Stafford-Clark, David. What Freud Really Said. New York: Schocken Books, 1965.

Sigmund, Freud. An Outline of Psychoanalysis. New York: W. W. Norton and

Company, 1989. Print.

Lilyanna DAmato
Mrs. Simchak
8B
3/8/14

Sigmund Freud, a medical student and therapist, compared the mind to an
iceberg, the tip of the iceberg represents the conscious mind; all thoughts that can
be found without any additional help. The rest of the huge iceberg resides
underneath the surface of the ocean; these thoughts represent the unconscious
mind. The unconscious mind contains everything that has ever happened to a
specific human being, and every thought that person has ever been thought.
Although this part of the mind exists it is very hard to unlock. Freud, the father of
psychoanalysis and psychology, created many different treatments to uncover these
hidden thoughts. Psychoanalysis is a form of therapy to uncover repressed
emotions, to make unconscious thoughts conscious, in order to cure someone for his
or her emotional, or mental, illness. Often these illnesses included anxiety and
depression. The diseases are caused by friction between the parts of the nervous
system, the id, ego, and super-ego. Freud used many forms of psychoanalysis to
cure these illnesses, and very frequently he did manage to help them with their
mental disorders.

Stafford-Clark, David. What Freud Really Said. New York: Schocken Books, 1965.
Sigmund, Freud. An Outline of Psychoanalysis. New York: W. W. Norton and
Company, 1989. Print.

All of the brains information is contained by the Id, Ego, and Super-Ego. These
are all in the bodys nervous p. The body relies on this vital information to go about
its daily life normally. The Id is the part of the brain that contains all the genetic
traits, all the components of peoples that they inherit from their ancestors. The Ego
is the link to the outside world; it builds up its knowledge on experiences. , Our link
to the outside world is turned off when the Ego rests; giving us a chance to sleep and
dream. In addition, the Super- Ego is the part of the brain that learns from people
around it. These people include parents, teachers, mentors; it gains information by
admiring those around it and learning from its role models. The Ego and Super-Ego
often overlap because a lot of their contents are similar.
The Ego controls are fight or flight instinct; it decides whether or not the
body will stay and fight the danger approaching or run away from it. This is called
our self-preservation instinct; our past experiences tell us whether or not it is safe
to fight or more beneficial to flee. The Ego views unexpected unpleasantness as
danger, but anticipated unpleasantness as anxiety. The Ego also takes control of the
Id by demanding restraint of instincts. If the Id had free domination, anyone would
do anything that came to his or her mind. If a child saw a candy bar in a store
window he would not hesitate to grab it and run; thats what his instincts tell him to
do. But he learns not to do that by listening to his Ego, which tells him he will get in
trouble if he does. Mental illness is caused by imbalance between the Id, Ego, and
Super-Ego; the Id and Super-Ego try to monopolize the Ego. Causing people to
Stafford-Clark, David. What Freud Really Said. New York: Schocken Books, 1965.
Sigmund, Freud. An Outline of Psychoanalysis. New York: W. W. Norton and
Company, 1989. Print.

disconnect from the external world; therefore isolating them in their own heads.
Since their heads are ill, it is essentially quarantining them in their mental disorders.

Freuds methods targeted three types of mental illness: psychoses, neuroses, and
anxiety disorders. The state of psychoses: when the Id and the Super-Ego become
too strong for the Ego, which clings to reality. When the two become too strong, the
ego can lose touch or end its relationship with reality. This is comparable to
sleeping, when the ego becomes oblivious to the external world. These people
cannot interpret their own emotions and cannot properly handle situation with
other people, because they are not connected to the external world properly, if at
all. They often come up with these situations inside their own heads. Psychotic
people refuse help because they are so far away from the normal world that they do
not know how to adjust to other people. Neuroses is a social disease, which also
causes a disconnection from the surrounding world. These unsocial traits develop
throughout the individual's life. They reveal themselves as awkward social skills,
lack of confidence, hysteria, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression,
paranoia, and sexual immaturity. "The neuroses and psychoses are the states in
which disturbances in the functioning of the apparatus come to expression. Anxiety
disorders include panic attacks, phobias, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and
depression. Anxiety keeps the Ego in the continuous fight or flight mindset. The
disorder gives the body the impression that its wellbeing is always at stake or being
attacked. People who have panic attacks, or have depression or OCD are often more
Stafford-Clark, David. What Freud Really Said. New York: Schocken Books, 1965.
Sigmund, Freud. An Outline of Psychoanalysis. New York: W. W. Norton and
Company, 1989. Print.

susceptible to making questionable choices; because they always feel like something
is wrong and that they are in danger. Mental Illness is a disease, and it can be very
dangerous and violent. People dont always recognize that is a legitimate illness,
"not less than 15 percent of the total sum of human suffering in the world; and the
mechanisms which underlay their suffering contributed to at least another 15 to 20
percent of all illness of every kind.

To treat these diseases Freud found new methods to cure them of their mental
disorders. He used hypnosis, free association, therapy, and ink blots. Freud
hypnotized people so the patient could either be alleviated from their hysteria or so
they could recall a painful memory from the unconscious to the conscience. Since
they were under Freud's control they were not so resistant to help. Hypnosis
proved to work well because once the patient got over the initial pain from that
memory it never caused them problems again. He created the technique free
association when he abandoned hypnosis because he found that the patient did not
need to be hypnotized in order to recall these important memories. He told them to
simply say whatever came to their mind, thus beginning a path to the crucial
memory. Eventually the needed memory would surface and help to heal the patient.
Freud would also have the patient lie on a couch and talk about childhood memories
and disturbances. He would take notes behind them; this would help him try to
decipher the cause of the patients suffering. Another technique Freud used was the
inkblot to help bring forth "unconscious" thoughts. It is not specifically what the
Stafford-Clark, David. What Freud Really Said. New York: Schocken Books, 1965.
Sigmund, Freud. An Outline of Psychoanalysis. New York: W. W. Norton and
Company, 1989. Print.

inkblot looks like but what the patient sees in that inkblot; this helps to indicate the
"unconscious" thought and often provides insight into the stem of the problem that
is causing the patient distress. Freud used all of these methods to help his patients
but eventually retired hypnosis. He felt that it creates an imbalance of power
between the therapist and the patient, which raises ethical issues with the practice.
Sigmund Freud is the father of not only psychoanalysis, but also psychology
itself. He helped countless people move beyond their diseases, even when the
public and the medical field did not consider them diseases. Those with mental
illnesses were often ostracized and ignored; Freud was one of the first people to
understand their disease and help them to solve it. He studied the Id, Ego, and
Super-Ego, while trying to understand why they cause psychoses, neuroses, and
anxiety disorders. He used many different kinds of treatments, all of which the
medical industry recognizes. Without Freud and his medical achievements we
would not understand mental illness and be able to treat it the way we do today.