Ocnophilia and philobatism
Michael Balint introduced two new concepts into psychoanalytic language in his book Thrills and Regression: ocnophilia and philobatism. The two terms refer to two types of orienting oneself toward object relationships, with ocnophilia consisting in stubbornly attaching oneself to objects, and being unwilling to exist in an empty space without such objects, while philobatism refers to the opposite, a state of mind where one is at an absolute distance to objects. Balint writes: "[...] for the philobat the world is structured by safe distance and sight, and for the ocnophil by physical proximity and touch. In the event of fear or anxiety, the reaction of the ocnophil is to get as near as possible to his object, to squat or sit down, go on all fours, lean towards, or even press his whole body to the protecting object. Parallel with this he turns his face away, even shuts his eyes, trying not to see the danger. The reaction of the philobat is what is generally called the heroic one: turning towards the approaching danger, facing it in order to watch it, keeping away from objects that offer false security, standing upright on his own."Balint links these two dispositions to the general question of how people relate to situations of danger, specifically that of the thrill, translated as "Angstlust" (the lust of anxiety) into German, although Balint is careful to separate the two in the preface of the German translation. In Balint's mind, people tend to regress into either one of these primitive mental states when faced with anxiety, and therein they express essential attachment experiences.
Ocnophilia literally refers to a philia of clinging into something, and is a compound of οκνέω (oknéo, to cling) and φιλιά (philia), while philobatism combines again φιλιά (philia), with batism, derived from βατείν (bateín) which means to walk. The acrobat (literally the high-walker) would be an exemplary form of someone who is a philobat precisely in the sense that she gives herself over to a form of walking that is adventurous and dangerous, yet distant as well. Balint suggests that the (male) acrobat may be thought of as enacting the primal scene when performing in a highly erect form on the tight rope, before eventually returning to mother earth, and the "beautiful young girl" awaiting him.
