Liberal Arts II Internal Assessment-I

Name: Divyansh Singh Sisodiya

PRN: 19010422049

Section & Batch: C & 2019-24

Ques 1-

Answer- Many people when think of the term Psychoanalysis consequently thought of Sigmund
Freud smoking a cigar and brushing his white bear. Unfortunately, such a imagination conveys
that the idea of psychoanalysis is a kind of object that is surviving from past, associated with
repressive Vienna and faraway intellectual conceptions like penis envy and the Oedipus
Complex. Psychoanalysis basically has an image problem. The concept of Psychoanalysis at the
time of Sigmund Freud was different than what is at present.

Psychoanalysis is basically a type of technique in which mental problem of human beings are
taken care by a way of strategy that is based on psychoanalytic theory and stresses unconscious
mental processes. This theory is also known as "depth psychology."

Sigismund Schlomo Freud was born on May 6, 1856, in a territory of the Austro-Hungarian
Empire that is the Czech Republic, to Jewish parents Amalia and Jakob Freud. The Freuds
migrated to Vienna when Sigmund was three years old. He excelled at schooling, gaining a love
of literature, languages, and the arts that would have a massive effect on his understanding of
human behaviour. Freud had a strong interest in medical and scientific studies and went on to
study medicine at Vienna University. Freud took an interest in neurology while studying and
went on to train in neuropathology at the Vienna General Hospital.
Sigmund Freud made a game changing revelation that many issues related to mental health have
their roots under the surface of conscious existence; I think Sigmund Freud is the face behind the
introduction of term psychoanalysis. Since then, psychoanalysts have introduced a lot more
about how unconscious conditions have a big impact on us, both good and bad. Therapeutic
strategies that focus on suggestion, common sense reasoning, or behaviour modification are
ineffective when these unconscious factors are the source of serious and long-term psychological
problems.

The approach of the term was founded by Sigmund Freud. As per the observation of the Freud
the human mind is made up of three parts and they are- the id, the ego, and the superego.

Many of Sigmund Freud's beliefs and observations were founded on clinical cases and case
studies. Nonetheless, Freud's beliefs influenced how we think about the human mind and
behaviour, as well as psychology and society.

Psychoanalysis can take on a variety of forms, varying from personality to personality.

Psychoanalytical and psychodynamic therapies are based on an individual’s unconscious
thoughts and perceptions that have developed throughout their childhood, and how these affect
their current behaviour and thoughts. Psychoanalysis focuses on an individual’s unconscious,
deep-rooted thoughts that often stem from childhood. Through free association, dreams or
fantasies, clients can learn how to interpret deeply buried memories or experiences that may be
causing them distress.

Life and death, according to Freud, contribute to each unique soul, which he now defines as a
composite of three primary categories of impulses. He felt that temperament was made up of
three major components. The Id, Ego, and Superego are the three parts of the self. "Id" desires
are ones that we often have quite early in life. They're honest, a little basic and unorganized, and
may be aggressive at times. Id wants, according to Freud, are rarely immediately satisfied, and
many of them become unconscious as we grow up. The ego is considered to be the second
component of temperament to originate. Ego needs are complex, ordered, and natural
requirements, which are clearly reflected by the kind of needs we express the majority of the
time.
For example when I have some assignments to do for that I have to do study my Id leads me to
think that this is boring and why not I use phone for a while or while not go out and hook up for
friends for some time or watch some web series etc, then my superego comes into the picture and
make me realize that doing my assignments are more important work to do which is beneficial
for my carrier. The ego factor will find a compromise by analyzing both sides and function as a
mediator who tries to satisfy both the needs of Id and superego in a realistic way.

Ques 2-

Answer- Defense mechanism- A defense mechanism, according to theory of Psychoanalysis, is

an unconscious psychological activity that protects a person from anxiety-producing thoughts
and emotions that are the consequence of internal conflicts and external pressures.

Depending on the circumstances and frequency with which the defense mechanism is utilized, it
may have helpful or detrimental outcomes.

The term defense mechanism was first discussed by the Sigmund Freud but it was very clearly
described by Anna Freud daughter of Sigmund Freud , according to Anna Freud defense
mechanisms are "unconscious resources utilized by the ego" to get rid of the inter stress faced by
an individual. Patients commonly design these unconscious techniques for reducing internal
conflict, mainly between the superego and the id. Therapists utilize psychological treatment to
assist patients become more knowledgeable of their own subconscious mind. Patients with the
help of these defense mechanism techniques develop within self-awareness and get a new
understanding of their own actions by detecting and identifying the process. This exercise
highlights main defensive mechanisms to help therapists better understand their patients and the
role of the effective inter professional in their treatment during the communication with the
patient.

Before discussing the different types of defense mechanism I would like to talk about why we
need defense mechanism so for example when the cycle of human being changes from childhood
to adolescence to adulthood their comes many stages of life were we experience inter stress,
these mechanism basically help us in coping out of
Basically Anna Freud proposed mainly 10 types of Defense mechanism but there are many more
defense mechanism are proposed by different psychoanalysts, I will be dealing with the
mechanism proposed by the Anna Freud with context of the documentary Century of Self .

Some of the defense mechanisms are as following:-

Anticipation- It is a type of commitment for fixing the issues even before they occur. For
example like I have an interview tomorrow so I will try my best before the interview to prepare
for the hardest questions that will be asked in the interview.

Compensation: This mechanism is basically for Concentrating on success in one area of life to
divert attention away from fear of inadequacy in another. For example suppose a kid scores less
in his exams so he started to devote his time more and more in extracurricular activities
organized in school premises.

Humor: This mechanism is basically a process of decreasing the negative emotions associated
with a situation by using some comedy. For example, telling a comic story when someone is not
feeling well.

Regression- It is process of returning one's actions to an earlier stage of psychological

development. A stressful event, for example, may lead a person to revert to bed-wetting after
they have outgrown the habit.

Repression- Unwanted ideas are suppressed subconsciously through repression. Even if they
were awake and aware throughout the traumatic experience, this defensive mechanism may be
present in someone who has no memory of it.

Avoidance: Ignoring or avoiding thoughts or sensations that are unpleasant, as well as avoiding
people, places, or circumstances that are connected with unpleasant thoughts or feelings.

Conversion- Conversion disorder, also known as functional neurologic symptom disorder,

recognizes this protection mechanism.

Ques 3-
Ans- The theories given by Freud was mainly used only for the purpose of modern marketing,
advertisement and for political purpose at that time. Like in the first episode of the documentary
it was said that smoking of cigarette was compared with sexual equality and women must had to
smoke for the purpose of equality with men. As smoking of cigarette signifies the sexual
superiority. Sigmund Freud in his documentary thought that individuals were frequently clueless
of what inspired them and also were unaware of their true feelings. He used the term
"subconscious" to describe the aspect of the mind that most people are unaware of. Because he
was a realist, Sigmund Freud thought that the unconscious was full of illogical, negative
impulses that represented a threat to civilization. When Freud originally wrote about it, this was,
obviously, a highly controversial viewpoint. People at the time understood that they were, in fact,
perfectly rational creatures in total control of themselves.

People in the socio-economic system that was developed by Bernays are group of passive
consumers instead of active participants. According to documentary people are actually not in
charge but their desire are. According to me one of the main criticisms in this particular
documentary is that it may easily be used to promote conspiracy theories. By emphasizing on the
Freud family and a few other people, it implies that they all had a strategy and it was up to them
to set the events in motion. On the other hand, I feel that, while the persons described had an
important part in determining the course of events they were not crucial to the process.

Bernays discovered that what individuals need was not the same as what they desired. And what
they wanted was for business to be more successful. Furthermore, governments could do pretty
much everything they wished as long as people's wishes were met.

One of his most significant achievements was identifying why an instant cake didn't sell well:
housewives felt so awful about not having to cook. So they forced the women add their own eggs
to the batter, which transformed the perspective of how easy it was to make the instant cake.
Women suddenly felt like they deserved credit for their efforts, and sales were jumped.

We also observed that how the government of US influenced the minds of the public by
dominating the news and generating concern among the Guatemalan people about the country's
political transition in power. The circulation of misleading information by the United States
government led its citizens to feel that Guatemala was a threat to them. This demonstrates how
simple it was for those in authority to influence the majority in the name of patriotism and terror.

Anna, Sigmund Freud's daughter, brought a distressed mother and her four children into a new
environment for using psychoanalysis to rehabilitate them of anxiety and anger. The experiment
succeeded at the time, but all of the problems emerged decades later, but some of the then-adult
children committed suicide. In America, psychoanalysts' influence and authority peaked in the
1950s and then began to decrease in the 1960s. Merilyn Monroe, a well-known psychoanalyst's
patient, committed suicide. The method's efficiency was called into question after that
occurrence. Influencers then spoke out against psychoanalysts.

The documentary century of self basically fails to emphasize on the point that allowing the
spectator to assume that there is some sinister and secret mechanism behind action. In my
opinion Externalities should be emphasized in order to present an honest picture of the 20th
century's intertwining of capitalism and democracy, which the documentary very efficiently fails
to achieve. The concept of “planned obsolescence” is mentioned at one point, but the basic fault
in the capitalist economy is overlooked: the system is warped as long as neither company nor
consumers pay for externalities such as environmental degradation and exploitation of human
and natural resources.

Ques 4

Ans- Practical Lessons that can be taken from documentary in terms of ethical consideration
wants and desires are as following:-

Firstly after watching documentary it is pretty clear that needs and want for an individual are
different perspective ,for example a need is something which is very essential for living life ;for
example the need of food to eat, water to drink and shelter to live. Want is something which is
not as much as essential for the purpose of living, want is only someone’s desire of something to
live a quality of life for example the desire of having an Iphone which is a sign of gazette
supremacy in society nowadays. This documentary explains how people like Eddie Bernays
popularized the concept that huge numbers of people can be led and manipulated by their basic
wants, and how psychoanalysis can be used to make money.
The psychoanalysis approach given by Freud mainly focuses on the conscious and unconscious
aspects of the human intellect. He also discussed how certain actions might stimulate the
unconscious, as well as how effortless it is for psychologists to control the unconscious mind.
The idea of Sigmund Freud explains the human unconscious mind's wants and how we might
reach them. Bernays used these inner emotions to promote the group and to change the thinking
of some people. Controlling the masses by observing their behaviour and responses and telling
them what he needs is different from what they desire.

In this documentary it was very clear that how company can boom their business by
manipulating the humans self esteem as it was done in the first episode by Edward Bernays that
smoking of cigarette can be related with the sexual superiority that’s why men smoke so seeing
to this women also started smoking and consequence of which leads to boom in the business of
Cigarette. In today’s era the corporate firms were using our different type of advertisement
through internet or by physical to make our mind conscious for the desire that we have in our
unconscious mind.

The documentary's concluding point is that by the end of the century, we had willfully reduced
ourselves to our conscious or subconscious needs, and we were always striving to satisfy them.
We've lost sight of the fact that being human requires much more than the conscious or
subconscious needs.

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