SYMBIOSIS LAW SCHOOL, PUNE

1st Internal Component

PSYCHOLOGY

TOPIC: Century of Self

DATE: 30th September 2021
SUBMITTED TO:
THE FACULTY IN CHARGE, PSYCHOLOGY

SUBMITTED BY:
BAIBHABI TRIPATHY
PRN-19010126113
YEAR: 3rd DIV.: B
BBA LLB (HONS.)
1. Founder of Psychoanalysis &Premise of Psychoanalysis & Structure of psyche.

Answer: Psychoanalysis is a kind of treatment that seeks to help the client release pent-up or
repressed emotions and memories, or to lead to catharsis (healing). To put it another way,
psychoanalysis aims to bring what existing at the unconscious or subconscious level to
consciousness. This aim is achieved through conversing with another person about life's great
questions, the things that matter, and delving into the complexity that lay behind the
seemingly simple surface. Sigmund Freud, an Austrian neurologist, was the first to offer a
hypothesis to explain how the human mind can regulate basic sexual and illogical conduct.
He said that deadly, basic instinctive urges lurked underneath people's intellect and the facade
of feelings. Psychoanalysis was created to examine and analyse these underlying sensations.
He proposed that aggressive, instinctive ideas might be freed via psychoanalysis, which
involved examining dreams and talking through feelings, and that this was a reminder of an
evolutionary past in which instincts propelled creatures such as humans. According to Dr.
Ernst Jones from the documentary, this instinctive portion of the human mind was termed the
unconscious, "the repository of repressed sensations and ideas, not known to the conscious
self."
The change of the nuns of the Immaculate Heart Convent was an excellent illustration of
psychoanalysis. Nuns were persuaded not to follow the convent's stringent rules and to live
their lives as they saw fit, just like everyone else. They were informed that dressing and
acting like other people, rather than rigorously adhering to religious practise, is normal and
socially acceptable. After the experiment, the nuns felt relieved and pleased. Another
example of the same is the way the taboo of women smoking was removed and cigarettes
were marketed as a symbol of power for women, as mentioned in the documentary.
The theory of psychoanalysis as postulated by Freud stated that:
 All human beings are controlled by the power of their unconscious and subconscious
desires.
 Psychoanalysis is a procedure in which a therapist or psychoanalyst attempts to bring
these suppressed unresolved ideas to the surface in order to help people cope with
them and similar circumstances in the future. Freud used the term "catharsis" to
describe this process. The documentary emphasises this procedure several times. The
most prominent example is Anna Freud's use of it to help the Berlingham children
recover from some "awful fears and aggressiveness" following their father's death.
 One of the youngsters was also subjected to it in order to rid him of his
homosexuality.
 Unresolved repressed material in the unconscious causes human psychological
difficulties. This is depicted in the documentary ‘The Century of the Self,' in which
American troops suffered from severe mental illnesses during and shortly after World
War II. It was discovered during a psychological examination of all troops that
suppressed thoughts and sentiments made it impossible for them to function at war.
 Humans have a tendency to employ specific defence mechanisms in order to combat
suppressed ideas that surface in everyday settings.
 Within the human mind, there are two competing forces: the life instinct and the death
instinct, and everything of our conduct is a result of these basic impulses. The life
instinct, often known as the libido, is responsible for sensations of pleasure, love, and
survival. The death instinct is represented by anger and violence.
The psyche, or mental condition, is described by Freud as an iceberg. The conscious, the
middle subconscious, and the inner, greatest unconscious part of the mind are made up of
three parts: the conscious, the middle subconscious, and the inner, biggest unconscious part
of the mind. The conscious mind comprises ideas and memories that are fresh, recent, or
immediately identifiable, and it makes up a small fraction of the overall psyche. Below this
lies the preconscious, often known as the subconscious, which exists outside of our conscious
consciousness and is thought to store negative memories. Below this is the most important
portion of the psyche: the unconscious, which is said to contain all of one's life's information.
He said that our mind is made of 3 parts:
 Id: The id is a subconscious mind that is only concerned with innate urges and wants.
According to Freud, the id is comprised of two basic instincts: eros, or the survival
instinct, which pushes humans to participate in life-sustaining activities, and
Thanatos, or the death instinct, which drives destructive, aggressive, and violent
conduct.
 Ego: The ego serves as a conduit for the id as well as a check on it, striving to satisfy
the demands of id's in a socially acceptable manner. It is the most grounded in reality
and begins to emerge during childhood;
 Super Ego: The superego is a part of the mind that houses morals and higher ideals,
urging us to behave in socially and ethically acceptable ways (McLeod, 2013).
 All three elements are always at odds with one another. These areas of the psyche are
always in contact with one of the two cathexis or anti-cathexis moods. Anti-cathexes are
the redirection of all thoughts about the object to the unconscious level in order to relieve
anxiety. Cathexis is the attachment of libidinal energy to some object, and anti-cathexes is
the redirection of all thoughts about the object to the unconscious level in order to relieve
anxiety. Thus, cathexis emerges from the id, whereas anti-cathexes emerge from the ego
and superego. Freud attempted to suppress the demands, id's believing that allowing the Id
to fully express itself would release emotions that would be impossible to regulate,
especially in society. The World War is considered to be the cause of the excessive id's
power. The democratic movement and a shift in public opinion is also an example of the
same. The idea of the psyche was also utilised to encourage consumerism in the United
States during the Vietnam War in the 1960s. The argument between Sigmund Freud and
Wilhelm Reich is central to the documentary's portrayal of the psyche's organisation.
Whereas Freud and his followers believed that the repressed inner self had to be controlled
and not permitted to appear, Reich and his followers believed the opposite. They
emphasised the need of expressing one's inner feelings, which is beneficial to both the
person and society. If libidinal energy is released, Reich believes it can be retained, tamed,
and controlled. To accomplish so, he created a machine. He dismissed the notion that
suppressing such thoughts is safe. If these ego and Id sensations are suppressed, social
acceptability will not be achieved.

2. What are defense mechanisms? Explain using examples from the film.
Answer: The three components of the mind (id, ego, and superego), according to Freud, are
always at odds because each has a distinct primary aim. When a person's ego senses that the
conflict is too much for him or her to bear, one or more defensive mechanisms may be
activated to protect the individual. These defense mechanisms include:
 Repression: Disturbing or frightening thoughts are pushed out of one's mind by the
ego.
 Denial: The ego obstructs awareness of distressing or overpowering situations,
causing the individual to refuse to accept or believe what is happening.
 Projection: The ego tries to alleviate discomfort by blaming another person for the
individual's undesirable thoughts, feelings, and intentions.
  Displacement: An individual satisfies a desire by acting in a socially undesirable
manner on a replacement item or person (e.g., venting fury aimed at your boss on
your spouse instead).
 Regression: When a person is stressed, he or she goes backward in development as a
protection mechanism (for example, an exhausted adult acting like a kid).
 Sublimation: This defensive strategy, like displacement, involves fulfilling an impulse
by acting on a replacement in a socially acceptable manner (e.g., channeling energy
into work or a constructive hobby)
The documentary also shows these defence systems at various points, some of which are
mentioned below:
 The most evident defence system depicted in the video is that of the American Army's
'Reaction formation' during World War II. Reaction formation occurs when a person's
actions deviate from what he or she thinks to be true. Here, the superego attempts to
be what society expects of you, but the Id is something different entirely. Many
soldiers reported fear and trauma during psychotherapy after the war, not because of
the direct aggressiveness and fighting, but because of their desire to represent
themselves as more manly. Those who were physically strong had to be regarded
male in the real meaning of the word, and so had to labour as such. However, the fact
that they did not like to be in the war was what caused them anxiety over the actual
warfare.
 Another defence mechanism that may be found in Bernays' work is rationalisation. In
the 1940s, tobacco companies contacted him with the idea of forcing women to
consume cigarettes in order to boost earnings at a time when it was socially taboo for
women to do so. This defence was used by Bernays to launch a movement. He
justified socially undesirable cigarette smoking as a matter of women's liberty. For
American women, smoking became an instant emblem of freedom and independence,
which was previously unthinkable. It was presented in a new light and provided an
explanation for human behaviour in a changing world.
 Throughout the programme, the defence of "sublimation" is demonstrated. Patients at
mental facilities are frequently observed striking their beds, pillows, and even
counsellors. They yell at and threaten the individuals in the area. They slam against
dummies or cushions with all their strength. They engage in a process known as
sublimation, in which a person transforms undesirable conduct into something more
 acceptable. Anger and frustration are directed towards inanimate objects like the ones
listed above.

3. What practical lessons can be taken from the documentary in terms of ethical
considerations/wants/ desires?
Answer: What we're dealing with here is that they'll trust me more if you name me a doctor,”
says Edward Bernays, Sigmund Freud's nephew and the inventor of the phrase “public
relations,” in an interview. This precise statement, said by someone who makes millions by
"manufacturing consent, touches on a number of ethical concerns with far-reaching
implications.
 Consent: It is not an exaggeration to state that the world operates on trust, and that
trust is founded on consent. Engineering consent is accomplished via the use of
persuasion, manipulation, and deception. When your Id urges you to do something,
your superego considers the societal ramifications. When one designs consent, he or
she is effectively equating what society says with what the Id desires. This
deconstructs the whole consent system: an agreement based on the best knowledge of
both brains.
 Mind marketing: The 1950s saw the introduction of quick meals to the American
market. Betty Crocker cake mix was one such quick meal. This was not an often
purchased item, and it languished on the shelf. People, particularly women, would not
buy the cake mix because they believed it required no active participation on the part
of the maker, which would irritate their husbands. Their remorse served as a
justification for avoiding purchasing the quick cake mix. While this was the social
norm at the time, Betty Crocker altered it completely to combine the necessity with
the cultural standard by simply adding an egg to the batter. Everything changed after
that. This was essentially a marketing strategy for the mind. A research was
conducted to determine the most beneficial attitude for the company. This may appear
unethical; yet, it simply serves to highlight the fact that we are now more than ever
affected by companies.
 Mental health and the ethics surrounding it: despite the fact that the entire film was
about the psyche or mind, it never truly addressed the taboo subject of mental health.
Mental health is still a widely ignored and under-discussed topic today. Anxiety and
 depression are mislabeled as "mental" and "sad" at home. This film demonstrates that
mental disease exists. It is unethical to brand psychiatric patients. I don't think it's a
stretch to suggest that we're all psychiatric patients influenced by our own psyche and
others who try to control it.
4. Critique the theory of Psychoanalysis and its use as shown in the documentary
Answer: The documentary illustrates how psychoanalysis was employed in nearly every
aspect of public life and social affairs until the 1990s. Psychoanalysis could be used in all of
these areas, from propaganda in the 1920s to the evolution of public relations, to war and
consumerism movements in the 1930s to the Guatemala coup; from the Freud-Reich debate
and libidinal energy: to repress instinctual drives or unleash and control them, to the
developing democratic system to corporate losses. The application of psychoanalysis to
influence individuals in all of these areas can only be seen as turning them into puppets of
those in power. Bernays utilised tactics to persuade people in order to generate money for
himself and his customers, and he used them to make President Wilson more popular during
the war and President Roosevelt more popular during the peace. The documentary
emphasises the utilisation of the human mind as a tool for persuading others to accomplish
something.
All of the preceding show the notion of psyche in a bad light, as well as how the human mind
was used for profit. While psychoanalysis is often taught and used in the treatment of persons
with mental illnesses, its usage as a technique to control others is frequently dismissed.
However, I feel it is vital to educate people about this aspect of the offer since any citizen,
customer, or person must make an educated decision when faced with a difficult option.
Several psychoanalysts have also made significant contributions. Certain opponents of
Freud's psychoanalysis proposed in the published their own version of the theory to fit the
times.
The documentary repeatedly asserts that expressing one's inner sentiments would lead to
personal development. This human development must be accompanied by social change. This
goal of the Esalen Institute goes a long way toward explaining how an individual's awareness
of his or her surroundings and society shapes him or her. The use of external pressures to turn
a person into nothing but what the outside environment wants them to be is maybe the most
instructive section of the documentary for me. It draws on the meeting of the Id and the
superego once more. In the 1970s and 1980s, this was used to change social biases such as
racism, which was less effective, to the alteration of nuns' habits, which was more successful
and provided a popular result.
The adoption of the approach by strong individuals for over a century has resulted in the
identity of the ‘self' today. We are inextricably linked to what the self requires and wishes to
be fulfilled. These experiments can still be utilised to control one's sense of self today.