Sigmund Freud's Unconscious Mind

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Over his lifetime, Sigmund Freud developed a multitude of theories regarding the human psyche. Today, many of his theories have been improved and expanded upon, yet his theories are still regarded as the basis for psychoanalytic study. Among these theories are his research on the unconscious mind, defense mechanisms, dreams, and obsessive behavior.
Freud believed that all parts of life were subject to observation and exploration, including the human mind. He considered himself a scientist, despite not having the ability to test his hypotheses. One of his most valuable theories is his theory on the unconscious mind. Before Freud, the concept of the unconscious mind was present in literature, but Freud was the one to label it and expand on it. The unconscious mind is the part of our psyche that contains thoughts and desire that we are unaware of. Freud believed that the root of mental illness was in our unconscious desires.Yet, his goal was not to eradicate mental problems, but instead to gain a better understanding of them and help patients overcome them. …show more content…

It is the main part of who we are, yet the part we least understand or want to acknowledge. The superego referred to the part of the mind that internalization societal rules and beliefs in order to keep the id under control, and the ego was the part of the conscious that mediated between the two opposing forces. Together these parts of the minds worked together in a balanced way. While the existence of these specific divisions of the mind cannot be proven, I believe that it is undeniable that the psyche is layered, as no one can ever fully understand their mind. In the unconscious there are inner truths that we will never know

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