Psychoanalytic Theory Part II: Freud

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Psychoanalytic Theory Part II Freud

• EH 4301
• Spring 2005

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Freud

• Death Drive
• Death is principle organizer of psychological
  experiences
• Natural, biological drive
• Abstraction
• No connection to the concrete world of experience

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Freud

• Death Drive
• Used this theory to account for self-destructive
  behavior in individuals bent on destroying
  themselves psychologically (or physically).
• Concluded there must be something in our genetic
  make-up to explain psychological and physical
  self-destruction.
• One way to understand our relationship with death
  is to examine it in relation to the rest of our
  psychological experiences.

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• Death Drive
• FEAR OF DEATH
• intimately connected to a number of other
  psychological realities.
• Individuals respond to death in various ways
  because of the differences in psychological
  makeup.

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• Thoughts of our own death leads to
• FEAR OF ABANDONMENT
• fear of being alone
• Death is ultimate abandonment

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• FEAR OF ABANDONMENT
• plays a role in fearing the death of others
• Loss of a parent or child
• How could you leave me? What did I do wrong?
• Death of loved one pushes guilt buttons
• must have been inadequate
• must have done something wrong to be punished
  this way

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• FEAR OF ABANDONMENT
• Fear of such a loss is probably the biggest
  reason why some are afraid to get too close to
  another person or afraid to love too deeply.
• If one can hold something back, not give self
  over to another, better able to bear the loss
  when beloved dies.
• When you aint got nothing, you got nothing to
  lose.
• Fear of death often responsible for
• FEAR OF INTIMACY.

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• Can see how fear of death often results in fear
  of life.
• Can also be played out as a fear of risk.
• The ultimate loss is death.
• Therefore, cannot take any risk that might result
  in death.
• But life itself ultimately ends in death.
• Therefore, cant risk living life.
• I must remove myself from it somehow by doing as
  little as possible
• I will try to be emotionally dead to avoid being
  hurt by death.

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• Translates into fear of loss in general
• loss of mates attention
• loss of childrens love
• loss of health, job, looks, money, etc.
• Emotional death is attractive
• The desire not to feel, desire to insulate self
  from life in order to insulate from pain is
  probably the most common form of the death drive.
  (death works)

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• Given the enormous role that death plays in our
  lives, is it any wonder why we are fascinated
  with it?
• The greater our fear, the greater our
  fascination.
• violent movies
• natural disasters
• school shootings
• terrorists running airplanes into buildings

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• Fascination of medias representations of death
• Another example of how we project our fears and
  problems onto people and events outside
  ourselves.
• This operation acts as a DEFENSE
• If I think about this happening on the other side
  of town or in New York City, then it diverts my
  attention away from self.

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• DEFENSES
• Keep us unaware of our unconscious experiences
• Can break down and result in anxiety which reveal
• CORE ISSUES
• Issues that define our being in fundamental ways
  that we carry through life.
• Fear of intimacy
• Fear of abandonment
• Low self-esteem
• Insecure/unstable sense of self
• Confusion about ones sexuality

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DEFENSES

• When we sleep
• Defenses do not operate in the same manner they
  do when awake.
• the unconscious is free to express itself, and it
  does so in our dreams.
• Some censorship even in dreams.
• Some protection against frightening insights into
  our repressed experiences and emotions
• dream distortions

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DEFENSES

• DISPLACEMENT
• The message the unconscious expresses in dreams
  (latent content) is altered or not readily
  recognized.
• Occurs whenever dreamer use a safe person, event,
  or object as a stand-in to represent a more
  threatening person, event, or object.

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DEFENSES

• CONDENSATION
• A single dream image or event represents more
  than one unconscious wound or feeling.
• dream of battling a ferocious bear
• might represent psychological battles or
  conflicts
• at home and at work

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• Goal is to uncover the latent content of a dream
  which leads to actual interpretation from the
  recalled manifest content.
• Manifest content
• what we actually dream
• Latent content
• the unconscious message

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• Manifest content can be seen as symbolism
• Given that sexuality is an important reflection
  on ones psychological being, dreams about gender
  roles, about attitudes toward ourselves and
  others as sexual beings are also revealing.
• To interpret these dreams
• need to be aware of the male and female imagery
  that can occur in them

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IMAGERY

• Male imagery (phallic symbols) can include
• Anything that is similar in form.
• Towers
• Mountains
• Trees
• Anything that explodes/erupts
• Guns
• Cannons
• Anything that penetrates
• Arrows
• Swords
• Anything that water runs through
• Pipes
• Fountains

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IMAGERY

• Male imagery (phallic symbols) can include
• Anything that is similar in form.
• Balloons
• Airplanes
• Rockets
• Snakes
• Reptiles
• Fish
• Hat
• Coat
• Various appliances

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IMAGERY

• Female imagery (yonic symbols) can include
• Any hollow objects that can contain things
• Caves
• Boxes
• Suitcases
• Ships
• Enclosures of any kind
• Rooms
• Castles
• Passages
• Anything that can stand in for the womb or female
  genitalia may be functioning as female imagery.

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IMAGERY

• Female imagery (yonic symbols) can include
• Materials such as wood and paper
• Table
• Book
• Animal symbols
• Snails
• Mussels/shells

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IMAGERY

• Female imagery can also include
• Foods
• Milk
• Fruit
• Containers in which food is delivered
• Bottles
• cups
• Anything that can be a stand in for the breast (a
  stand in for emotional nurturing).

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• Example
• Dream of being trapped in a dark room,
• might be expressing an unconscious fear of
  mothers control or unconscious fear that person
  has never completely matured as a human being.
• Woman dreams of trying to feed a litter of
  kittens from a small, rapidly diminishing bottle
  of milk
• might be expressing an unconscious feeling that
  children or spouse or employer is asking too much
  of her OR
• She may be putting too much pressure on herself
  to care for others.
• Dreaming of searching for drink or food
  unconscious need for emotional nurturing.

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• WATER
• fluid,
• changeable,
• sometimes soothing,
• sometimes dangerous,
• often deeper than it looks
• Usually dreams about water
• dreams about ones sexuality or the realm of the
  emotions.
• Water also relates to our experiences in the womb
• dreams that involve water may also refer to
  relationship with mother.

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• Dreams about buildings
• may refer to relationship with self, with the
  attic or the basement as a stand-in for the
  unconscious.
• OR
• may refer to relationship with some institution
  that the building represents (church, school,
  company, etc. or law because it represents
  social rules, might be a stand-in for superego)

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• Regardless of how frightening or disturbing
  dreams are
• Are relatively safe outlets for unconscious
  wounds, fears, guilty desires, and unresolved
  conflicts.
• We will interpret them only if we are ready to do
  so.
• If dreams become too threatening, we will wake
  up, as we most often do during nightmares.

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• ECONOMIC MODEL
• Retains, but expands upon ideas from dynamic
  model.
• Conscious and unconscious battle for control of
  persons actions
• Unconscious desires force their way to the
  conscious state.

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• ECONOMIC MODEL
• Introduces new concepts that describe and help
  govern the human psyche
• PLEASURE PRINCIPLE
• Craves only pleasures
• Desires instantaneous satisfaction of instinctual
  drives
• Ignores moral and sexual boundaries established
  by society.
• REALITY PRINCIPLE
• Part of psyche that recognizes the need for
  societal standards and regulations on human
  pleasure.

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• The TRIPARTITE MODEL
• Divides psyche into three parts
• The ID
• The EGO
• The SUPEREGO

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• The ID
• Irrational, instinctual, unknown
• Unconscious part of psyche
• Contains
• Darkest wishes
• Secret desires
• Most intense fears
• Wishes only to fulfill urges of PLEASURE
  PRINCIPLE
• Operates on impulse
• Wants immediate satisfaction
• Houses LIBIDO
• Source of all psychosexual desires and psychic
  energy

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• The EGO
• Rational, logical, waking part of mind.
• Some activities remain in the unconscious.
• Operates in harmony with REALITY PRINCIPLE.
• Its job
• To regulate the instinctual desires of the ID
• Allow those desires to be released in some
  nondestructive way

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• The SUPEREGO
• Acts as an internal censor
• Causes one to make moral judgments in light of
  social pressures.
• Operates according to the MORALITY PRINCIPLE
• Serves primarily to protect society and us from
  ID.
• Suppresses desires and instincts forbidden by
  society
• Puts them back into unconscious
• Manifests itself through punishment.
• If allowed to operate at its own discretion, will
  create an unconscious sense of guilt and fear.

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Iceberg Theory of the Psyche
EGO
SUPEREGO
ID