The woman with the ink spot on her table cloth

Intro: Symptoms are as Freud relates a physical manifestation or evidence of a

condition. A manifestation that can be linked to the individuals past and present
life experiences. Symptoms do not always equate a sickness or negative
connotation; symptoms are to be viewed as well as valued as a subjective
connection with an individuals past.
Case: The Ladys obsessional manifestations:

Runs from her room into another neighboring one, takes up a particular
position beside a table that stands in the middle, rings the bell for her
house maid, gives her a task or not and then runs back to her own room.

Is not aware of why she does it.

During therapy she realizes that it links to an event. On her wedding night
her husband (older man) was unable to sustain an erection, which caused
him to be running from his to her room. In the result of anger he spilled red
ink on the bed sheets to prevent humiliation in front of the house maid.
However the stain was not formed in an appropriate place.

We can see the resemblance of the obsessive action and the event in the
form of running from one room to the other and the stain on the table cloth
to which the patient positions herself in such a way that the maid notices
the ink.

The patient is identifying herself with her husband.

The table takes the place of the bed. (Which in dream symbolism stand for
marriage).

The obsessional action is a representation, repetition and making right of a

significant scene.

Tries to make husband superior to his past mishap. Protects him from
malicious gossip.

The interpretation of the symptoms was discovered by the patient and

results from a connection with an event which did not belong to a forgotten
period of childhood, but which had happened in the patients adult life and
had remained undimmed in her memory.

Conclusion:

Freud argues that symptoms are a physical link to the experiences that
have shaped our consciousness; often strange and lacking reason links
serve as a bridge, connecting our past and present to the current reality.

A particular act often has subconscious roots because the behavior itself is
distanced from their past experiences.

Idea was justified and the action served a purpose, (Freud, 334)

At one point, the obsessive action serves as a comforting motion or a

mental safety net for an individual and it typically progresses to a

consistently repetitive action; further distancing a person from their actual

problem.

The ladys subconscious harbors desires that her conscious self finds
appalling.