Acathexis Explained
Acathexis is a psychoanalytic term for a lack of emotional response to significant memories or actual interactions, where such a response would normally be expected.[1]
The term also refers more broadly to a general absence of normal or expected feelings.[2]
Acathexis has been linked to anxiety, bipolar disorder and dementia,[3] while the phenomenon also appears in posttraumatic stress disorder.[4]
Further reading
- P. Sifeos, 'Affect. Emotional Conflicts, and Deficits' Psychotherapy-and-Psychosomatics 56 (1991) 116-22
Notes and References
- W. W. Wang, Comprehensive Psychiatry Review (2009) p. 49
- R. J. Corsini, The Dictionary of Psychiatry (2002) p. 6
- B. J. & V. A. Sadock, Kaplan and Sadock's Pocket Handbook of Clinical Psychiatry (2010) p. 513
- D. Goleman, Emotional Intelligence (1996) p. 206
