Chapter 2) The Problem of Sexual Excitation of Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality - Study Guide by Sigmund Freud

2) The Problem of Sexual Excitation

The origin and nature of the tension described above remains unclear, since the discharge of sexual substances can be seen to be pleasurable these can only be connected in an indirect manner.

Part Played by the Sexual Substances

Sexual products and sexual tension contact at other times than the discharge of substances bringing an end to the sexual act. For example in nocturnal emission (in dreams etc.) the hallucination stands for the act itself, whilst the tension is a function of the semen in the vesicles. This leads up to the hypothesis that accumulation of sexual substances creates and maintains sexual tension, which - if sufficient - sets the sexual act in motion, if not, stimulates the production of sexual substances. However how does this account for conditions in children, females and castrated males, where the accumulation of products can not occur in the same sense?

Importance of the Internal Sexual Organs

Observations on castrated males have shown that sexual excitation can occur independently of the production of sexual substances. Therefore it seems that libido can be left unchanged by loss of male sex glands, but the question is how does this inhibit other factors?

Chemical Theory

Experiments on the removal of sex glands in animals have reduced further the role of the accumulation of sexual substances in sexual excitement. It seems more probable that special chemical substances are produced in the 'puberty glands' which are taken up in the blood stream and cause particular parts of the nervous system to be charged with tension - and that this substance production arises from the sexual metabolism - aroused on stimulation of the erotogenic zones. This is supported by the fact that neuroses show great chemical similarity to the phenomena of intoxication.