Psychiatric Nursing

Freud’s Theory of Personality

ID - present at birth; Instincts/drive for
pleasure
and
immediate
gratification,
unconscious.
•
Operates on pleasure principle to
reduce tension/discomfort / pain
•
Uses primary process thinking byImagining objects to satisfy needs(hallucinating)
•
“ I want to eat”
Ego – Develops as sense of self that is
distinct from world of reality; conscious,
preconscious,
unconscious
(levels
of
awareness).
•
Operates on reality principle which
determines whether the perception
has a basis in reality or is imagined.
•
Uses a secondary process thinking by
judging reality and solving problems.
•
“ I’m the one who will decide if
I’ll eat”
•
Functions of ego:
1. control/regulate drive
2.mediate between id andreality demands; id vs.superego
3.store up experiences in
“memory”
4.reality tasting; evaluate and
judge the external world
5.direct motor activity and
actions
6. solve problems
7.use defense mechanisms to
protect itself
•
Levels of awareness:
1.PRECONSCIOUS
–
notreadily available, can bebrought to awareness byeffort
(tip of the tongue).
2.CONSCIOUS – aware of own
thoughts and perceptions of
reality.
SUPPRESSION – conscious
forgetting.
3.UNCONSCIOUS – traumatic
experience
cannot
be
brought
into
conscious
without
preventions
likepsychoanalysis, hypnotism ordrugs.
REPRESSION
–
unconscious forgetting.
Superego – standards/ restrictions from
parents to guide behaviors, thoughts, and
feelings.
•
Conscience: conscious awareness
of
acceptable/unacceptable
thoughts, feelings and actions.
•
“You should not eat”
Dominant in the following Defense
Mechanism:
ID – mania, anti-social, narcissism
EGO – schizophrenia
SUPEREGO – obs-compulsive, anorexia
nervosa