Dear hammer - - I will give you the best reasoning behind the phobias
associated with spelunking. In fact, I could do no better than quote
a whole series of paragraphs with proper citations attached, of
course. Actually it is most of the article.
From OUCC News 4th May 1994 Volume 4, Number 21 - - - - On second
thought, I will just quote some snippits. the article is better read
in context. http://milos2.zoo.ox.ac.uk/~oucc/dtt/vol4/dtt4_21.htm
"What Spelunking is...
"In Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 37:3, (1989),
pp.727-735, is the paper "Spelunking as a .Manifestation of a
Counterclaustro-phobia," by Wayne A. Myers, M.D. The abstract follows:
"Material is presented from the case history of a patient whose
interest in spelunking (cave exploration) was found to be an
unconscious expression of a type of counterclaustrophobia. Both
oedipal and preoedipal determinants of the claustrophobic anxieties
are delineated. Of particular note in this instance is the testicular
element in the genesis of...
"His mother had become depressed when he was five, after his
eight-year-old brother had fallen to his death down an elevator shaft.
The mother was never the same thereafter....In adolescence, he gave up
trying to soothe her and became passionately involved in
spelunking....
"In his review of the literature, the analyst comments: "Asch sees a
projection and displacement of the ambivalently perceived maternal
object onto the enclosing space, and wonders if this is the origin of
the symbol of the cave as first object. He notes that when the anxiety
in claustrophobia is libidinized, the tension becomes an aim in itself
and may give rise to spelunking as a pursuit.
"(The proposed mechanism would presumably not account for female cases
of spelunking)."
The whole story of this sordid pastime is there for you to read.
Search google
Terms - spelunking why do i do this to myself?
If I may clarify anything, please ask.
Cheers
digsalot |
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