Question

From a Freudian Perspective, examine a behavioral issue such as smoking, drug abuse, anxiety disorders, depression etc and explain how it would be explained

Answer 1

• During the 1960's psychodynamic theories dominated psychology and psychiatry. Depression was understood in terms of:
• inwardly directed anger (Freud, 1917),
• introjection of love object loss,
• severe super-ego demands (Freud, 1917),
• excessive narcissistic, oral and/or anal personality need (Chodoff, 1972),
• loss of self-esteem (Bibring, 1953; Fenichel, 1968), and
• deprivation in the mother child relationship during the first year (Kleine, 1934).
• Freud’s psychoanalytic theory is an example of the psychodynamic approach. Freud (1917) prosed that many cases of depression were due to biological factors. However, Freud also argued that some cases of depression could be linked to loss or rejection by a parent. Depression is like grief, in that it often occurs as a reaction to the loss of an important relationship.
• Freud distinguished between actual losses (e.g. death of a loved one) and symbolic losses (e.g. loss of a job). Both kinds of losses can produce depression by causing the individual to re-experience childhood episodes when they experienced loss of affection from some significant person (e.g. a parent).
• Later, Freud modified his theory stating that the tendency to internalize loss objects is normal, and that depression is simply due to an excessively severe super-ego. Thus, the depressive phase occurs when the individual’s super-ego or conscience is dominant. In contrast, the manic phase occurs when the individual’s ego or rational mind asserts itself, and s/he feels control.
• To explain smoking behaviour using Freud’s theory we would have to refer to the oral stage of psychosexual development. Sigmund Freud proposed that during this first stage if a nursing child’s appetite were thwarted during any libidinal development stage, the anxiety would persist into adulthood as neurosis (functional mental disorder). Therefore, an infantile oral fixation would manifest itself as an obsession with oral stimulation. This oral fixation can manifest itself as a need for oral gratification for example smoking, chewing and nail biting.
• In the case of the alcoholic/substance abuse, the id craves alcohol. The superego is sometimes thought of as the parent or conscience. It is the moral component of the personality. The superego knows "right" from "wrong" and its function is to control the impulses of the id. Finally, the ego is similar to the adult and it mediates the id and superego.
  
• Anxiety is a driving force in psychoanalytic theory. Anxiety signals a threat but it can overwhelm the ego. When anxiety is overwhelming, a person relies on defense mechanisms such as denial, avoidance, rationalization, regression, projection, etc. as mentioned in my previous post. Denial, especially, is common among substance abusers who frequently deny having a problem.
• Addicts abuse alcohol or other substances to protect themselves against overwhelming anxiety and other painful emotions such as loneliness and depression.