Sigmund Freud was an Australian neurologist and most commonly known as the “Father of Psychoanalysis,” or the Psychoanalytic Theory. Born in 1856, his philosophies had a huge impact on the world in the beginning of the 20th century, and he later died in 1939.
Sigmund Freud and His Cocaine Addiction:
Freud was well known for his cocaine addiction, which he recommended for the treatment of certain disorders such as depression and morphine addiction. Obviously, we now know this to NOT be the best strategy for the treatment of addiction and other disorders! But back in his day, there was not nearly as much awareness about the addictive nature of this drug, and it was commonly used for treatment.
Criticism of Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory:
Although widely criticized for some of his ideas, Freud drastically changed (and expanded) our views regarding human behavior, the world, and even our vocabulary. Many of his concepts are still commonly used in our everyday language, even to this day. In addition to what is listed below, Freud also did a lot of work with Free Association Techniques and Dream Analysis.
Most of the criticism directed towards Freud stems from his excessive focus on unconscious sexual and aggressive tendencies, which he claimed to be the primary motivational factor behind all human behavior. Although there is no doubt that these tendencies do impact behavior, many theorists since then have proposed other (and often more positive) explanations for why people do the things they do. In other words, not everything that we do is motivated by sexual drive or aggression!
Regardless of the criticism, most cannot deny that Freud totally changed the way we view the world by bringing a lot of attention to the unconscious mind. The term “Unconscious Mind” was actually coined by a German philosopher by the name of Friedrich Shelling, but it was Freud who brought this concept (and many other popular terms) to the attention of the public.
The Id, the Ego & the Superego:
The basis of Freud’s theory is that we all have three parts of our psyche called the Id, the Ego, and the Superego. The Id is the primitive, instinctual, impulsive and unconscious part of the mind. Freud believed that there was a conflict within the Id between what he called the Life Instinct (also known as the Libido) and the Death Instinct (also known as Thanatos.)
The Id responds to our instincts and is completely unconscious. The Id is not logical and it demands immediate satisfaction which operates on what Freud called the “Pleasure Principle.” 
The Ego is the part of our selves that is the decision maker or the mediator between these impulsive instincts of the Id and the values and morals of the Superego. Freud’s definition of the Ego is very different from the contemporary (more common) definition that we are accustomed to using today, which refers to the ego as the part of one’s self that is “all about the personal self.”
According to Freud, the Ego Is very reasonable and logical, and it mediates between the Id and the external world. Freud’s use of the word Ego refers to finding realistic and logical ways of satisfying the demands of the Id and getting them to conform to social norms, rules, and etiquette of society. In other words, we use our Ego to think a problem through until we can find a solution, which he called “Reality Testing.”
Freud referred to the Ego as the “Rider” and the Id as the “Horse.” If the Ego fails in its attempts to reconcile the demands of the Id with the demands of the Superego, we will cope with that by using Unconscious Defense Mechanisms, explained below.
The Superego, on the other hand, incorporates the values, morals, and beliefs of our parents or primary caregivers as children. This develops between the ages of 3 and 5 during the Phallic Phase (see below.) The function of the Superego is to control the Id impulses, especially those that are considered to be unacceptable or forbidden to society (such as sex and aggression.)
The job of the Superego is to persuade the Ego to strive for moral perfection, rather than the accepted norms of society. Within the Superego, there are two systems, the Conscience, and the Ideal Self. Both of these systems will either reward or punish us, depending on how well we are doing what the Superego thinks we “should be doing.”
Freud Was Also Well Known for His Psychosexual Stages of Development:
- Oral Stage (Birth – 1-year-old): The erogenous zone of this stage is the mouth and the sucking reflex is primary. Conflict develops during the weaning stage and fixation during this stage can lead to later problems with dependency, smoking, nail biting, eating and drinking.
- Anal Stage (1 – 3 years old): The erogenous zone of this stage is control over the bladder and bowels. The
conflict occurs during toilet training. According to Freud, if parents are too lenient during this stage, it can lead to wasteful behaviors later in life. But if a parent is too strict, it can lead to retentive, rigid and obsessive tendencies. - Phallic Stage (2 – 6 years old): The erogenous zone during this stage is the genitals. This is when children discover the differences between males and females. Conflicts are different for males and females during this stage. According to Freud, boys go through something called the “Oedipus Complex” where they want to possess their mother and girls go through something called the “Electra Complex” where they want to possess their father.
- Latency Stage (Age 6 – Puberty): The erogenous zone of this stage is the suppression of the Libido, where sexual feelings are inactive. During this phase, the primary focus is the development of the Ego and Superego. Freud calls this the period of “calm,” where intellectual and social pursuits are the main focus.
- Genital Stage (Puberty – Death): The Erogenous zone of this stage is the mature sexual interests, where each begins to show an interest in the opposite sex.
How People Resolve Unconscious Conflicts According To Freud:
According to Freud, whenever a person is having difficulty reconciling the conflict between the Id and the Superego, the Ego protects the person with “Unconscious Defense Mechanisms.” This happens when the Ego feels threatened and overwhelmed by too many demands. Defense Mechanisms are a technique of the Ego to protect a person from anxiety or guilt.
Below is a List of Some of Freud’s Defense Mechanisms:
- Distortion: When a person reshapes the external reality to meet internal needs. For example, a person may grossly distort or exaggerate the beliefs of a group with an opposing viewpoint.
- Splitting: Taking harmful or helpful impulses and dividing them into “all good” or “all bad” categories.
- Denial: Refusal to accept reality as it is because it is seen as being too threatening.
- Extreme Projection: When a person denies that they possess a moral deficiency (according to society.)
- Conversion: When severe emotional distress is expressed as a physical symptom. This is also commonly referred to as hysteria. For example, a person may appear to go blind, deaf or paralyzed due to severe stress.
- Delusional Projection: When a person sees the external reality in a derogatory way that leads one to believe view the world is persecuting them in some way.
- Idealization: When a person perceives another person as having much more desirable traits than they actually possess. For example, putting someone up on a pedestal.
- Acting Out: Usually when a person cannot control their anger and they act out their aggression by throwing or punching objects in the room.
- Fantasy: When a person completely retreats into a fantasy world as a way of avoiding reality.
- Passive Aggressive: When aggression towards others is expressed in obscure, indirect or passive ways that are not so obvious. For example, when a person procrastinates or find some secret way to “get even.”
- Projective Identification: When a person identifies with another person or object of projection.
- Wishful Thinking: When a person makes decisions based on what is pleasurable to them instead of what is logical or realistic.
- Somatization: When a person transforms uncomfortable feelings towards other people into feelings that are uncomfortable towards themselves. In this case, a person may exhibit feelings of anxiety, pain or sickness in order to avoid dealing with someone who makes them feel that way.
- Projection: When a person has conflicting emotions that are uncomfortable such as anger, lying, stealing, cheating, etc. and instead of admitting these behaviors, they project those behaviors on other people and accuse others of exhibiting these behaviors.
- Regression: Reverting back to an earlier stage of life or development as a way of coping with stress. For example, a person may run away or sleep all day or demonstrate some other childlike behavior to avoid coping with their present reality.
- Displacement: Redirecting emotions from something or someone who poses a great risk or threat to someone else who is less of a threat. For example, a person may be angry with their boss and come home and take it out on the spouse, children or pets.
- Repression: When a person pushes uncomfortable thoughts or emotions into their unconscious mind so that they do not have to consciously deal with them (blocking something out of conscious awareness.)
- Hypochondriasis: When a person has excessive preoccupation or worry about having a serious illness.
- Intellectualism: When a person distances themselves from their emotions and puts all of their focus on intellectual concepts only. This person will often isolate themselves.
- Isolation: When a person becomes desensitized to the emotional aspects of a devastating or gruesome event.
- Dissociation: When a person drastically modifies their identity and no longer identifies with their common, human identity. For example, a person with amnesia.
- Rationalization: When a person uses false reasoning to convince themselves that no wrongdoing has been done. Also commonly referred to as “making excuses.”
- Withdrawal: Removing oneself from anyone or anything that may be considered a threat to them. Avoiding people and places that cause painful or uncomfortable thoughts or emotions.
- Undoing: Trying to undo something that was considered unacceptable by acting out the opposite of that behavior. Going to confession or atoning is classified as a form of undoing.
- Upward and Downward Social Comparisons: When a person completely separates themselves from another group of people by trying to make themselves out to be much worse or better than people who belong to that group.
How Freud Has Impacted Our World:
As you can probably see now from reading this article, many words commonly used in our everyday language stem from the writings of Sigmund Freud. In my opinion, his most noted accomplishment was the attention he gave to the “Unconscious Mind,” which has led to many, many interesting and fascinating research studies ever since.
To this day, much attention is given to the importance of the Unconscious Mind. Criticized or not, our understanding of the mind has evolved and continues to evolve thanks to the work of Sigmund Freud. To learn about some more recent studies of the unconscious mind, you may want to click here.
I hope you have found this article interesting in some way! Please feel free to share your stories relating to how Freud’s concepts have impacted your life in the comments below. All comments are very much appreciated!
