Was Freud Right?

Oh Freud, good ole Sigmund. I never thought I’d be quoting him in general, never mind for fun, but I think the “father of modern psychology” had something to say about oral fixation.

In case you haven’t heard of him, Sigmund Freud was a pioneering psychologist in the early 20th century, whose work on the Theory of the Unconscious Mind marked the first exploration of the subconscious. Freud’s groundbreaking ideas were the first to suggest that our current thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are often influenced by unconscious processes, many of which are rooted in past experiences. The guy literally invented psychoanalysis (Britannica). Despite this, a massive amount of his work is highly controversial, which consequently led to his removal from a lot of discussions on the modern psyche. For example, Freud states that children in youth are inherently attracted to the opposite sex and build resentment for the other parent as they are competing with them for attention. Known as the Electra complex for women, the theory details that a female baby has an attraction for her father, and therefore competes with and builds resentment for her mother. Vice versa, the Oedipus complex details a young male’s attraction to their mother. There is no question as to why this has caused such a stir, as it is downright unsettling to think about. Beyond this, the Freudian theme of sexual attraction continues throughout all his work, lucky us. He states there are stages of “psychosexual” development: oral, anal, phallic, and latent; behind the wonderful names there are some genuinely interesting ideas. While I am not going to go in depth on all of these, I always promote doing independent research.

So, oral fixation… Freud’s Idea that from birth to 12 months “the infant’s primary source of interaction occurs through the mouth, so the rooting and sucking reflex is especially important. The mouth is vital for eating, and the infant derives pleasure from oral stimulation through gratifying activities such as tasting and sucking.” (Kendra Cherry MSEd) It is a fact that the primary physical interaction in a child’s infancy comes from using their mouth. He later goes on to say that “Because the infant is entirely dependent upon caretakers (who are responsible for feeding the child), the child also develops a sense of trust and comfort through this oral stimulation.” This contact is so integral, and then it is concluded (think about how forceful parents are with getting kids to stop sucking their thumbs), and that is the aspect that Freud believed created a later unhealthy attachment to oral activities like biting your nails, vaping and chewing gum. And while I don’t necessarily believe Freud’s philosophy on ALL the stages, I do think he had something to say for a human focus on the mouth. This is what led me into my topic today: if you walk around, if you walk around campus, it’s hard to ignore people either chewing, slurping, smooching or vaping. VAPING! People, it’s an epidemic with these electronic cigarettes and their bubblegum berry blast juice. The International Journal of Public Health stated, “Generation Z, defined as “post-millennial,” is considered to be the first generation that could end smoking”. This statement has been blown around on social media, and it highlights how we as humans, for generations, have been unable to give up this smoking, dare I say sucking, habit. People who overcome nicotine addiction often state it was the action of vaping they greatly missed. There’s a lot to be said about this habit or addiction. The world is increasingly stressful as you age, and people are constantly looking for vices, whether that is smoking, partying or drinking. Maybe I just have oral fixation, as I go through a pack of gum while writing, but I feel I have noticed habitual activities with people being focused on things that involve the oral area: gum, constant stimulation in the mouth, energy drinks always being sipped, coffee cups in everyone’s hands. It seems people are always doing something involving their mouth. I really just wanted to stay with this resurgence of smoking; maybe just maybe it goes back to when we were a wee baby. In all seriousness though, I think it is so important to explore different views on the world, and Freud is just so interesting to study. Regardless of what you believe in regard to “generational oral fixation,” I think we can all agree Mr. Sigmund personally knew the struggle all too well… 

‘Smoking is one of the greatest and cheapest enjoyments in life, and if you decide in advance not to smoke, I can only feel sorry for you.’

Sigmund Freud

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• Sigmund Freud
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• vaping