An Unconvincing Psychological Theory

Dear Editor,

Recently, I read The Emotional Plague: The Root of Human Evil (Princeton, NJ: A.C.O. Press, 2008) in which Charles Konia argues that “all efforts at human betterment have failed” (p. 7) because of a failure to accept Wilhelm Reich’s theories about “the function of the orgasm in humans and an understanding of the laws governing orgone energy functions in nature” (p. 447). As many of our readers know, this is not a new argument. Reich’s work has been well known in psychoanalytic circles since the 1940s and it was well presented in Elsworth Baker’s Man in the Trap (1967). However, for those unfamiliar with the issues involved, I will discuss it briefly below.

Few have found the evidence for Reich’s theories convincing. Unfortunately, Charles Konia simply asserts the validity of Reich’s theories without offering case studies or other evidence to support them. There are no references to biographies of political leaders or to other psychohistorical work. Instead, the author offers a greatly expanded version of Elsworth Baker’s chapter on “socio-political charac-

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ter types.” The argument is that the left is mired in intellectual defenses (or “armoring”) while the right is mired in mystical ones. The solution is for everyone to get in touch with their sex drive and have better orgasms.

Osama bin Laden, we are told, suffers from “orgiastic impotence” despite having sexual relations with many women (p. 13). The solution is for him, and everyone else, to have “regular and complete pleasurable discharge of energy with involuntary convulsions of the body’s total musculature, accompanied by a temporary suspension of consciousness, and followed by total relaxation and a tender, grateful attitude toward one’s partner” (p. 13). The problem with this argument is that we have no evidence about bin Laden’s sex life other than the fact that he has several wives. Nor does Konia offer any evidence that this kind of sexual experience has changed anyone’s political beliefs.

At one point, Konia argues that the social movements of the 1960s were “fueled by unfulfilled sexual longing which could not be satisfied” (xxvi). Later in the book, they are attributed to “the collapse of Germany following its unconditional and humiliating defeat in the First World War” (p. 220). But the 1960s were a time of sexual liberation thanks to birth control pills and there is no reason to believe that sexual frustration increased in the 1960s as compared to the 1950s. Furthermore, the West German economy was booming.

Many of the author’s other opinions are similarly unconvincing. He asserts that smoking does not cause cancer; it is caused by a predisposition to cancer. “Cancer, atherosclerotic heart disease, diabetes, obesity and the myriad autoimmune diseases… each involves an underlying sexual disturbance that has, at its basis, disturbed bioenergetic pulsation.” (p. 400). He states that gun control is useless since criminals will always find guns and that liberals are blind to reality when they criticize “President Bush’s intuitive, clearsighted characterization of North Korea, Iraq and Iran as an `Axis of Evil’” (p. 437). He also states that homosexuality is “a symptom that arises from an underlying disturbance in the orgasm function” (p. 285).

The link between these idiosyncratic opinions and Reich’s theories is unconvincing, as is Konia’s attribution of Islamic terrorism to sexual frustration and the promise of virgins in the afterlife. This is not a new observation, and it fails to explain why Islamist movements have emerged at this point in time. Sexual repression in Islamic societies is nothing new.

This reviewer wonders why Charles Konia. A psychiatrist certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, is so devoted to defending the ideas of Wilhelm Reich. The answer becomes apparent when I realized that he is certified in medical orgonomy by the American Board of Medical Orgonomy and that he practices medical orgone therapy in Easton, Pennsylvania.

Finally, Konia argues that “all efforts at human betterment have failed” because of a failure to adopt Reich’s sexual theories. But many efforts at human betterment have not failed. Slavery has been abolished, infant mortality is down, life expectancy is up, workers have unions, women and racial minorities have much improved opportunities, the rights of homosexuals are acknowledged, and witches are no longer burned at the stake. Although not universal, these improvements are real in many countries, and they owe very little—if anything—to Reich’s theories about orgone energy.

Sincerely yours,

Ted Goertzel

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