Out of three
essays from Sigmund Freud’s Three Essays
on the Theory of Sexuality, I thought the fact that “psyneuroses are based
on sexual instinctual forces” was particularly interesting. Psychoneurotics are
sufferers from hysteria, from obsessional neurosis, from what is wrongly
described as neurasthenia, and from dementia praecox and paranoia. According to
Freud, neurosis reveals the question of the sexual life of the persons. In
addition, the symptoms constitute the sexual activity of the patient. This was
interesting to me because I have never expected that metal disorders would
closely be linked to sexual instincts or desires. However, at the same time, I
am not very sure if neurosis can entirely be explained from the sexual analysis
since many other external factors may contribute to mental problems such as
hysteria and paranoia. For example, bad relationship of parents highly
influences the child’s personality which, in extreme case, causes the child to
develop obsession or paranoia for a certain thing.
Freud
also argues that “the character of hysterics shows a degree of sexual
repression in excess of the normal quantity, an intensification of resistance
against the sexual instinct, and what seems like an instinctive aversion o
their part to any intellectual consideration of sexual problems.” And as a
result of this, the patients remain in complete ignorance of sexual matters
right into the period of the sexual maturity. I thought this argument made
sense as when I thought about constantly repressing certain desire and keeping
it inside, I would eventually feel suffocating and have mental confusion by
myself which could lead to hysteria. I am not very sure if that desire only
applies to normal sexual instinct, but I did find his claim – all neurotics
show impulses for sexual life or instinct but in a passive form – very interesting.
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