Sigmund Freud
From Oneiropedia
“The goal of all life is death.”
~ Sigmund Freud
Sigismund Schlomo Freud was an Austrian psychiatrist, founder of psychoanalysis, and one of the most brilliant psychological minds ever. I really admire that man.
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Life
Freud grew up in and around Vienna. He was his mother's Golden Child. He went to medical school where he dissected the nervous systems of starfish and sex organs of eels. He studied a number of topics, but eventually got into psychiatry, learning the technique of using hypnotism. But it was the case of Anna O, a mute, hysterical patient, that taught him the talking method. He got patients to talk about their problems, making them go away. This formed the basis of psychoanalysis.
Around the turn of the century, he wrote his most famous book, The Interpretation of Dreams. This was in part based on the death of his father. He gained disciples like Carl Jung, Alfred Adler, and Wilhelm Reich, most of whom betrayed him in the end, like with Jesus. Either he didn't include enough sex in his theories or too much. Soon the Nazis came and he fled, being Jewish and all. His lifelong oral fixation with cigars gave him mouth cancer, which made him die.
Theories
Freud had a number of right-on theories that continue to influence our life today.
Tripartite Model of the Psyche
According to Freud, the psyche consists of three parts:
Each one helps to regulate the behavior of the complete human being.
Psychosexual Stages of Development
Freud believed that during childhood, human beings move through several stages:
- Oral
- Anal
- Phallic
- Latency
- Genital
This is one of his most controversial ideas: that as children, we are "polymorphously perverse."
Techniques of Psychoanalysis
Freud suggested numerous methods for therapy, especially:
- Hypnotism
- Dream analysis
- Free association
Defense Mechanisms
Freud said that the ego uses defense mechanisms as protection against the clashes of the id and super-ego, as well as against the outside world. They include:
Life and Death Drives
After WWII, Freud determined that very basic, vital drives were causing human behavior. He called these eros (life) and thanatos (death). One led to creativity, birth, and preservation, while the other caused hatred, violence, and self-destruction.
Trivia
- Every Friday is actually Freuday.
- Freud was one smart mother.
- A slip of the tongue that often appears to reveal some deep-seated secret is called a Freudian slip.
