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The oral stage in psychoanalysis is the term used by Sigmund Freud to describe his theory of child development during the first 18 months of life, in which an infant's pleasure centers are in the mouth. This is the first of Freud's psychosexual stages.

In Freud's theory, this is the infant's first relationship with its mother; it is a nutritive one. The duration of the oral stage depends on the society; in some, it is common for a child to be nursed by its mother for several years but in others it is much shorter. It holds special importance in some tribal societies where the stomach is considered to be the seat of the emotions. Societies that see this stage as medicinal are commonly found in the Southwest Pacific and Africa, referred to in Hilary Jacobson's book 'Mother Food for Breastfeeding Mothers'.

Oral fixation

An oral fixation (also oral craving) is a fixation in the oral stage of development manifested by an obsession with stimulating the mouth (oral) first described by Sigmund Freud, who thought infants are naturally and adaptively in an oral stage, but if weaned too early or too late, may fail to resolve the conflicts of this stage and develop a maladaptive oral fixation. In later life, these people may constantly "hunger" for activities involving the mouth.

If a child is not fed enough (neglected) or fed too much (over-protected), it may become orally fixated as an adult. It is believed that fixation in the oral stage may have one of two effects. If the child was underfed or neglected, he may become orally dependent and obsessed with achieving the oral stimulation of which he was deprived, learning to manipulate others to fulfill his needs rather than maturing to independence. The overly indulged child may resist growing up and try to return to that state of dependency through crying, acting helpless, demanding satisfaction, and being "needy."

Oral fixations are considered to contribute to over-eating, being overly talkative, smoking addictions, overindulging in sugar, chewing on straws, and even alcoholism (known as "oral dependent" qualities). Other symptoms include a sarcastic or "biting" personality (known as "oral sadistic" qualities).

Critics of Freud's theories doubt that such a thing as "oral fixation" can explain adult behaviors, and that subscribing to this simplistic explanation can prevent the exploration of other possible causes that may occur. Even psychoanalytically-oriented practitioners have broadened their understandings of fixations beyond simple stage theory.

References

• Powdermaker, Hortense. "An Anthropological Approach to the Problems of Obesity".

See also

• Psychosexual development
  • Anal stage
  • Phallic stage
  • Genital stage

Wikipedia content modification information:

• This page was last modified on 6 October 2008, at 00:59.

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