e gap, the abyss. All these terms imply that the analogy of a geological fault is present within human beings that creates a split between ourselves and the world. Berman (1989) theorizes that this split occurs somewhere around the third year of life (p. 24). Prior to the split, the human infant feels unity with the external environment. After the split the ego develops: "With the thought 'I am I,' a new level of existence opens up for us. There is a tear in the fabric, so to speak, and Self vs. Other remains the issue that we shall have to negotiate for the rest of our lives" (p. 25).
According to Reich (1973), much of human existence is spent negotiating the contradictions between sociological demands and natural demands (p. 250). Sociological demands correspond to the secondary satisfactions enumerated by Berman (1989). Natural demands are the basic human needs of hunger and sex. Although society condones the gratification of hunger, the appeasement of sexual desire is often frustrated. Reich (1973) contends that the cause of neurosis is the inhibition of sexual gratification (p. 259).
Reich (1973) compares the inhibition of sexual gratification to an armored bladder inflated with air (p. 260). The bladder is inflated with sexual energy. Inflation suggests an inner movement for the release of urges to the outside.
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