1.) The character type that best describes Hank is oral personality according to Freudian theory.
2.) I believe Hank displays Oral personality characteristics due his preoccupation with eating and smoking.
3.) I believe hank becomes fixated at the Oral stage, which occurs from birth to one year of age.
4.) Evidence of oral fixation occurs when the case study describes Hank as eating and smoking excessively as a method to calm his nerves. The case study states “Hank is sitting in his apartment eating a pint of Ben and Jerry’s Cherry Garcia ice cream and contemplating this past week, which had been stressful. The ice cream started to make Hank feel better, more relaxed, and once he finished off the pint, he pulled out a cigarette and lit it. The first inhale also helped to reduce the tension he was feeling.
5.) The cause of this fixation is due to how Hank’s mother responded to her infant’s demands, which at the time were solely id demands. The case study states “His mother often described Hank in terms that implied that he was loud even when he was a baby. His cries used to pierce the air, and his mother would often rush to make a bottle for Hank or give him a cookie to regain some peace and quiet, even when she could not understand why he was hungry because he had eaten so recently. She laughs about it now, but it was stressful at the time.
6.) I would describe one of his defense mechanism as rationalization. Hank felt that Sally broke up with him because he is overweight and smokes. He said she was a shallow person for breaking up with him for these reasons. Hank is also using projection as one of his defense mechanisms. He is displeased with his appearance, which attributes it to the reason why Sally broke-up with him, he feels that his weight and smoking problem is due to a woman not falling in love with him. The eating and smoking when he is stressed related to an example of regression. "His cries used to pierce the air, and his mother would often...