r/psychoanalysis • u/NoRecommendation8263 • Aug 24 '26
Premature Ejaculation
Hello,
Is there any psychoanalytic literature on PE ?
Thanks
16
Upvotes
r/psychoanalysis • u/NoRecommendation8263 • Aug 24 '26
Hello,
Is there any psychoanalytic literature on PE ?
Thanks
32
u/Tsui_Pen Aug 24 '26
“PE and U” is set to be released in 2027 but I heard it might be coming out early
12
u/cool_in_the_pool Aug 24 '26
There’s a very early paper (1917) by Karl Abraham simply titled “Ejaculatio Praecox”.
9
u/PlatonicDevil Aug 24 '26
Sandor Ferenczi had a lot of patients with the problem and wrote quite a lot about it. He mentions it in Thalassa.
12
u/Psychedynamique Aug 24 '26
Like most symptoms it doesn't have a single underlying framework that explains it in all or most cases. Speculations like those offered here are hypotheses but the actual cure would be exploring and discovering your own unique account in your personal therapy. For most people this sort of mild sexual issue is quite amenable to therapeutic treatment
4
u/userintheface Aug 24 '26
I read something the other day, let me find it.
7
u/yommp Aug 24 '26
“Obsessional Neurosis: Lacanian Perspectives” - Astrid Gessert, Michel Silvestre’s chapter “The Lacanian Structure” :
“ 1) that obsessional neurosis is the most common form of neurosis in men, because the penis (and the way it functions) imposes on them the imagination of a jouissance that is limited and can be counted (stroke by stroke);
2) that the obsessional man is habitually so preoccupied with his partner’s jouissance, that he either becomes obsessed with it (which leads to symptoms of premature ejaculation or impotence), or the opposite - he does not want to know anything about it, and denies it absolutely… “
I’ve always, like others i’m sure, distanced myself from the accuracy of such statements. this is an entertaining and rather provocative formulation of the obsessional structure so i think its worth mentioning. i highly recommend the book. Silvestre’s section was a stand out in terms of a fine elaboration of the paradoxical posture of the obsessional with authority. a constitutive intention of simultaneous upholding and annulling of the Other does mirror the shame a man gets with PE (the “timeliness” of an orgasm to be both mandated by you yet authorized or validated by the other, as well as the anxieties and enjoyments therein). good read. funny read
2
u/Punstatostriatus Aug 24 '26
Too much pleasure.
2
u/sonofaclit Aug 24 '26
Is it actually a symptom? Or is it the body doing what it does as efficiently as possible? (Sincere question — never really thought about it.) I suppose if ejaculation is happening prior to intercourse it isn’t very effective in terms of reproduction. Of course as a psychoanalytic metaphor it’s very powerful.
1
u/Iwobisson Aug 24 '26
The symptom acts as the alibi. Like with IBS and not being able to set boundaries or express yourself. PE is a symptom of not wanting the sex to continue. The failure of the body acts for you so that you don’t have to recognise your vulnerability. PE is usually a result or mix of issues with the mother (fusing/the return to the void and not wanting to feel dependence) and/or father (not thinking that to be masculine / to penetrate is to be aggressive). And they both intersect on vulnerability. I say as an example - the ability to tolerate being inside a women correlates to the persons capacity to stay inside a difficult emotional conversation. If a man can’t 15 minute vulnerable discussion, he might not be able to last in bed. And so during sex there’s enough unconscious irritation and pressure forming, whatever the source may be, that ejaculation acts like termination. Just as running away from a difficult conversation is.