Within the work of the Austrian psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich (1897–1957), orgastic potency is a human's natural ability to experience an orgasm with certain psychosomatic characteristics. "Reich's account of the ideal sexual act is remarkable both for its explicitness, which must have required courage in the pre-Kinsey, pre-Masters and Johnson era in which it was written, and for its omission of the word 'love'. And yet it is clear that it is love that he is talking about. Orgastic potency as formulated by Reich is the capacity to love body and soul, psychosomatically.". "Reich's model takes a unisex, 'integrated biopsychological perspective.'" and resulting in full sexual gratification.
For Reich, "orgastic impotence" is an acquired fear of sexual excitation, resulting in the inability to find full sexual gratification (not to be confused with anorgasmia, the inability to reach orgasm). This always resulted in neurosis, according to Reich, because that person could never discharge all built-up libido, which Reich regarded as actual biological or bioelectric energy. According to Reich, "not a single neurotic individual possesses orgastic potency" and, inversely, all people free from neuroses have orgastic potency.
Reich coined the term orgastic potency in 1924 and described the concept in his 1927 book Die Funktion des Orgasmus, the manuscript of which he presented to Sigmund Freud on the latter's 70th birthday. Though Reich regarded his work as complementing Freud's original theory of anxiety neurosis, Freud was ambivalent in his reception. Freud's view was that there was no single cause of neurosis."Letter from Freud to Lou Andreas-Salomé, May 9, 1928", Sigmund Freud and Lou Andreas-Salomé Letters, 89:174–175, The International Psycho-Analytical Library.
Reich continued to use the concept as a foundation of a person's psychosexual health in his later therapeutic methods, such as character analysis and vegetotherapy. During the period 1933–1937, he attempted to ground his orgasm theory in physiology, both theoretically and experimentally, as he published in the articles: The Orgasm as an Electrophysiological Discharge (1934), Sexuality and Anxiety: The Basic Antithesis of Vegetative Life (1934) and The Bioelectrical Function of Sexuality and Anxiety (1937).
Background
Reich developed his orgasm theory between 1921 and 1924 and it formed the basis for much of his later work, including the theory of character analysis. The starting point of Reich's orgasm theory was his clinical observation of genital disturbance in all neurotics, which he presented in November 1923, in the paper "Über Genitalität vom Standpunkt der psychoanalytischen Prognose und Therapie" ("Genitality from the viewpoint of psycho-analytic prognosis and therapy"). That presentation was met with a chilling silence, much hostility, and was partially discredited because Reich could not adequately define normal sexual health. In response, and after a further year of research, Reich introduced the concept "orgastic potency" at the 1924 Psycho-analytic Congress, Salzburg in the paper "Die therapeutische Bedeutung des Genitallibidos" ("Further Remarks on the Therapeutic Significance of Genital Libido").
In addition to his own patients' love lives, Reich had examined through interviews and case records of 200 patients seen at the Vienna Psychoanalytic Polyclinic. Reich was impressed by the depth and frequency of genital disturbances he observed. One example was a patient who had reported having a normal sex life, but on closer interviewing by Reich revealed not experiencing orgasm during intercourse and having thoughts of murdering her partner following the act. Such observations made Reich very suspicious of superficial reports about sexual experience. His analysis of these cases led Reich to three conclusions: Severe genital disturbance was present in all cases of neurosis, The severity of the genital disturbance correlated to the severity of the neurosis, and All patients who improved in therapy and remained symptom-free achieved a gratifying genital sex life.
This led Reich to establish criteria for satisfactory sexual intercourse. Based on interviews with people who appeared to have satisfactory sex lives, he described the sex act as being optimally satisfactory only if it follows a specific pattern. Orgastic potency is Reich's term for the ability to have this maximally fulfilling type of sexual experience, which in the Reichian view is limited to those who are free from neuroses and appears to be shared by all people free of neuroses.
Reich distinguished between complete release of accumulated sexual tensions in orgasm, resulting in the restoration of energy equilibrium, and orgastic impotence, in which the release of energy is incomplete. Reich argued that the inability of psychoneurotics to wholly discharge sexual energy caused a damming-up of sexual energy, providing in real-time the physiological 'energy stasis' underlying the neurosis, with the psyche merely providing the historical content of the neurosis, but which could not exist without the accompanying energy stasis.
Definitions Reich's precise definition for the phrase "orgastic potency" changed over time as he changed his understanding of the phenomenon. He first described it in detail in his 1927 book Die Funktion Des Orgasmus. In the 1980 English translation of the book, Genitality in the Theory and Therapy of Neuroses, he defined orgastic potency as "the ability to achieve full resolution of existing sexual need-tension".
In his 1940 book Die Entdeckung des Orgons Erster Teil: Die Function des Orgasmus, published in English in 1942 as The Discovery of the Orgone, Volume 1: The Function of the Orgasm, he defined it as "the capacity to surrender to the flow of biological energy, free of any inhibitions; the capacity to discharge completely the dammed-up sexual excitation through involuntary, pleasurable convulsions of the body."
His last published definition of orgastic potency, which is repeated in his 1960 published Selected Writings, is "the capacity for complete surrender to the involuntary convulsion of the organism and complete discharge of the excitation at the acme of the genital embrace."
Reich related orgastic potency and orgastic impotence to a, respectively, healthy and unhealthy sexual experience for the adult. He described that the healthy experience has specific biological and psychological characteristics; is identical for men and women; is characterised by love and the ability to express it; full, deep, pleasurable breathing is present; deep, delicious current-like sensations run up and down the body shortly before orgasm; and involuntary muscular movements are present before climax. Moreover, Reich defined the healthy sexual experience exclusively in terms of the sexual union between male and female. The difference between the presence and absence of orgastic potency in the sexual encounter, as described by Reich, is summarised by Boadella as follows: Reich's classification of phases Orgastic potency Orgastic impotence Phases of development of excitation (Boadella) Voluntary phase "Biological readiness. 'Calm excitement.' Mutual pleasurable anticipation." "Over- or under-excitement. 'Cold' erection. 'Dry' vagina. Foreplay insufficient or over-prolonged." 1. Foreplay "Preceded by a spontaneous urge to enter, or to be entered by, the partner." "Either: sadistic piercing by the man and rape fantasy by the woman. Or: fear of penetrating or of being penetrated and decrease of pleasure at penetration." 2. Penetration "Movements are voluntary but effortless and rhythmical, unhurried and gentle. Extraneous thoughts are absent; there is absorption in the experience. Pleasurable sensations continue to increase. Periods of rest do not lead to a decrease of pleasure." "Violent friction, nervous haste. Extraneous thoughts or fantasies are compulsively present. Pre-occupation with sense of duty to one's partner and fear of 'failure' or determination to 'succeed'. Period of rest likely to lead to a sharp drop in excitation." 3. Voluntary phase of sexual movements Involuntary phase "Excitation leads to involuntary contractions of the genital musculature (which precede ejaculation in the man and lead to the acme). The total body musculature participates with lively contractions as the excitation flows back from the genital to the body. 'Melting' sensations in the body. Clouding of consciousness at the acme." "Involuntary movements greatly reduced or in some cases absent altogether. Sensations remain localised in the genital and do not spread to the body as a whole. Involuntary responses may be simulated for the benefit of the partner. Squeezing and pushing, with spastic contraction, to achieve a climax. Head remains in control and the clouding of consciousness is absent." 4. Involuntary phases of muscle contractions "Pleasant bodily and mental relaxation. Feeling of harmony with partner. Strong desire for rest or sleep. 'After-glow'." "Feelings of leaden exhaustion, disgust, repulsion, indifference or hatred towards partner. Excitation not fully discharged, sometimes leading to insomnia. Omne animal post coitum triste est." 5. Phase of relaxation
Recurrence in Reich's work Reich expanded on the concept throughout his career. In his 1942 scientific autobiography The Discovery of Orgone, Vol. 1: The Function of the Orgasm, Reich provided the following summary of his findings regarding orgastic potency: it is an outcome of health, he argued, because full orgastic potency can only come about if a person is psychologically free of neurosis (pleasure anxiety absent), physically free from "body armor" (chronic muscular contraction absent), socially free from compulsive morality and duty as imposed by authoritarian and mechanistic ways of life, and has the natural ability to love. According to one source, Reich held that the vast majority of people do not meet these criteria and thus lack orgastic potency.
Character analysis In Reichian psychology, the individual lacking orgastic potency is seen to have developed a neurotic psychosomatic "armor" that blocks the experience of pleasure. This is differentiated between the functionally identical "character armor" and "muscular armor". Muscular armor prevents the sexual climax from being experienced throughout the body. For example, forms of armoring are pulling back the pelvis or tightening the thigh and buttock muscles.
Reich used the terms "genital character" and "neurotic character" respectively to distinguish between two ideal character types: one with and one without orgastic potency. The genital character is the non-neurotic character structure, which is free from armor and, therefore, has the capacity of natural sexual and moral self-regulation, and experiences life as a fulfilment and unfolding of his or her natural tendencies and struggle to achieve objectives. The neurotic character operates under a principle of compulsive moral regulation due to chronic energy stasis. The neurotic character's work and life is permeated by struggle to suppress original and even more basic urges or tendencies. The various forms of neurotic character correspond to the equally many ways of suppressing such urges or tendencies that the human being in question considers to be dangerous or is ashamed of.
Therapeutic resolving of armor
The two goals of Reichian vegetotherapy are the attainment of orgastic potency (for sexual intercourse) and of the "orgasm reflex" during therapy. The orgasm reflex may be observed as waves of pleasure moving through the body, a series of spontaneous, involuntary movements, and signifies that the person is free of body armoring, entailing the ability to give and receive love in all its forms.
Prevention through social reform