Sigmund Freud's work was instrumental in providing a clearer understanding of how the human mind works and what motivates behavior. Freud, generally recognized as the "Father of Psychoanalysis," broke important ground in the treatment of mental and emotional disorders. His work was a breakthrough not just for the medical profession but also for such fields as criminology and sociology. Moreover, even those who disagree with many of his theories and conclusions agree that Freud's work helped cast mental illness in a new light. For the first time, people began to realize that mental disorders could be diagnosed, and often treated, much the same as physical disorders. The stigma against mental illness did not die off; it exists to this day. But the contributions of people like Freud helped mitigate that stigma.
Freud was born in what is now Pribor, Czech Republic (it was then Moravia, part of the Habsburg Empire), on May 6, 1856, the son of Jakob and Amalie Nathansohn Freud. His family moved to Vienna in 1859, and Freud spent nearly the rest of his life there. (Interestingly, he always claimed that he disliked Vienna intensely.) He entered the University of Vienna in 1873 to study medicine; his primary interest as a medical student was neurology. Upon receiving his medical degree in 1881, he became a clinical assistant at Vienna's General Hospital. He remained interested in the brain and brain function, and, in 1885, he went to Paris to study with the neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot. This decision proved to be an important turning point in Freud's life. Charcot was a pioneer in the study of what was then called hysteria (extreme symptoms, such as paralysis of a limb, with no apparent physical origin), and he believed that the key to treating hysterical symptoms was to unlock something in the mind. His mode of operation was hypnosis, which Freud initially adopted as well. The following year, 1886, Freud began his private practice; he also married Martha Bernays, with whom he had six children.
Hypnosis was believed to work by unlocking hidden, often painful memories that would not surface during normal consciousness. Freud gradually came to see hypnosis as limited in its effectiveness. Beginning in the 1890s, he began to experiment with a different means of releasing hidden memories from a person's subconscious: free association. Freud would let the patient talk freely, guiding the conversation when he felt it necessary. Because the subconscious was off guard, Freud believed, patients in this less inhibited mind-set would unwittingly release their repressed memories during the conversation. Moreover, patients would become more active participants in their treatment because they would be fully conscious when any revelation occurred.
Freud sought to improve this technique. He began focusing on dreams, believing that sleep allows unconscious thoughts to escape. Often, these thoughts were disguised, sometimes into bizarre occurrences within dreams; Freud developed interpretation techniques to determine the symbolic meaning of dream events. His The Interpretation of Dreams (1899) outlined his theories. Freud believed that each dream has a message. In particular, he said, dreams represent imaginary wish fulfillment which even nightmares illustrate.
Freud also formulated theories on human sexuality. Freud theorized on, for example, infant sexual urges and their impact on adult behavior. Freud believed that aggressive urges also began at an early age, and, as with sexual urges, were often repressed, only to crop up in some symptom or behavior later in life. In many circles, he was roundly rebuked. But he also managed to attract a strong following within the scientific community. Important psychologists, such as Alfred Adler and Carl Jung, were Freud disciples early in their careers.
The idea that feelings could be repressed from early childhood and that those feelings could influence later behavior has been influential in the field of criminology. Theories which help explain criminal behavior also inform professionals about potentially useful ways to help criminals. Psychoanalysis has helped the field of criminology by providing (directly and indirectly) ideas on how to modify behavior and how to channel extreme hostility.
In his nearly fifty years of research, Freud wrote numerous books and articles, lectured frequently, and saw patients at his office in Vienna. He continued to attract disciples, some of whom stayed loyal to his approach and others who did not. His daughter, Anna, who became famous in her own right, followed in her father's footsteps; she is sometimes called the founder of child psychoanalysis.
In his later years, Freud remained productive despite a struggle with cancer of the jaw, which was first diagnosed in 1923. He refined his ideas and concepts and remained a prolific writer of books, articles, and correspondences. During the 1920s, fascism and Nazism were beginning to take shape in Europe. Freud, though an atheist, had been born a Jew, and he was appalled by the violence and anti-Jewish sentiment in his own country. Freud and his family were relatively safe in Austria, but, when the Nazis invaded in 1938, they felt compelled to leave. Through the aid of some friends, they were able to get out of the country; they headed for England, where Freud continued his medical practice as well as his research and writing. He stayed active until the summer of 1939, when his cancer spread. In August, he formally retired, and he died on September 23, shortly after World War II broke out in Europe.
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