ABSTRACT
Examination of ordinary, residual phobias reveals one possible source for the tenacity of the more troubling versions. These can be seen as conflictual, imperfect, and distorted attempts to achieve something which is necessary or useful in psychic life. Sigmund Freud's view of phobia locates it firmly as an Oedipal issue, concerned with the vicissitudes of the libido and castration anxiety. W. R. D. Fairbairn describes phobia—meanwhile—as one of four strategies an individual may use to defend against schizoid and depressive states, and against the move towards mature, mutually dependent relationships. D. W. Winnicott says little directly on phobia. Like W. R. D. Fairbairn, M. Balint viewed the child as object-related from the start and rejected ideas of a primary narcissistic state. M. Balint suggests that, in therapy, the ocnophilic and philobatic states may appear at their most primitive during moments of regression.
