Sigmund Freud: Personal Fate and Early Experiences - Part 1

“Sigmund Freud”

Whether this name rings a bell or not, it is very likely that you have referenced his concepts: “Hysterical”, “egoistic”, “denial’, “defensive”, “neurotic”, “psychoanalyze.” His theories are

controversial but spread like wildfire as they strike a chord and make you introspect.

Have you ever questioned your personality and its origin? Where do your innate traits, motives, fears, conflicts, and fantasies come from? Go no further! The first step to understanding this complex maze is uncovering Freud’s psychodynamic theory of personality. Freud famously said, “The only person with whom you have to compare yourself is you in the past.” He was one of the first to postulate that childhood experiences play a key role in how a person is shaped. To explain personality, Freud came up with the topographical model of the mind where he explained its levels: the unconscious, preconscious, and conscious mind and the structures within them which are the core elements of personality: id, ego, and superego. These elements emerge at different points in an individual’s life and grant important aspects of his or her personality.

What comes to mind when you see a baby crying or an infant throwing a tantrum? Most likely we view this as a period of innocence and purity and see no ulterior motive. However, a much darker perspective is painted by Freud’s view of the Id: notorious, selfish, instinctive, primitive, unbothered, and unrealistic. His description of the id brings to mind the child from the movie Omen! Who looks like the epitome of innocence but whose morality is seriously questionable. Shockingly this mischievous part of the personality controls behaviour from birth till approximately six years of age. It works on the principle of pleasure urging us to maximize pleasure and minimize pain. When the Id wants something, it means NOW! It does not care for others, societal norms, and consequences. When it is immediately gratified it results in pleasure, but when left unsatisfied it wreaks havoc resulting in stress and anxiety in a person. It is energised by the libido which is the psychic energy consisting of the life instinct (Eros) driving us to attain food, shelter, warmth, and love. However, as the individual grows the id’s needs become more complex and the other aspects of the life instinct come into play; the sexual drive: the need for pleasure and reproduction. Through his observation of trauma victims and their tendency to revisit their painful past, Freud recognised the second element of the libido, the death instinct (Thanatos); Freud believed “the aim of life is death”. This instinct is mainly unconscious and overpowered by life instinct. However, when this drive is overly stimulated by a negative and toxic environment it can be channeled outwards in the form of aggression and internally in the form of self-harm and suicidal thoughts.

Consider this: Do you remember what you wore on your first birthday? The biggest tantrum you threw when you were two years old? Your first disagreement in playschool when you were three? What was the most difficult homework you were given when you were around four or five years old? Unless you are a mutant, alien, or superhero, the first few years of your life will be absent, vague, and blurry with huge gaps filled by reconstructed memories recounted by family. So where do these memories disappear? Freud proposed that early childhood memories controlled by the id are mostly part of the unconscious mind, whose functions and processes are inaccessible to conscious scrutiny and the rest of what we vaguely remember is part of the preconscious. Further, the unconscious also consists of all the painful memories that the child represses leading to unresolved intrapsychic conflicts kept in latency, triggered in adulthood in the form of insecurity, unease, stress, or guilt impacting interests, and attitudes, Therefore most components of the id and the years that it is in primary control cannot be easily brought to mind.

If the child is left solely at the Id’s mercy, as it develops mobility and higher mental processes we would all be the devils reincarnate. However, this is prevented by the emergence of the “Ego”. We use this term pretty callously. What does it truly refer to? The common consensus is that it means an inflated sense of self. But contrary to popular belief, ego is what keeps us grounded. The ego operates at a conscious and preconscious level. Freud proposed that the ego emerges gradually from the id as a child becomes aware of societal norms and expectations. It works on the principle of reality and strives to fulfill the id’s needs and desires in a socially appropriate way and often delays its gratification. For example, thanks to the ego, a child slowly starts understanding toilet training and the importance of controlling the need to desiccate due to the fear of being shamed by their peers; An adult controls the need to eat and satisfy hunger in the middle of their office meeting as it is not socially appropriate.

Nature always finds a way to keep the balance. If there is a selfish Id controlling our mind there is also its nemesis which is the innate good in us: The Mother Teresa and Gandhian “superego.” It develops at around 5 to 6 years of age. It is part of the conscious, unconscious and preconscious. The superego works on the morality principle. It is our sense of right and wrong that provides guidelines for making decisions. It consists of the conscience which are things viewed as taboo, deviant, and forbidden by our family and society, and reminds us that indulgence in them can lead to bad consequences, punishments and when we do give in to these on id’s insistence it makes us feel guilt and remorse. The Superego is also composed of the ego ideal which includes the rules and standards for behaviors that the ego aspires to achieve.

These three structures of personality are in constant conflict with each other. The id is the devil on our shoulders urging us to give in to our sinister temptations and fantasies, and since it is unconscious it is very sneaky. And the angelic superego, its nemesis tries to push us to consider the self-righteous and ideal thing to do. The ego is the judge, constantly balancing these two opposing urges and making decisions on the basis of reality. The intensity and power that each of these 3 agencies of personality have are dependent on the environment, parenting styles, and social interaction. Freud explained this through his theory of psychosexual stages, which will be an article for another day :)

Now that you know what the Id, Ego, and Superego are, which one of them rules your life?

-Ashwini Kailas