Known as the father of psychology, Freud developed many of the first theories
of modern physiology. His ideas and concepts will continue to be studied through
the years. He put forth many new concepts about sexuality, consciousness,
unconsciousness and instincts. He spent his whole life devoted to discovering
the secrets of the human nature. Personally I think this guy was weird. Sigmund
Freud was born on May 6, 1856 in Freiburg. The town of Freiburg later became
Pribor and was eventually absorbed into the modern state of Czechoslovakia.
Freud’s father, name Jakob Freud was a Jewish wool merchant. Freud’s mother
Amalie Nathanson was from Galicia. She was Jakob’s second wife. Sigmund had
eight brothers and sisters in all. Two of which were from Jakob’s first
marriage. The other six were from Amelia. His first influences to science were
when he heard lectures on Goethe. In 1873 he applied to the Faculty of Medicine
of the University of Vienna, here was where he changed his name from Sigismund
to Sigmund. He earned is doctorate in medicine and worked as a research
assistant under Ernst Von Brucke, as a neurologist. In 1882, Freud became
interested in the effects and benefits of cocaine. He spent long hours recording
the effects they had on his body. These studies hurt his status as a scientist
because other scientists already documented the harmful effects cocaine has on
the body. In 1886 Freud started his first office of neurology in Vienna. That
same year he married Martha Bernays. This marriage produced six children named
Mathilde, Martin, Oliver, Ernst, Sophia and Anna. Also around that time in 1885
he produced his studies on hysteria. In 1900 Freud published his first book
called the “Interpretation of Dreams”, which made him famous. The next year he
published “Psycho Pathology of Everyday Life”.
Also in 1901 he became an associate professor of the Faculty of Medicine of
the University of Vienna, where he gained his doctorate. Later he founded the
International Association of Psychoanalysis in 1910. In 1920 he was hired as a
full professor of the University of Vienna where he gained vast experience with
patients, sometimes spending up to twelve hours with single patients. Also in
1920 he published “Beyond the Pleasure Principle”. In 1923 Freud became ill with
cancer. To deal with the pain Freud developed an intense and uncontrollable
cocaine habit. In 1939 Freud died of cancer in London at age 83. His daughter
Anna later became a pioneer creating child psychoanalysis and founding the
Hampstead Child Therapy Clinic. Freud developed theories about the parts of the
conscious and unconscious which developed during the first eight years of life.
He separated it into three parts: the id, ego and super ego. The id possesses
the instincts that we gain at conception. The id is the most important part of
the three components. The id provides the basic necessities, such as the will to
survive, obtain food and seek shelter. The ego drives the voluntary behavior of
the human body. It is the link between the id and the outside world. It is gives
one as the ability to choose. The ego’s main job is the awareness of stimuli.
The id and the ego control the demands of instincts and they have many important
defenses against anxiety. Displacement directs energy onto another object, e.g.
blaming others. Rationalization, sublimation, and regression are among the other
defense mechanisms of the id and ego. The third and last aspect of the mind is
the super ego, also known as the conscience. It basically maintains the
information learned from the parents’ admonitions through the early years of
life. It represents lessons and experiences a human goes through during his/her
lifetime.
