ABSTRACT
Some conscious fantasies, whether they aim to temporarily increase our self-esteem or devalue or punish ourselves, end with masturbation: a bodily discharge to relieve tensions associated with closeness or distance to objects and to satisfy various aspects of infantile sexuality and infantile aggression. In practice, however, once an unconscious fantasy is reconstructed in the analytic treatment, it may be difficult to make a differentiation between the story line of an unconscious fantasy and the story line of a daydream, and to differentiate their functions in the person's internal world. Themes concerning the primal scene, incest, beating, castration, bisexuality, phallic women, rescue, oedipal urges, and family romance frequently appear in unconscious fantasies. The chapter illustrates the interplay between the effective maintenance of unconscious fantasies and the expression of psychosomatic symptoms when the function of the unconscious fantasy is threatened. It also presents an overview on the key concepts discussed in this book.
