Philosophy 1000 - Final Paper (#3) PDF

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1 Philosophy 1000-001 Question #4 Sigmund Freud and Mental Health as a Key Feature of Human Nature I. Introduction to Freud Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) was a Viennese Physician who completed groundbreaking work regarding mental illness. Throughout his life, Freud continuously modified his theories by touching on a wide range of subjects such as biology, neuroscience, medicine, psychiatry, and many more. By using psychoanalysis, Freud revolutionized our understanding of human nature. His tripartite structure of the individual human psyche (id, ego, and superego) informs his diagnosis of mental disharmony as neurosis and repression. Freud believed that an individual’s well being depended on a harmonious relationship between the various parts of the mind. The ego has to conform to the id, the superego, and the external world by seeking opportunities for satisfying instinctual demands without breaching standards set by society. By methods of science, Freud hoped that our human issues could be diagnosed and solved. He believed that his “talking cure” could help a patient by encouraging them to talk about the thoughts and feelings that filled their minds. I personally believe that Freud’s talking cure could be faulty because assumptions are made- assuming that his patient’s memories are still in their unconscious minds. As well, his patient’s neurosis may never be cured. To achieve this cure, it could require months or years of therapy. Freud had to carefully observe his patient’s unconscious mental states to fully understand their issues as well as trying to make them accept their issues. Though I disagree that his talking cure was the best approach to curing neurosis and repression, Freud’s prescription for mental illness and psychoanalytic approach of the mind truly revolutionized our understanding of human nature. II. Freud’s Approach to Human Nature

2 Freud’s approach to human nature consisted of four different characteristics. These characteristics built the foundation for his theories. Firstly, Freud strictly applied determinism. Determinism is the idea that for every event that occurs, conditions exist that could cause no other event. For the most part, we are not in control of our thinking, feeling, and doing. Freud assumed that behaviors and thoughts that had “often been assumed to be accidental and of no great significance for understanding a person” (Stevenson, Haberman, and Wright 210) must have hidden mental causes. These causes would be revealed through a “disguise”- such as failures of memory, faulty actions, and dreams. Determinism further demonstrates the concept of the “Freudian-slip.” Freud, understanding that all human behavior is not truly accidental, believed that everything in principle could be traced back to other causes that are processed through the human mind. By denying our free will, determinism is the belief that our individual drives direct our lives. The contents of our consciousness are determined by “causes of which we are not normally aware” (Stevenson, Haberman, and Wright 210) such as repressed trauma. Repressed trauma, in this case, is excluded from normal sets of experiences but can indirectly determine human action. The second, as well as the most important characteristic of Freud’s theorizing, is his tripartite structure of the individual human psyche. Freud demonstrated that there are many mental states. The first, the “preconscious,” is not entirely conscious but is recalled when memories of particular experiences become relevant. The “unconscious”, opposed to the preconscious, is a term used for states that “cannot become conscious under normal circumstances” (Stevenson, Haberman, and Wright 210). Freud concluded that our conscious attention includes elements of which we have no ordinary awareness. To explain mysterious human behaviors such as obsessive thoughts and hysterical paralyses, he suggested the existence of “emotionally charged ideas in the unconscious part of the mind” (Stevenson, Haberman, and Wright 211). These ideas have influences on what we think, feel, and do. Though repression

3 pushes these ideas into the unconscious, the rest of the human unconscious encompasses the driving forces of our mental lives, which have existed since infancy. Including knowledge on the preconscious and unconscious, Freud introduced the concept of the tripartite structure of the mind. This structure consists of “three systems within the mental apparatus” (Stevenson, Haberman, and Wright 211); the “es, ich, and uber-ich.” The es, or id, consists of our drives that operates the “pleasure principle.” These drives usually seek instantaneous comfort like a small child. The ich, or ego, is the ordinary conception we have of ourselves. Governed by the “reality principle,” the ego includes our perceptions of the world and our decision-making morals. Every idea that can become conscious is in the ego whilst the id consists of the unconscious. The uberich, or superego, contains the conscience. It controls and confronts the ego by inducing morals, rules, and guilty emotions. Repressive forces are located within the ego and superego, which usually acts unconsciously. Beset by external problems and internal conflict, the ego “has the difficult job of trying to reconcile the conflicting demands of id and superego” (Stevenson, Haberman, and Wright 211). Thirdly, instincts and drives are another main feature of Freud’s theory. These innate impulses can be motivational forces behind varieties of different behaviors. One of the main kinds of drives speculated was sexual, giving sexuality a much wider scope in human life. Other than sex, Freud believed that another main drive, Eros, could explain a more spiritual kind of love that is greater than sexuality. Eros could further express “self-preservative” instincts for eating and self-protection. Lastly, the fourth characteristic is Freud’s developmental account of human nature. Freud’s theory of psychoanalysis generalizes from the discovery that traumatic experiences could cause harsh effects on mental health. As well, this theory protrudes the “crucial importance for adult character of the experiences of infancy and early childhood” (Stevenson, Haberman, and Wright 213). Expanding on this, Freud developed detailed theories on the psychosexual stages of development in children. His understanding of child psychology

4 showed that a child’s dependent attachment that they feel for their parents contains an element that is sexual in a broader sense. As children grow and pass this crucial stage of development, if managed unsuccessfully, psychoanalysis may be the only option to cure the damage. Returning the patient to this stage of development, mentally, can possibly renegotiate the transition from childhood into adulthood. III. Diagnosis of Mental Disharmony as Neurosis and Repression Freud theorized that an individual’s well being depends on an amicable relationship between the mental states of the mind, and between the whole person and society. The ego must overcome the id, the superego, and the external world without breaching the standards set by society. Pain and frustration will result if the world “does not supply enough opportunities for fulfillment” (Stevenson, Haberman, and Wright 214). If there is too much inner conflict between the id, ego, and superego, there can be a major mental disturbance. In cases of neurotic guilt, the superego “may have come to set impossible standards, way beyond what most people would accept as reasonable” (Stevenson, Haberman, and Wright 214). Repression is a necessary defense mechanism where patients avoid their inner conflict by feeling uncomfortable with standards they comply to. By avoiding conflict, they are avoiding reality, which increases the intensity of their mental health issues. The issues that are repressed linger within their unconscious, holding emotional energy, which then exerts into consciousness. These issues are exerted through dreams, neurotic symptoms, or faulty actions. People may feel compelled to continue behaving this way despite feeling that the actions are irrational. Repressing unwanted emotions and memories shows that the person is deliberately losing control over these feelings. It is essential for future mental health that children successfully pass through the normal stages of sexual development to avoid predispositions to future issues. One kind of neurosis, called “regression,” is the “return to one of the stages at which childish satisfaction was obtained” (Stevenson, Haberman, and Wright 215).

5 One of the most crucial issues in mental health problems is the standard in which an individual feels obligated to conform. The social environment of the individual produces this standard. To make human society possible, Freud believed that civilization “requires some self-control of instinctual satisfaction” (Stevenson, Haberman, and Wright 215). Speculating this society of standards, Freud contemplated that our civilized lives may be described as neurotic; parents that are unable to cope with normal social environments are more likely to produce children that develop the same way. He had suggested that our standards tend to make life difficult for many people in society. Therefore showing that Freud believed that we, as a society, should not deny certain amounts of satisfactions to our internal impulses. IV. Psychoanalytic Theory as a Prescription for Mental Illness By the methods of science, Freud hoped that our mental health problems could be diagnosed and solved. His project was to “restore a balance between the parts of the mind” and “to suggest a better adjustment between individuals and the social world” (Stevenson, Haberman, and Wright 215). Freud’s method developed by encouraging a hysterical patient to talk about their thoughts and fantasies. By being able to recall her traumatic experiences that induced her problems, she appeared to be “cured.” Assuming that these experiences still existed in his patients’ unconscious minds, he asked them to talk in-depth in hopes to determine the underlying forces behind what the patient had said. No matter how absurd, Freud’s only rule was that patients would be able to say whatever came to mind. When the patient eventually felt like there was nothing left to say (called “resistance”), Freud concluded that the patient’s unconscious was “trying to prevent the painful ideas from reappearing” (Stevenson, Haberman, and Wright 216). He also believed that bringing repressed material back power over unpleasant ideas could cure a patients’ neurosis. Unfortunately, achieving this cure could take months or years of psychoanalysis therapy. Freud’s case studies have shown that, when analyzing a patient, the

6 analyst must “try to arrive at the correct interpretations of the patient’s unconscious mental states” and to “present them at such a time and in such a way that the patient can accept them” (Stevenson, Haberman, and Wright 216). Dreams produced by individual patients can provide essential information for psychoanalytic interpretation. As well, a patients’ unconscious causation can be revealed through the interpretation of errors and faulty actions. Freud experienced “transference” as patients began to manifest degrees of emotion towards him. He believed this phenomenon occurred as patients’ emotions were projected onto him from life situations that had been experienced in the past or from the unconscious dreams and fantasies of the patient. Transference itself is of crucial importance because it can help the patient understand what lies behind his or her present feelings, why his or her feelings must be stopped, and can be analyzed and “traced back to its sources in the patient’s unconscious” (Stevenson, Haberman, and Wright 217). According to Freud, the goal of psychoanalytic analysis is self-knowledge. Patients are free to replace the repression of their instinctual demands, to divert their demands into “acceptable channels,” or to satisfy their demands. If the patient does satisfy their demands, bringing them into consciousness during psychoanalytic analysis would reduce the power of the demands themselves. Freud was realistic in terms of accepting the extreme complexity of problems of civilized modern society. Though abstaining from social and political programs, Freud suggested that psychoanalysis has a wide range of applications than just the treatment of repression and neurosis. V. Conclusion In conclusion, Freud revolutionized our understanding of human nature by using psychoanalysis. His tripartite structure of the unconscious mental states consists of the id, ego, and superego. Whilst the id is unconscious and the superego is conscious, the ego constantly tries to reconcile the conflicting demands of the other mental states. These conflicts are caused by the

7 realities of the world, which are often repressed by patients with neurotic illnesses. As an attempt to cure these illnesses, Freud used psychoanalytic analysis. By using the “talking cure” as a strategy, many challenges are faced. I personally believe that the talking cure is not a great cure because it takes long periods of time for patients to be cured, if cured at all. The analyst to patient relationship must be secure; the patient must speak aloud when thinking freely and the analyst must assume that repressed experiences still exist within the patient’s unconscious. After therapy, the patient must decide whether or not they would be interested in replacing their unhealthy repression entirely, diverting their repression into acceptable channels, or satisfying their repression by returning to their old ways. Though Freud stated that the power of their repression is reduced, their repression still exists. Thus proving that Freud’s “talking cure” is not an exceptional cure for neurosis and repression.

8 Works Cited Stevenson, Leslie Forster., David L., and Wright, Peter Matthews. Twelve Theories of Human Nature. New York: Oxford UP, 2013. Print....