SIGMUND FREUD: Psychoanalysis

Hysteria - a disorder typically characterized by paralysis or improper functioning of certain parts of the
body. (Jean Martin-Charcot)
Catharsis – the process of removing hysterical symptoms through “talking them out” (Josef Breuer)
Free Association Technique & Hypnosis – principal therapeutic techniques used by Freud
Interpretation of Dreams – Freud’s greatest work
Phylogenetic Endowment – a portion of our unconscious originates from the experiences of our early
ancestors that have been passed on to us through hundreds generations of repetition

Provinces of the Mind

(1) Id – serves the “pleasure principle”. It has no contact with the reality, it strives constantly to reduce
tension by satisfying basic desires.
(2) Ego – governed by the “reality principle”. The only region in the mind in contact with reality. It
reconciles the blind, irrational claims of the id.
(3) Superego – guided by the “moralistic principle”. Basically unrealistic in its demands for perfection
because it has no contact with reality.
- It has two subsystems:
(a) conscience – results from experiences with punishments for improper behavior and
tells us what we ‘should not do’
(b) ego-ideal – develops from experiences with rewards for proper behavior and tells us what
we ‘should do’
Guilt results when the ego acts contrary to the moral standards of the superego. A function of
conscience.
Feelings of inferiority arise when the ego is unable to meet the superego’s standards of perfection. A
function of ego-ideal.

Dynamics of Personality
(1) Drive
- an internal stimulus that operates as a constant motivational force
Sex Drive or Eros
- erogenous zones: genitals, mouth, and anus
Forms/Manifestations:
(a1) primary narcissism – libido exclusively invested on their own ego, a universal condition
(a2) secondary narcissism – Not universal, but a moderate degree of self-love is common to nearly
every one. Here narcissistic libido is transformed into object libido
(b) love – develops when people invest their libido on an object or person other than themselves
(c) sadism – is the need for sexual pleasure by inflicting pain or humiliation on another person.
Considered sexual perversion extreme.
(d) masochism – is the need for sexual pleasure by suffering pain and humiliation inflicted by themselves
or by others.
(2) Aggression
- the aim of the destructive drive is to return the organism to an inorganic state, which is death
(3) Anxiety
- the center of the Freudian dynamic theory
- a felt, affective, unpleasant state accompanied by a physical sensation
- it is ego-preserving and self-regulating
(a) neurotic anxiety – defined as an apprehension about an unknown danger. It results from the
dependence of the ego to the id.
(b) moral anxiety – stems from the conflict between the ego and superego.
(c) realistic anxiety – It is closely related to fear. It is defined as an unpleasant, nonspecific feeling
involving a possible danger.

Defense Mechanisms
- It helps the ego to avoid dealing directly with sexual and aggressive impulses and to defend itself
against the anxiety that accompanies them
(1) Repression – It is the most basic of the defense mechanisms. When the ego is threatened by
undesirable id impulses, it forces threatening feelings into the unconscious.
(2) Reaction Formation – repressed impulse becomes conscious by adopting a disguise that is directly
opposite to its original form
(3) Displacement – unacceptable urges are redirected onto a variety of people or objects so that the
original impulse is disguised or concealed
(4) Fixation – when the prospect of taking the next psychological stage becomes too anxiety provoking,
the ego may resort to the strategy of remaining at the present, more comfortable psychological stage.
This is held universally and demands a more or less permanent expenditure of psychic energy.
(5) Regression – a reversion in which during times of stress and anxiety of a developmental stage, the
libido reverts back to an earlier stage. Infantile and rigid in nature just like fixation, but is usually
temporary.
(6) Projection – seeing in others unacceptable feelings or tendencies that actually resides in one’s own
unconscious. The ego may reduce the anxiety by attributing the unwanted impulse to an external object,
usually another person. A severe variety of it is called paranoia.
(7) Introjection - a defense mechanism whereby people incorporate positive qualities of another person
into their own ego. People introject characteristics that they see as valuable and that will permit them to
feel better about themselves.
(8) Sublimation – is the repression of the genital aim of Eros by substituting a cultural or social aim.
(9) Rationalization – involves covering up the true reasons for actions, thoughts, or feelings by making
up excuses and incorrect explanations
(10) Denial – is refusing to recognize some anxiety-provoking event or piece of information that is clear to
others

Stages of Development
For Freud, the first 4 or 5 years of life, or the infantile stage, are the most crucial for personality
information. It is divided into three stages:
1 Oral Phase (early infancy, first 18 months of life)
- Pleasure-seeking activities include sucking, chewing, and biting.
- If fixated at this stage, because oral wishes were gratified too much or too little, oral gratification
continues in adulthood.
2 Anal Phase (late adulthood, 1½ to 3 years)
- Infant’s pleasure seeking is centered on the anus and its function of elimination.
- Fixation at this stage results to retention or elimination.
- Anal retentive – may take the form of being very neat, stingy, or behaviourally rigid
- Anal expulsive – may take the form of being generous, messy, or very loose or carefree
- Anal triad: orderliness, stinginess, and obstinacy
3 Phallic Stage (early childhood, 3-6 years)
- Infant’s pleasure-seeking is centered on the genitals.
- Oedipus complex occurs at this stage: a process in which a child competes with the parent of the same
sex for the affections and pleasures of the parent of the opposite sex. (Electra complex for female)
- Castration anxiety may arise, the fear of losing the penis, or penis envy for females
4 Latency Stage (6 to puberty)
- A time when the child represses sexual thoughts and engages in nonsexual activities, such as
developing social and intellectual skills.
- dormant psychosocial development
5 Genital Stage
- puberty signals the reawakening of sexual impulses

Dream Analysis
- to transform the manifest content of dreams to the more important latent content
- the “royal road” to the knowledge of the unconscious
- Manifest content of a dream refers to the surface meaning or the conscious description given by the
dreamer
- Latent content refers to the unconscious material
- For Freud, all dreams are wish fulfilments
- Dreams can work their way to consciousness in two ways:
(1) Condensation refers to the fact that the manifest dream content is not as extensive
as the latent level, indicating that the unconscious material has been abbreviated or condensed before
appearing on the manifest level
(2) Displacement means that the dream is replaced by some other idea remotely related to it
Freudian slips (parapraxes)

Critique of Freud’s Psychoanalysis

- His theory of personality was strongly oriented towards men, he lacked a complete understanding of the
feminine psyche.
- an area of criticism on Freud centers around his status as a scientist