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FREUD PSYCHOANALYTICAL THEORY MADE EASY

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It Really Becomes Confusing…. When We read Freud’s theories as It consists of different parts and It becomes tiresome to get the concept clarity. So, I just tried to Organize the Content in such a way that it becomes EASY for you to memorize each concept. Keep reading if you want to master all the concepts.

INTRODUCTION

SIGMUND FREUD was born on 6 May 1856, He was an Austrian Neurologist and the founder of Psychoanalysis which looks closely at the unconscious drives that motivate people to act in a particular way as it is a clinical method to evaluate and treat the pathologies in the psyche through dialogue between a patient and a psychoanalyst.

He qualified as a doctor of Medicine in 1881 at the University of Vienna and was appointed as docent in neuropathology after completing his habilitation in 1885. During his lifetime he published many books, case histories, papers on sexuality, Autobiographies. Some of them are-

In February 1923, Freud detected a leukoplakia, a benign growth associated with heavy smoking, on his mouth. He initially kept this secret, but in April 1923 he informed Ernest Jones, telling him that the growth had been removed. Freud consulted the dermatologist, who advised him to quit smoking but lied about the growth’s seriousness. By mid-September 1939, Freud’s cancer of the jaw caused him severe pain and declared inoperable.

Anna Freud wanted to postpone her father’s death, but Schur convinced her it was pointless to keep him alive; on 21 and 22 September, he administered doses of morphine that resulted in Freud’s death at around 3 am on 23 September 1939.

DEFINITION

People are simply actors in the drama of their own minds, pushed by desire, pulled by coincidence underneath the surface, our personalities represent the power struggle going in deep within us.

SIGMUND FREUD

PSYCHOANALYTICAL THEORY

The role of the mind is very important as FREUD believed that Conscious and Unconscious desires can be controlled by the mind, he introduced three aspects of mind ID, EGO and SUPER EGO which makes up a person’s personality.

The theory has three major parts:-

  1. The Personality Structure
  2. Topography of Mind
  3. Psychosexual Stages of Development

PERSONALITY STRUCTURE

Freud constructed a model of personality with three interlocking parts THE ID, THE EGO AND THE SUPER EGO.

ID

  • It is the most primitive part which develops with the birth of the child.
  • Storehouse of the biologically based urges like eat, drink, eliminate and to be sexually stimulated.
  • Driven by Pleasure Principle which strives for immediate gratification of all desires, needs and wants.
  • If the need is not satisfied immediately it results in anxiety and tension.
  • Example:- An increase in hunger or thirst should produce an immediate attempt to eat or drink.
  • It is the part of the unconscious that seeks pleasure, It explains why people act in a certain manner when it is not in line with the Ego and Superego.
  • ID holds all the mankind’s most basic and primal instincts.
  • It wants immediate satisfaction and does not have a grasp on any form of reality or consequence.
  • Some people are controlled by ID it make people engage in need satisfying behavior without thinking about RIGHT OR WRONG.
  • FREUD compared Id and The Ego to a Horse and a Rider. Id is compared to the horse which is directed and controlled by the Ego or the Rider. Although Id is supposed to be controlled but Id and Ego often interact with one another according to the drives of the Id.
  • Id cuts of the person from external world and has a world of perception of its own.
  • It is a well known Fact that Self Perception and feelings of pleasure – unpleasure governs the passage of events.

EGO

  • Ego develops from the school year of the life of the child as a result of social interactions.
  • It consists of elaborate ways of behaving and thinking which constitute the executive function of the person.
  • Ego operates on Reality Principle which helps to satisfy the ID’s demands as well as compromising according to reality and Ego mediates between ID and Superego.
  • In many cases, the Id impulses can be satisfied through a process of Delayed Gratification.
  • The Ego is responsible for creating balance between pleasure and pain, It is impossible for all desires to be met and Ego realizes this but continues to seek satisfaction.
  • It is aware that not all demands can be met at a given time.

SUPER EGO

  • It develops around 4 to 5 years of age by incorporating moral values of the society.
  • Superego allows the mind to control its impulses that are unacceptable morally.
  • It operates on Morality Principle and considered the conscience of mind as it has the ability to distinguish between reality as well as what is RIGHT OR WRONG.
  • It mainly consists of prohibitions learned from parents and other authorities which provides guidelines for making judgements
  • Superego may condemn ‘wrong’ to certain things which ego would do to satisfy Id.
  • Freud believed that in the absence of superego people would act out with anger and other immoral behaviors because they are perceived worthy.
  • It can override the drives from Id.
  • Superego can be separated into two categories The Ideal Self and Conscience. Conscience consist of ideals and morals that exist in the society that restrict people to act according to their internal drives which are unacceptable in the society.

TOPOGRAPHY OF MIND

Constant conflicts between Id, Ego and Superego takes place which may occur in the conscious, subconscious and unconscious level of human psyche. Freud includes the unconscious, subconscious and conscious as the topographical aspects of self which are also known as the level of consciousness.

CONSCIOUS

  • It is ready to receive the stimuli from the external world.
  • It helps to perform activities like eating, drinking, reading, thinking, writing and also helps to behave in a certain way.
  • it is the aspect of our mental processing that we are able to talk and think in a rational manner.

SUBCONSCIOUS OR PRECONSCIOUS

  • At this level memories and thoughts that are easily available with a moment’s reflection.
  • It functions between conscious and unconscious mind.
  • Its content can be recalled easily.
  • It prevents the suppressed thoughts and other prohibited motives in the unconscious from reaching the conscious part so also known as ” Censor”.
  • Subconscious involves the things that we can pull into conscious awareness when required, we might not be presently thinking about how to perform a long division but we can access the information and bring it into conscious awareness while doing a difficult mathematics problem.

UNCONSCIOUS

  • It comprises the memories and thoughts that we cannot easily access or call up.
  • It is the largest and powerful part of the mind.
  • It contains natural instincts, thoughts, inappropriate desires and painful experiences.
  • All suppressed emotions are stored here and they try to come to conscious part for satisfaction.

Freud has developed some therapeutic techniques such as the use of free association, dream analysis, analysis of transference, analysis of resistance, hypnosis in order to bring out the contents of unconscious which cause mental illness.

Freud compared these three levels to an “Iceberg” in water where conscious part is the tip of the iceberg that is visible from outside and present at the surface level which is 10 % and the 90 % part remains inside the water.

PSYCHOSEXUAL STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT

It is represented by five stages, each of which occurs within a specific time frame of one’s life. If someone become fixated in any of these stages he or she will develop personality traits according to the specific stage and its focus.

According to him, Every child have the innate tendency to seek pleasure specially through physical stimulation of the sensitive parts of the body like Mouth, Anus and the Genitals which includes many psychological issues.

ORAL STAGE (0-18 Months)

  • Main focus in this stage is pleasure seeking through Infant’s mouth.
  • At this stage need for tasting and sucking becomes prominent.
  • Oral stimulation is crucial during this stage , if needs are not met during this timeframe he or she will be fixated in the oral stage.
  • Fixation at this stage can lead to adult habits like smoking, thumb sucking, nail biting and over eating.
  • Personality traits like optimism and independence or pessimism and dependence can develop in adulthood.
  • A baby given too little or too much opportunity to suck may acquire oral fixations which may lead to abnormal behaviors like chain smoking, dependency etc.

ANAL STAGE ( 18 MONTHS TO 3 YEARS)

  • At this stage pleasure seeking center is located in the bowels and bladder.
  • Parents stress toilet training and bowel control during this period.
  • The child finds pleasure in holding on and releasing feces and parents try to avoid prohibited behavior related to excretion.
  • Fixation at this stage can lead to Anal Retention or Expulsion. Anal Retentive characteristics include being overly neat, precise and orderly and Anal Expulsive involves being disorganized, messy and destructive.

PHALLIC STAGE ( 3 TO 5 YEARS)

  • It focuses on the genitals as pleasure seeking areas of the body.
  • Children develop characteristics of the same sex parent at this stage.
  • Boys in this stage experience Oedipus Complex while Girls experience Electra Complex which was introduced by Carl Jung) in which both the child develops incestuous that is inappropriate feelings for the parent of opposite sex.
  • Fixation at this stage develop different personality traits depending on one’s gender like Males takes great pride in their masculinity while females may become flirtatious. In both cases these traits are a sign of low esteem and low self worth.

LATENCY STAGE ( 6 YEARS TO ADOLESCENCE)

  • At this stage there is no pleasure seeking region of the body instead all sexual desires are suppressed.
  • Children develop social skills and interact with their family, neighborhood and peers.
  • Child becomes more interested in exploring the world around them and ego expansion takes place.

GENITAL STAGE ( ADOLESCENCE AND BEYOND)

  • It is the final stage which begins with puberty and the boy/ girl develops a strong interest in opposite or same sex.
  • If someone does not face fixation at any stage after reaching genital stage he starts growing as a balanced individual.
  • This stage is a set of responsible enjoyment of adult sexuality and the sexual interest lies outside the family circle.

In these five stages, the child face conflicts between their biological drives that is ID and their social and moral conscience (Superego) as their pleasure seeking centers are different areas of the body known as Erogenous Zones.

Child’s ability to resolve internal conflicts determines their future abilities to function as adult. Failure can lead to unhealthy personality traits whereas successful resolution leads to healthy life.

Freud believed that people could be cured from psychological disorders by making their unconscious thoughts and motivations conscious thus gaining insight. The main aim of psychoanalysis therapy is to release repressed emotions and experiences and it is mainly used to treat depression and anxiety disorders. The person have a cathartic ( healing) experience after this.

CRITICISM

Over the last century Freud’s ideas were criticized by few due to its single focus on Sexuality as the chief driver of human personality development.

  • NARROW FOCUS

It emphasize mainly on the structure of the human mind with little attention to the impact of environment, culture and society. His theories majorly focused on pathology and ignored the normal healthy functioning. He was criticized for having myopic view of human sexuality.

  • MISOGYNY

Feminists and Modern Critics pointed out that assumptions were generally Patriarchal , anti feminist and misogynistic. A Feminist Betty Friedan referred to Freud’s concept of “Penis Envy” as a social bias typical of Victorian era which discredits the femineity in the early mid twenties century.

  • NO SCIENTIFIC BASIS

Many Critics point out that his theories lack experimental data and researchers could not find any supporting evidences for his theory. In order to be scientifically valid it must be possible to falsify it with experimental data but many of Freud’s notion are not falsifiable.

I hope this article helped you to understand these theories easily. Keep Learning and Keep Growing. See you in the next article.

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