The founder of psychoanalysis did not know women at all until the age of 30.
Sigmund Freud is one of the most famous psychiatrists on the planet. The founder of psychoanalysis argued that human behavior is largely explained by unconscious drives, including sexual ones. At the same time, Freud himself did not know women until the age of 30, he was shy, suffered from depression. Was he a genius or a charlatan? The controversy is still ongoing.
Reluctant doctor
Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) was born into a poor Jewish family in Austria. Graduated from the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Vienna among the best students. The young man dreamed of a scientific career, but got a job as a doctor in a city hospital: he was poor and could not afford to engage in science that did not bring income. “Neither at that time, nor at a later age did I feel any particular inclination towards the profession of a doctor,” Freud later admitted.
In 1885, Sigmund received a grant for an internship in Paris with the famous psychiatrist Jean Charcot, who studied the treatment of hysteria. Collaboration with him had a huge impact on the young man: he became interested in the study of the human psyche, and then discovered the connection between hysteria and sexual problems. For the first time, Sigmund felt that he was doing something really important and was eager to continue working.
But the internship ended and he returned to Vienna. Poverty again forced him to postpone research and look for work. He opened his own office, specializing in the treatment of nervous diseases. However, there were few patients. At first, in order not to starve to death, Dr. Freud went to rich houses and gave injections prescribed by other doctors.
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Gradually, Dr. Freud's private practice grew. In 1889, he invited the physician Josef Breuer - his longtime friend and mentor in the treatment of neuroses - to work together.
The result of their collaboration was the publication in 1895 of the study of Hysteria. The date of publication of the publication is called the birthday of psychoanalysis. In this work, Freud first formulates the ideas that later became the basis of Freudianism: the concept of transference and the idea that repressed memories of a sexual nature underlie some mental illnesses.
The publication caused a huge response - but not at all what Freud had hoped for. He invaded areas that were hitherto closed to the virtuous morality of the Victorian era. The academic community fell upon Freud with a flurry of criticism: his work was declared intellectual charlatanism, psychoanalysis was fraudulent, and his theory was pseudoscientific.
Almost all friends and colleagues turned away from Freud.
And the first to do this was his once best friend - Joseph Breuer.
Seeker of adventures
Freud had a nervous breakdown, it seemed to him that the whole world was up in arms against him. But he continued to develop his method. “I am not a scientist, observer, experimenter or thinker. By my temperament I am none other than a conquistador - an adventurer,”Freud wrote to his doctor friend Wilhelm Fliess in February 1900.
Soon a group of like-minded people was formed around the "father of psychoanalysis", fascinated by his innovative ideas. Fame came to Sigmund Freud in 1909, when he was invited to give lectures in the United States. The whole world learned about his ideas, the demand for Dr. Freud skyrocketed, and wealth finally came to him.
The First World War shook Freud's financial position. However, the most terrible trials were still ahead of him.
Psychoanalysis in quotes
- At the heart of all our actions are two motives: the desire to become great and sexual attraction.
- We do not choose each other by chance … We meet only those who already exist in our subconscious.
- The more flawless a person is outside, the more demons he has inside.
- The first person to throw a curse instead of a stone was the creator of civilization.
- The more strange the dream seems to us, the deeper the meaning it carries.
- Neurosis is the inability to tolerate uncertainty.
- Depression is frozen fear.
Genius
With the coming to power of the Nazis in 1933, persecution of Jews began, and the famous scientist was no exception. Freud's ideas were banned. His books were publicly burned. The apartment and the collection of antique antiquities were confiscated. The threat to life hung over the entire family of Freud. In 1938, his daughter Anna was summoned for questioning by the Gestapo …
Freud decided to leave the country. Former patients from among influential persons helped him to flee to London. By this time, the founder of psychoanalysis had already turned 82 years old, and he was deeply sick with cancer of the palate, which he had been battling for the past 16 years. Freud had most of his jaw removed, he underwent 34 operations, suffered from severe pain and was almost unable to speak.
Despite everything, he continued to work. “People did not believe in my facts and my theories in a disgusting way. The resistance was strong and unforgiving. In the end I was successful … But the struggle is not over yet,”he wrote in his diary in 1938.
In 1939, his condition deteriorated sharply. Freud insisted that he be injected with a lethal dose of morphine. This was done on September 23, 1939.
Sigmund Freud's four sisters died in Nazi concentration camps.
The works of the brilliant scientist turned the world ideas about the human psyche and had a profound impact on many branches of science. The debate about the nature of psychoanalysis continues to this day.
Martha Bernays.
Author: Elena Rotkevich