Sigmund Freud's Death

Freud is frequently photographed smoking, which he began at age 24.  He smoked just cigarettes at first, and was later introduced to cigars, which he began to smoke exclusively.  He believed that they helped him to focus and enhanced his ability to work.  He continued to smoke despite warnings from colleagues.  Freud's excessive smoking eventually led to his death in the form of cancer in the mouth.  Sigmund Freud died on September 23, 1939 at the age of 83.

Anna Freud: Sigmund Freud's Famous Daughter

Anna was the sixth child born to the Freud family, born on December 3, 1895.  Anna grew up a troubled child, never able to establish a relationship with her mother or her siblings, especially her sister Sophie.  Sophie was only one year older than Anna, but was much more attractive, though not as smart.  The two constantly were at war, battling for their father's affection.  Anna also struggled with what she called "unreasonable thoughts and feelings".  Sigmund Freud repeatedly sent his youngest daughter to health farms where she could rest and relax. It was thought that young Anna suffered from depression causing her to have eating disorders which explained her slight build.  Anna and Sigmund began to grow extremely close, which Sigmund often wrote about in his journals, more often than any of his other children.  In 1918 Anna’s father began an intense psychoanalysis on her and soon after Anna became obsessed with her father’s studies.  In 1923, Anna began her own psychoanalytical practice with children, and two short years later began teaching child analysis at the Vienna Psychoanalytic Training Institute.  In 1936 Anna published her work on "ways and means by which the ego wards off displeasure and anxiety", The Ego and the Mechanisms of Defense, which estblished her career as a leading theoretician. 

Anna committed her life to protecting her father’s legacy and was constantly striving to uphold his theories.  It has been suggested that the Oedipus Complex was present in Anna and Sigmund’s relationship, but has never been proven.  Anna died on October 9, 1982 at the age of 86.

The Life of Sigmund Freud: The Man Behind Psychology

Freud was born into a Jewish family on May 6, 1856 in Moravian, Příbor, Austrian Empire (now known as the Czech Republic).  Growing up, he had two older half-brothers and six younger siblings.  Although the Freud family grew to be quite large, Sigmund remained his mother's favorite child.  The Freud family house had only four bedrooms for everyone to share, but Sigmund was given a bedroom to himself to study.  His parents recognized his natural ability to learn, and thus he became the "golden child".  When he was of age Freud entered Leopoldstädter Kommunal-Realgymnasium, an esteemed high school, where he graduated in 1873 with honors.  After high school, Freud enrolled in the University of Vienna.  There, he studied medicine and graduated at age 24.  Sigmund met his wife, Martha Bernays, at age tenty-six, and they became engaged two short months later.  The two went on to have six children, one of which being Anna, Sigmund's famous daughter.

Eros and Thanatos: Life and Death Drives

Eros- life drive; drive for survival, propagation, hunger, thirst, and sex.

Thanatos- death drive; drive to return to a state of calm, or an inorganic or dead state.

Freud defined the life and death drives by defining pleasure and unpleasure first.  Unpleasure refers to the increase of stimuli.  For example, excessive friction on the skin's surface produces a burning sensation or, the bombardment of visual stimuli amidst rush hour traffic produces anxiety.  On the opposite end of the spectrum, pleasure is defined as a decrease in stimuli.  For example, a calm environment the body enters after having been subjected to a hectic environment.  If pleasure increases as stimuli decrease, the ultimate pleasure would be zero stimulus, or death.

Id, Ego, Super-Ego

Freud divided the mind into three parts, id, ego, and super-ego.  Each part of the mind is responsible for something different.  Id and super-ego are comparable to the angel and devil sitting on one's shoulders telling one right and wrong.



Id-the impulsive, child-like portion of the psyche that operates on the "pleasure principle" and only takes into account what it wants and disregards all consequences.

Id is equivalent to the devil sitting on one's shoulder.

Super-Ego-plays the critical and moralizing role in the psyche, aims for perfection, includes ego's ideals, punishes misbehavior with feelings of guilt.

Super-ego is equivalent to the angel on one's shoulder.

Ego- the organized, realistic portion on the psyche that acts according to the "reality principle" and seeks to please the id’s drive in realistic ways that will benefit in the long term rather than bringing grief.

Ego is equivalent to one's conscience.

Freudian Slips

Freudian Slip-noun (in Freudian Psychology) an inadvertent mistake in speech or writing that is thought to reveal a person's unconscious motives, wishes, or attitudes.


Have you ever found yourself saying something you didn't mean to? For example, substituting bed for bread or queen for clean. Still more subtly would be a person who is uneasy about an appointment that's scheduled for Tuesday and "accidentally" says to the person with whom the appointment is scheduled "okay, I'll be there Wednesday", perhaps meaning that they wish the appointment were scheduled later or even that they wish to miss the meeting entirely.  Freud's philosophy on these slips of the tongue is that the unconscious mind is at work.  Freud believes that the mind is like an iceberg, only a small part is visible.

The unconscious mind holds "dirty thoughts" which aren't said aloud, sometimes you don't even know your mind holds them.  The unconscious mind isn't visible because it wouldn't be polite so repeat anything from deep down.  Freud believes that this is where thoughts of greed, pride, lust, jealousy, and violence hide.  Freud explains a slip of the tongue, as the unconscious mind showing through the surface.  So next your best friend asks you how her outfit looks, and you want to answer terrible! be careful you don't have a Freudian slip!

Freud's Psychosexual Development Theory

"I found in myself a constant love for my mother, and jealousy of my father. I now consider this to be a universal event in childhood..."
-Freud

Freud based his theory on psychosexual development on the Greek tragedy of Oedipus. Oedipus' father, the king of Thebes, Laius, is told by a psychic that one day his son will kill him. Fearful that the prophecy will come true, he leaves his baby son outside to die. A herdsman finds Oedipus and takes him away from Thebes. As Oedipus gets older, he is fearful that the prophecy that he will kill his father and marry his mother will come true. So, not knowing he was adopted, he leaves home to avoid this fate. Laius, at the same time, leaves to search for an answer to the Sphinx's riddle. The two men cross paths on their travels and fight escalates in which Oedipus kills Laius. Oedipus goes on to marry the widowed Jocasta, and becomes king. When he finds that Jocasta is his mother, he blinds himself and Jocasta hangs herself. After Oedipus is no longer king, his two sons kill each other.

Freud uses this story to explain childhood development into adult sexual maturity. He named his theory the Oedipus Complex. This theory states that all children have a desire for the parent of the same sex, and a want to eliminate the parent of the opposite sex. The Oedipus Complex in females, however, eventually shifts to desire for their father because they are envious of their gender. He says that women are envious of men, because they feel inferior to them. The name he gave the female Oedipus Complex is the Electra Complex.

So the question is; is Freud correct? No, he isn't. The idea that children long for their parents is simply disturbing. Freud was wrong. He believes that he too had the unconscious desire to kill his father, which he found during his intense self analysis shortly before his death. Marxist-oriented followers believe that the desire is more about power than sexuality. I disagree with all theories about childhood desires for parental figures. Freud was completely sexist thinking that women are envious of men, because they are not men themselves. This idea has brought on many justified criticisms from feminists. This is one the most outrageous of all of Freud's theories.