The transcendent energy that emerges to life in a pulsional form deliberated by desire to fulfill the path of vitality, Libidinal energy coined by Freud in his studies and writings, energy that trails incessantly in search of the cravings of the driving force of life.

Here we are talking about libido, a subject that has been taboo since the time of its genesis until today. Freud was much criticized at the time because libidinal energy permeates human sexuality, a subject that is little treated and socially accepted.

Libidinal Energy and Psychoanalysis

The libido is present from the youngest age of the individual, an energy that organizes and can even cause a disorganization in the experience and life history of the person. As the study of psychoanalysis is intertwined with art and poetry, we borrow a verse by Llansol to go through the fabric of vital energy:

I write in these notebooks so that, in fact, the experience of time can be absorbed (...) I write in these notebooks so that the upstream line that leads to old age, as I conceive it, does not move away from my body: immense reflection, detachment obtained from contrasts, concentration on the present in which all imaginable times are already unfolding forever. This state is the ideal moment for(Llansol).

Just like in the poetry written by Llansol, the libidinal energy is woven, it goes through all the stages of life until old age, and its time becomes actual, a present moment in the building of the personality structure, transcends and goes through allowing its longings to reach the flow of life.

Libidinal energy and libido

The libido is a force that moves the human being, it is far beyond sexual pleasure, and is present within the psychic development since the first contact with the world. The libido is of a scientific character that man is a source of energy and that through it we can sustain our physical, mental, and also psychological balance.

So that the human being in unbalance emanating from stress, worries, impatience where there is no gap for his body and mind, later this will lead to somatization.

Somatization can cause sleep disorders, digestive disorders, high levels of anxiety, panic syndrome, etc., which we call psychosomatic illnesses of psychological nature. In this way we understand the power of the mind, of the psychological before the body (soma) is all this energy contained in each human being that if unbalanced can cause some types of diseases such as those mentioned above.

Libidinal energy and psychic energy

This psychic energy there is a purpose is meant for something as we can find in Jung (2002), uses the term Psychic Energy to describe the energy that moves the entire Psyche. For Jung (2002), the libido is an energy that is not restricted only to the sexual field, it encompasses all aspects of life (hunger, sex, emotions, etc.) manifesting itself through efforts, desires, and conscious determinations that take into consideration the will of the individual.

The libido has been studied by many researchers throughout history, psychiatrists, physicians, even before Freud. St. Augustine (354-430), a philosopher, already said that humans were ruled by three types of desires: the libido sciendi, the desire for knowledge; the libido sentiendi, which is the sensual desire; and the libido dominendi, the desire to dominate. And libido would lead to human desire.

Everything we do there is an investment of energy that travels along paths in order to reach the goal. Sometimes the intensity of this energy travels along paths and arrives at the goal weakened. For many, libido has only a sexual connotation, when we talk about libido we think of sexuality, but as we have seen, libido is the psychic energy that moves the human being, where energy is invested in something with a purpose.

The perverse human being

For Freud, the human being is born polymorphically perverse, that is, a great variety of objects can be a source of pleasure, the whole human body is a great source of pleasure. In Freudian theory, libidinal energy is not only internal, it is also linked to psychosocial phenomena, that is, its increase, its decrease, its production, its displacement, everything would be linked to these phenomena.

One of the main characteristics of the libido is connected to its displacement, which is the process in which the affection associated with an idea is removed from it and it is associable with another one that has an associative connection with the original idea.

As seen, according to the phases of psychosexual development, the displacement of the libido is directly linked to the development that takes place during the individual's childhood, his constitution, that is, what we are today is a reflection of our childhood and even from the conception of life outside the world.

Libidinal energy and the cartexia

According to Freud, when it comes to libido, its energy is all contained within the human psyche.

Based on this study about the libido and its characteristics, Freud defined the cartexia, which is a process by which the libidinal energy is related to the individual's mental representation, that is, the representation of a thing or idea, as if the cartexia were a very high investment of the individual in the libido.

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Here we open a parenthesis, taking a hook from Ana Carolina's song "A libido está em tudo À libido está em todo parte A libido está em toda parte.

Final considerations

In the heads of Plato, Machiavelli, and Descartes In the blue of the atmosphere or the red of Mars At the door of your body or the standard-bearer At the top of a volcano or fulminating with a heart attack.

In the virtual world or in reality In the elevator lobby, in the handyman's hand In the gesture of the plebeian or the majesty In the early riser or the late riser.

Finally, this energy is the driving force that surrounds the human being is linked to desire and this energy. In the Freudian theory, the libido is linked to the life drive Eros' drive and death drive Tanatos' drive, Freud resorts to Greek mythology This energy that leads us to search for knowledge, and I conclude by saying that libido is a diversity of experiences.

This article was written by Keila Cristina Carlos de Souza ( [email protected] ), a psychoanalytic psychologist for 10 years, psychoanalyst in training at IBPC, and passionate about psychology and psychoanalysis.