Topographical model of mind

 Freud divided the mind into three regions:

1. The conscious system,

2. The preconscious system, and
3. The unconscious system.

 Each system has its unique characteristics

(Ref- Synopsis 12th edition)
 The Conscious

 the part of the mind in which perceptions coming from the outside
world or within the body or mind are brought into awareness

 content can be communicated only using language or behaviour

 consciousness used a form of neutralized psychic energy that he

referred to as Attention cathexis
(Ref- Synopsis 12th edition)
 The Preconscious

 composed of those mental events, processes, and contents that can be brought
into conscious awareness by focusing attention
 Exa: Most persons are not consciously aware of the appearance of their
primary teacher, they can bring this image to mind by deliberately focusing
attention on the memory
 The preconscious interfaces with both unconscious and conscious regions of
the mind
 The contents of the unconscious must become linked with words and thus
become preconscious then content can reach conscious awareness.
 System also serves to maintain the repressive barrier and to censor
unacceptable wishes and desires. (Ref- Synopsis 12 th
edition)
 The Unconscious
 Mental contents and processes of unconscious are kept from conscious awareness
through the force of censorship or repression
 The contents of the unconscious can become conscious only by passing through
the preconscious. When censors are overpowered, the elements can enter
consciousness.
 Mental contents and processes closely related to instinctual drives which consist
of sexual and self-preservative drives
 The content of the unconscious is limited to wishes seeking fulfillment which
motivate dream and neurotic symptom formation
 system is characterized by primary process thinking, principally aimed at
facilitating wish fulfillment and instinctual discharge. (Ref- Synopsis 12th edition)
 The Unconscious
Primary process thinking is governed by the pleasure principle
 it disregards logical connections;
 it has no concept of time,
 represents wishes as fulfillments,
 permits contradictions to exist simultaneously, and
 denies the existence of negatives.

 The primary process is also characterized by extreme mobility of drive cathexis;

the investment of psychic energy can shift from object to object without
opposition. (Ref- Synopsis 12 edition)
th
 The Unconscious

 Memories in the unconscious have been divorced from their

connection with verbal symbols. Hence, when words are reapplied
to forgotten memory called the verbal cathexis allows the
memories to reach consciousness again. (psychoanalytic treatment)
(Ref- Synopsis 12th edition)
 Structural Theory of the Mind

 The structural model of the psychic apparatus is the cornerstone of

ego psychology

 The three provinces

1. ID
2. EGO
3. SUPEREGO
(Ref- Synopsis 12th edition)
 ID

 ID to refer to a reservoir of unorganized instinctual drives

 An infant is born with ID.
 Operating under the domination of the primary process, the id
cannot delay or modify the instinctual drives
 should not be viewed as synonymous with the unconscious, because
both the ego and the superego have unconscious components
(Ref- Synopsis 12th edition)
 EGO

Ego spans all three topographical dimensions of conscious,

preconscious, and unconscious

 Conscious and preconscious functions of the ego:

1. Logical and abstract thinking and
2. verbal expression
 Unconscious domain of the ego:
1. Defense mechanisms (Ref- Synopsis 12th edition)
 EGO

 The executive organ of the psyche

 Ego controls

1. Motility,
2. Perception,
3. Contact with reality,
4. The delay and modulation of drive expression
(Ref- Synopsis 12th edition)
 Superego

 Establishes and maintains an individual’s moral conscience based on

a complex system of ideals and values internalized by parents
 Children internalize parental values and standards at about the age
of 5 or 6 years
 The superego then serves as an agency that provides ongoing
scrutiny of a person’s behavior, thoughts, and feelings;
 These activities occur mostly unconsciously.
(Ref- Synopsis 12th edition)
 FUNCTION OF EGO

 CONTROL AND REGULATION OF INSTINCTUAL DRIVES

 JUDGMENT
 RELATION TO REALITY
 OBJECT RELATIONSHIPS
 SYNTHETIC FUNCTION OF THE EGO
 PRIMARY AUTONOMOUS EGO FUNCTIONS
 SECONDARY AUTONOMOUS EGO FUNCTIONS
 Defense Mechanisms
(Ref- Synopsis 12th edition)
CONTROL AND REGULATION OF
INSTINCTUAL DRIVES

 closely related to the early childhood progression from the pleasure

principle to the reality principle
 capacity is also an essential aspect of the ego’s role as a mediator
between the id and the outside world
JUDGMENT

 ability to anticipate the consequences of actions

 judgment develops in parallel with the growth of secondary process
thinking
RELATION TO REALITY

 Mediation between the internal world and external reality is a

crucial function of the ego

 Relations with the outside world can be divided into three aspects
1. The sense of reality
2. Reality testing
3. Adaptation to reality
RELATION TO REALITY

1. The sense of reality: The ability to distinguish outside the body from the inside
is an essential aspect of the sense of reality
-disturbances of body boundaries, such as depersonalization, reflect impairment in
this ego function

2. Reality testing: the capacity to distinguish internal fantasy from external

reality
-differentiates persons who are psychotic from those who are not

3. Adaptation to reality : involves persons’ ability to use their resources to

develop effective responses to changing circumstances based on previous
OBJECT RELATIONSHIPS

 The capacity to form mutually satisfying relationships

 internalization stemming from early interactions with parents and
other significant figures
 ability to integrate positive and negative aspects of others and self
 to maintain an internal sense of others even in their absence
SYNTHETIC FUNCTION OF THE
EGO
 refers to the ego’s capacity to integrate diverse elements into an
overall unity
 organizing, coordinating, and generalizing or simplifying large
amounts of data
PRIMARY AUTONOMOUS EGO
FUNCTIONS
 rudimentary apparatuses present at birth
 develop independently of intrapsychic conflict between drives and
defences
 functions include perception, learning, intelligence, intuition,
language, thinking, comprehension, and motility
 the course of development, some of these conflict-free aspects of the
ego may eventually become involved in a conflict
SECONDARY AUTONOMOUS EGO
FUNCTIONS
 Once the primary autonomous function develops becomes involved
with conflict
 secondary autonomous ego functions arise in the defense against
drives
 child may develop caretaking functions as a reaction formation
against murderous wishes during the first few years
 Later, the defensive functions may be neutralized or
deinstinctualized when the child grows up to be a social worker and
cares for homeless persons
DEFENSE MECHANISM
 Introduction

 The defense mechanisms reside in the unconscious domain of the

ego
 Ego delay and modulation of drive expression through the defense
mechanisms
 Defenses can be grouped hierarchically according to the relative
degree of maturity
Classification of Defense Mechanisms

According to George Valliant’s classification

 Narcissistic-Psychotic Defenses
 Immature Defenses
 Neurotic Defenses
 Mature Defenses

(Ref- Synopsis 12th Edition)

Narcissistic-Psychotic Defenses

 Defenses are the most primitive

 Appear in children and adult dreams or fantasies
 And also in persons who are psychotically disturbed.
 defenses are usually found as part of a psychotic process
 They share the common note of avoiding, negating, or
distorting reality
Immature Defenses

 Seen in adolescents and some nonpsychotic patients

 Also in adult character disorders
 They are regarded as socially awkward and undesirable.
 They often moderate with improvement in interpersonal
relationships or with increased personal maturity.

(Ref- Synopsis 12th Edition)

Neurotic Defenses

 common in apparently normal and healthy individuals

 aswell as in neurotic disorders (obsessive compulsive and
hysterical patient)
 expressed in neurotic forms of behaviour
 adaptive or socially acceptable
Mature Defenses

 healthy and adaptive throughout the life cycle

 socially adaptive
 useful in the integration of personal needs and motives, social
demands, and interpersonal relations
Immature Defenses

 Acting out
 Blocking
 Hypochondriasis
 Somatisation
 Introjection
 Projection
 Regression
 Passive aggressive behaviour
 Schizoid fantasy
Acting out

 Thedirect expression of an unconscious

wish or impulse in action to avoid being
conscious of the accompanying affect

 Example: a child’s temper tantrum is a form

of acting out when he or she doesn’t get his
or her way with a parent.

(Ref- Synopsis 12th Edition)

Blocking
 An inhibition of affects especially, but
possibly also thinking and impulses
(close to repression)
 Has a component of tension arising from
the inhibition of the impulse, affect, or
thought.
 Example: Transient inability to
remember

(Ref- Synopsis 12th Edition)

Hypochondriasis

 Transformation of reproach toward others into self-

reproach in the form of somatic complaints of pain, illness,
and so forth.
 Reproach arising from bereavement, loneliness, or
unacceptable aggressive impulses
 Illness may also be overemphasized or exaggerated
 Example: A person who has a minor cough may think that
they have Tuberculosis. (Ref- Synopsis 12 Edition)
th
Somatization

 The defensive conversion of psychic

derivatives into bodily symptoms
 Desomatization :Infantile somatic responses
are replaced by thought and affect during
development
 Resomatization :regression to earlier somatic
forms or response

(Ref- Synopsis 12th Edition)

Projection

 On a nonpsychotic level, projection involves attributing one’s

own unacknowledged feelings to others which include
 Example: severe prejudice, rejection of intimacy through
suspiciousness, hypervigilance to external danger, and injustice
collecting
 Projection operates correlatively to introjection
 material of the projection derives from the internalized but
usually unconscious configuration of the subject’s introjects.
(Ref- Synopsis 12th Edition)
Introjection

 The introjection of a loved object involves the internalization of

characteristics of the object with the goal of ensuring closeness to
and constant presence of the object
 Introjection of a feared object serves to avoid anxiety through
internalizing the aggressive characteristic of the object by putting
the aggression under one’s own control
 The aggression is no longer felt as coming from outside, but is taken
within and utilized defensively, thus turning the subject’s weak,
passive position into an active, strong one
(Ref- Synopsis 12th Edition)
Introjection

The self-punitive qualities of the object are taken over and established
within one’s self as a symptom or character trait, which effectively
represents both the destruction and the preservation of the object. This
is also called identification with the victim

 Example : while her mother is out, a young girl discipline her

brother just like her mother would.

(Ref- Synopsis 12th Edition)

Regression

 A return to a previous stage of development or functioning to

avoid the anxieties or hostilities involved in later stages
 Thisis often the result of a disruption of equilibrium at a later
phase of development
 Reflects a basic tendency to achieve instinctual gratification or to
escape instinctual tension

(Ref- Synopsis 12th Edition)

Regression

 By returning to earlier modes and levels of gratification when later

and more differentiated modes fail or involve intolerable conflict.

 Example: an adolescent who is overwhelmed with fear, anger and

growing sexual impulses might become clingy and start exhibiting
earlier childhood behaviours such as bedwetting, nail biting

(Ref- Synopsis 12th Edition)

Passive-aggressive behavior

 Aggression toward an object expressed indirectly and

ineffectively through
1. Passivity,
2. Masochism, and
3. Turning against the self
Example : patient non compliant on medication

(Ref- Synopsis 12th Edition)

Schizoid fantasy

 The tendency to use fantasy and to indulge in

autistic retreat for the purpose of conflict
resolution and gratification.
 Example: Seen in schizoid & schizotypal
personality disorder, Narcissistic personality
disorder

(Ref- Synopsis 12th Edition)

THANK YOU
Projection

 Perceiving and reacting to unacceptable inner

impulses and their derivatives as though they were
outside the self

 For example, a person is rude may constantly accuse

other people of being rude.
Denial
 Psychotic denial of external reality affects
perception of external reality more than perception
of internal reality.(Unlike Repression)
 At the psychotic level, the denied reality may be
replaced by a fantasy or delusion.
 Not all denial, however, is necessarily psychotic.
Denial avoids becoming aware of some painful
aspect of reality
Denial

 Denial may function in the service of more neurotic or even adaptive objectives.
(like projection)
Distortion

 Grossly reshaping the experience of external

reality to suit inner needs like
1. Unrealistic megalomanic beliefs,
2. wish fulfilling delusions, and
3. employing sustained feelings of delusional
grandiosity, superiority, or entitlement.
4. hallucinations
Controlling

 excessive attempt to manage or regulate events or objects

in the environment
 inthe interest of minimizing anxiety and solving internal
conflicts
Displacement

 unconscious shifting of impulses or affective investment

from one object to another
 in the interest of solving a conflict
 object is changed, the instinctual nature of the impulse and
its aim remain unchanged.
 The man who gets angry at his boss for fear of being fired
he instead comes home and kicks the dog or starts an
argument with his wife.
Dissociation

 A temporary but drastic modification of character or sense

of personal identity to avoid emotional distress
 includes fugue states and hysterical conversion reactions.
Rationalization

 A justification
of attitudes, beliefs, or behavior that might
be unacceptable
 By an incorrect application of justifying reasons or the
invention of a convincing fallacy.
Reaction formation

 Management of unacceptable impulses by permitting expression

of the impulse in antithetical form
 This is equivalently an expression of the impulse in the negative
 Reaction formation can become a character trait on a permanent
basis, usually as an aspect of obsessional character
 Example: when a 2nd child is born ina family the first child may
show extraordinary concern for the welfare of the newborn. This
way his unconscious hate and aggression for his little brother is
covered up.
Repression

 Consistsof the expelling and withholding of an idea or feeling from

conscious awareness
 may operate by excluding from awareness what was once
experienced on a conscious level (secondary repression) or
 Itmay curb ideas and feelings before they have reached
consciousness (primary repression).
 When a child finds out abouth birth of 2nd baby ,he may feel his love
is divided. He feels jealousy and rivalry towards his little brother.
He represses his aggression for fear of punishment on further loss of
love,but may channelize his aggression through some other activity.
Intellectualization

 The control of affects and impulses by way of thinking

about them instead of experiencing them
 It is a systematic excess of thinking, deprived of its affect
Isolation

 Theintrapsychic splitting or separation of affect from

content
Externalization

 Tendency to perceive in the external world and in external

objects components of one’s own personality
 Which include instinctual impulses, conflicts, moods,
attitudes, and styles of thinking
 Example: a patient who is overly argumentative might
instead perceive others as argumentative and himself as
blameless.
Sexualization

 The endowing of an object with sexual significance that it

did not previously have
 To ward off anxieties connected with prohibited impulses
Altruism

 The vicarious but constructive and instinctually

gratifying service to others, even to the detriment
of the self
 Altruistic surrender : masochistic surrender of
direct gratification or of instinctual needs in favor
of fulfilling the needs of others to the detriment of
the self, with vicarious satisfaction only being
gained through introjection
Anticipation

 Realistic anticipation of or planning for future inner discomfort

 Implies overly concerned planning, worrying, and anticipation of
dire and dreadful possible outcomes
 Example: moderate amount of anxiety before surgery promotes post
surgical adaptation.
Humor

 overt expression of feelings without personal discomfort or

immobilization and without unpleasant effect on others
 allows one to bear what is too terrible to be borne
Sublimation

 gratification of an impulse whose goal is retained

 but aim or object is changed from a socially objectionable one to a
socially valued one
 Sublimation of aggressive impulses takes place through pleasurable
games and sports
 sublimation allows instincts to be channeled rather than diverted.
 feelings are acknowledged, modified, and directed toward a relatively
significant goal
 A writer may direct his libido to creation of poem, thus indirectly
satisfying drives.
Suppression

 conscious or semiconscious decision to postpone attention

to a conscious impulse or conflict
THANK YOU