How would you use cathexis in a sentence?

[The Backlash Cometh]

This is not a trick question. I tried posting to the Writing group, but they didn't know either.

[jody]

1. You just did! n/t

[The Backlash Cometh]

3. How would I use it, if I wanted to show that I knew how to use it well enough

to put it in the right context?

[WiffenPoof]

35. What is the proper...

pronunciation?

-PLA

[Botany]

2. Boy there sure are a lot of Cathexis around the Vatican.

Sorry, I am a jerk. :spank:


cathexis |kəˈθeksis|
noun Psychoanalysis
the concentration of mental energy on one particular person, idea, or object (esp. to an unhealthy degree).
ORIGIN 1920s: from Greek kathexis ‘retention,’ translating German Libidobesetzung, coined by Freud.

New Oxford American Dictionary .... mac dictionary

[HereSince1628]

4. To succeed you must establish cathexis with the object

of your desire.

[The Backlash Cometh]

11. So it's an emotional link?

[geckosfeet]

5. Hmm. No direct statement being made here - just an example -

The cathexis for (enter name here) effectively prevented consideration of alternative policy positions.

Substitute the name of your choice where indicated.

[The Backlash Cometh]

13. An emotional attachment?

[geckosfeet]

20. an emotional investment

[JHB]

50. I've seen "body cathexis" used in an academic study...

...defined as "degree of satisfaction or dissatisfaction with one's body".

This being DU, i tend to think of things right-wingnuts obsess about, particularly the ones where they seem to protest a bit too much...

So I'd probably use it in terms like "anti-gay cathexis", a "those-people-getting-away-with-it cathexis" against any govenrment policy or program that might help or alleviate the suffering of parts of the population they deem unworthy of receiving such, "anti-tax/small-government cathexis", etc.

[The Backlash Cometh]

68. I'm surprised that you were the first to make that connection.

Yes. I think what we've been experience from Republicans for the last twenty years--with the taking of the media--has been a communal cathexis.

[HopeHoops]

6. I forgetted to feeds tha cat and I swar he was puttin' cathexis on me 'cause of it.

:evilgrin:

"Emotional attachment to lost critters in Farmville can result in an unhealthy cathexis."

(Potential double entendre intended)

[pinboy3niner]

12. The jealous cat...

...cast a spell on the dog, who soon discovered that a cat hex is nothing to sneeze at. :evilgrin:

[coalition_unwilling]

61. Those of us with cats know all too well that one sneezes at

a cathexis at one's own peril :)

Our black cat came over to check my wife and I out while we were cackling about this, almost as if the cat knew we were laughing about her. Spooky :)

[The Backlash Cometh]

14. So it's a psychic or psychological attachment to something?

Is obsession a byproduct of an unhealthly cathexis?

[HopeHoops]

19. It doesn't have to be unhealthy, but it is an emotional or psychological obsession.

It isn't unhealthy in the sense of having a cathexis involving your SO, unless of course your SO has a restraining order out against you.

On Edit: UNLESS of course there is any context involving Freud, in which case it is unhealthy by definition and might just involve your mother.

[geckosfeet]

21. The dictionary definition is pretty clear. You were asking how people would use it in a sentence.

[The Backlash Cometh]

22. Part of knowing how to use it in a sentence correctly, is to understand

exactly what it means. I had an idea, but not well enough to use it appropriately.

[T Wolf]

7. From the definition, it would seem that many have invested mental or emotional energy in the idea of

Obama as a miracle-worker who has saved the US from destruction at the hands of the rethugs.

That might explain why they work so hard to defend the minimal achievements accomplished in his first two years. The term does come from psychiatry, after all. So it might infer a mental illness that overrides rational thought with the emotions of a adoration complex.

It could also be used to describe those who erroneously thought that Obama would actually govern as a liberal and attributed too much power to the office, hence their major disappointment.

From either perspective, the concept is very applicable here at DU.

[The Backlash Cometh]

15. Thank you for your observation.

Yes, I suspect it's a very appropriate concept for the times, I just wasn't sure I was going to be using it properly in a sentence.

[ZombieHorde]

8. I think you used the word well in your subject line.

You probably would not use the word unless you were talking about Freud.

[The Backlash Cometh]

17. Unless, there are things I observe today, which would justify dusting it off and putting

it back on the mantle.

[TheCowsCameHome]

9. "The defendant was sentenced to 3-5 years in the state cathexis?"

Actually, I have no idea.

[matt819]

10. Try this

If a cat casts a spell on you, you'd better pay attention, as a cat hex is very serious.

[enlightenment]

16. Thank you, BacklashC -

I was only vaguely familiar with the word (I would catalog it under obsession rather than emotional attachment, myself) and realized when I read your post that I have never incorporated it into my vocabulary.

It's a good word and worthy of use, so I'll be making an effort now that you've reminded me!

[The Backlash Cometh]

18. No prob.

[Marr]

23. The Cathexis fleet is advancing towards Planet Earth!

To the ion cannons!

[Recovered Repug]

67. I for one welcome our Cathexis overlords.

[Warpy]

24. I wouldn't, actually

People get pissed off enough when I use the big words I do use every day.

"Cathexis" is specialized enough that I wouldn't use it outside a psychiatric setting. A two year old's attachment to his binky is an example of it in practice. Most of us outgrow it. When someone doesn't, an opportunity arises to use "cathexis" in a set of patient notes.

[The Backlash Cometh]

27. In this example, would the correct sentence be:

The baby formed an age-expected cathexis on (or over) his passy?

[Warpy]

28. Or with.

That could do it very nicely, although the term is used more for an adult who hasn't outgrown it, think Bloom with his blue blankie in "The Producers."

[Edweird]

25. I see what you did there....

[SoCalDem]

26. Here ya go.

Definitions of cathexis:

* noun: (psychoanalysis) the libidinal energy invested in some idea or person or object

Example: "Freud thought of cathexis as a psychic analog of an electrical charge"

[valerief]

30. libido - the psychic and emotional energy associated with instinctual

biological drives

instinctual drives: breathing, eating, sex, waste release (are these them?)

so

cathexis - (the psychic and emotional) energy (associated with instinctual biological drives) invested in some idea or person or object

so

cathexis is the energy used in getting all hyperventilated or hungry or horny or scatty over a meme or thing or person

'Zat it?

[The Backlash Cometh]

34. Freud actually used an amoeba to explain the process.

[BadgerKid]

29. Maybe this (non-psych example)?

As the boss, she had no cathexis in completing task A or task B first; the work simply had to be all done eventually.

[The Backlash Cometh]

32. Thank you.

You get an "A" for actually answering the question.

[snagglepuss]

45. If you don't understand the concept how can you possibly know whether

that answer is correct? Cathexis is the wrong word to use in that sentence, it is tantamont to saying 'I practically had an acute myocardial infarction when I saw my nieghbour in his underwear'.

[The Backlash Cometh]

47. I asked for people to give me an example of how they would use it in a sentence.

You did just that. Creatively, but you explained that before you posted.

[valerief]

31. Glinda's cathexis over Michael Jackson came at the cost of keeping friends. nt

[The Backlash Cometh]

33. I'm seeing that people are using it as a synonym for

"emotional investment" or obsession.

[Recursion]

44. That's what I think of it as meaning

Though Psych 101 was a while ago.

[damntexdem]

36. Well, first of all, I wouldn't invest a lot of emotional energy in it.

But here goes: Cathexis upset at how Cath made out in the divorce settlement.

;-)

[Edweird]

37. "When I say 'cathexis', it sounds like I have a lisp".

[11 Bravo]

38. Cathexis happy to be rid of her (from Katherine Harris's first husband.)

[struggle4progress]

52. !

:rofl:

[rug]

39. He had an unsettling cathexis with my handkerchief.

[SoCalDem]

40. oooh..Oooh.. (waves hand excitedly in air)

[struggle4progress]

41. Act One ends with protagonist Cathexis climbing the walls after a disconcerting conversation

with his adolescent daughter Dementia and her latest boyfriend Moronicus

[felix_numinous]

42. I learned this word

from m Scott Peck's The Road Less Travelled. In it he talked about this primitive form of love. Cathexis is more of an infatuation, like the love of a shiny new car. It is a primitive form of love, like when a woman loves babies and small obedient animals but she feels betrayed when her will is challenged by theirs. (This helped me understand the emotional immaturity of my parents) Cathexis is a form of conditional love, best for machines and obedient animals, but it can evolve to a more mature universal love. Interesting stuff.

[The Backlash Cometh]

43. Thanks felix.

It's becoming a very interesting word, because what motivates that connection with the outside world, isn't always that clear.

[hootinholler]

46. I dunno if I can hold her cap'n! The cathexis has overflowed onto the dilithium crystals!

Or something like that.

;)

Now, to go look it up.

-Hoot

[mix]

48. A cathexis formed twixt the hare and the fowl. nt

[delightfulstar]

49. Here's one...

Jim's degree of cathexis toward his new girlfriend made her suddenly wonder whether his interest was more deeply rooted in her happiness, or in his own.

Cathexis is often seen as an unhealthy, libido-driven form of devotion. In other words, Jim may be considered a bit of a creeper.

HTH! :)

[The Backlash Cometh]

55. So behavior that is cathexis driven, is never good?

[delightfulstar]

57. Not if you're the proverbial "Jim"...

But there would be situations where it could be, I suppose.

[struggle4progress]

51. Cathexis delenda est

[eShirl]

53. His cathexis was even more painful coming out than it was going in.

my sympathies to anyone who understands this pun

[The Backlash Cometh]

56. I'll ask this question to you to:

Is cathexis induced behavior always bad?

[struggle4progress]

54. ...The therapeutic interaction can be interpreted in terms of balance of interindividual cathexes...

Transference and Countertransference as Interindividual Cathexis
http://www.pep-web.org/document.php?id=psar.053b.0091a

[WinkyDink]

58. Pretentiously, I'd bet.

[Kennah]

59. Oedipus Wrecks

Yesterday, my neighbor, George, was killed by his son, Jeff, after having sex with his mother, Faye. Jeff fled the scene in George's prized possession, a classic 1965 Mustang convertible. George spent all his free time with that car. Jeff wrecked the Mustang and nine other vehicles. He also lost both of his eyes. It was the case of Oedipus wrecks cathexis.

[The Backlash Cometh]

63. Where was Electra when all this was happening?

[Mike 03]

60. I think it is very appropriate to use that word in a sentence as a noun..

It means something quite specific, although it could perhaps be used interchangeably with "obsession" in some circumstances. But I think "obsession" and "cathexis" (and if one is desperate, "preoccupation") are unique enough that they can be used separately.

The distinction is in the inflection.

But I am definitely interested in what others have to say on this matter.

[coalition_unwilling]

62. My wife says I have a cathexis with Democratic Underground - n/t

[The Backlash Cometh]

64. I'm pretty sure I have one too.

[lpbk2713]

65. Times Square is full of cathexis.

[Sinistrous]

66. My cathexis making my dog act very strangely.

I can't believe nobody else picked up on this theme.