Sigmund Freud's Psychoanalytic Theory ($1) Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) was a Viennese trained in neurology. He developed his theory of psychoanalysis while treating patients suffering from hysteria. ...

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Sigmund Freud's Psychoanalytic Theory ($1)
Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) was a Viennese trained in neurology. He developed his theory of psychoanalysis while treating patients suffering from hysteria. Hysterical patients were hypnotized and encouraged to talk about earlier events. As they talked about their conflicts, they sometimes experienced an out-pouring of emotions, which marked the end to their symptoms.
Freud's theory tries to explain personality on the basis of what happens in the subconscious mind and illustrates that people possess psychological energy called libido, which drives their behaviour. He explains that unconscious motives, forcibly kept from awareness because they offend and threaten the conscious mind, are among the most important determinants of behaviour. Therefore, human beings are influenced by unknown, unconscious and controllable forces or processes.
Freud's assumptions
Freud believed that there are two important aspects that influence our behaviour determining our personality, namely psychic energy and mental events and instincts.
Psychic energy mid mental events
These can be divided into psychic determinism and unconscious motivation.
Psychic determinism: According to Freud, instinctive drives generate psychic energy, which powers the mind and constantly presses for either direct or indirect releases. He believed that everything individuals do, think, act and feel have meaning and purpose, even if the person is not aware of them. Examples include gestures, dreams and yawning.
Unconscious motivation: Freud explained that, our mental events may be conscious, preconscious or unconscious. He, thus, suggested that the mind is made of three areas:
The Conscious area which consists of the mental events that we are presently aware of, such as our name, gender, memory and experience. We can recall them if need be.
The preconscious area which consists of memories, feelings, thoughts and images that we are unaware of at the moment but that can be recalled with little effort. For example, a friend's telephone number, last birthday and dressing,
The Unconscious area which contains thoughts, feelings and desires we are not aware of. Freud believed that the unconscious mind is the largest in both size and importance, as it is a dynamic realm of wishes, feelings and impulses that lie beyond our awareness. It is the deep inaccessible repository of urges that seek expression, directly or indirectly. It is the major determinant of behaviour as it out-shadows and conceals the preconscious area.
Instinct
An instinct is a collection of wishes whereas a wish results from an excitation of body tissues. Freud believed that human motivation can originate from tissue needs. When one experiences a wish (tension resulting from excitation of body tissues) one experiences the need to satisfy the wish in order to reduce tension. For example, when thirsty, one looks for water to quench the thirst, and when hungry, one looks for food to s