Sigmund Freud (Freud; German Sigmund Freud; full name Sigismund Shlomo Freud, German Sigismund Schlomo Freud). Born May 6, 1856 in Freiberg, Austrian Empire - died September 23, 1939 in London. Austrian psychologist, psychiatrist and neurologist.

Sigmund Freud is best known as the founder of psychoanalysis, which had a significant impact on psychology, medicine, sociology, anthropology, literature and art of the 20th century. Freud's views on human nature were innovative for his time and throughout the life of the researcher did not stop causing resonance and criticism in the scientific community. Interest in the theories of the scientist does not fade even today.

Among Freud's achievements, the most important are the development of a three-component structural model of the psyche (consisting of "It", "I" and "Super-I"), the identification of specific phases of the psychosexual development of the personality, the creation of the theory of the Oedipus complex, the discovery of protective mechanisms functioning in the psyche, the psychologization of the concept "unconscious", the discovery of transference and counter-transference, and the development of such therapeutic techniques as the method of free association and the interpretation of dreams.

Despite the fact that the influence of Freud's ideas and personality on psychology is undeniable, many researchers consider his works to be intellectual charlatanism. Almost every postulate fundamental to Freud's theory has been criticized by prominent scientists and writers, such as Erich Fromm, Albert Ellis, Karl Kraus and many others. The empirical basis of Freud's theory was called "inadequate" by Frederick Krüss and Adolf Grünbaum, psychoanalysis was dubbed "fraud" by Peter Medawar, Freud's theory was considered pseudoscientific by Karl Popper, which, however, did not prevent the outstanding Austrian psychiatrist and psychotherapist, director of the Vienna Neurological Clinic in his fundamental work " Theory and therapy of neuroses" to admit: "And yet, it seems to me, psychoanalysis will be the foundation for the psychotherapy of the future ... Therefore, the contribution made by Freud to the creation of psychotherapy does not lose its value, and what he did is incomparable."

During his life, Freud wrote and published a huge number of scientific works - the complete collection of his works is 24 volumes. He held the titles of Doctor of Medicine, Professor, Honorary Doctor of Laws from Clark University and was a foreign member of the Royal Society of London, recipient of the Goethe Prize, was an honorary member of the American Psychoanalytic Association, the French Psychoanalytic Society and the British Psychological Society. Not only about psychoanalysis, but also about the scientist himself, many biographical books have been published. More papers are published each year on Freud than on any other psychological theorist.

Sigmund Freud was born on May 6, 1856 in the small (about 4,500 inhabitants) town of Freiberg in Moravia, which at that time belonged to Austria. The street where Freud was born, the Schlossergasse, now bears his name. Freud's paternal grandfather was Shlomo Freud, he died in February 1856, shortly before the birth of his grandson - it was in his honor that the latter was named.

Sigmund's father, Jacob Freud, was married twice and had two sons from his first marriage - Philip and Emmanuel (Emmanuel). The second time he married at the age of 40 - to Amalia Natanson, who was half his age. Sigmund's parents were Jews of German origin. Jacob Freud had his own modest textile business. Sigmund lived in Freiberg for the first three years of his life, until in 1859 the consequences of the industrial revolution in Central Europe dealt a crushing blow to his father's small business, practically ruining it - as, indeed, almost all of Freiberg, which was in significant decline: after As the restoration of the nearby railroad was completed, the city experienced a period of rising unemployment. In the same year, the Freuds had a daughter, Anna.

The family decided to move and left Freiberg, moving to Leipzig - the Freuds spent only a year there and, having not achieved significant success, moved to Vienna. Sigmund endured the move from his native town quite hard - the forced separation from his half-brother Philip, with whom he was in close friendly relations, had an especially strong effect on the state of the child: Philip partly even replaced Sigmund's father. The Freud family, being in a difficult financial situation, settled in one of the poorest districts of the city - Leopoldstadt, which at that time was a kind of Viennese ghetto inhabited by the poor, refugees, prostitutes, gypsies, proletarians and Jews. Soon, Jacob's business began to improve, and the Freuds were able to move to a more livable place, although they could not afford luxury. At the same time, Sigmund became seriously interested in literature - he retained the love of reading, instilled by his father, for the rest of his life.

After graduating from the gymnasium, Sigmund doubted for a long time about his future profession - his choice, however, was quite meager due to his social status and the then prevailing anti-Semitic sentiments and was limited to commerce, industry, law and medicine. The first two options were immediately rejected by the young man because of his high education, jurisprudence also faded into the background along with youthful ambitions in politics and military affairs. Freud received the impulse to make a final decision from Goethe - once having heard how at one of the lectures the professor reads an essay by a thinker called "Nature", Sigmund decided to enroll in the Faculty of Medicine. So, Freud's choice fell on medicine, although he did not have the slightest interest in the latter - later he repeatedly admitted this and wrote: "I did not feel any predisposition to practicing medicine and the profession of a doctor," and in later years he even said that in medicine, I never felt “at ease”, and in general I never considered myself a real doctor.

In the fall of 1873, seventeen-year-old Sigmund Freud entered the medical faculty of the University of Vienna. The first year of study was not directly related to the subsequent specialty and consisted of many courses in the humanities - Sigmund attended numerous seminars and lectures, still not finally choosing a specialty to his taste. During this time, he experienced many difficulties associated with his nationality - because of the anti-Semitic sentiments that prevailed in society, numerous skirmishes took place between him and fellow students. Steadfastly enduring regular ridicule and attacks from his peers, Sigmund began to develop in himself the stamina of character, the ability to give a worthy rebuff in a dispute and the ability to resist criticism: “From early childhood, I was forced to get used to being in the opposition and being banned by the “majority agreement”. Thus the foundations were laid for a certain degree of independence in judgment..

Sigmund began to study anatomy and chemistry, but he enjoyed the lectures of the famous physiologist and psychologist Ernst von Brücke, who had a significant influence on him. In addition, Freud attended classes taught by the eminent zoologist Karl Klaus; acquaintance with this scientist opened up broad prospects for independent research practice and scientific work, to which Sigmund gravitated. The efforts of an ambitious student were crowned with success, and in 1876 he got the opportunity to carry out his first research work at the Institute of Zoological Research of Trieste, one of the departments of which was headed by Klaus. It was there that Freud wrote the first article published by the Academy of Sciences; it was devoted to revealing sex differences in river eels. During his time under Klaus "Freud quickly stood out among other students, which allowed him twice, in 1875 and 1876, to become a fellow of the Institute of Zoological Research of Trieste".

Freud retained an interest in zoology, but after receiving the position of a research fellow at the Institute of Physiology, he completely fell under the influence of Brücke's psychological ideas and moved to his laboratory for scientific work, leaving zoological research. “Under his [Brücke] guidance, the student Freud worked at the Vienna Physiological Institute, sitting for many hours at the microscope. ... He was never as happy as during the years spent in the laboratory studying the structure of nerve cells in the spinal cord of animals.. Scientific work completely captured Freud; he studied, among other things, the detailed structure of animal and plant tissues and wrote several articles on anatomy and neurology. Here, at the Physiological Institute, in the late 1870s, Freud met the physician Josef Breuer, with whom he developed strong friendships; both of them had similar characters and a common outlook on life, therefore they quickly found mutual understanding. Freud admired Breuer's scientific talents and learned a lot from him: “He became my friend and helper in the difficult conditions of my existence. We are used to sharing all our scientific interests with him. Naturally, I derived the main benefit from these relations..

In 1881, Freud passed his final exams with excellent marks and received a doctorate, which, however, did not change his lifestyle - he remained working in the laboratory under Brücke, hoping to eventually take the next vacant position and firmly associate himself with scientific work. . Freud's supervisor, seeing his ambitions and given the financial difficulties he faced due to family poverty, decided to dissuade Sigmund from pursuing a research career. In one of his letters, Brücke remarked: “Young man, you have chosen a path that leads nowhere. There are no vacancies in the Department of Psychology for the next 20 years, and you do not have enough means of subsistence. I see no other solution: leave the institute and start practicing medicine.”. Freud heeded the advice of his teacher - to a certain extent this was facilitated by the fact that in the same year he met Martha Bernays, fell in love with her and decided to marry her; in connection with this, Freud needed money. Martha belonged to a Jewish family with rich cultural traditions - her grandfather, Isaac Bernays, was a rabbi in Hamburg, his two sons - Mikael and Jakob - taught at the Universities of Munich and Bonn. Martha's father, Berman Bernays, worked as a secretary for Lorenz von Stein.

Freud did not have enough experience to open a private practice - at the University of Vienna he acquired exclusively theoretical knowledge, while clinical practice had to be developed independently. Freud decided that the Vienna City Hospital was best suited for this. Sigmund started with surgery, but after two months he abandoned this idea, finding the work too tiring. Deciding to change his field of activity, Freud switched to neurology, in which he was able to achieve some success - studying the methods of diagnosing and treating children with paralysis, as well as various speech disorders (aphasia), he published a number of works on these topics, which became known in scientific and medical circles. He owns the term "cerebral palsy" (now generally accepted). Freud gained a reputation as a highly skilled neurologist. At the same time, his passion for medicine quickly faded away, and in the third year of work at the Vienna Clinic, Sigmund was completely disappointed in her.

In 1883, he decided to go to work in the psychiatric department, headed by Theodor Meinert, a recognized scientific authority in his field. The period of work under the guidance of Meinert was very productive for Freud - exploring the problems of comparative anatomy and histology, he published such scientific works as “A case of cerebral hemorrhage with a complex of basic indirect symptoms associated with scurvy” (1884), “On the question of the intermediate location oliviform body", "A case of muscle atrophy with extensive loss of sensitivity (violation of pain and temperature sensitivity)" (1885), "Complex acute neuritis of the nerves of the spinal cord and brain", "Origin of the auditory nerve", "Observation of severe unilateral loss of sensitivity in a patient with hysteria » (1886).

In addition, Freud wrote articles for the General Medical Dictionary and created a number of other works on cerebral hemiplegia in children and aphasia. For the first time in his life, work overwhelmed Sigmund with his head and turned into a true passion for him. At the same time, a young man striving for scientific recognition experienced a feeling of dissatisfaction with his work, since, in his own opinion, he did not achieve really significant success; Freud's psychological state was rapidly deteriorating, he was regularly in a state of melancholy and depression.

For a short time, Freud worked in the venereal division of the department of dermatology, where he studied the relationship of syphilis with diseases of the nervous system. He devoted his free time to laboratory research. In an effort to expand his practical skills as much as possible for further independent private practice, from January 1884 Freud moved to the department of nervous diseases. Shortly thereafter, a cholera epidemic broke out in Montenegro, neighboring Austria, and the country's government asked for help in providing medical control at the border - most of Freud's senior colleagues volunteered, and his immediate supervisor at that time was on a two-month vacation; due to circumstances, for a long time, Freud served as chief physician of the department.

In 1884, Freud read about the experiments of a certain German military doctor with a new drug - cocaine. There have been claims in scientific papers that this substance can increase endurance and significantly reduce fatigue. Freud was extremely interested in what he had read and decided to conduct a series of experiments on himself.

The first mention of this substance by scientists is dated April 21, 1884 - in one of the letters, Freud noted: "I got hold of some cocaine and will try to test its effect by using it in cases of heart disease, as well as nervous exhaustion, especially in a terrible state of withdrawal from morphine". The effect of cocaine made a strong impression on the scientist, the drug was characterized by him as an effective analgesic, which makes it possible to carry out the most complex surgical operations; an enthusiastic article on the substance came out from Freud's pen in 1884 and was called "About coke". For a long time, the scientist used cocaine as an anesthetic, using it on his own and prescribing it to his fiancee Martha. Fascinated by the "magic" properties of cocaine, Freud insisted on its use by his friend Ernst Fleischl von Marxow, who was ill with a serious infectious disease, had a finger amputation and suffered from severe headaches (and also suffered from morphine addiction).

Freud advised a friend to use cocaine as a cure for morphine abuse. The desired result was not achieved - von Marxov subsequently quickly became addicted to a new substance, and he began to have frequent attacks similar to delirium tremens, accompanied by terrible pains and hallucinations. At the same time, from all over Europe, reports of cocaine poisoning and addiction began to arrive, about the deplorable consequences of its use.

However, Freud's enthusiasm did not diminish - he explored cocaine as an anesthetic in various surgical operations. The result of the work of the scientist was a voluminous publication in the Central Journal of General Medicine on cocaine, in which Freud outlined the history of the use of coca leaves by South American Indians, described the history of the plant's penetration into Europe, and detailed the results of his own observations of the effect produced by the use of cocaine. In the spring of 1885, the scientist gave a lecture on this substance, in which he recognized the possible negative consequences of its use, but noted that he did not observe any cases of addiction (this happened before the deterioration of von Marx's condition). Freud ended the lecture with the words: "I do not hesitate to advise the use of cocaine in subcutaneous injections of 0.3-0.5 grams, without worrying about its accumulation in the body". Criticism was not long in coming - already in June the first major works appeared, condemning Freud's position and proving its inconsistency. Scientific controversy regarding the appropriateness of the use of cocaine continued until 1887. During this period, Freud published several other works - "On the study of the action of cocaine" (1885), "On the General Effects of Cocaine" (1885), "Cocaine addiction and cocainophobia" (1887).

By the beginning of 1887, science had finally debunked the last myths about cocaine - it "was publicly condemned as one of the scourges of mankind, along with opium and alcohol." Freud, by that time already addicted to cocaine, until 1900 suffered from headaches, heart attacks and frequent nosebleeds. It is noteworthy that Freud not only experienced the destructive effect of a dangerous substance on himself, but also unwittingly (since at that time the perniciousness of cocainism had not yet been proven) spread to many acquaintances. E. Jones stubbornly concealed this fact of his biography and preferred not to cover it, however, this information became reliably known from published letters in which Jones stated: “Before the dangers of drugs were identified, Freud was already a social threat, as he pushed everyone he knew to take cocaine.”.

In 1885, Freud decided to take part in a competition held among junior doctors, the winner of which received the right to a scientific internship in Paris with the famous psychiatrist Jean Charcot.

In addition to Freud himself, there were many promising doctors among the applicants, and Sigmund was by no means the favorite, which he was well aware of; the only chance for him was the help of influential professors and scientists in academia, with whom he had previously had the opportunity to work. Enlisting the support of Brucke, Meinert, Leidesdorf (in his private clinic for the mentally ill, Freud briefly replaced one of the doctors) and several other scientists he knew, Freud won the competition, receiving thirteen votes in his support against eight. The chance to study under Charcot was a great success for Sigmund, he had great hopes for the future in connection with the upcoming trip. So, shortly before his departure, he enthusiastically wrote to his bride: “Little Princess, my little Princess. Oh how wonderful it will be! I will come with money ... Then I will go to Paris, become a great scientist and return to Vienna with a big, just a huge halo over my head, we will immediately get married, and I will cure all the incurable nervous patients ”.

In the autumn of 1885, Freud arrived in Paris to see Charcot, who at that time was at the height of his fame. Charcot studied the causes and treatment of hysteria. In particular, the main work of the neurologist was the study of the use of hypnosis - the use of this method allowed him to both induce and eliminate such hysterical symptoms as paralysis of the limbs, blindness and deafness. Under Charcot, Freud worked at the Salpêtrière clinic. Encouraged by Charcot's methods and impressed by his clinical success, he offered his services as an interpreter of his mentor's lectures into German, for which he received his permission.

In Paris, Freud was passionately involved in neuropathology, studying the differences between patients who experienced paralysis due to physical trauma and those who developed symptoms of paralysis due to hysteria. Freud was able to establish that hysterical patients vary greatly in the severity of paralysis and injury sites, and also to identify (with the help of Charcot) the existence of certain links between hysteria and problems of a sexual nature. At the end of February 1886, Freud left Paris and decided to spend some time in Berlin, getting the opportunity to study childhood diseases at the Adolf Baginsky clinic, where he spent several weeks before returning to Vienna.

On September 13 of the same year, Freud married his beloved Martha Bernay, who subsequently bore him six children - Matilda (1887-1978), Martin (1889-1969), Oliver (1891-1969), Ernst (1892-1966), Sophie ( 1893-1920) and Anna (1895-1982). After returning to Austria, Freud began working at the institute under the direction of Max Kassovitz. He was engaged in translations and reviews of scientific literature, conducted a private practice, mainly working with neurotics, which "immediately put on the agenda the issue of therapy, which was not so relevant for scientists engaged in research activities." Freud knew about the success of his friend Breuer and the possibilities of successfully applying his "cathartic method" in the treatment of neuroses (this method was discovered by Breuer while working with the patient Anna O, and later was reused together with Freud and was first described in "Studies in Hysteria") , but Charcot, who remained an unquestioned authority for Sigmund, was very skeptical about this technique. Freud's own experience told him that Breuer's research was very promising; beginning in December 1887, he increasingly resorted to the use of hypnotic suggestion in his work with patients.

In the course of his work with Breuer, Freud gradually began to realize the imperfection of the cathartic method and of hypnosis in general. In practice, it turned out that its effectiveness was far from being as high as Breuer claimed, and in some cases the treatment did not work at all - in particular, hypnosis was not able to overcome the patient's resistance, expressed in the suppression of traumatic memories. Often there were patients who were not at all suitable for introduction into a hypnotic state, and the condition of some patients worsened after the sessions. Between 1892 and 1895, Freud began looking for another method of treatment that would be more effective than hypnosis. To begin with, Freud tried to get rid of the need to use hypnosis, using a methodical trick - pressure on the forehead in order to suggest to the patient that he must definitely remember the events and experiences that had previously taken place in his life. The main task that the scientist solved was to obtain the desired information about the patient's past in his normal (and not hypnotic) state. The use of the laying on of the palm had some effect, allowing us to move away from hypnosis, but still remained an imperfect technique, and Freud continued to search for a solution to the problem.

The answer to the question that so occupied the scientist turned out to be quite accidentally suggested by the book of one of Freud's favorite writers, Ludwig Börne. His essay "The Art of Becoming an Original Writer in Three Days" ended with: “Write everything you think about yourself, about your successes, about the Turkish war, about Goethe, about the criminal process and its judges, about your bosses - and in three days you will be amazed at how much completely new, unknown lies in you ideas for you". This thought prompted Freud to use the entire array of information that clients reported about themselves in dialogues with him as a key to understanding their psyche.

Subsequently, the method of free association became the main method in Freud's work with patients. Many patients reported that pressure from the doctor - the insistent compulsion to "pronounce" all the thoughts that come to mind - prevents them from concentrating. That is why Freud abandoned the “methodical trick” with pressure on the forehead and allowed his clients to say whatever they wanted. The essence of the technique of free association is to follow the rule according to which the patient is invited to freely, without concealment, express his thoughts on the topic proposed by the psychoanalyst, without trying to concentrate. Thus, according to Freud's theoretical propositions, thought will unconsciously move towards what is significant (what worries), overcoming resistance due to lack of concentration. From Freud's point of view, no thought that appears is random - it is always a derivative of the processes that happened (and are happening) with the patient. Any association can become fundamentally important for establishing the causes of the disease. The use of this method made it possible to completely abandon the use of hypnosis in sessions and, according to Freud himself, served as an impetus for the formation and development of psychoanalysis.

The result of the joint work of Freud and Breuer was the publication of the book "Studies in Hysteria" (1895). The main clinical case described in this work - the case of Anna O - gave impetus to the emergence of one of the most important ideas for Freudianism - the concept of transfer (transfer) (this idea first occurred to Freud when he was thinking about the case of Anna O, who was at that time a patient Breuer, who told the latter that she was expecting a child from him and imitating childbirth in a state of insanity), and also formed the basis of the ideas that appeared later about the oedipal complex and infantile (childish) sexuality. Summarizing the data obtained during the collaboration, Freud wrote: “Our hysterical patients suffer from memories. Their symptoms are remnants and symbols of memories of known (traumatic) experiences.. The publication of the Hysteria Studies is called by many researchers the "birthday" of psychoanalysis. It is worth noting that by the time the work was published, Freud's relationship with Breuer had finally broken off. The reasons for the divergence of scientists in professional views to this day remain not completely clear; Freud's close friend and biographer Ernest Jones believed that Breuer categorically disagreed with Freud's opinion of the important role of sexuality in the etiology of hysteria, and this was the main reason for their breakup.

Many respected Viennese doctors - mentors and colleagues of Freud - turned away from him after Breuer. The statement that it is repressed memories (thoughts, ideas) of a sexual nature that underlie hysteria provoked a scandal and formed an extremely negative attitude towards Freud on the part of the intellectual elite. At the same time, a long-term friendship between the scientist and Wilhelm Fliess, a Berlin otolaryngologist, who attended his lectures for some time, began to emerge. Fliess soon became very close to Freud, who was rejected by the academic community, had lost his old friends and was in desperate need of support and understanding. Friendship with Fliss turned into a true passion for him, capable of being compared with the love for his wife.

On October 23, 1896, Jacob Freud died, whose death Sigmund experienced especially acutely: against the backdrop of despair and a sense of loneliness that seized Freud, he began to develop a neurosis. It is for this reason that Freud decided to apply analysis to himself, examining childhood memories through the method of free association. This experience laid the foundations of psychoanalysis. None of the previous methods were suitable for achieving the desired result, and then Freud turned to the study of his own dreams.

In the period from 1897 to 1899, Freud worked hard on what he later considered his most important work, The Interpretation of Dreams (1900, German Die Traumdeutung). An important role in preparing the book for publication was played by Wilhelm Fliess, to whom Freud sent the written chapters for evaluation - it was at the suggestion of Fliess that many details were removed from the Interpretation. Immediately after its publication, the book did not have any significant impact on the public and received only minor publicity. The psychiatric community generally ignored the release of The Interpretation of Dreams. The importance of this work for the scientist throughout his life remained undeniable - thus, in the preface to the third English edition in 1931, the seventy-five-year-old Freud wrote: “This book ... in full accordance with my current ideas ... contains the most valuable of the discoveries that a favorable fate has allowed me to make. Insights of this kind fall to the lot of a person, but only once in a lifetime..

According to Freud's assumptions, dreams have overt and covert content. Explicit content is directly what a person talks about, remembering his dream. The latent content is a hallucinatory fulfillment of some desire of the dreamer, masked by certain visual pictures with the active participation of the Self, which seeks to bypass the censorship restrictions of the Superego, which suppresses this desire. The interpretation of dreams, according to Freud, lies in the fact that on the basis of free associations that are found for individual parts of dreams, certain substitute representations can be evoked that open the way to the true (hidden) content of the dream. Thus, thanks to the interpretation of fragments of a dream, its general meaning is recreated. The process of interpretation is the "translation" of the explicit content of the dream into the hidden thoughts that initiated it.

Freud expressed the opinion that the images perceived by the dreamer are the result of the work of the dream, expressed in displacement (non-essential representations acquire a high value inherent in another phenomenon), condensation (in one representation, many meanings formed through associative chains coincide) and substitution (replacement specific thoughts with symbols and images), which turn the latent content of a dream into an explicit one. A person's thoughts are transformed into certain images and symbols through the process of visual and symbolic representation - in relation to the dream, Freud called this the primary process. Further, these images are transformed into some meaningful content (the plot of a dream appears) - this is how recycling (secondary process) functions. However, recycling may not take place - in this case, the dream turns into a stream of strangely intertwined images, becomes abrupt and fragmented.

Despite the rather cool reaction of the scientific community to the release of The Interpretation of Dreams, Freud gradually began to form around himself a group of like-minded people who became interested in his theories and views. Freud became occasionally accepted in psychiatric circles, sometimes using his techniques in work; medical journals began to publish reviews of his writings. Since 1902, the scientist regularly received in his house interested in the development and dissemination of psychoanalytic ideas of doctors, as well as artists and writers. The beginning of the weekly meetings was initiated by one of Freud's patients, Wilhelm Stekel, who had previously successfully completed a course of treatment for neurosis with him; It was Stekel who, in one of his letters, invited Freud to meet at his house to discuss his work, to which the doctor agreed, inviting Stekel himself and several especially interested listeners - Max Kahane, Rudolf Reiter and Alfred Adler.

The resulting club was named "Psychological Society on Wednesdays"; its meetings were held until 1908. For six years, the society acquired a fairly large number of listeners, whose composition changed regularly. It has steadily grown in popularity. “It turned out that psychoanalysis gradually aroused interest in itself and found friends, proved that there are scientists who are ready to recognize it”. Thus, the members of the "Psychological Society", who subsequently received the greatest fame, were Alfred Adler (member of the society since 1902), Paul Federn (since 1903), Otto Rank, Isidor Zadger (both since 1906), Max Eitingon, Ludwig Biswanger and Karl Abraham (all from 1907), Abraham Brill, Ernest Jones and Sandor Ferenczi (all from 1908). On April 15, 1908, the society was reorganized and received a new name - the Vienna Psychoanalytic Association.

The development of the "Psychological Society" and the growing popularity of the ideas of psychoanalysis coincided with one of the most productive periods in Freud's work - his books were published: "The Psychopathology of Everyday Life" (1901, which deals with one of the important aspects of the theory of psychoanalysis, namely reservations), "Wit and its Relation to the Unconscious" and "Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality" (both 1905). Freud's popularity as a scientist and medical practitioner grew steadily: “Freud's private practice increased so much that it occupied the entire working week. Very few of his patients, both then and later, were residents of Vienna. Most of the patients came from Eastern Europe: Russia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, etc.”.

Freud's ideas began to gain popularity abroad - interest in his works manifested itself especially clearly in the Swiss city of Zurich, where, since 1902, psychoanalytic concepts were actively used in psychiatry by Eugen Bleuler and his colleague Carl Gustav Jung, who were engaged in research on schizophrenia. Jung, who held Freud's ideas in high regard and admired himself, published The Psychology of Dementia praecox in 1906, which was based on his own developments of Freud's concepts. The latter, having received this work from Jung, appreciated it quite highly, and a correspondence began between the two scientists, which lasted almost seven years. Freud and Jung first met in person in 1907 - the young researcher strongly impressed Freud, who, in turn, believed that Jung was destined to become his scientific heir and continue the development of psychoanalysis.

In 1908 there was an official psychoanalytic congress in Salzburg - rather modestly organized, it took only one day, but was in fact the first international event in the history of psychoanalysis. Among the speakers, in addition to Freud himself, there were 8 people who presented their work; the meeting gathered only 40-odd listeners. It was during this speech that Freud first presented one of the five main clinical cases - the case history of the "Rat Man" (also found in the translation of "The Man with the Rats"), or the psychoanalysis of obsessive-compulsive disorder. The real success, which opened the way for psychoanalysis to international recognition, was the invitation of Freud to the USA - in 1909, Granville Stanley Hall invited him to give a course of lectures at Clark University (Worcester, Massachusetts).

Freud's lectures were received with great enthusiasm and interest, and the scientist was awarded an honorary doctorate. More and more patients from all over the world turned to him for advice. Upon his return to Vienna, Freud continued to publish, publishing several works, including The Family Romance of the Neurotics and Analysis of the Phobia of a Five-Year-Old Boy. Encouraged by the successful reception in the United States and the growing popularity of psychoanalysis, Freud and Jung decided to organize a second psychoanalytic congress, held in Nuremberg on March 30-31, 1910. The scientific part of the congress was successful, in contrast to the unofficial part. On the one hand, the International Psychoanalytic Association was established, but at the same time, Freud's closest associates began to divide into opposing groups.

Despite disagreements within the psychoanalytic community, Freud did not stop his own scientific activity - in 1910 he published Five Lectures on Psychoanalysis (which he gave at Clark University) and several other small works. In the same year, Freud published the book Leonardo da Vinci. Childhood Memories”, dedicated to the great Italian artist.

After the second psychoanalytic congress in Nuremberg, the conflicts that had matured by that time escalated to the limit, initiating a split in the ranks of Freud's closest associates and colleagues. The first to come out of Freud's inner circle was Alfred Adler, whose disagreements with the founding father of psychoanalysis began as early as 1907, when his work An Investigation into the Inferiority of Organs was published, which aroused the indignation of many psychoanalysts. In addition, Adler was greatly disturbed by the attention that Freud paid to his protégé Jung; in this regard, Jones (who characterized Adler as "a gloomy and captious person, whose behavior oscillates between grumpiness and sullenness") wrote: “Any unrestrained childhood complexes could find expression in rivalry and jealousy for his [Freud's] favor. The requirement to be a "beloved child" also had an important material motive, since the economic situation of young analysts depended for the most part on those patients whom Freud could refer to them.. Due to the preferences of Freud, who made the main bet on Jung, and the ambition of Adler, relations between them rapidly deteriorated. At the same time, Adler constantly quarreled with other psychoanalysts, defending the priority of his ideas.

Freud and Adler disagreed on a number of points. First, Adler considered the desire for power to be the main motive that determines human behavior, while Freud assigned the main role of sexuality. Secondly, the emphasis in Adler's studies of personality was placed on the social environment of a person - Freud paid the most attention to the unconscious. Thirdly, Adler considered the Oedipus complex a fabrication, and this was completely contrary to Freud's ideas. However, while rejecting the fundamental ideas for Adler, the founder of psychoanalysis recognized their importance and partial validity. Despite this, Freud was forced to expel Adler from the psychoanalytic society, obeying the demands of the rest of its members. Adler's example was followed by his closest colleague and friend, Wilhelm Stekel.

A short time later, Carl Gustav Jung also left the circle of Freud's closest associates - their relationship was completely spoiled by differences in scientific views; Jung did not accept Freud's position that repressions are always explained by sexual trauma, and in addition, he was actively interested in mythological images, spiritualistic phenomena and occult theories, which greatly annoyed Freud. Moreover, Jung disputed one of the main provisions of Freud's theory: he considered the unconscious not an individual phenomenon, but the heritage of ancestors - all people who have ever lived in the world, that is, he considered it as "collective unconscious".

Jung also did not accept Freud's views on libido: if for the latter this concept meant psychic energy, fundamental for the manifestations of sexuality directed at various objects, then for Jung libido was simply a designation of general tension. The final break between the two scientists came with the publication of Jung's Symbols of Transformation (1912), which criticized and challenged Freud's basic postulates, and proved extremely painful for both of them. In addition to the fact that Freud lost a very close friend, his differences of opinion with Jung, in whom he initially saw the successor, the continuation of the development of psychoanalysis, became a strong blow for him. The loss of support of the entire Zurich school also played its role - with the departure of Jung, the psychoanalytic movement lost a number of talented scientists.

In 1913, Freud completed a long and very difficult work on the fundamental work "Totem and Taboo". “Since writing The Interpretation of Dreams, I have not worked on anything with such confidence and enthusiasm.” he wrote about this book. Among other things, the work on the psychology of primitive peoples was considered by Freud as one of the largest scientific counterarguments to the Zurich school of psychoanalysis headed by Jung: "Totem and taboo", according to the author, was supposed to finally separate his inner circle from dissidents.

The First World War began, and Vienna fell into decay, which naturally affected Freud's practice. The economic situation of the scientist was rapidly deteriorating, as a result of which he developed depression. The newly formed Committee turned out to be the last circle of like-minded people in Freud's life: "We became the last associates that he was ever destined to have," Ernest Jones recalled. Freud, who was in financial difficulties and had enough free time due to the reduced number of patients, resumed his scientific activity: “Freud withdrew into himself and turned to scientific work. ... Science personified his work, his passion, his rest and was a saving remedy from external hardships and internal experiences. The following years became very productive for him - in 1914, Michelangelo's Moses, An Introduction to Narcissism, and An Essay on the History of Psychoanalysis came out from under his pen. In parallel, Freud worked on a series of essays that Ernest Jones calls the most profound and important in the scientific activity of a scientist - these are "Instincts and Their Fate", "Repression", "The Unconscious", "A Metapsychological Complement to the Doctrine of Dreams" and "Sadness and Melancholy ".

In the same period, Freud returned to the use of the previously abandoned concept of "metapsychology" (the term was first used in a letter to Fliess dated 1896). It became one of the key in his theory. By the word "metapsychology" Freud understood the theoretical foundation of psychoanalysis, as well as a specific approach to the study of the psyche. According to the scientist, a psychological explanation can be considered complete (that is, “metapsychological”) only if it establishes the existence of a conflict or connection between the levels of the psyche (topography), determines the amount and type of energy expended (economics) and the balance of forces in consciousness, which can be directed to work together or oppose each other (dynamics). A year later, the work "Metapsychology" was published, explaining the main provisions of his teaching.

With the end of the war, Freud's life only changed for the worse - he was forced to spend the money set aside for old age, there were even fewer patients, one of his daughters - Sophia - died of the flu. Nevertheless, the scientific activity of the scientist did not stop - he wrote the works “Beyond the pleasure principle” (1920), “Psychology of the masses” (1921), “I and It” (1923).

In April 1923, Freud was diagnosed with a palate tumor; the operation to remove it was unsuccessful and almost cost the scientist his life. Subsequently, he had to endure 32 more operations. Soon, the cancer began to spread, and part of Freud's jaw was removed - from that moment on, he used an extremely painful prosthesis that left non-healing wounds, in addition to everything else, it prevented him from speaking. The darkest period in Freud's life came: he could no longer lecture, because the audience did not understand him. Until his death, his daughter Anna took care of him: “It was she who went to congresses and conferences, where she read the texts of speeches prepared by her father.” A series of sad events for Freud continued: at the age of four, his grandson Heinele (the son of the late Sophia) died of tuberculosis, and some time later his close friend Karl Abraham died; Sadness and grief began to take hold of Freud, and words about his own approaching death began to appear more and more often in his letters.

In the summer of 1930, Freud was awarded the Goethe Prize for his significant contribution to science and literature, which brought great satisfaction to the scientist and contributed to the spread of psychoanalysis in Germany. However, this event turned out to be overshadowed by another loss: at the age of ninety-five, Freud's mother Amalia died of gangrene. The most terrible trials for the scientist were just beginning - in 1933, Adolf Hitler was elected Chancellor of Germany, and National Socialism became the state ideology. The new government adopted a number of discriminatory laws against Jews, and books that contradicted Nazi ideology were destroyed. Along with the works of Heine, Marx, Mann, Kafka and Einstein, the works of Freud were also banned. The Psychoanalytic Association was dissolved by government order, many of its members were repressed and their funds were confiscated. Many of Freud's associates persistently suggested that he leave the country, but he flatly refused.

In 1938, after the annexation of Austria to Germany and the ensuing persecution of Jews by the Nazis, Freud's position became much more complicated. After the arrest of his daughter Anna and interrogation by the Gestapo, Freud decided to leave the Third Reich and go to England. It turned out to be difficult to carry out the plan: in exchange for the right to leave the country, the authorities demanded an impressive amount of money, which Freud did not have. The scientist had to resort to the help of influential friends in order to obtain permission to emigrate. Thus, his longtime friend William Bullitt, then the US ambassador to France, interceded for Freud before President Franklin Roosevelt. The German ambassador to France, Count von Welzek, also joined the petitions. Through joint efforts, Freud received the right to leave the country, but the question of "debt to the German government" remained unresolved. Freud was helped to resolve it by his longtime friend (as well as a patient and student) - Marie Bonaparte, Princess of Greece and Denmark, who lent the necessary funds.

In the summer of 1939, Freud suffered particularly badly from a progressive illness. The scientist turned to Dr. Max Schur, who was caring for him, reminding him of his earlier promise to help die. At first, Anna, who did not leave a single step from her sick father, opposed his desire, but soon agreed. On September 23, Schur injected Freud with several cubes of morphine, a dose sufficient to end the life of an old man weakened by illness. At three o'clock in the morning, Sigmund Freud died. The scientist's body was cremated at Golders Green, and the ashes were placed in an ancient Etruscan vase donated to Freud by Marie Bonaparte. A vase with the ashes of a scientist stands in the mausoleum of Ernest George (Ernest George Mausoleum) in Golders Green.

On the night of January 1, 2014, unknown people made their way to the crematorium, where there was a vase with the ashes of Martha and Sigmund Freud, and broke it. Now the police in London have taken up the matter. The caretakers of the crematorium moved the vase with the ashes of the spouses to a safe place. The reasons for the attacker's act are not clear.

Works of Sigmund Freud:

1899 Interpretation of Dreams
1901 Psychopathology of everyday life
1905 Three essays on the theory of sexuality
1913 Totem and Taboo
1920 Beyond the Pleasure Principle
1921 Psychology of the masses and analysis of the human "I"
1927 The Future of One Illusion
1930 Dissatisfaction with culture

Some purely scientific terms from his theory of personality development and the sexual origin of neurological complexes and diseases have become firmly established in people's daily lives.

Sigmund Freud was the firstborn and favorite of his mother, who after him had seven more children. Sigmund's father had 4 children from his first marriage. Freud studied at the University of Vienna and was always an able student. But the study took 8 years, as he moved several times from one faculty to another, being unable to finally decide what profession he should choose. Eventually Sigmund chose medicine after he came to the conclusion that his initial decision to become a politician was futile: Freud realized that his opportunities in this profession would be very limited, since he was a Jew.

Freud began to conduct scientific research, studying the human nervous system. This led him to study diseases of the nervous system and possible treatments for them. He experimented with hypnosis, enthusiastically studied cocaine as a therapeutic agent, and in 1896 entered private practice as a specialist in diseases of the nervous system. That same year, at the age of 30, he married Martha Bernays.

In the late 90s, Freud suffered a severe nervous breakdown caused by the agony and death of his father and a loss of interest in sex after the birth of his last child. In the process of analyzing the difficult dreams and even nightmares that haunted him at that time, he began to use psychoanalysis, this "talking treatment" that was first developed and applied by his teacher Joseph Breuer. For the next 40 years, Freud's life proceeded in an atmosphere of domestic stability and great scientific achievements. He managed to gather around him many talented scientists, such as, for example, Carl Jung, Alfred Adler, Sandor Ferenczi and Ernst Jones. When the Nazis came to power in 1933, they burned Freud's scientific works, declaring them "Jewish pornography." Only in 1938 did Freud manage to break out to London. The Greek princess Marie Bonaparte, a close acquaintance and former patient of Freud, paid a £20,000 ransom for him. Freud spent the last year of his life in London. He died there in 1939 of jaw cancer.

Freud made it his profession to study the sexual secrets and mysteries surrounding his people, but did everything possible to hide his own intimate life from everyone. He simply destroyed many of his private letters, and the few that have survived to this day are stored in the US Library of Congress and will be open to researchers only in 2000.

At the age of 16, Sigmund fell in love for the first time in his life. His beloved Gisela Fluse rejected his love. He took revenge on her by falling in love with her mother. Until the age of 26, Freud then showed no interest in women. In 1882 he met Martha Bernays, a thin, pretty girl from a Jewish family. She turned 21 years old. For 4 years they were engaged, exchanging hundreds of letters, but meeting quite rarely, although Freud lived near her. Freud was a very passionate and jealous correspondent.

They eventually managed to save enough money and married in 1886. After several moves, they settled in a house in Vienna, where they lived until 1938. During the first nine marriage years of her life, Martha had six children. In 1895 Martha's sister Minna came and lived with them for two years. Freud was faithful to Martha, but began to move away from her. He threw himself into work, and Martha had enough household chores and worries. She had the whole house on her, and she always tried to create all the conditions for her husband to work and rest. Freud later admitted that Martha never felt at ease with him.

Shortly after his father's death, Freud met and became friends with Wilhelm Fliess, a major Berlin specialist in diseases of the ear, nose and throat. They became very attached to each other, often exchanging letters and meeting for "congresses", as they themselves called these meetings. Freud wrote: "I look forward with great impatience to our next meeting ... My life is dreary ... Only meeting with you can make me feel better again." Fliss was very careful and caring about his friend. He tried to break Freud's habit of smoking 20 cigars a day. Freud himself, by the way, argued that smoking, drug use and gambling are just a futile attempt to replace the "primal habit" - masturbation. During one of their "congresses" Freud collapsed. He later commented on the incident: "The basis of all this is some kind of uncontrollable homosexual feeling." The friendship with Fliess ended in 1903, mainly because of Freud's reaction to Wilhelm's theory of universal bisexuality. At first, Freud rejected this theory, and then began to claim that it was first put forward by himself, and decided to write a large scientific work on this topic. Freud believed that every person is bisexual, and even stated: "In any sexual act, four independent personalities are involved."

It was rumored that Freud and his wife's sister Minna were lovers. Minna was prettier and much smarter than her sister Martha. Freud was very fond of talking to her and telling her about his theory of psychoanalysis. He once wrote that Minna was very similar to himself: they were both "uncontrollable, passionate and not very good people." Marta, unlike them, was, in his words, "a very good person." Freud loved to travel. Minna often accompanied him, while Martha stayed at home with the children. The main source of the rumor that Freud and Minna were lovers was Carl Jung, Freud's student. It was he who allegedly told one of his friends that Minna and Marta had separately initiated him into this secret. To one American professor, Jung, in particular, reported that one day in 1907, when he was visiting Freud's house in Vienna, Minna told him that Freud loved her very much and that there was a very close relationship between them. Jung was very upset and turned to Freud himself for clarification. He also suggested that Freud approach him as a psychoanalyst and become his patient. Freud coldly refused this offer.

Freud had an insatiable sexual appetite, but sex itself was also an intellectual pastime for him. He was barely in his 40s when he once wrote to Fliess: "Sexual arousal no longer exists for me." He lived in accordance with the requirements of a strict moral code, which he wrote for himself. Despite the fact that all of his theories asserted that sexual impulses underlie almost all actions and actions of a person, Freud tried not to allow these impulses to have any influence on his own behavior. He was, after all, a respectable married man and always maintained that a family could not be strong until the wife became a mother. Six children, who were born almost one after another, partially extinguished his desires, forcing him to think more about contraceptives. In 1908, he wrote: "Family life ceases to give the pleasure that it promised to give at first. All contraceptives now existing reduce sensual pleasure, strike partners at the most vulnerable places and can even make them sick." In 1909, Freud arrived in the US with Jung and several other colleagues to give public lectures there. One morning, Freud confessed to Jung that he had erotic dreams about American women. "I've been sleeping very badly ever since I came to America," Freud confessed. "I dream about prostitutes all the time." "Well, why don't you do something to solve this problem?" Jung asked. Freud recoiled from him in horror: "But I'm married!" he exclaimed.

Freud's theories claim that it is the sexual forces that shape the behavior of the individual. Culture, on the other hand, muffles and suppresses instinctive sexual energy and directs it to the formation of stereotypes of social behavior in this particular individual. The life of Freud himself is partly proof of one of his statements. He considered this thought tragic, but true. Here it is: "The sex life of a civilized man is seriously crippled."

Jealous, straightforward, conflicted - such a portrait of a world famous scientist arises from his letters to his wife - Marthe Bernays. Despite the "non-family" nature Sigmund Freud, their marriage will last 53 years. But what concessions did Marta have to make in order to maintain a relationship that many contemporaries considered harmonious?

26-year-old Sigmund, reserved and unsociable, fell in love with Martha to the point of dizziness. He had never dated girls before. Martha forced him to change his principles in relation to the opposite sex. The indecisive young man began to take the initiative. There was no money, but every day he sent Martha a rose. Their meetings are filled with romance. One day, Sigmund decides to touch the girl's hand, which, according to Jewish traditions, is strictly prohibited before the wedding.

Soon the engagement took place, but the wedding had to wait several years for financial reasons. Sigmund fills the years of waiting with long letters, which today give an idea of ​​​​their relationship. Freud ambitiously promises his "little princess" that he will become a great scientist.

Already at the very beginning, Sigmund showed himself to be a temperamental and uncompromising person. Being in love does not prevent him from saying that the bride is ugly. He constantly challenges her religiosity (Martha is a Jew from an Orthodox family). Conflicts begin with the future mother-in-law. The girl is waiting for the groom, although even he is surprised at her patience.
Freud is jealous of Martha for her brother, Max, and for his friend. He recalls that she did not immediately return his feelings. Forces to refuse a wedding ceremony according to a religious rite. He wants to re-educate her. The most delicate moment is the ultimatum put forward to Martha: either he or her relatives.

Obviously, Freud was aware of his difficult temper, remarking in a letter: "My beloved, you are waiting for a not very easy person". From Paris, he returns without the promised "greatness", as well as without money. The search for their own method of treating patients has reached a dead end. And yet, on September 14, 1886, the wedding took place. Part of the amount had to be borrowed.

Freud preferred emotional women, with a "masculine" character, like Minna, Martha's sister, to whom some biographers attribute an affair with a scientist. However, to consider Martha complaisant and obedient is a delusion. She chose a strategy of waiting, when the next outbreak of her husband's nervousness passes, and they can agree. In addition to being patient and calm, Martha was a stubborn and intelligent woman.

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Sigmund Freud and his daughter Anna, 1938, Paris

Martha completely subordinated herself to the interests of the family. Realizing that her husband will always have science in the first place, she took care of household issues. The couple had six children. There were enough worries. However, financial difficulties by this time receded. The teachings of Dr. Freud received wide publicity.
Freud, contrary to rumors, was a faithful and caring spouse. After the birth of the last, sixth, child, the scientist stopped sleeping with Martha. His personal life also influences scientific practice. He is actively interested in the problems of contraception.

In the thirties, the life of the family was overshadowed by the serious illness of Sigmund Freud. His psychological state worsened. At this time, the youngest daughter, Anna, who later continued her father's work, devoted herself to science and did not start a family, becomes an inspirer and comrade-in-arms at this time.
Another threat was looming: Germany had occupied Austria. Thanks to the intervention of influential people, the family manages to escape to London. In September 1939, Sigmund Freud was lethally injected with morphine. On September 23, he died in a circle of close people. Martha will live to be 90 years old. After her husband's death, she will return to religion.
Sigmund Freud was a brilliant personality in which mutually exclusive traits and phenomena collided. For example, a doctor and scientist who has devoted himself to healing people from mental disorders.
Source: www.theguardian.com

The birth of psychoanalysis

The history of psychoanalysis dates back to the 1890s in Vienna, when Sigmund Freud worked to develop a more effective way to treat neurotic and hysterical illnesses. Somewhat earlier, Freud had encountered the fact that part of the mental processes were not conscious of him as a result of his neurological consultations in a children's hospital, and in doing so he found that many children with speech disorders do not have organic causes for the occurrence of these symptoms. Later in 1885, Freud had an internship at the Salpêtrière clinic under the French neurologist and psychiatrist Jean Martin Charcot, who had a strong influence on him. Charcot drew attention to the fact that his patients often suffered from somatic diseases such as paralysis, blindness, tumors, while not having any organic disorders characteristic of such cases. Prior to Charcot's work, women with hysterical symptoms were thought to have a vagus uterus ( hystera in Greek means "womb"), but Freud found that men could also experience similar psychosomatic symptoms. Freud also became familiar with the experiments in the treatment of hysteria by his mentor and colleague Josef Breuer. This treatment was a combination of hypnosis and catharsis, and later processes of discharging emotions similar to this method were called "abreaction".

Despite the fact that most scientists considered dreams to be either a set of mechanical memories of the past day, or a meaningless set of fantastic images, Freud developed the view of other researchers that a dream is a coded message. Analyzing the associations that arise in patients in connection with one or another detail of a dream, Freud made a conclusion about the etiology of the disorder. Realizing the origin of their disease, patients, as a rule, were cured.

As a young man, Freud became interested in hypnosis and its use in helping the mentally ill. Later, he abandoned hypnosis, preferring it free association method and dream analysis. These methods became the basis of psychoanalysis. Freud was also interested in what he called hysteria, and is now known as the conversion syndrome.

Symbols, unlike the usual elements of an explicit dream, have a universal (the same for different people) and stable meaning. Symbols are found not only in dreams, but also in fairy tales, myths, everyday speech, and poetic language. The number of objects depicted in dreams by symbols is limited.

dream interpretation method

The method Freud used to interpret dreams is this. After he was told the content of the dream, Freud began to ask the same question about the individual elements (images, words) of this dream - what does the narrator come to mind about this element when he thinks about it? The person was required to report every thought that came to his mind, regardless of the fact that some of them may seem ridiculous, irrelevant or obscene.

The rationale for this method is that mental processes are strictly determined, and if a person, when asked to say what comes into his mind regarding a given element of a dream, a thought comes into his head, this thought can by no means be accidental; it will certainly be associated with this element. Thus, the psychoanalyst does not interpret someone's dream himself, but rather helps the dreamer in this. In addition, some special elements of dreams can still be interpreted by a psychoanalyst without the help of the owner of the dream. These are symbols - elements of dreams that have a constant, universal meaning, which does not depend on in whose dream these symbols appear.

last years of life

Freud's books

• "The Interpretation of Dreams", 1900
• "Totem and Taboo", 1913
• "Lectures on Introduction to Psychoanalysis", 1916-1917
• "I and It", 1923
• Moses and Monotheism, 1939

Literature

1. Brian D. Freudian Psychology and the Post-Freudians. - Refl-book. - 1997.
2. Zeigarnik. "Personality Theories in Foreign Psychology". - Publishing House of Moscow University. - 1982.
3. Lacan J. Seminars. Book 1. Freud's work on the technique of psychoanalysis (1953-1954) M: Gnosis / Logos, 1998.
4. Lacan J. Seminars. Book 2. "I" in Freud's theory and in the technique of psychoanalysis (1954-1955) M: Gnosis / Logos, 1999.
5. Marson, P. "25 Key Books on Psychoanalysis." Ural Ltd. - 1999
6. Freud, Sigmund. Collected works in 26 volumes. St. Petersburg, publishing house "VEIP", 2005 - ed. continues.
7. Paul FERRIS. "Sigmund Freud"

Name: Sigmund Freud

Age: 83 years old

Place of Birth: freiberg

A place of death: London

Activity: psychoanalyst, psychiatrist, neurologist

Family status: was married to Martha Freud

Sigmund Freud - Biography

Trying to find ways to treat mental illness, he literally broke into the forbidden territory of the human subconscious and achieved some success - and at the same time became famous. And it is still unknown what he wanted more: knowledge or fame ...

Childhood, Freud's family

The son of a poor wool merchant Jacob Freud, Sigismund Shlomo Freud was born in May 1856 in the Austrian Empire, in the town of Freiberg. Soon the family hurriedly left for Vienna: according to rumors, the boy's mother Amalia (the second wife of Jacob and the same age as his married sons) had an affair with the youngest of them, causing a loud scandal in society.

At a tender age, Freud had the opportunity to experience the first loss in his biography: in the eighth month of his life, his brother Julius died. Shlomo did not love him (he demanded too much attention to himself), but after the death of the baby he began to feel guilty and remorseful. Subsequently, Freud, based on this story, will deduce two postulates: first, every child looks at his brothers and sisters as rivals, which means he has "evil desires" for them; secondly, it is the feeling of guilt that becomes the cause of many mental illnesses and neuroses - and it doesn’t matter what a person’s childhood was, tragic or happy.

By the way, Shlomo had no reason to be jealous of his brother: his mother loved him madly. And she believed in his glorious future: a certain old peasant woman predicted to a woman that her firstborn would become a great man. Yes, and Shlomo himself did not doubt his own exclusivity. He had outstanding abilities, was well-read, went to the gymnasium a year earlier than other children. However, for impudence and arrogance, teachers and classmates did not favor him. The ridicule and humiliation that rained down on the head of young Sigmund - psychotrauma - led to the fact that he grew up as a closed person.

After graduating from high school with honors, Freud thought about choosing a future path. As a Jew, he could only engage in trade, crafts, law or medicine. The first two options were rejected immediately, the bar was in doubt. As a result, in 1873, Sigmund entered the medical faculty of the University of Vienna.

Sigmund Freud - biography of personal life

The profession of a doctor did not seem interesting to Freud, but, on the one hand, it opened the way to research activities that he liked, and on the other hand, it gave him the right to private practice in the future. And this guaranteed material well-being, which Sigmund desired with all his heart: he was going to get married.

He met Martha Bernays at home: she went to visit his younger sister. Every day, Sigmund sent a red rose to his beloved, and in the evenings he went for a walk with the girl. Two months after the first meeting, Freud confessed his love to her - secretly. And he received a secret consent to the marriage. He did not dare to officially ask for Martha's hand in marriage: her parents, wealthy Orthodox Jews, did not even want to hear about the semi-poor atheist son-in-law.

But Sigmund was serious and did not hide his passion for "a little tender angel with emerald eyes and sweet lips." At Christmas, they announced their engagement, after which the mother of the bride (the father had died by that time) took her daughter to Hamburg - out of harm's way. Freud could only wait for a chance to raise his authority in the eyes of future relatives.

The case turned up in the spring of 1885. Sigmund took part in the competition, the winner of which was entitled not only to a solid prize, but also the right to a scientific internship in Paris, with the famous hypnotist-neurologist Jean Charcot. His Viennese friends clamored for the young doctor - and he, inspired, went to conquer the capital of France.

The internship brought Freud neither fame nor money, but he was finally able to go into private practice and marry Martha. A woman to whom a loving husband often repeated: “I know that you are ugly in the sense that artists and sculptors understand it,” bore him three daughters and three sons and lived in harmony with him for more than half a century, only occasionally arranging “culinary scandals over about cooking mushrooms.

Freud's Cocaine Story

In the autumn of 1886, Freud opened a private medical office in Vienna and focused on the problem of curing neuroses. He already had experience - he received it in one of the city hospitals. There were also tried, although not very effective techniques: electrotherapy, hypnosis (Freud almost did not own it), Charcot's shower, massage and baths. And more cocaine!

Having read a couple of years ago in a report by a certain German military doctor that water with cocaine “infused new strength into the soldiers,” Freud tried this remedy on himself and was so pleased with the result that he began to take small doses of the drug daily. Moreover, he wrote enthusiastic articles in which he called cocaine "a magical and harmless substitute for morphine" and advised his friends and patients. Needless to say, there was no particular benefit from such a “treatment”? And with hysterical disorders, the condition of the patients even worsened.

Trying one or the other, Freud realized that it was almost impossible to help a person suffering from neurosis with manipulations and pills. You need to look for a way to "climb" into his soul and find the cause of the disease there. And then he came up with the "method of free associations." The patient is invited to freely express thoughts on the topic proposed by the psychoanalyst - whatever comes to mind. And the psychoanalyst can only interpret the images. .. The same should be done with dreams.

And it went! Patients were happy to share their innermost (and money) with Freud, and he analyzed. Over time, he discovered that the problems of most neurotics are connected with their intimate sphere, or rather, with malfunctions in it. True, when Freud made a report on his discovery at a meeting of the Vienna Society of Psychiatrists and Neurologists, he was simply expelled from this society.

The neurosis began already in the psychoanalyst himself. However, following the popular expression "Doctor, heal yourself!", Sigmud managed to improve his mental health and discover one of the causes of the disease - the Oedipus complex. The scientific community also accepted this idea with hostility, but there was no end to the patients.

Freud became known as a successful practicing neurologist and psychiatrist. Colleagues began to actively refer to his articles and books in their works. And on March 5, 1902, when the Emperor of Austria François-Joseph I signed an official decree conferring the title of assistant professor to Sigmund Freud, there was a turn to real glory. The exalted intelligentsia of the beginning of the 20th century, suffering from neuroses and hysteria at a critical time, rushed to the office at Bergasse 19 for help.

In 1922, the University of London honored the great geniuses of mankind - the philosophers Philo and Maimonides, the greatest scientist of modern times, Spinoza, as well as Freud and Einstein. Now the address "Vienna, Bergasse 19" was known to almost the whole world: patients from different countries turned to the "father of psychoanalysis", and appointments were made for many years to come.

"Adventurer" and "conquistador of science", as Freud himself liked to call himself, found his Eldorado. However, health failed. In April 1923, he was operated on for oral cancer. But they could not overcome the disease. The first operation was followed by three dozen others, including the removal of part of the jaw.