Gabriel A. Supnet
Damien Memorial School
Abstract
This paper goes over the life and findings of Sigmund Freud in the field of psychology. This paper will go over his childhood, family life, education, career, and personal life. It will go over how he became involved in psychology. It will show his major contributions and what he was known for. It shows his affect on the world of psychology and ways his contributions are still used today.
The Life of Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud was born in Frieberg, Moravia, which is now known as the Czech Republic on May 6, 1856 to a Jewish family. His original name was Sigimund Freud, which he later changed to “Sigmund”. His father Jacob married three times, …show more content…
He explored the field of human knowledge and experiences. After graduating college he set up his own private practice treating people with psychological disorders. Sigmund found that the origin of neuroses was from traumatic experiences hidden from the consciousness. He was assisted with these findings by his fellow colleague Josef Breuer.
Sigmund discovered three areas of the mind, which were the super-ego, ego, and id. The super-ego is socially acquired control mechanisms learned from our parents, the id is the instinctual sex drive that must be satisfied, and the ego is the middle ground of the super-ego and id, it is where tension and interaction occur with the id and super-ego. The ego tries to control both parts and to satisfy both needs. The ego is our consciousness in the world, the id resides in our unconscious drive for pleasure, and the super-ego screens out the drive of the id through rules and restrictions. Sigmund Freud’s major contribution to the field of psychology was his introduction of psychoanalysis. As stated before, psychoanalysis is the release of repressed emotions. Psychoanalysis works because it allows the patient to disarm his or her super-ego and allow memories of the trauma to resurface. This means they are releasing their repressed thoughts and emotions. This technique was effective and erased their …show more content…
Another type of defense is sublimation. Sublimation is the channeling of sexual drives of the id into something socially acceptable. Fixation is remaining in a developing stage instead of advancing. Regression is a step back from a development stage to a previous stage (Thornton n.d). Another well known theory of his is the Oedipus complex. In short the Oedipus complex is when a boy is fixated on his mother and competes with his father for maternal affection. For a girl it is an opposite attraction, she competes with her mother for paternal affection. Freud links the Oedipus complex with the development of the super-ego. These feelings are properly repressed by the super-ego through guilt (“Oedipus Complex,” n.d).
Sigmund Freud founded the fundamental structure of psychology which has since been built upon and improved. He is the foremost figure in the field of psychology. His use of psychoanalysis is what most psychologists use today His findings remained more or less true and accepted to this day. Today psychoanalysis is mostly used for people suffering from depression or