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THE CONCEPT of the repetition compulsion remains an enigma. Its etiology is not fully understood and the purpose it serves continues to be a mystery. Although it is often theorized that the compulsion to repeat may function to facilitate mastery of a past trauma, mastery is rarely achieved. In this article the concept of the repetition compulsion is reviewed and the unanswered questions that continue to exist about this phenomenon are summarized. A way to conceptualize the compulsion to repeat is then offered. The compulsion to repeat as it specifically relates to the attempt to master a previous trauma is reviewed, followed by a examination of the relationship between the compulsion to repeat and reenactments. Finally, how the compulsion to repeat can be viewed as a posttraumatic stress response and the implications of understanding it in this fashion is then examined.
Freud (1920/1961) described the tendency of individuals to compulsively repeat painful situations and feelings from one's past, which he called the "compulsion to repeat." He noticed this phenomenon both in the transference when conducting psychoanalytic work, as well as in patients' daily lives. He wrote that the patient "is obliged to repeat the repressed material as a contemporary experience instead of . . . remembering it as something belonging to the past" (p. 12). Thus, in both perception and behavior, patients are compelled to revisit the past. He also noted that this "perpetual reoccurrence of the same thing" (p. 16) seemed to override the pleasure principle.
Since that time, others have echoed Freud's initial observation that there is a compulsion to repeat painful, traumatic experiences and to recreate inner issues and relationships from the past (Herman 1992; Horowitz 1976; Kardiner 1941; Krystal 1978; Sharfman and Clark 1967; van der Kolk and McFarlane 1996). It has also been observed that survivors of childhood trauma often reenact and compulsively repeat the trauma in their present lives, which can result in revictimization (Briere and Runtz 1988; Browne and Finkelhor 1986; Russell 1986). Others have noted that the repetition compulsion is so far-reaching that regardless of theoretical orientation, any theory of mental functioning should say something about the structure, purpose, and etiology of the repetition compulsion (Loewald 1971; Russell 1990). Clearly, it is well known that people...