Synopsis: A breakout of Zanthi Fever occurs when Lwaxana Troi visits the station.
This episode illustrates the power of projection, as it is meant in depth psychological terms.
In “Fascination” the residents of Deep Space Nine act as if they have all taken a hit of ecstasy. And while this harkens back to the episode “The Naked Time” from Star Trek: The Original Series and “The Naked Now” from Star Trek: The Next Generation, it is slightly different in that here the actions of the crew seem to be more directed than random. At the end of the episode, Dr. Julian Bashir discovers that the reason for the strange behavior of the staff is that Lwaxana Troi is suffering from a bout of Zanthi Fever, and that as a result her amorous feelings are projected onto others. Bashir assures Commander Benjamin Sisko that there would have to be a latent attraction for the symptoms to manifest in others, but then advises him not to think about that too much.
The depth psychological meaning of projection is that it is how the Logos-driven rational conscious ego first becomes aware of bits of material from the Eros-driven irrational unconscious. At first, we do not recognize that we contain these traits, instead we project them upon others. If those bits of unconscious material, as in this case here, are those of our own inner ideal mates, we project them onto others, and this is in fact how humans fall in love at first sight. Although, it is in removing the projections and actually being able to see the beloved object for who they are that true meaningful love develops. However, projection is also the way in which the conscious ego first becomes aware of the shadow of the unconscious, and if this is a case, these are traits that the conscious ego does not want to admit are a part of its psyche, and so it projects them onto others. But once we realize the things that we dislike in others are those which we ourselves have, then those bits of material from the unconscious can be integrated into the conscious ego, making it stronger, and the psyche more whole.
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