Sigman Freud’s Psychoanalytical Theory

Instincts:
According to Freud instincts is a form of energy, a transformed physiological energy, which
connects the needs of the body with the wishes of mind. When a need such as hunger or
thirst (stimuli for instincts which are internal) arouse, it generates a state of physiological
excitation or energy. Mind transform this energy into a wish. Wish is the mental
representation of this physiological need. Instinct also known as driving force motivates
individual to behave in such a manner so that the need aroused can be satisfied. When the
body is in such state of need, person experience a feeling of tension or pressure to satisfy
the need. The moral principle of instinct is to reduce the tension and satisfy the need
aroused. Freud says that we all always experience this instinct and we must continuously act
to reduce it. According to Freud, instincts always influencing our behaviour, in a cycle of
need leading to reduction of need.
Types of instincts
Instincts are of two types
1. Life instinct: life instinct ensuring the purpose of survival of the individual and the
species by seeking to satisfy the need for food, water, air, and sex. This instinct are
growth and development oriented. Libido: The psychic energy manifested by life
instinct. Libido can be attached to or invested in objects, called Cathexis.
2. Death instinct: death instinct is the opposite of life instinct. Death instinct is drawn
from biology, freud stated the all living things decay or die, returning to their original
inanimate state, and he believed that people have an unconscious wish to die.
According to freud Aggressive drive, is the one component of death instinct,
aggressive drive is the wish to die turned against object other than the self. It
compels us to destroy, conquer, and kill. The development of death instinct
happened in freud’s life later, in short, his last years of life. It is a reflection of his own
experiences.

TOPOGRAPHY OF MIND:

According to freud, mind is divided into three components: the conscious, the preconscious,
and the unconscious.
The conscious mind include all the sensation and experiences which we are aware at given
moment. According to freud it is a limited ascept, because only a small portion of our
thoughts, sensations, and memories exists in conscious awareness at any one time.
Freud compare the mind with the iceberg. The conscious mind is the part above the surface
of the water – the tip of iceberg. The unconscious mind is the larger and invisible part of the
iceberg which is below the surface. Unconscious mind is the main focus of psychoanalytical
theory. Its vast, dark depths are the home of instincts, those wishes and desires that direct
our behaviour. The unconscious mind contains the major driving power behind all
behaviours and is the repository of forces we cannot see or control.
Between these two, is the preconscious mind, the storehouse of all our memories,
perceptions, and thoughts of which we are not consciously aware at the moment but that
we can easily shift into consciousness.

THE STRUCTURE OF PERSONALITY:

According to freud, personality contains three basic structures,
1. id: according to freud id is the reservoir for the instinct and libido. Id is a powerful
structure of the personality because it supplies all the energy for the other two
components. By being the reservoir for instinct, id is directly related to the
satisfaction of bodily needs. Id is operated by the pleasure principle. The main
fuction if id is to reduce tension and seek pleasure, also avoid pain. According freud,
id is selfish as well as pleasure seeking structure. It has no awareness of reality. For
example, a new born baby, who cries and waves his legs and arms in order to satisfy
their needs but who has no knowledge of how to bring satisfaction. The only way the
id can attempt to satisfy its needs are through reflex action and wish fulfilling or
fanatasy experience,

2. Ego: Ego deals with the secondary process thought. To deal intelligently and
rationally with other people and outside world and to develop the powers of
perception, recognition, judgement, and memory – the powers adults use to satisfy
their needs, Freud called these abilities as secondary process thought. Ego is the
rational master of the personality. It purpose is to helps id to obtain the tension
reduction it craves. Ego is aware of reality, therefore, it decides when and how the id
can be best satisfied. Ego is operated by the reality principle. To better understand
the relationship of id and ego, Freud used an example of a rider and horse. The raw,
brute power of the horse must be guided, checked, and reined in by the rider,
otherwise the horse could bolt and run, throwing the rider to the ground. The ego
serve two masters id and reality. Also, ego is never independent of the id. It is always
responsive to the id’s demand and derives its power and energy from id. The
controlling and postponing function of the ego must be exercised constantly. If not,
the id impulses might come to dominant and overthrow the rational ego. A person
controlled by the id can easily become a danger to society, and might end up in
treatment or in prison. Freud argued that we must protect ourselves from being
 controlled by the id and proposed various unconscious mechanism with which to
defend the ego.
3. Superego: according to Freud, superego is a third set of force, which is a powerful
and largely unconscious set of dictates or beliefs, which we acquire in our childhood.
For example, conscience and ego ideal. It works on moral principle. It strives neither
for pleasure nor for attainment of realistic goals.

Anxiety and Defence Mechanism:

Freud describe anxiety as an objectless fear, it means that we cannot point to its source,
to a specific object that caused it. Anxiety was an important part of psychoanalysis
because it is fundamental to the development of all neurotic and psychotic behaviour.
According to Freud anxiety serve as a warning to the person that something is amiss
within the personality. It induces tension in the organism and thus becomes a drive that
the individual is motivated to satisfy. The tension must be reduced.
Types of anxiety
1. Reality anxiety: this involves a fear of real dangers in the real world. For example,
earthquakes. It serves the positive purpose of guiding our behaviour to escape or
protect ourselves from actual dangers.
2. Neurotic anxiety: neurotic anxiety has its basis in childhood, in a conflict between
instinctual gratification and reality. It is an unconscious fear of being punished for
impulsively displaying id-dominated behaviour.
3. Moral anxiety: moral anxiety results from a conflict between the id and the superego.
In short, it is a fear of one’s conscience. Moral anxiety is a function of how well
developed superego is.

Defence Mechanisms:
1. Repression: an involuntary removal of something from conscious awareness. It is
an unconscious type of forgetting of the existence of something that brings us
discomfort or pain.
2. Denial: denying the existence of some external threat or traumatic event that has
occurred.
3. Reaction formation: defending against a disturbing impulse by actively expressing
the opposite impulse.
4. Projection: projecting something on to someone else.
5. Regression: the person retreats or regresses to an earlier period of life that was
more pleasant and free of the current level of frustration and anxiety. It usually
involves a return to one of the stages of childhood development.
6. Rationalisation: reinterpreting the behaviour to make it seem more rational and
acceptable.
7. Displacement: if an object that satisfies an id impulse is not available, the person
may shift the impulse to another object.
8. Sublimation: it involves altering or displacing id impulses by diverting instinctual
energy into socially acceptable behaviour.