Sigmund Freud's Psychological Theories

Sigmund Freud developed a variety of theories and ideas that were and continue to impact advances in many different fields of science. In his early years Freud focused mainly on biology and spent a large amount of time researching the nervous systems in many animals. He later on set up a private practice in which he would treat patients with psychological problems. Through the years of work he put into the private practice he created theories that would forever change the way we looked at psychological issues, and where or how they began. Freud’s advances and developments allowed the opportunity for future scientists to continue to questions the human mind.
Determinism is a theory that closely followed the majority of Freud’s basis for thinking, …show more content…
The three-part structured theory of the id, ego, and superego shows how heavily Freud relied on the unconscious basis of the mind. The id is the basis of the unconscious mind, it’s main purpose is instant gratification and it operates to satisfy the pleasure principle. The id can be seen as a small child who seeks to be satisfied immediately and if not satisfied the id, will experience pain. The ego operates in accordance to the reality principle. It’s the closest state to the conscious mind. The ego is often tied in-between the two extremes that the id and superego present. The ego is the reality of choices and acts as a rational portion between the id and superego. The superego is described as the ego that contains the moral standards, such as rules set up by a …show more content…
Repression is seen as a defense mechanism by Freud. Repression is used to avoid inner conflict, it can allow a person to think of a situation or memory as less valid than it actually is. Repression can affect a person in a variety of ways, it can cause irrational behavior to be seen as something normal. In the act of repression, something could always trigger the emotions or feelings that are involved with the memory one is trying to repress. Another form of repression can be seen as an unconscious repression, where the person does not know that they are actually repressing a memory or event. Freud believed that in most cases events or memories that were repressed were often sexual, and that they often happened in the childhood stage of a person’s life. Freud believed that repression could be the underlying cause of many psychological