Freud's seduction theory

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Freud's seduction theory (German: Verführungstheorie) was a hypothesis posited in the mid-1890s by Sigmund Freud that he believed provided the solution to the problem of the origins of hysteria and obsessional neurosis. According to the theory, a repressed memory of child sexual abuse in early childhood was the essential precondition for hysterical or obsessional symptoms, with the addition of an active sexual experience up to the age of eight for the latter. In the traditional account of development of seduction theory, Freud initially thought that his patients were relating more or less factual stories of sexual mistreatment, and that only sexual abuse could be responsible for his patients' neuroses and other mental health problems. Within a few years Freud abandoned his theory, concluding that some of his patients' stories of sexual abuse were not literal and were instead fantasies. He never ruled out that sexual abuse could be the cause of illness, simply that it was not the only possible...

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