Psychoanalytical Theory

 

   This psychological theory proposes that the unconscious struggles of the mind determine how personality develops and directs behavior. 

 

What is it? 

   Psychoanalytical theory, which was developed in the early 20th century by Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud, asserted that personality and behavior are the results of ongoing conflicts in the brain. The conflict normally exists on a subconscious level; the person is usually unaware of it. The id, superego, and ego, according to Freud, are the three components of the mind that are in conflict. Due to the fact that they involve both sexually and mental processes, Freud labeled the five stages of personality development that occur from birth as psychosexual stages. A person's mind concentrates on various facets of sexuality at each stage, such as oral pleasure when they first suck their thumb as a baby. Before a person may advance to healthy mental growth, according to Freud, the mind must settle a conflict between biology and societal expectations that is brought on by the psychosexual stages.

Evaluation: 

Although Freud's concept has had a significant impact in highlighting the subconscious, it has generated debate because it emphasizes sexuality as the primary factor in personality. His approach is widely criticized for being too subjective and oversimplified to adequately explain the complexity of the mind and behavior. What do you think? 

Video: explains it more. 

Defense Mechanism: 

What is it? 

When fear or other unpleasant feelings are present, Freud claimed that people automatically use defense mechanisms to protect themselves. By deceiving people into believing everything is alright, these coping mechanisms enable them to deal with memories or urges that they find upsetting or repulsive.

What happens?

When coping with issues that lead to internal conflicts, the ego develops protective mechanisms to aid individuals in coming to a mental understanding. Denial, displacement, suppression, repression, intellectualization, and projection are common methods of reality distortion.

How does it work?

Denial is a typical defense strategy used to excuse a behavior that a person feels horrible about, like smoking. They can indulge in a cigarette while denying that they are actually hooked to smoking by claiming they are merely a "social smoker." (Just an example)

Structural model:

 The conscious mind is just the tip of the iceberg, a small part of a hidden whole. Psychoanalytical theory is based on the concept that the unconscious mind is structured in three parts: ID, ego, and superego-which try to "talk" to one another to try to resolve conflicting emotions and impulses. 

Conscious mind: 

This contains the ideas and emotions that people are aware of.

Preconscious mind:

This stores information such as childhood memories, which can be accessed through psychoanalysis-where a client tells the analyst about their childhood memories and dreams in order to unlock the unconscious mind and reveal how it is controlling or triggering undesirable behavior. 

Unconscious mind:

This hides most of a person's impulses, desires, and thoughts. 

Side Note: Dreams are seen as a channel for unconscious thoughts that people cannot usually access because many of them are too disturbing for the conscious mind to cope with. 

I hope you enjoyed this blog and learned something new. Please share your thoughts or even constructive criticism. I am here to learn and 50% of that is learning to talk to people on how they feel about topics. 

Sources: 

DK. (2018). How Psychology Works . Liz Wheeler.

https://youtu.be/jdawTFsCNtc