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Freud 's Interest Of Unconscious Ideas

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Freud’s interest in unconscious ideas was sparked in France after watching demonstrations by Jean-Martin Charcot and Hippolyte Bernheim. Charcot showed that hysterical conditions like “glove anesthesia” and blindness without a scientific cause could be cured (though often temporarily) through ideas and suggestions. The idea on the part of the patient that he cannot see or feel his hand or any other number of things can be reversed by the hypnotist’s command to do whatever he believes he cannot. His demonstrations showed that the afflicted were not suffering from a problem in the brain, but rather in the mind. Josef Breuer, a respected internist, was also heavily influenced by Charcot. He tried to cure a patient suffering from numerous symptoms through hypnosis and suggestion, but failed. he noticed however that while the patient was under a hypnotic trance, she started to talk about her symptoms, and he encouraged her to discuss the original incident that caused her problems. Breuer told Freud about this experience and others, and in 1893 they published the first psychoanalytic essay. Their essay, “A Preliminary Communication,” stated that “Hysterics suffer mainly from reminiscences.” They argued that hysteria was caused by repressed memories and the feelings that went along with them. Freud and Breuer agreed that symptoms could be cured if they were traced to their beginnings, the cause unearthed, and then the memories and feelings were discharged. They also agreed

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