Considered a genius by some and mad by others, the Austrian Wilhelm Reich was the greatest revolutionary in Psychology of this century. Pioneer of the Sexual Revolution, precursor of ecological movements and biosocial psychiatry, Reich he also developed artifacts used to cure cancer and reduce the negative effects of energy. nuclear.
Little is known about the thought of W. Reich, because there aren't many sources of information and his theses are withheld at the universities of psychology and psychiatry. Some refer to Reich for his Freudian-Marxist writings, others for his psychoanalytic texts, in addition to his writings on God and the Devil.
For years, several revolutionary movements have recovered part of his work, especially his socio-political writings, following the thesis that there is no social revolution without sexual revolution, understanding by sexuality the affective, communicative, personal relationships, etc. Reich claimed the function of sexuality not as a mere realization of intercourse, but as a fusion with the other. The full experience of love and sexuality was seen by him as an indispensable factor for emotional satisfaction.
All of his thinking indicates that a radical change in human relationships is needed. It associates the separation of a baby from its mother's body at the time of birth with the murder of Christ, with psychosis, with fascism and with the function of orgasm. His speech complexity is beyond his time.
His most important contribution, which revolutionized all of Psychology, was to prove that neurosis is socially produced, installing itself in the whole body and not just in people's minds. The concept of the neuromuscular armor of the character shows how neurosis takes place through the stagnation of vital energy. In the book "The Function of the Orgasm", Reich states that the full and satisfying sexual orgasm is the biological regulator of vital harmony. A socialist militant called attention to the fact that the neuroses were caused by the deviation of the people's originality, through blocks to sexuality and affectivity, therefore a phenomenon socio-political. From there, he began to give a new focus to Psychology, centered on the individual, his body and his social relations.
Wilhelm Reich was expelled from Psychoanalytic society for theoretical differences and links to politics; and also from the Communist Party for its denunciations of the reigning authoritarianism. Persecuted by Nazism, after traveling through several European countries, he settled in the United States, where he began to research climatic phenomena, orgone accumulation boxes, etc. In 1956, Reich is arrested for refusing to appear in court to prove the accumulators' therapeutic effects. A year after his arrest, Reich dies in jail leaving a legacy for future generations who are still surprised by his originality and rebellion.
João da Mata
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psychology - Brazil School
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
SCHOOL, Team Brazil. "REICH – Genius or Crazy?"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/psicologia/reich-genio.htm. Accessed on June 29, 2021.
