Andrew Sullivan (http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2007/09/another-shrink-.html) has some interesting takes on closet cases like Larry Craig:The shadow, which is in conflict with the acknowledged values, cannot be accepted as a negative part of one's own psyche and is therefore projected -- that is, it is transferred to the outside world and experienced as an outside object. It is combated, punished, and exterminated as 'the alien out there' instead of being dealt with as one's own inner problem," - Erich Neumann, Depth Psychology and a New Ethic. Freud's take:
Reaction formation, according to Freud, occurs when an action or feeling that results in unconscious anxiety produces the opposite reaction in consciousness. A man who is afraid he is weak spends hours at the gym and wears nothing but tank tops when he goes out. A person who is aroused by porn joins a community effort to block the opening of an adult video store. A man who is terrified by the prospect of being gay consistently votes in an anti-gay pattern. In reaction formation, the declaration of the public persona is excessive, and the person is obsessed with making sure the public view is known to everyone. "Of course I am not gay! I have never been gay! I am innocent!" Freud would argue that Larry Craig actually believes this.
During my closet years, I did not engage in this type of conduct - I guess because in my heart I DID know what my true attractions were. I merely tried to suppress them and pretend and consciously convince myself that they did not exist.
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