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The term <i>fear,</i> whose metapsychological status remains uncertain, was used by [[Freud]], in contrast to <i>anxiety,</i> to refer to the reaction to some [[real ]] danger. In several works Freud discussed the semantic [[relationship ]] between the [[terms ]] <i>[[Angst]]</i> (anxiety), <i>Furcht</i> (apprehension, fear), and <i>Schreck</i> (fright). For Freud the [[distinction ]] between anxiety and fear relates primarily to its [[object]], a distinction found in his earliest writings. In an article from 1895, which discusses the distinguishing characteristics of phobias and obsessions, he differentiates phobias "according to the object of the fear," while anxiety refers to the emotional [[state ]] experienced by the [[subject]], without reference to a specific object (1895c [1894]). Similarly, in 1916, in his <i>Introduction to [[Psychoanalysis]]</i> (1916-1917a [1915-1917]), Freud, referring to the use of these terms in popular [[speech]], indicated that "anxiety is related to a state with no direct allusion to an object, while in fear the person's attention is precisely focused on the object."In 1920, in <i>Beyond the [[Pleasure ]] [[Principle]]</i> (1920g), Freud emphasized the [[difference ]] between fear and anxiety in terms of their relation to danger: Anxiety is a state characterized by the expectation and preparation for a danger, "even if unknown," while fear implies a determinate object. In <i>Inhibitions, [[Symptoms]], and Anxiety</i> (1926d [1925]), he further insisted on the [[association ]] of anxiety with a state of expectancy and the use of the term <i>fear</i>—"in keeping with current usage"—to [[represent ]] the [[situation ]] when anxiety has found an object.We see that the term <i>fear</i> is quoted with reference primarily to contemporary [[language]]. According to Catherine Cyssau, fear has no means of [[representation ]] and its object does not conform to the criteria for [[repression]]. Although the status of anxiety, as an [[affect]], occurs early in the [[development ]] of [[Freudian ]] [[theory]], fear is more uncertain and seems to fall mostly within the context of behavioral description. Moreover, the opposition between fear and anxiety is hardly ever mentioned in Freud's later writings, especially in the <i>New Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis</i> (1933a [1932]), where the theory of anxiety is again discussed.In fact, [[another ]] [[concept ]] appeared in 1916 in Freud's writings, that of "<i>Realangst</i>," which can be translated as "realistic anxiety" or "anxiety in the face of a real danger," and which is contrasted with [[neurotic ]] anxiety or the anxiety of [[desire]]. In the <i>Introduction to Psychoanalysis</i>, Freud emphasized the [[rational ]] and comprehensive [[nature ]] of realistic anxiety, triggered by the [[perception ]] of an [[external ]] danger, that is, under [[conditions ]] that can give rise to fear. From then on the fundamental question, to which he would frequently [[return]], was that of the conditions required for the emergence of anxiety, a [[signal ]] triggered by an external or [[internal ]] danger.In post-Freudian [[work ]] the concept of fear is essentially used to characterize certain [[infantile ]] manifestations of anxiety. [[Anna Freud]], in [[particular]], insisted on the [[structural ]] differentiation between archaic, or [[primitive]], fears and the phobias. It is important to [[remember ]] that the "fear of the stranger's face," which, as described by René Spitz, arises in the [[infant ]] when it is between six and eight months old, raises the question of determining if this reaction should be [[interpreted ]] as a realistic anxiety responding to an external danger—the face perceived as unknown—or if it is an expression of [[unpleasure ]] and the internal [[threat ]] caused by the [[absence ]] of the [[maternal ]] object.Fright, or <i>Schreck</i>, which is associated in several Freudian [[texts ]] with [[traumatic ]] [[neurosis]], corresponds to the effects of a danger for which the subject "is not prepared by an earlier state of anxiety" (1916-1917a [1915-1917]). Freud goes on to say that anxiety contains "something that protects against fright" (1920g).Roger Dorey has remarked that Freud, in <i>The [[Interpretation ]] of [[Dreams]]</i> (1900a), described, in contrast to the "primary [[experience ]] of [[satisfaction]]," an "experience of fright whose origin is external" and which leaves behind a painful [[memory ]] trace that the primitive [[psychic ]] [[apparatus ]] tries to avoid. This flight before the memory of the [[present ]] [[pain]], is, according to Freud, the "[[model ]] and first example of psychic repression." Thus, the prototype of fright is [[nothing ]] but the experience of object [[loss]], an experience that submerges the primitive [[psychic apparatus ]] in excitations it is unable to [[control]]. For Dorey this "painful memory [[image]]" of the [[absent ]] object forms a representation that contributes to the [[formation ]] of the [[primal ]] [[unconscious]].

* [[Analysis of a Phobia in a Five-year-old Boy]]

# [[Freud, Sigmund]]. (1895a [1894]). (1916-1917a [1915-1917]). Introductory lectures on [[psycho]]-[[analysis ]] (Parts I and II). SE, 15-16.# ——. (1920g). Beyond the [[pleasure principle]]. SE, 18: 1-64.