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

Among those interested in learning more we can find Sigmund Freud, Pierre Janet, and William James. For Sigmund Freud, hysteria became an enigma mostly because it was frequently identified as a disorder suffered by women. Through his conversations with women who suffered panic symptoms, he identified past traumatic experiences as the main cause of this syndrome. Freud findings helped to gain a better understanding of the symptoms of hysteria. Freud’s research put him in the middle of a personal disagreement, influenced by a political and social controversy that removed him from further study of this

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was the most recognized person during the Civil Rights Movement. During the mid 1900's, African Americans were protesting the Jim Crow Laws and the racial violence happening around the south. Most importantly, Alabama. On April 16, 1963, Dr. King wrote a letter to clergymen arguing for a change in society and to justify his actions from the Birmingham jail. While writing this letter, King uses rhetorical devices and appeals to develop his argument.

Sigmund Freud’s influence on modern day thinking permeates into our lives every day whether or not we realize it. Although much of his work has either been refuted or revised, his ideas have influenced an enormous spectrum of psychology and how we view life through our own thoughts. While his influence is irrefutable, the opinions concerning Freud and his writings vary greatly throughout the world. Individuals may distinguish the great genius in his groundbreaking theories of psychoanalysis, or they may reject his writings arguing that he had pushed the envelope too far. Either way, it is safe to say that his theories still evoke a considerable amount of debate to this day. Out of all of Freud’s theories, however, it can be argued that his

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

Over the past decade, a visible social movement has been induced by the uprising of media and websites. However, it has undoubtedly peaked during the last couple of years. With the steady establishment of new social networks, there are varying viewpoints regarding the time the majority of people spend fixed to a screen. This is certainly food for thought. Is society isolating itself from face-to-face contact and resorting to online relationships? Possibly. But are such actions always critical and destructive? Opinions range on the subject. Through the analyzation of the argument, using examples such as an article by Barry Cooper, "Infatuation with Facebook friends knows no limits," the common myth of Echo and Narcissus, and a personal perspective,

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

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).

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

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.

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 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.

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.

Sigmund Freud created strong theories in science and medicine that are still studied today. Freud was a neurologist who proposed many distinctive theories in psychiatry, all based upon the method of psychoanalysis. Some of his key concepts include the ego/superego/id, free association, trauma/fantasy, dream interpretation, and jokes and the unconscious. “Freud remained a determinist throughout his life, believing that all vital phenomena, including psychological phenomena like thoughts, feelings and phantasies, are rigidly determined by the principle of cause and effect” (Storr, 1989, p. 2). Through the discussion of those central concepts, Freud’s theory of psychoanalysis becomes clear as to how he construed human character.

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

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