Deconstructing the unconscious saboteur: Composing a life with ambition and desire

Abstract

This paper explores the unconscious roots of women's ambition from an object relations, developmental, and hermaneutic perspective. Three high-profile women's stories illustrate the formative and deformative power of narration: those of Hilary Clinton, Tina Turner, and the heroine of Phantom of the Opera. Each narrative reveals typical deformative constrictions to the expression of female ambition, including male abrogation of female capability and the denigration of ambition as unfeminine. Through clinical vignettes, this paper explores dynamic, developmental, and cultural forces that block female ambition's full flowering. Part of the need to keep women's ambition limited stems from the unconscious needs of the masculine psyche for superiority. This is communicated to little girls through their mothers' internalized parental imagoes, including their mothers' identification with their mothers and their own oedipal struggles. Similarly, the father's unconscious anxieties in relation to his parental imagoes, particularly his preoedipal and oedipal relations with his mother, are communicated. Another constraining dynamic relates to female conflicts around separation from the mother. Composing new narratives of women's ambition with our patients can incorporate the uniquely feminine aspects of comfort with diffusion, while weaving multiple and disparate strands laced with nurturance and aggression.

Harriet Kimble Wyre. Auflösung des unbewussten Saboteurs: Aufbau eines Lebens aus Streben nach Erfolg.

Erforscht werden die unbewussten Wurzeln des Erfolgstrebens von Frauen, aus der Perspektive der Objektbeziehungen, der Entwicklungspsychologie und der Hermeneutik. Die Erfolgsgeschichten dreier hochrangiger Frauen zeigen die aufbauende und zersetzende Kraft ihrer internalisierten Lebensgeschichten: Hilary Clinton, Tina Turner, und die Heldin aus Phantom der Oper. Die Lebensgeschichten enthüllen typische deformierende Einengungen der Einschätzung von weiblichem Erfolgsstreben. Ein Aspekt davon ist die von männern oft vertretene Aberkennung von ausserordentlichen Fähigkeiten von Frauen sowie die Ansicht von Männern, Erfolgsstreben bei Frauen sei unweiblich.

Durch klinische Vignetten werden dynamische, entwicklungspsychologische und kulturelle Kräfte erforscht, die die volle Entfaltung des Erfolgstrebens von Frauen blockieren. Begrenzt werden die Wünsche der Frauen nach Erfolg zum Teil durch die unbewussten Vorstellungen der männlichen Psyche, die männliche Überlegenheit zu bewahren. Diese Haltungen werden den kleinen Mädchen durch die Mutter, gemäss deren internaliserten Elternimagos, vermittelt. Dazu gehören die Identifizierungen der Mutter mit ihrer Mutter und ihre eigenen ödipalen Auseinandersetzungen. Auf die gleiche Weise werden die unbewussten Ängste des Vaters bezüglich seiner Elternimagos vermittelt, insbesondere seine vorödipale Beziehung mir seiner Mutter. Eine weitere einengende Dynamik ergibt sich für das Mädchen aus der Ablösung von der Mutter.

Wird mit unseren Patientinnen ein neues Verständnis von Erfolgsstreben geschaffen, breitet sich eine einmalige weibliche Ausprägung von vielseitiger Befriedigung aus, getragen vom Bedürfnis zu Ernähren und die Aggressionen konstruktiv umzusetzen.

Harriet Kimble Wyre. Deconstruyendo el saboteador inconsciente: Componiendo una vida con ambición y deseo.

Este trabajo explora el origen de las raíces inconscientes de la ambición en las mujeres desde las perspectivas de las relaciones objetales, del desarrollo y la hermeneútica. Las historias de tres mujeres de alto perfil ilustran el poder formativo y deformativo del poder de la narrativa: Tina Turner, Hilary Clinton y la heroína del Fantasma de la Opera. Cada narrativa revela típicas constricciones deformativas de la expresión de la ambición femenina, incluyendo la abrogación masculina de la capacidad femenina y la denigración de la ambición como no femenina.

A través de estas viñetas, se explora las fuerzas dinámicas, de desarrollo y culturales que bloquean el completo florecimiento de la ambición en la mujer. Parte de la necesidad de mantener la ambición femenina limitada proviene de la necesidad inconsciente de superioridad de la psique masculina. Esto es comunicado a las niñas por medio de las imagos parentales interiorizadas de la madre, incluyendo la identificación de la madre con su propia madre y sus conflictos edípicos. De manera semejante las ansiedades inconscientes del padre en relación con sus imagos parentales, particularmente sus relaciones preedípicas así como edípicas con su madre son también comunicados. Otra dinámica que constriñe se refiere a los conflictos femininos alrededor de la separación de la madre. Componer nuevas narrativas acerca de la ambición en las mujeres con nuestras pacientes permite incorporar los extraordinarios aspectos femeninos de consuelo y difusión mientras teje múltiples y dispares cabos enlazados a la crianza y la agresión.     

Timing is everything: Anticipatory stress dynamics among cortisol and blood pressure reactivity and recovery in healthy adults

Psychological states of anticipation modulate biological stress responsivity. While researchers generally investigate how subjective distress corresponds to the magnitude of stress reactivity, physiological recovery after acute stressors must also be considered when investigating disease vulnerabilities. This study assessed whether anticipatory stress would correspond to stress reactivity and recovery of salivary cortisol and blood pressure levels in response to a well-validated psychosocial stressor. Thirty participants (63% female; mean?±?SEM age 45.4?±?2.12 years) were exposed to the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) consisting of a public speech and mental arithmetic. Ten salivary cortisol samples and systolic and diastolic blood pressure recordings were collected at time points spanning 50?min before and up to 50?min after stress exposure. These data were transformed into parameters representing stress reactivity (area under the curve) and stress recovery (percent change). The Primary Appraisal Secondary Appraisal scale assessed anticipatory stress before exposure to the TSST. Our results revealed that increased anticipatory stress predicted increased stress reactivity for cortisol (p?=?0.009) but not blood pressure. For stress recovery, increased anticipatory stress predicted greater decrements of cortisol concentration (p?=?0.015) and blood pressure (p?=?0.039), even when controlling for total systemic "output" by incorporating baseline activity. This efficient shutdown of stress responses would have otherwise been ignored by solely investigating reactive increases. These findings underscore the importance of measuring multiple dynamic parameters such as recovery when investigating physiological stress response patterns as a function of psychosocial factors.     

Borrowing from Sleep to Pay Work and Family: Expanding Time‐Based Conflict to the Broader Nonwork Domain

We extend cross‐domain research by examining sleep, a domain within the larger nonwork domain that competes for time with work and family domains. We draw from scarcity theory and research on slack resources to contend that, because people cannot increase the amount of time they have, they borrow time from sleep in order to spend more time working and with family. Utilizing a Bureau of Labor Statistics survey of 10,741 participants, we find nonlinear and interactive effects of time spent working and time spent with family on sleep time, suggesting that the negative effects of work and family on sleep time are especially strong when demands for work and family are high. In an experience sampling field study of 122 working adults, we similarly find a nonlinear effect of work time on sleep time as well as an interaction between work time and family time in predicting time spent sleeping. Both studies indicate that as slack time resources become increasingly scarce, time spent working and time spent with family have increasingly powerful negative effects on time spent sleeping. Contrary to our expectations, we found no support for gender as a moderator of these effects.     

The effects of conversation on attention and peripheral detection: Is talking with a passenger and talking on the cell phone different?

In this study conversation with a remote person (hands-free phone), an in-vehicle person (passenger), and a no conversation (baseline) condition were compared on measures of attention and peripheral detection. We held conversation pace constant so that any difference found in attention or peripheral detection could be attributed to the distinctive feature of the type of conversation (remote, in-vehicle). The difficulty level of the verbal task was included as a second independent variable. Forty-eight undergraduate students participated in all conditions of a within-subjects design. The results revealed that conversation resulted in slower reactions and fewer correct responses on both attention and Peripheral Detection tasks compared to no conversation, while conversation type (remote/in-person) did not make a significant difference. Difficulty of the verbal task affected performance on the Peripheral Detection task but not on the attention task. These findings imply that conversation has a negative effect on attention and peripheral detection which are important components of driving. This effect may be greater with difficult conversations.     

Predicting Persistence of Nonsuicidal Self‐Injury in Suicidal Adolescents

Prospective predictors of persistent nonsuicidal self‐injury (NSSI) were examined in adolescents admitted to an inpatient psychiatric unit for suicidal behaviors and followed naturalistically for 6 months. Seventy‐one (77%) participants reported NSSI at baseline, and 40 (56%) persisted at the 6 month follow‐up. Those who endorsed automatic positive reinforcement (APR) as the predominant reason for NSSI were more likely to persist in NSSI. Depression over follow‐up, but not at baseline, also predicted persistence. These results suggest that helping high‐risk adolescents to identify alternative ways of generating emotion(s) to counter the effects of APR that may accompany NSSI should be a high priority treatment target.     

Chaplains' Engagement with Suicidality among Their Service Users: Findings from the VA/DoD Integrated Mental Health Strategy

Chaplains play an important role in supporting the mental health of current and former military personnel; in this study, the engagement of Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Army, Navy, and Air Force chaplains with suicidality among their service users were examined. An online survey was used to collect data from 440 VA and 1,723 Department of Defense (DoD) chaplains as part of the VA/DoD Integrated Mental Health Strategy. Differences were noted for demographics, work setting characteristics, encountering suicidality, and self‐perceived preparation for dealing with suicidality. Compared to DoD chaplains, VA chaplains encounter more at‐risk service users, yet feel less prepared for dealing with suicidality.     

Effect of Problem‐Solving Therapy on Depressed Low‐Income Homebound Older Adults' Death/Suicidal Ideation and Hopelessness

Previous study findings of psychotherapy's effect on suicide prevention have been inconsistent. This study reports the results of secondary analyses of outcome data from a short‐term depression treatment on reducing death/suicidal ideation among 158 low‐income homebound adults aged 50+. The treatment, in‐person or telehealth problem‐solving therapy (PST), compared with telephone support call, has been found effective in reducing depressive symptoms and disability among participants. Compared with support call participants, tele‐PST participants, but not in‐person PST participants, exhibited lower ideation ratings across the follow‐up period. Effect sizes at 36 weeks were 0.31 for tele‐PST and 0.17 for in‐person PST. Hopelessness mediated the effect of tele‐PST but not in‐person PST; however, in‐person PST also alleviated hopelessness, which led to lower ideation. Clinical implications of the findings are discussed.     

Effects of chronic administration with high doses of testosterone propionate on behavioral and physiological parameters in mice with differing basal aggressiveness

The effects of testosterone propionate, an anabolic‐androgenic steroid, on the behavior displayed during a social encounter by gonadally intact male mice were investigated. Animals were distributed into three groups according to their attack latency in a pre‐screening test (high‐, moderate‐, and low‐ attacking mice) and each group received weekly injections of 60 or 120 mg/kg of testosterone or sesame oil for 10 weeks. Behavioral tests were then carried out. Afterwards, organs were weighed and blood samples collected in order to obtain hormonal data. Treatment had a differential impact on attack in the three groups of animals. Only the high‐attacking testosterone‐treated mice showed lower total duration of attack than their controls. Those that received 60 mg/kg spent more time exhibiting exploratory behaviors. As an index of the anabolic activity of the drug, all testosterone‐treated mice had heavier kidneys and, as an index of the androgenic activity of testosterone propionate, they had heavier seminal vesicles, lighter testes, and showed higher testosterone levels in a dose‐dependent way than their controls. Hence, the effect of treatment on peripheral physiological parameters was similar in all three groups whereas behavioral effects differed depending on basal aggressiveness, considered a characteristic of coping style. Aggr. Behav. 29:173–189, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.