Chapter 2    Freud: Psychoanalysis25
fei75766_ch02_019-071.indd 25  02/19/20 08:59 AMtoFliess, “thechief patient Iampreoccupied withismyself. ...Theanalysis ismore 
difficult thananyother. Itis,infactwhat paralyzes mypsychic strength” (Freud, 
1985, p.261).
Asecond personal crisis washisrealization thathewasnowmiddle-aged and
hadyettoachieve thefame hesopassionately desired. During thistimehehadsuf-
fered yetanother disappointment inhisattempt tomake amajor scientific contribu -
tion.Again hebelieved himself tobeonthebrink ofanimportant breakthrough with
his“discovery” thatneuroses havetheiretiology inachild’s seduction byaparent. 
Freud likened thisfinding tothediscovery ofthesource oftheNile. However, in
1897, heabandoned theseduction theory andonce again hadtopostpone thediscov -
erythatwould propel himtogreatness.
WhydidFreud abandon hisonce-treasured seduction theory? Inaletter dated 
September 21,1897, toWilhelm Fliess, hegavefourreasons whyhecould nolonger 
believe inhisseduction theory. First, hesaid,theseduction theory hadnotenabled him
tosuccessfully treatevenasingle patient. Second, agreat number offathers, including his
own,would havetobeaccused ofsexual perversion because hysteria wasquite common 
evenamong Freud’s siblings. Third, Freud believed thattheunconscious mind could 
probably notdistinguish reality fromfiction, abelief thatlaterevolved intotheOedipus 
complex. Andfourth, hefound thattheunconscious memories ofadvanced psychotic 
patients almost never revealed earlychildhood sexual experiences (Freud, 1985). After 
abandoning hisseduction theory andwithnoOedipus complex toreplace it,Freud sank
evenmore deeply intohismidlife crisis.
Freud’s official biographer, Ernest Jones (1953, 1955, 1957), believed thatFreud 
suffered fromasevere psychoneurosis during thelate1890s, although MaxSchur (1972), 
Freud’s personal physician during thefinaldecade ofhislife,contended thathisillness 
wasduetoacardiac lesion, aggravated byaddiction tonicotine. Peter Gay(1988) sug-
gested thatduring thetimeimmediately afterhisfather’s death, Freud “relived hisoedi-
palconflicts withpeculiar ferocity” (p.141). ButHenri Ellenberger (1970) described 
thisperiod inFreud’s lifeasatimeof“creative illness,” acondition characterized by
depression, neurosis, psychosomatic ailments, andanintense preoccupation withsome 
formofcreative activity. Inanyevent, atmidlife, Freud wassuffering fromself-doubts, 
depression, andanobsession withhisowndeath.
Despite these difficulties, Freud completed hisgreatest work, Interpretation of 
Dreams (1900/1953), during thisperiod. Thisbook, finished in1899, wasanout-
growth ofhisself-analysis, much ofwhich hehadrevealed tohisfriend  Wilhelm 
Fliess. Thebook contained many ofFreud’s owndreams, some disguised behind ficti-
tious names.
Almost immediately afterthepublication ofInterpretation of Dreams, hisfriend -
shipwithFliess began tocool, eventually torupture in1903. Thisbreakup paralleled 
Freud’s earlier estrangement from Breuer, which tookplace almost immediately after
theyhadpublished Studies on Hysteria together. Itwasalsoaharbinger ofhisbreaks 
withAlfred Adler, CarlJung, andseveral other close associates. WhydidFreud have
difficulties withsomany former friends? Freud himself answered thisquestion, stat-
ingthat“itisnotthescientific differences thataresoimportant; itisusually some 
other kindofanimosity, jealousy orrevenge, thatgives theimpulse toenmity. The
scientific differences come later” (Wortis, 1954, p.163).Final PDF to printer