Fraud and Unjustified Conjectures in Dora An Analysis of a Case of Hysteria by Sigmund Freud

Sigmund Freud was arguably one of the most influential psychologists in the investigation of personality, and his work can still, to some extent, be considered relevant today. His methods allowed for the first time the investigation of phenomena that were previously difficult to tackle, such as dreams and sexual desires. “Yes and No” is a justified reply to the question of whether Freud is relevant today in that his ideas on personality were the first to investigate the role of childhood trauma, and have been reflected in the work of many other psychologists since, either as a continuation of his work or as a reaction to it.

Most evidence for theories is taken from Freud’s case studies, e.g. Little Hans. This case study was only based on one person in detail. Little Hans case study was carried out via mail contact with his father, only meeting Hans after the case was published which many would argue is not reliable. Freud got his results from talking sessions known as “free association” with patients which he wrote as case studies. Some patients in question are often small numbers of middle-aged Jewish women from Vienna that suffered comparable issues, which are biased samples, this makes the generalization to the wider population challenging. (Gross, 2015). Re-examinations of Freud’s theories propose that he occasionally distorted his patient’s cases to fit with his theory, e.g. being Dora and Ratman, both separate case studies both claimed he misrepresented facts and was unsuccessful in curing them. The theories are also greatly criticized by the humanist approach for being sexist against women. (Sulloway, 1991).

Before jumping in, Kline briefly explains Freud’s explanation of the psyche and its components: the id, ego, and superego. The author also briefly clarifies the terms repression, the true type, and the neurotic type. He then goes into explaining anxiety, and how Freud believed that anxiety originates from the ego and is correlated with a disturbance during a psychosexual stage as a child. Kline does acknowledge the fact that Freud disregards some crucial components while attempting to explain anxiety neurosis, but also accredits him for being the first psychologist to dive into this concept that had been too long overlooked. The author concludes his article by implying that Freud seemingly did not have a sense of humility while writing his earlier works, but Kline states that in this book of Freud’s, he wrote with a sense of modesty and wrote without his usual sense of

context, Freud is to be seen as having reconstructed the biblical history in accordance with his

Freud continued his work on repression, memories, and past experiences of trauma to be the motive for all neurotic symptoms. Trauma in past experiences was not always the key determinant for hysteria cases, there needed to be another component for the cause. The combination of past trauma and present trauma awakened memories of the earlier trauma which constituted the true aggravation (Storr, 1989, p. 15). However, he began to see a common factor in his work. Next Freud noticed that a common denominator of all his hysteria cases was premature sexual experiences. Sex encompasses many emotions through mind, body, and spirit that can influence a great deal of character if repressed. Storr pointed out that, “Freud became more and more convinced that the chief

Most psychologists focus on recordable and applied data to postulate theories. However, Freud concentrates around the process of psychoanalysis and the unconscious to explain his. In the introduction for his essay, “The Oedipus Complex”, Freud boldly states, “Being in love with one parent and hating the other are among the essential constituents of the stock of psychical impulses which is formed at the time and which is of such importance in determining the symptoms of later neurosis.”3 This hypothesis epitomizes the whole essay and allows the reader to be introduced to the concept of the Oedipus Complex. Freud expands on this quote and utilizes the rest of his essay to convince his readers of his theory. Although this proved to be effective during his time, this epitomizing quote is invalid today and discredits the essay from the introduction. In 1910, Freud conducted a case study on Sergei Pankejeff, also known as “Wolf Man”. After analyzing Pankejeff, Freud diagnosed him with depression and an unhealthy phobia of wolves. Freud hypothesized his new concept of the Oedipus Complex associated to the abnormal behavior after Pankejeff witnessed his parents copulating at an early age. Freud stated he cured Pankejeff and consequently reinforced the epitomizing quote of “The Oedipus Complex”. However, just like the case study of “Rat Man”, psychologists later questioned Freud’s results and

Knowledge guidance is very important when it comes to Freud’s (1910) discussion of hysteria. Knowledge guidance helps conduct the congitive processes that occur during the therapy. In Freud’s discussion about the bungling of acts he explains how when people cannot form their speech correctly or make mistakes in their writing is due to repressed thoughts trying to force themselves to the surface. The mistake in grammar is the disruption of the knowledge guiance because the thought process of talking and reasoning is messed up because the interference of the repressed thought stops the process occuring in the cerebral cortex. Resistance also depends on knowledge guidance because when a patient resists talking about a topic, the brain knows that

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), was an influential Austrian psychologist and the founder of psychoanalysis. Freud went on to produce several theories, such as his theory on psychosexual development, which will be the focus of this assignment. Using the case study of a six-year-old patient, I will discuss the key principles of Freud’s theory on psychosexual development. Including, comprehensive definitions of the concepts used, and the stages of Freud’s psychosexual development. Lastly using Freud’s theory, I will explain how the patient’s current behaviour, could impact her behaviour in adulthood.

“Freud’s case histories illustrate very clearly some of Freud’s most basic theories, such as his theories of identification, the role of transference, and the way in which the symptom is a formation of the unconscious.”

Sigmund Freud remains a well-known psychoanalyst. Freud dedicated his life to studying the hidden motives behind human behavior, as shown through his analyses of dreams and the unconscious mind. Freud also discovered that humans use defense mechanisms such as repression to keep the ideas of the unconscious mind from surfacing. While Freud made lasting impressions in the realm of psychology and psychoanalysis, critics find his analysis in the Dora case to be one-sided, disregarding Dora’s own interpretation and treating her as a typical passive woman. However, the case does give insight to Freud’s significant interpretations and his value on dreams and the unconscious mind in relation to how they affect Dora’s hysteria. In “Fragment of an Analysis of a Case of Hysteria (“Dora”),” Dora’s, whose real name is Ida Bauer, father visits Freud for his own mental issues, and later sends his daughter to meet with Freud as well to discuss her recent physical ailments and emotional hysteria. Meanwhile, Freud makes note, from memory, rather than taking note during the actual meetings, of Dora’s experiences and his own analysis of the events of her life and their effects on her health. In the “Dora” case, Sigmund Freud explores the ideas of the unconscious mind and how dreams help to uncover the hidden motives and feelings behind Dora’s hysteria, but at times forgets to take Dora’s own perspective into account.

Freud’s theory was initially based on his own person and experiences and memories, hence, lacking experimental and scientific

Nonetheless, the idea of penis envy becomes extremely important when examining Freud’s view on women for several reasons. Freud based the majority of his work on female sexual and personality development around penis envy, and Freud held the view that considered penis envy as natural and universal in all women (Slipp 16). According to Freud, the realization by the little girl that they had no penis was the defining moment in the realization of a female’s sexual identity. In The Feminist Legacy of Karen Horney, Marcia Westkott comments: “In sum, the Freudian concept of penis envy explains all one needs to understand of female behavior” (53). Freud

Freud collaborated with his colleague Josef Breuer on the book Studies of Hysteria centered on the case of Anna O. Freud would note that she most likely had sexual encounters when she was younger because he believed that all hysteria cases were a direct result of childhood sexual experiences. In the Studies of Hysteria, Freud thought that the affliction was the outcome of her aggression toward her father’s substantial illness a sexual encounter, while Jung would have thought that Anna O was experiencing issues with the awaited outcome of her life and maybe there was an absence of faith. Since sex and aggression are Freud’s main points in his theories and he also thought that those two were the reasoning behind her symptoms of hysteria, Jung would disagree that they were the reason because he thought

Westen, D. (1998). The Scientific Legacy of Sigmund Freud: Toward a Psychodynamically Informed Psychological Science. Psychological Bulletin, 124,

That science has allowed us to live in great material comfort but failed to provide true peace of mind points to the incomplete truths of scientific “objectivity.” Dr. Habib Davanloo, psychiatrist in the psychoanalytic vein and referred to as “Freud on steroids,” admits the one-sidedness of his clinical interventions. In the doctor’s often-successful attempts to liberate patients to experience their feelings and impulses, the demand to use techniques that forego objective truth often arises. Arriving at a simpler, emotional truth, Dr. Davanloo means, sometimes requires ignoring the fact that the objective truth is never black and white, is never “pure” (Unlocking the Unconscious, 257).