The
epocal significance of Sigmund
Freud's
Work
In his function
as a neuropathologist Freud came to realize that he had no clear understanding
of
neurotic patterns
despite his thorough studies of the human brain. From 1895 onwards he associated
intensely with
the Viennese internist Josef Breuer. Both discovered that hypnosis removed
neurotic
symptoms. The
case of patient Anna O. became famous.
By applying this
method, Freud came to understand the correlation between emotional disorders
and
the formation
of mental (at that time mainly hysterical) symptoms. Through hypnosis as
a method of
"mental catharsis"
the patient recalls and relives repressed traumatic situations and is eventually
relieved and healed.
Freud was now convinced that functional diseases had a mental cause. In
the
following he discovered
how mental energies may cause physical symptoms.
After breaking
with Breuer Freud found out that the abnormal emotional state of neurotics
was
almost invariably
associated with conflicts involving the sexual impulse. Based on these
findings he
developed his
theory on repression and defense as well as the sexual aspect of neurotic
behavior.
Freud was unjustly
blamed with "pansexualism". His theories created a storm in medical circles
and
were often and
heavily rejected. However, what Freud had theoretically taught most of
his life was
rather a "dialectic
of the sexual impulse" than its omnipotence. After breaking with Breuer
Freud
carried on his
research work alone. Instead of hypnosis he applied the method of "free
association"
with his patients
and soon recognized the traumatic impact of early sexual experience during
childhood, seductions
on the part of adults, above all the parents.
In 1887, suffering
from his own neurotic crisis, Freud discovered in a brave self-analysis
that
patients' phantasies
and wishful thinking rather than real experiences play an unconscious role
in the
onset of neuroses.
Freud's findings
broke new ground in often misinterpreted areas like infantile sexuality
and led to a
completely new
and expanded understanding of sexuality. His epochal achievement was to
help
prove the existence
of the psyche as an independent system.
In "Traumdeutung"/"The
Interpretation of Dreams" published in 1900 Freud unveiled the dream as
a
disguised fulfillment
of repressed wishes. Within the European culture and civilization this
was a
sensational disclosure
of Freud's (sometimes also personal) fight for self-realization and truth.
The term "the
Unconscious" was introduced by C.G. Carus before Freud. However, Freud
is the
true discoverer
of the regular dynamics of the Unconscious.
In 1920 Freud
came out with "Jenseits des Lustprinzips" describing a new dualistic theory
of the
sexual impulse
based on the concept of the death impulse and aggression as explanations
for
destructive sexual
behavior.
According to Freud
the Unconscious is not a static system as memory was presumed to be by
psychologists
then but the bearer of hidden, unfaced conflicts and biographical data.
It thus consists
of repressed,
disguised truths that want to be revealed by the conscious mind.
The so-called
"Oedipus complex" is part of this subject matter too. It manifests itself
in infantile
sexuality causing
the child to seek to possess for himself the parent of the opposite sex
and hate the
one of the same
sex. Thus an unconsious conflict arises. The "Oedipus complex" is one of
the most
famous and most
significant of Sigmund Freud's discoveries.
With his thoughts
Freud not only influenced psychology but also modern time's conception
of the
world. His trail-blazing
principles advanced the technique of psychoanalysis, with himself as his
first
patient. He was
successful in overcoming inhibitions as to the logics of his own thoughts
as well as to
the general prudery
of his time.
Without blaming
other people he succeeded in finding clear solutions for many human problems
with
the help of psychoanalysis.
According to his
motto "Where Id was Ego will develop" he succeeded in creating harmony
to the
individual person
- the precondition for a relatively free life. According to Freud failing
to achieve
self-awareness
was not so much caused by the natural impulses as by the bad conscience
accumulated.
And so Sigmund
Freud was also a great critic of many parameters of Europe's cultural traditions.
He
himself never
saw psychoanalysis as a dogmatic but rather as an empiric method.
Freud was always
open for new insights and theoretical explanations for mental processes-
without
doubt the central
theme of psychoanalysis.
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