Freudian analysis.

Largo said...

Tell me about your id when you was a kid.
--Bugs Bunny