Psychoanalytic theory
Sigmund Freud's View of Personality
Sigmund Freud's life may be a classic example of psychoanalytic theory. Or, perhaps, psychoanalytic theory is a classic metaphor for Sigmund Freud's life. Growing up in Vienna, he was trained as a physician, completed medical school and hoped to make a name for himself in the medical profession. His attempts to do this were not forthcoming and after receiving a grant to study hypnosis in Paris, Freud changed his focus from the medical model of diagnosis and treatment to that of a psychological nature.
He is important as the first major theorist to write exclusively about non-biological approaches to both understanding and treating certain illnesses. These illnesses, specifically what was then called hysteria, were considered medical in his time, but were reshaped through his theories.
Although Freud's father had several children from a previous marriage, he was the first child of his mother. As such, it is reported that he was her favorite. He was given special attention and was the only of her children to have his own room and a reading lamp for studying at night. Their relationship was very close although his relationship with his father was described as cold and perhaps even hostile.
After completing his hypnosis grant, he published his first book The Interpretation of Dreams, and although it originally sold only 600 copies, it has become one of the most respected and most controversial books on personality theory. In this book, he described his views of the human psyche, introducing the concept of the unconscious to the medical world. In a world of biological theorists, this concept was not accepted by many of his colleagues.
Over the next 30 plus years, he continued to develop the theories. He and his wife, Martha, had six children and it appears he treated his youngest daughter, Anna, much the same way his mother treated him. Anna later followed in her father's psychoanalytic footsteps and became a well known personality theorist, taking over Freud's psychoanalytical movement.
As you progress through his theories, keep in mind the time frame and location of Freud's life. Look at the relationship he had with his mother and father and you will see many aspects of his theories at play. The question remains, did Freud base the theories on his own life or has his insight into his own life allowed him to uncover the unconscious drives in all of us. Whatever your answer, Freud's theories are alive and well in the realm of personality development.
According to Sigmund Freud, there are only two basic drives that serve to motivate all thoughts, emotions, and behavior. These two drives are simply put, sex and aggression. Also called Eros and Thanatos, or life and death, respectively, they underlie every motivation we as humans experience.
As you learn more about Freud's theories, you'll start to see a sexual pattern develops, one that emphasizes sex as a major driving force in human nature. While this can seem overdone at times, remember what sex represents. Sexual activity is a means to procreation, to bringing about life and therefore assuring the continuation of our bloodline. Even in other animals, sex is a primary force to assure the survival of the species.
Aggression, or the death instinct, on the other hand serves just the opposite goal. Aggression is a way to protect us from those attempting harm. The aggression drive is a means to allow us to procreate while at the same time eliminating our enemies who may try to prevent us from doing so.
While it sounds very primitive, it must not be looked at merely as sexual activity and aggressive acts. These drives entail the whole survival instinct and could, perhaps, be combined into this one drive: The drive to stay alive, procreate, and prevent others from stopping or reducing these needs. Looking at the animal kingdom it is easy to see these forces driving most, if not all, of their behavior.
Lets look at a few examples. Why would an adult decide to get a college degree? According to Freud, we are driven to improve ourselves so that we may be more attractive to the opposite sex and therefore attract a better mate. With a better mate, we are more likely to produce offspring and therefore continue our bloodline. Furthermore, a college degree is likely to bring a higher income, permitting advantages over others who may be seen as our adversaries.
Freud's Structural and Topographical Models of Personality
Sigmund Freud's Theory is quite complex and although his writings on psychosexual development set the groundwork for how our personalities developed, it was only one of five parts to his overall theory of personality. He also believed that different driving forces develop during these stages which play an important role in how we interact with the world.
Structural Model (id, ego, superego)
According to Freud, we are born with our Id. The id is an important part of our personality because as newborns, it allows us to get our basic needs met. Freud believed that the id is based on our pleasure principle. In other words, the id wants whatever feels good at the time, with no consideration for the reality of the situation. When a child is hungry, the id wants food, and therefore the child cries. When the child needs to be changed, the id cries. When the child is uncomfortable, in pain, too hot, too cold, or just wants attention, the id speaks up until his or her needs are met.
The id doesn't care about reality, about the needs of anyone else, only its own satisfaction. If you think about it, babies are not real considerate of their parents' wishes. They have no care for time, whether their parents are sleeping, relaxing, eating dinner, or bathing. When the id wants something, nothing else is important.
Within the next three years, as the child interacts more and more with the world, the second part of the personality begins to develop. Freud called this part the Ego. The ego is based on the reality principle. The ego understands that other people have needs and desires and that sometimes being impulsive or selfish can hurt us in the long run. It is the ego's job to meet the needs of the id, while taking into consideration the reality of the situation.
The Superego is the moral part of us and develops due to the moral and ethical restraints placed on us by our caregivers. Many equate the superego with the conscience as it dictates our belief of right and wrong.
According to Freud, in a healthy person, the ego is the strongest so that it can satisfy the needs of the id, not upset the superego, and still take into consideration the reality of every situation. Not an easy job by any means, but if the id gets too strong, impulses and self gratification take over the person's life. If the superego becomes too strong, the person would be driven by rigid morals, would be judgmental and unbending in his or her interactions with the world. You'll learn how the ego maintains control as you continue to read.
Topographical Model
Freud believed that the majority of what we experience in our lives, the underlying emotions, beliefs, feelings, and impulses are not available to us at a conscious level. He believed that most of what drives us is buried in our unconscious. If you remember the Oedipus and Electra complex, they were both pushed down into the unconscious, out of our awareness due to the extreme anxiety they caused. While buried there, however, they continue to impact us dramatically according to Freud.
The role of the unconscious is only one part of the model. Freud also believed that everything we are aware of is stored in our conscious. Our conscious makes up a very small part of who we are. In other words, at any given time, we are only aware of a very small part of what makes up our personality; most of what we are is buried and inaccessible.
The final part is the preconscious or subconscious. This is the part of us that we can access if prompted, but is not in our active conscious. It’s right below the surface, but still buried somewhat unless we search for it. Information such as our telephone number, some childhood memories, or the name of your best childhood friend is stored in the preconscious.
Because the unconscious is so large, and because we are only aware of the very small conscious at any given time, this theory has been likened to an iceberg, where the vast majority is buried beneath the water's surface. The water, by the way, would represent everything that we are not aware of, have not experienced, and that has not been integrated into our personalities, referred to as the nonconscious.
Instinct or Drive Theory
After the development of the topographical model, Freud turned his attention to the complexities of instinct theory. Freud was determined to anchor his psychological theory in biology. His choice led to terminological and conceptual difficulties when he used terms derived from biology to denote psychological constructs.
Instinct, for example, refers to a pattern of species-specific behavior that is genetically derived and, therefore, is more or less independent of learning. Modern research demonstrating that instinctual patterns are modified through experiential learning, however, has made Freud's instinctual theory problematic.
In Freud's view, an instinct has four principal characteristics: source, impetus, aim, and object. The source refers to the part of the body from which the instinct arises. The impetus is the amount of force or intensity associated with the instinct. The aim refers to any action directed toward tension discharge or satisfaction, and the object is the target (often a person) for this action.
Instincts
Libido
The ambiguity in the term instinctual drive is reflected also in use of the term libido. Briefly, Freud regarded the sexual instinct as a psychophysiological process that had both mental and physiological manifestations.
Essentially, he used the term libido to refer to the force by which the sexual instinct is represented in the mind. Thus, in its accepted sense, libido refers specifically to the mental manifestations of the sexual instinct. Freud recognized early that the sexual instinct did not originate in a finished or final form, as represented by the stage of genital primacy. Rather, it underwent a complex process of development at each phase of which the libido had specific aims and objects that diverged in varying degrees from the simple aim of genital union. The libido theory thus came to include all of these manifestations and the complicated paths they followed in the course of psychosexual development.
Ego Instincts
From 1905 on, Freud maintained a dual instinct theory, subsuming sexual instincts and ego instincts connected with self-preservation. Until 1914, with the publication of On Narcissism, Freud had paid little attention to ego instincts; in this communication, however, Freud invested ego instinct with libido for the first time by postulating an ego libido and an object libido. Freud thus viewed narcissistic investment as an essentially libidinal instinct and called the remaining nonsexual components the ego instincts.
Aggression
When psychoanalysts today discuss the dual instinct theory, they are generally referring to libido and aggression. Freud, however, originally conceptualized aggression as a component of the sexual instincts in the form of sadism. As he became aware that sadism had nonsexual aspects to it, he made finer gradations, which enabled him to categorize aggression and hate as part of the ego instincts and the libidinal aspects of sadism as components of the sexual instincts. Finally, in 1923, to account for the clinical data he was observing, he was compelled to conceive of aggression as a separate instinct in its own right. The source of this instinct, according to Freud, was largely in skeletal muscles, and the aim of the aggressive instincts was destruction.
Life and Death Instincts
Before designating aggression as a separate instinct, Freud, in 1920, subsumed the ego instincts under a broader category of life instincts. These were juxtaposed with death instincts and were referred to as Eros and Thanatos in Beyond the Pleasure Principle. The life and death instincts were regarded as forces underlying the sexual and aggressive instincts. Although Freud could not provide clinical data that directly verified the death instinct, he thought the instinct could be inferred by observing repetition compulsion, a person's tendency to repeat past traumatic behavior. Freud thought that the dominant force in biological organisms had to be the death instinct. In contrast to the death instinct, Eros (the life instinct) refers to the tendency of particles to reunite or bind to one another, as in sexual reproduction. The prevalent view today is that the dual instincts of sexuality and aggression suffice to explain most clinical phenomena without recourse to a death instinct.
PLEASURE AND REALITY PRINCIPLES
In 1911, Freud described two basic tenets of mental functioning, the pleasure principle and the reality principle. He essentially recast the primary process and secondary process dichotomy into the pleasure and reality principles and thus took an important step toward solidifying the notion of the ego. Both principles, in Freud's view, are aspects of ego functioning. The pleasure principle is defined as an inborn tendency of the organism to avoid pain and to seek pleasure through the discharge of tension. The reality principle, on the other hand, is considered to be a learned function closely related to the maturation of the ego; this principle modifies the pleasure principle and requires delay or postponement of immediate gratification.
INFANTILE SEXUALITY
.
Freud's notion that children are influenced by sexual drives has made some persons reluctant to accept psychoanalysis. Freud noted that infants are capable of erotic activity from birth, but the earliest manifestations of infantile sexuality are basically nonsexual and are associated with such bodily functions as feeding and bowel-bladder control. As libidinal energy shifts from the oral zone to the anal zone to the phallic zone, each stage of development is thought to build on and to subsume the accomplishments of the preceding stage. The oral stage, which occupies the first 12 to 18 months of life, centers on the mouth and lips, and is manifested in chewing, biting, and sucking. The dominant erotic activity of the anal stage, from 18 to 36 months of age, involves bowel function and control. The phallic stage, from 3 to 5 years of life, initially focuses on urination as the source of erotic activity. Freud suggested that phallic erotic activity in boys is a preliminary stage leading to adult genital activity. Whereas the penis remains the principal sexual organ throughout male psychosexual development, Freud postulated that females have two principal erotogenic zones, the vagina and the clitoris. He thought that the clitoris was the chief erotogenic focus during the infantile genital period but that erotic primacy shifted to the vagina after puberty. Studies of human sexuality have subsequently questioned the validity of this distinction.
Freud discovered that in the psychoneuroses, only a limited number of the sexual impulses that had undergone repression and were responsible for creating and maintaining the neurotic symptoms were normal. For the most part, these were the same impulses that were given overt expression in the perversions. The neuroses, then, were the negative of perversions.
Object Relationships in Instinct Theory
Freud suggested that the choice of a love object in adult life, the love relationship itself, and the nature of all other object relationships depend primarily on the nature and quality of children's relationships during the early years of life. In describing the libidinal phases of psychosexual development, Freud repeatedly referred to the significance of a child's relationships with parents and other significant persons in the environment.
The awareness of the external world of objects develops gradually in infants. Soon after birth, they are primarily aware of physical sensations, such as hunger, cold, and pain, which give rise to tension, and caregivers are regarded primarily as persons who relieve their tension or remove painful stimuli. Recent infant research, however, suggests that awareness of others begins much sooner than Freud originally thought.
Concept of Narcissism
According to Greek myth, Narcissus, a beautiful youth, fell in love with his reflection in the water of a pool and drowned in his attempt to embrace his beloved image. Freud used the term narcissism to describe situations in which an individual's libido was invested in the ego itself rather than in other persons. This concept of narcissism presented him with vexing problems for his instinct theory and essentially violated his distinction between libidinal instincts and ego or self-preservative instincts. Freud's understanding of narcissism led him to use the term to describe a wide array of psychiatric disorders, very much in contrast to the term's contemporary use to describe a specific personality disorder. Freud grouped several disorders together as the narcissistic neuroses, in which a person's libido is withdrawn from objects and turned inward. He believed that this withdrawal of libidinal attachment to objects accounted for the loss of reality testing in patients who were psychotic; grandiosity and omnipotence in such patients reflected excessive libidinal investment in the ego
Freud’s Stages of Psychosexual Development Sigmund Freud is probably the most well known theorist when it comes to the development of personality. Freud’s Stages of Psychosexual Development are, like other stage theories, completed in a predetermined sequence and can result in either successful completion or a healthy personality or can result in failure, leading to an unhealthy personality. This theory is probably the best known as well as the most controversial; as Freud believed that we develop through stages based upon a particular erogenous zone. During each stage, an unsuccessful completion means that a child becomes fixated on that particular erogenous zone and either over– or under-indulges once he or she becomes an adult. Oral Stage (Birth to 18 months). During the oral stage, the child if focused on oral pleasures (sucking). Too much or too little gratification can result in an Oral Fixation or Oral Personality which is evidenced by a preoccupation with oral activities. This type of personality may have a stronger tendency to smoke, drink alcohol, over eat, or bite his or her nails. Personality wise, these individuals may become overly dependent upon others, gullible, and perpetual followers. On the other hand, they may also fight these urges and develop pessimism and aggression toward others. Anal Stage (18 months to three years). The child’s focus of pleasure in this stage is on eliminating and retaining feces. Through society’s pressure, mainly via parents, the child has to learn to control anal stimulation. In terms of personality, after effects of an anal fixation during this stage can result in an obsession with cleanliness, perfection, and control (anal retentive). On the opposite end of the spectrum, they may become messy and disorganized (anal expulsive). Urethral Stage Although Freud did not discuss the urethral psychosexual stage in any depth, some clinicians think it has particular relevance to issues of performance and control. The urethral stage is generally viewed as transitional between the anal and the phallic psychosexual stages. Pleasure in urination is referred to as urethral erotism, and urethral functioning may be associated with sadistic urges carried over from the anal stage. Competitiveness and ambition are often viewed as compensation for the shame associated with loss of urethral control. Phallic Stage (ages 3 to 6). The pleasure zone switches to the genitals. Freud believed that during this stage boy develop unconscious sexual desires for their mother. Because of this, he becomes rivals with his father and sees him as competition for the mother’s affection. During this time, boys also develop a fear that their father will punish them for these feelings, such as by castrating them. This group of feelings is known as Oedipus Complex (after the Greek Mythology figure who accidentally killed his father and married his mother). Later it was added that girls go through a similar situation, developing unconscious sexual attraction to their father. Although Freud Strongly disagreed with this, it has been termed the Electra Complex by more recent psychoanalysts. According to Freud, out of fear of castration and due to the strong competition of his father, boys eventually decide to identify with him rather than fight him. By identifying with his father, the boy develops masculine characteristics and identifies himself as a male, and represses his sexual feelings toward his mother. A fixation at this stage could result in sexual deviancies (both overindulging and avoidance) and weak or confused sexual identity according to psychoanalysts. Latency Stage (age six to puberty). It’s during this stage that sexual urges remain repressed and children interact and play mostly with same sex peers. This is a period of primarily homosexual affiliations for both boys and girls, as well as a sublimation of libidinal and aggressive energies into energetic learning and play activities, exploring the environment, and becoming more proficient in dealing with the world of things and persons around them. It is a period for the development of important skills. The relative strength of regulatory elements often gives rise to patterns of behavior that are somewhat obsessive and hyper controlling. The danger in the latency period can arise from either a lack of development of inner controls or an excess of them. The lack of control can lead to a failure of the child to sufficiently sublimate energies in the interests of learning and development of skills; an excess of inner control, however, can lead to premature closure of personality development and the precocious elaboration of obsessive character traits. Genital Stage (puberty on). The final stage of psychosexual development begins at the start of puberty when sexual urges are once again awakened. Through the lessons learned during the previous stages, adolescents direct their sexual urges onto opposite sex peers; with the primary focus of pleasure are the genitals. The physiological maturation of systems of genital (sexual) functioning and attendant hormonal systems leads to an intensification of drives, particularly libidinal drives. This produces a regression in personality organization, which reopens conflicts of previous stages of psychosexual development and provides the opportunity for a reresolution of these conflicts in the context of achieving a mature sexual and adult identity. The pathological deviations due to a failure to achieve successful resolution of this stage of development are multiple and complex. Defects can arise from the whole spectrum of psychosexual residues, since the developmental task of the adolescent period is in a sense a partial reopening and reworking and reintegrating of all those aspects of development. Previous unsuccessful resolutions and fixations in various phases or aspects of psychosexual development will produce pathological defects in the emerging adult personality. A more specific defect from a failure to resolve adolescent issues has been described by Erikson as identity diffusion. Application in psychiatric mental health nursing · Psychoanalytic theory is used in understanding child hood and adolescent experiences and their manifestation as adult problems. · When working with children, nurses can use developmental models to help gauge development and mood. · Knowledge of the structure of the personality can assist nurses who work in the mental health setting. The ability to recognize behaviors associated with the id, the ego, and the superego assists in the assessment of developmental level. · Understanding the use of ego defense mechanisms is important in making determinations about maladaptive behaviors, in planning care for clients to assist in creating change (if desired), or in helping clients accept themselves as unique individuals. |
· However, because most of the models are based on the assumptions of the linear progression of stages and have not been adequately tested, applicability has limitations.
References
1. Benjamin J. Sadock , Virginia A. Sadock (2000) Kaplan & Sadock's Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry, 7th edition, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Publishers
2. Sadock, Benjamin James; Sadock, Virginia Alcott; Kaplan & Sadock's Synopsis of Psychiatry: Behavioral Sciences/Clinical Psychiatry, 10th Edition (2007) Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
3. Michael G. Gelder, Juan J. López-Ibor, Nancy Andreasen: New Oxford Textbook of Psychiatry
4. MARY C. TOWNSEND, Essentials of Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing Concepts of Care in Evidence-Based Practice, 4th edn, 2008 F. A. Davis Company
5. Sheila L. Videbeck: Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing, 2nd edn.
- Stuart GW, Laria MT. Principles and Practices of Psychiatric Nursing. IST ed. Philadelphia: Mosby Publishers; 2001.
- Boyd MA. Psychiatric nursing contemporary practice. 1st edn. Philadelphia. Lippincot publishers.2002
No comments:
Post a Comment