Editing Rat Man (section)

== History of the analysis ==
Lanzer first came to Freud in October 1907 complaining of [[obsessive–compulsive disorder|obsessive fears and compulsive impulses]]. Freud treated his patient for a little over three months on a regular daily basis. The treatment was irregular for the next three months and sporadic, at best, after that.

Lanzer's principal fear was that something terrible was going to happen to his father and a female friend (who later became his wife). His fear had grown out of an account he heard from a fellow army officer concerning a Chinese torture method in which a large pot containing a live rat was strapped to the buttocks of the victim, and the rat, encouraged by a red-hot poker, would gnaw its way out through the victim's anus.

Lanzer claimed that he fantasized about murder and suicide, and he developed a number of compulsive irrational behavior patterns. For example, he mentioned his habit of opening the door to his flat between 12 midnight and 1:00 A.M., apparently so that his father's ghost could enter. Lanzer would then stare at his penis, sometimes using a mirror.

Freud encouraged Lanzer to discuss details of his sex life (such as his first efforts at masturbation at age 20) and focused on a number of [[Free association (psychology)|verbal associations]] with the word "''Ratten''" ("rats"). 

Lanzer introduced Freud to [[Friedrich Nietzsche]]'s phrase (which Freud later cited) "'I did this,' says my Memory. 'I cannot have done this,' says my Pride, and remains inexorable. In the end – Memory yields."<ref>Quoted in L. Appignanesi/J, Forrester, ''Freud's Women'' (2004) p. 113</ref> Freud retold the saying more than once, and it was used by later therapists such as [[Fritz Perls]].<ref>F. Perls, ''Gestalt Therapy Verbatim'' (1972) p. 45</ref>

Lanzer broke off his analysis with Freud after a relatively brief period and well before his [[transference]] had been fully resolved. Just after Freud had completed the written version of the case history in October 1909, he confessed to [[Carl Jung]] that his patient was having ongoing problems. Lanzer was killed in [[World War I]], and later researchers were unable to interview him.