Fixation and regression, two sides of the same coin

Under normal conditions, all living beings naturally advance towards a maturation process. However, growth does not maintain a completely continuous line of advance. This means that even in normal growth there are moments of progress, stops and setbacks.. This is what the psychoanalytic concepts of fixation and regression refer to.

The word fixation refers to something that remains, but also with a resistance to variation. It is a stoppage in the development process. In other words, a point at which there is neither progress nor regression. It is not a stagnation in the strict sense, but an insistence, a reiteration that remains unalterable.

For its part, the word regression has to do with a regression. This means that you have advanced towards a more advanced phase, but for some reason, at a given moment, you return to a stage former. Why do fixation and regression phenomena occur in human beings? What implications does this have on psychic life? We will refer to this shortly.

Libido as an evolutionary factor

Both fixation and regression are phenomena that are closely related to the concept of libido. In psychoanalysis libido is a psychic energy (a drive) that is oriented towards obtaining pleasure. A desire that moves the subject and impels him to find satisfaction. This force or impulse is directed to different objects, according to the evolution process of each subject.

This drive is also instinctive. According to Sigmund Freud libido follows an evolutionary course in which several stages appear. In each of them, obtaining pleasure is associated with a certain area of ​​the body and actions related to it. These phases are the following:

Oral phase. There is a predominance of obtaining pleasure in the mouth area. The action that is characteristic of it is that of taking food from the mother’s breast. It is associated with the satisfaction of receiving.anal phase. It takes place after weaning. In this case, the sensations of pleasure are focused on the rectum and its adjacent areas. The greatest satisfaction is in retaining and evacuating. It is associated with the satisfaction of giving or withholding.Phallic-genital phase. Pleasure is obtained in the genital organs, basically through masturbation.Lag phase. It is a stage in which libido significantly decreases and becomes “quiet”, so to speak.Puberty. There is an exacerbation of sexual desire and the definitive transition to adult life, in which pleasure is obtained from sexual relations.

Fixation and regression

From the point of view of psychoanalysis, When we talk about fixation, what we are referring to is the persistence of one of those phases of libido development.. Thus, a person can become fixed in the oral or anal phase, for example. This means that it basically exhibits the traits that correspond to that stage and not to others.

In turn, regression means returning to a phase that has already been overcome. It is very common in first-born children, when they have a little brother. Sometimes they want to breastfeed again and it is possible that they stop toilet training so that they can be cared for by their mother, just as she did when they were babies.

In adulthood, one can also suffer a regression, not in such a basic sense, but in the characterological traits that accompany a certain stage.. For example, a smoker or a compulsive alcohol user derives pleasure from an oral action. They look for the pleasure lost at that stage.

The reason for these mechanisms

Fixation and regression are also defense mechanisms. That is, unconscious strategies to address an adverse situation, when one does not have psychic tools that allow one to consciously assume and overcome it. Therefore, fixation and regression imply the existence of an associated problem.

In general, fixation appears when at a certain stage there is excessive indulgence or serious frustration. In each of the stages of libido development, adults, particularly parents, play a fundamental role. When they incur serious deficiencies in responding to the satisfaction or limitation of libidinal manifestations, they give rise to fixation.

Meanwhile, regression occurs when a highly frustrating or even traumatic situation occurs. Going back is a way to avoid or deny that situation and the challenges it entails. Thus, an adult may have a tantrum when reality does not follow the course of her expectations.

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