INITIALLY NOT A PSYCHOLOGIST: SIGMUND FREUD

The eighth part of the series - Initially Not A Psychologist ...

Sigmund Freud

Sigmund Freud was the founder of the school of psychology, known as psychoanalysis. Psychoanalysis is the first school of psychology dedicated to the treatment of mental illness. Freud also formulated the first comprehensive theory of personality. Psychoanalysis completely changed the course of the discipline of psychology. The contributions of Freud made him one of the most influential and popular psychologists ever. Sigmund Freud, however, did not begin his career as a psychologist. He, initially, was not a psychologist.
In his early days, Freud was interested in a career in law or politics. He changed his mind after listening to a lecture on Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's essay on nature and reading the work of Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution. The works of Goethe and Darwin made him interested in science, which made him decide to study medicine. He felt that studying medicine would allow him to be involved in scientific research.
During his medical studies, Freud was highly influenced by the physician and physiologist Ernst Wilhelm von Brucke, who was one of the founders of the materialistic-positivistic movement in physiology. After getting his medical degree, in 1881, Freud continued to work in Brucke's laboratory as a researcher in physiology. During this time, Freud became highly inspired by Henry von Helmholtz and his mechanical physiology. His main interest was research in physiology, but due to financial concerns, and after getting advice from Brucke, Freud decided to change his career plans and begin his practice in medicine.
He then went to the Vienna General Hospital to study under the psychiatrist, neuropathologist, and anatomist Theodor Meynert. Meynert was one of the best-known brain anatomists of that time. After studying under Meynert, Freud became an expert in diagnosing brain damage. Freud made significant discoveries as a neurologist. Later, in 1891, he wrote the monograph called On Aphasia, in which he criticized the localization of function of the brain, the theory that suggests the specific brain areas are associated with specific functions. This is considered to be a significant contribution to neuropsychology.
While working as a neurologist, Freud realized that many of his patients were suffering from hysteria, and did not actually have neurological symptoms. At that time, the French neurologist, Jean-Martin Charcot was very well known for using hypnosis to treat hysteria. Freud received a small postgraduate grant that allowed him to study under Charcot. Till this visit, Freud was a materialist-positivist physiologist. He believed that all disorders, including hysteria, had a neurophysiological explanation. He believed that psychological explanations of disorders are non-scientific.
Charcot had a huge influence on Freud. Charcot believed that hysteria is a real disorder, which involves dissociated ideas. He also felt that hypnosis can be used to treat hysteria. Charcot also believed that hysteria has a sexual basis. These ideas laid the foundation for Freud to develop his psychoanalysis. 
Hysteria, according to Charcot, involving dissociated ideas indicated the role of the unconscious mind. Hypnosis, then, was used by Charcot to access uncovered memories and emotions within the unconscious mind. The role of the unconscious mind and sexuality in hysteria changed Freud’s belief that hysteria has a psychological explanation and not a neurophysiological explanation.
In 1886, after studying with Charcot, Freud returned to Vienna and got involved in private practice as a neurologist. After some time, Freud thought of treating hysterical patients, and not just neurological patients. Initially, he tried the traditional methods of neurology, such as electrotherapy, but he did not find them to be effective for treating hysteria. He then realized the significance of Charcot’s method of hypnosis in treating hysteria. He also realized the relevance of what he had learned from the physician Joseph Breuer.
Freud had known Breuer from the time when he was a medical student. He was very close to Breuer, and saw him as his mentor. At that time, Breuer was involved in the treatment of the woman known as Anna O, whose real name was later revealed to be Bertha Pappenheim. This was the case that eventually led to the beginning of psychoanalysis. 
Breuer had discovered that the origins of the physical symptoms of Anna O were in traumatic experiences. Further, when these experiences were given conscious expression, the physical symptoms disappeared. Breuer called this the cathartic method, because the emotional release of the traumatic symptoms led to a relief, causing the physical symptoms to disappear.
In 1889, in order to improve his skills in hypnosis, Freud visited the physicians Auguste Ambroise Liebeault and Hippolyte Bernheim, at the Nancy School. From them, he learned about posthypnotic suggestion, which suggests that an idea planted during hypnosis has an influence on a person's behavior, even when they are not aware of it. This confirmed what he had learned from Charcot, and turned out to be important for Freud in suggesting the role of the unconscious mind in behavior. Freud also learned about posthypnotic amnesia, from Liebeault and Bernheim, which is that patients tend to forget what they experience during hypnosis, but such memories return if they are encouraged to remember it. This also turned out to be important for Freud to develop his idea of psychoanalysis.
Even though learning about hypnosis played an important role in Freud establishing psychoanalysis, he did not find hypnosis to be an effective method of treatment for hysteria. He soon abandoned hypnosis and adopted the cathartic method used by Breuer. Later, Freud modified Breuer’s method to develop his own, which he called free association.
In 1895, Breuer and Freud published the book Studies on Hysteria, in which they discussed the case of Anna O, and outlined the basic tenets of psychoanalysis. They suggested that hysteria is caused by a traumatic experience that has not been expressed adequately and is, thus, manifested by physical symptoms. According to them, symptoms are a symbolic representation of traumatic experiences that have been repressed, that is, the experiences are not consciously aware, but held back in the unconscious to prevent anxiety.
Freud suggested that even though the traumatic experiences are repressed, they still have a strong influence on the person’s behavior and personality. In this sense, Freud had emphasized the significance of the unconscious mind in behavior. Freud, however, was not the first person to suggest this. Before him, philosophers like Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, Johann Friedrich Herbart, Gustav Theodor Fechner, Eduard von Hartmann, Arthur Schopenhauer, and Friedrich Nietzsche had written about the role of the unconscious on behavior. Freud in some way was influenced by these philosophers.
Before the publication of the book, Breuer had expressed his dissatisfaction with it, because he felt that Freud had overemphasized the role of sexuality in hysteria. He had asked Freud not to get it published, but he still went ahead with it. Due to this Breuer parted ways from Freud. The year 1895, the date of the publication of Studies on Hysteria, is considered to be the beginning of the school of psychoanalysis.
In the next few years, Freud published a number of significant works, in which he refined his concepts and even introduced new ideas and concepts. In 1900, Freud published one of his most important works called The Interpretation of Dreams. In the book, he suggested that dreams are a way to reveal the unconscious. He outlined a new method called dream analysis, in this book. He also introduced the concept of the Oedipus Complex in this book. In 1991, Freud published his next significant work called The Psychopathology of Everyday Life. In this book, Freud emphasized that psychoanalysis can be used to explain normal behavior as well, and not just abnormal behavior. 
In 1905, in his book Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality, Freud outlined the stages of childhood development, which he called psychosexual stages. In his book The Unconscious, published in 1915, he systematically elaborated on the unconscious mind. Specifically, he distinguished between the different layers of the mind, which are the conscious, preconscious, and unconscious mind. In 1920, in his book Beyond the Pleasure Principle, Freud wrote about instinctual drives that govern behavior. In his book, The Ego and the Id, published in 1923, Freud introduced his tripartite model suggesting that the mind is divided into three components - id (pleasure principle), ego (reality principle), and superego (morality principle). He also suggested that these three components are always in conflict and that their dynamic interaction determines personality.
A significant event, not just for psychoanalysis, but the history of psychology, in general, took place in 1909. Granville Stanley Hall, the founder and first president of APA (American Psychological Association), invited Sigmund Freud to deliver lectures on psychoanalysis, at Clark University, USA. Stanley Hall was the president of Clark University at that time. Freud’s lectures were very well received, giving him a lot of recognition and popularity. This was the first time that psychoanalysis was exposed to a non-European audience.
Freud’s visit to America made psychoanalysis extremely popular. It gave psychoanalysis a wide acceptance, and even played a role in making psychology to be way beyond just an academic discipline. It also led to the expansion of the subfield of clinical psychology. The concepts of psychoanalysis such as the unconscious mind, free association, dream analysis, psychosexual stages, etc. made psychology hugely popular and even had a strong influence on art, literature, and pop culture. Freud’s psychoanalysis, in this way, had completely widened the scope of psychology and changed the course of the history of psychology.
From an initial inclination towards law and politics, then being interested in scientific research after being exposed to the works of Goethe and Darwin, making him study medicine, and then making a shift from research in physiology to practicing as a neurologist due to financial constraints, and then getting involved in treating hysteria after being influenced by Breuer, Charcot, Liebeault, and Bernheim, as well as being influenced by Liebniz, Herbart, Fechner, Schopenhauer, and Nietzsche eventually developing psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud became known as one of the most popular and influential psychologists.