Chapter 2    Freud: Psychoanalysis21
fei75766_ch02_019-071.indd 21  02/19/20 08:59 AMFromancient history tothepresent time, people havesearched forsome magic 
panacea orpotion tolessen painortoenhance performance. Onesuchsearch 
wasconducted byayoung, ambitious physician whocame tobelieve thathehad
discovered adrugthathadallsorts ofwonderful properties. Hearing thatthedrug
hadbeen usedsuccessfully toenergize soldiers suffering from nearexhaustion, this
physician decided totryitonpatients, colleagues, andfriends. Ifthedrugworked 
aswellasheexpected, hemight gainthefame towhich heaspired.
After learning ofthedrug’s successful useinheart disease, nervous exhaus -
tion,addiction toalcohol andmorphine, andseveral other psychological andphysio -
logical problems, thedoctor decided totrythedrugonhimself. Hewasquite pleased 
withtheresults. Tohim,thedrughadapleasant aroma andanunusual effect on
thelipsandmouth. More importantly, however, wasthedrug’s therapeutic effect 
onhisserious depression. Inaletter tohisfiancée, whom hehadnotseeninayear, 
hereported thatduring hislastsevere depression, hehadtaken small quantities of
thedrugwithmarvelous results. Hewrote thatthenexttimehesawherhewould be
likeawildman, feeling theeffects ofthedrug. Healsotoldhisfiancée thathewould 
givehersmall amounts ofthedrug, ostensibly tomake herstrong andtohelpher
gainweight.
Theyoung doctor wrote apamphlet extolling thebenefits ofthedrug, buthe
hadnotyetcompleted thenecessary experiments onthedrug’s value asananalgesic. 
Impatient tobenearhisfiancée, hedelayed completion ofhisexperiments andwent 
offtoseeher.During thatvisit,acolleague—and nothe—completed theexperiments, 
published theresults, andgained therecognition theyoung doctor hadhoped for
himself.
These events tookplace in1884; thedrugwascocaine; theyoung doctor was
Sigmund Freud.
Overview of Psychoanalytic Theory
Freud, ofcourse, wasfortunate thathisname didnotbecome indelibly tiedtococaine. 
Instead, hisname hasbecome associated withpsychoanalysis, themost famous ofall
personality theories.
What makes Freud’s theory sointeresting? First, thetwincornerstones ofpsy-
choanalysis, sexandaggression, aretwosubjects ofcontinuing popularity. Second, 
thetheory wasspread beyond itsViennese origins byanardent anddedicated group 
offollowers, many ofwhom romanticized Freud asanearly mythological andlonely 
hero. Third, Freud’s brilliant command oflanguage enabled himtopresent histheo-
riesinastimulating andexciting manner.
Freud’s understanding ofhuman personality wasbased onhisexperiences with
patients, hisanalysis ofhisowndreams, andhisvastreadings inthevarious sci-
ences andhumanities. These experiences provided thebasic datafortheevolution 
ofhistheories. Tohim,theory followed observation, andhisconcept ofpersonality 
underwent constant revisions during thelast50years ofhislife.Evolutionary though 
itwas,Freud insisted thatpsychoanalysis could notbesubjected toeclecticism, and
disciples whodeviated from hisbasic ideas soon found themselves personally and
professionally ostracized byFreud.Final PDF to printer