Psychical inertia is a term introduced by Carl Jung to describe the psyche's resistance to development and change. He considered it one of the main reasons for the neurotic opposing, or shrinking from, his or her age-appropriate tasks in life.M. Jacoby, Individuation and Narcissism (2013) p. 35
Freudian and other developments Freud argued that such psychic inertia played a part in the lives of the normal, as well as of the neurotic,S. Freud, Case Studies II (PFL 9) p. 358-9 and saw its origins in fixation between early instincts and their first impressions of significant objects.S. Freud, On Psychopathology (PFL 10) p. 157-8 As late as Civilization and its Discontents, he considered as a major obstacle to cultural development "the inertia of the libido, its disinclination to give up an old position for a new one".S. Freud, Civilization, Society and Religion (PFL 129) p. 298
Later Jungians have seen psychic inertia as a force of nature reflecting both internal and outer determinants;K. Evera-Fahey, Towards a Jungian Theory of the Ego (2016) p. 68-9 while others have seen it as a product of social pressures, especially in relation to ageing.L. Woodward ed., Figuring Age (1999) p. 133 and 141
See also
References
External links Inertia - Hero or Victim