A potência que aterroriza: fantasias de ameaça em mulheres com ansiedade

Abstract

This research aimed to understand the experience of anxiety in young women diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), based on the listening to their lived experiences and symbolic material expressed through dreams. Grounded in analytical psychology and a critical gender perspective, the study proposed an expanded view of the unconscious and sociocultural factors that shape anxious suffering, with special attention to the threat fantasies that accompany this experience. To this end, Reflective Interviews were conducted with five women between the ages of 20 and 30, whose narratives were transcribed and organized into categories: perceived threats, threat fantasies, associated emotions, and sense of Self. The analysis revealed that anxiety is mainly triggered by fear of abandonment and rejection, but also by an internal threat linked to the repression and dissociation of powerful psychic aspects, such as aggression, autonomy, and spontaneity. The reports showed that the threats perceived by the participants are mainly linked to interpersonal relationships, while unconscious fantasies denote ego fragility and internal threats. The findings suggest that anxiety can be understood as a symbolic expression of the conflict between an identity rigidly shaped by cultural norms and repressed psychic contents. This work was supported by of the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior – Brasil (CAPES)