Freud’s
childhood has always been something I have been curious about because I’m a firm
believer in the strong connection between your childhood development and the
impact is has on your future self. Therefore, I did some research on his early life
and found out some information. Sigmund Freud was born on May 6, 1856 in
Freiberg, Moravia. His father, Jakob, had two kids from a former marriage. His
mother, Amalia was twenty years younger than Sigmund’s dad thus making Sigmund
her oldest child.
Freud said, "I have found that people who know that they are preferred or favored by their mothers give evidence in their lives of a peculiar self-reliance and an unshakable optimism which often bring actual success to their possessors.” Freud clearly had a close relationship with his mother who always supported him and made him feel successful. This is interesting, considering his future ideas on the Oedipal Complex.
Freud and his family left to Vienna when his father’s wool merchant business failed, where Freud got excellent grades in school. Unfortunately, after looking deeper, I couldn’t find any real dirt on his childhood. I figured there would be some major crisis or a tragedy of some sort that would link somehow to Freud’s theories/ideas, but there wasn’t. Although Freud’s ideas are radical, I still believe that he was a very intelligent man and contributed highly to Psychology.
Freud said, "I have found that people who know that they are preferred or favored by their mothers give evidence in their lives of a peculiar self-reliance and an unshakable optimism which often bring actual success to their possessors.” Freud clearly had a close relationship with his mother who always supported him and made him feel successful. This is interesting, considering his future ideas on the Oedipal Complex.
Freud and his family left to Vienna when his father’s wool merchant business failed, where Freud got excellent grades in school. Unfortunately, after looking deeper, I couldn’t find any real dirt on his childhood. I figured there would be some major crisis or a tragedy of some sort that would link somehow to Freud’s theories/ideas, but there wasn’t. Although Freud’s ideas are radical, I still believe that he was a very intelligent man and contributed highly to Psychology.
Later on in
his life he made a discovery that is considered very controversial to this day.
His theory of neuroses started when he received a scholarship to study was
Jean-Martin Charcot. Charcot largely influenced him to start his theory when he
overheard him talking about how hysterical symptoms were a result of his female
patients genitals which lead him to discover how neuroses is related to sexual
issues.
He used his clinical cases, which
mainly consisted of female patients, to help create his theory of neuroses. He
diagnoses many of these women with hysteria. This diagnosis consisted of
symptoms such as partial paralysis, loss of sensations, overexcitement, sexual
dysfunction, hallucinations, and many more. His work on child sexuality,
anxiety, and defense mechanisms helped pave the way for this theory.
Freud believed that anxiety was
developed when the ego was overwhelmed. An increase in demands from the id lead
to neurotic anxiety, restrictions on the superego lead to moral anxiety, and stressors
from the external world led to objective anxiety. Defense mechanisms were then
developed to deal with these anxieties. Child sexuality leads Freud to develop
his seduction theory, which was the basis for hysteria. As you can see, Freud
contributed so many things to Psychology and it was very interesting to go to
his house and learn more about him.
References:
Cherry, K.
(2012). Sigmund Freud Photobiography:
Early Life. Retrieved from http://psychology.about.com/od/sigmundfreud/ig/Sigmund-Freud-Photobiography/Amalie_Freud.htm
Timeline: The
Bethlem Royal Hospital, formerly called the Priory of the New Order of St.
Mary Bethlehem Royal Hospital, opened in 1337 and was used for the containment
and treatment of “lunatics.”
This painting from William Hogarth is supposed to depict
life inside of Bethlem Hospital. However, there are a few things obviously
wrong about the depiction: First, women and men were in separated wings – cut
off by an iron gate, and secondly, patients were not running wild throughout.
Although these distinctions can be made, it is true – as the painting
illustrates – that rich individuals (see: woman with fans in the background)
did come to gawk at the patients.
More information can be obtained about the historic
past of this infamous hospital by clicking the following link: https://historicengland.org.uk/research/inclusive-heritage/disability-history/1050-1485/from-bethlehem-to-bedlam/
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