ABSTRACT
It was Karl Abraham who introduced the concept of oral sadism into psychoanalysis. The concept can be found in its full-fledged form in "A Short Study of the Development of the Libido Viewed in the Light of Mental Disorders". Abraham's interest may have been reawakened when he heard that Sigmund Freud had introduced the "oral" or "cannibalistic" phase in October 1914, in the third edition of Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality. Abraham began his "First Pregenital Stage" by presenting a number of normal and neurotic children and adults whose eating and drinking behaviours exhibited abnormalities. In Abraham's view two depressive symptoms are of greatest interest: a refusal to eat and a fear of starvation. According to Abraham, both show that orality plays a special role in depression. He explains that these symptoms develop because the libido of the patient has regressed to the oral phase.
