When I Woke Up Friday

Both unconscious and conscious psychological mechanisms influence an individual to a large extent. Psychological mechanisms such as splitting and dissociation affect an individual’s behavior, worldview, and role in their environment. In addition, psychological mechanisms may also impact how an individual responds to the events he or she encounters. Martha Stout, the author of “When I Woke Up Tuesday Morning, It Was Friday” tells stories about how her patients were affected by trauma and explains how an individual’s understanding of his or her past can influence his or her understanding of him or herself. Stout explains her focus through stories about trauma victims, to indicate that one’s traumatic experience can cause dissociation and influence …show more content…
The limited freedom prevents an individual from gaining a true understanding of his or her desires, and forces an individual to live a split life. The cadets who came to The Citadel were essentially given a false freedom because the cadets were told they could act like a human at The Citadel, when in fact they were being forced to act masculine. The Citadel was recreated with the “mission…to reinvigorate the masculinity of the South by showing its men how to compete with the business and industrial skills of the Yankee carpetbaggers, who were believed to be much better prepared than the sons of Dixie to enter the Darwinian fray of modern commerce” (Faludi 79). The mission statement of The Citadel indicates how the men would not be pressured to always act masculine, but instead would be better prepared for their futures. However, the men were not being prepared for their futures, and instead had to act masculine. This sense of false freedom resulted in a split because the cadets were not allowed to always act like themselves; the Cadets had to act like humans in private. Faludi’s discussion about the false freedom the cadets were given indicates that the cadets ultimately did not know what they really wanted to do in their life. False freedom prevents an individual from living his or her life because they do not know to which extent they are free, even though they may be given boundaries. This ultimately results in a split life because an individual may want to live his or her own life, while following the guidelines set, so in order to do both he or she lives a split life. While the cadet’s were given false freedom, Bell’s patients were given limited freedom, which eventually contradicted. Bell’s view of freedom contradicted with the freedom offered at the Citadel because at The Citadel the cadets were realistically not given freedom due to the fact that the cadets