Objectives you should be able to: discuss Psychodynamic Perspective by describing the 3 parts and 3 levels of the mind identifying and distinguishing between defence mechanisms explaining the psychosexual stages

PSYCHODYNAMIC PERSPECTIVE Sigmund Freud 1856-1939 Freud practised as a psychiatrist in Vienna and collected a body of data from his patients about their feelings and experiences, especially those relating to early childhood

The Psychodynamic Perspective:- The Structure of Personality Freud assumed that the mind is divided into 3 parts:- THE ID THE EGO THE SUPEREGO

The Human Mind Freud assumed that the mind is divided in three parts. ID – contains innate sexual and aggressive instincts and is located in the unconscious part of the mind. The sexual instinct is known as the libido. SUPEREGO – develops by about the age of five and has a sense of right from wrong EGO – the job of the ego is to satisfy the demands of the ID without offending the SUPEREGO

Three Levels of Mind Freud also assumed that there are three levels of mind The conscious – thoughts that are currently the focus of attention The preconscious – ideas that can be retrieved easily from memory The unconscious – information that is very hard / impossible to retrieve

DEFENCE MECHANISMS There is always conflict between the ID and the Superego. When the Ego cannot deal with the demands of the desires in the ID and the moral standards in the Superego, according to Freud, anxiety results. Anxiety acts as a signal to the Ego that things are not going right. To reduce anxiety the Ego sometimes uses defence mechanisms. Although we may knowingly use these mechanisms, in many cases these defenses occur unconsciously and work to distort reality so that we can cope with life.

DEFENCE MECHANISMS REPRESSION PROJECTION DENIAL keep information out of conscious awareness taking our own unacceptable qualities or feelings and ascribing them to other people an outright refusal to admit or recognise that something has occurred or is currently occurring

DEFENCE MECHANISMS DISPLACEMENT REACTION FORMATION REGRESSION taking out frustrations on other people taking up the opposite feeling, impulse, or behaviour revert to patterns of behaviour used earlier in development

One contemporary psychoanalytic view of substance abuse is that it is a defense against anxiety (Thombs, D. 2006) such as loneliness and depression. Addicts abuse alcohol or other substances to protect themselves against overwhelming anxiety and other painful emotions

Freud’s Psychosexual Stages of Development Freud proposed that psychological development in childhood takes place in a series of stages:- The Oral Stage (1st year of life) The Anal Stage (2-3 years) The Phallic Stage (3-6 years) The Latency Stage (6 years to puberty) The Genital Stage (Puberty & throughout adult life)

EVALUATION The theory is focused almost entirely on male development with little mention of female psychosexual development. The theories are difficult to test scientifically. Concepts such as the libido are impossible to measure, and therefore cannot be tested. Future predictions are too vague. How can we know that a current behaviour was caused specifically by a childhood experience? The length of time between the cause and the effect is too long to assume that there is a relationship between the two variables. Freud's theory is based upon case studies and on the recollections of his adult patients, not on actual observation and study of children.

Substance abuse could be the result of an oral fixation??