Safety: From the Paris Morgue to Oxytocin

On Tuesday April 21, 1896, Freud gave a lecture to the Viennese medical community arguing that “hysteria,” as it was then known, was caused by memories of actual physical and sexual abuse suffered in childhood. Freud rightly felt that he had made a major discovery about the science of hysteria, of psychotherapy, and of the mind. However, his idea was ridiculed. Freud's reaction to his detractors was swift: “They can go to hell.” Freud withdrew “into a cocoon.” When he emerged a year later, he brought with him a new science—the “science” of psychoanalysis, which for all its creativity and imagination, was devoid of science. One of the core concepts that would be sacrificed was safety itself. The “reality” of safety (and thus the reality of danger) was replaced by the “phantasy” of safety (and thus the phantasy of danger). This article reexamines some of the science that psychoanalysis took out. In particular the article looks at early attachment, safety, oxytocin, and the role of the autonomic nervous system. The reintroduction of science to psychotherapy is critical if psychotherapy is to be a science of the mind.