The Well-Known Story Of Narcissistic Myth

The article “Freud on Narcissism-1916” summarizes Freud’s concepts of narcissism. The article explains, “Paraphrenia is defined with a) megalomania and b) a disconnect from reality. The libido that is returned to the ego creates a disinterest and indifference in the external world. The introverted libido, (the ego-libido), needs to store all the energy of the once object libido in the ego. The return of the libido causes

In the beginning of its development the libido (all erotic tendencies, all capacity for love) in each individual is directed towards the self…It is only until later that, in association with the chief natural functions, the libido flows over and beyond the ego towards objects outside the self, and it is not until then are we able to recognize the libidinal trends as such and distinguish them for the ego-instincts. (Freud, "One of the Difficulties to Psycho-Analysis," 3)

The unconscious mind houses the preconscious, a small section that houses material that is non-threatening, and easily brought to mind. But deeper in the unconscious mind are the instinctual drives, the wishes, desires, demands, and needs that are kept hidden from out conscious selves because of the conflicts and pain they would cause if they were brought to bear every day. Psychoanalytic personality theory tells us that the personality consists of three separate, but forever intermingling elements, id, ego, and superego. The id section of a personality is by far the largest, the only section that we are born with, and the section that contains the unconscious thoughts, it is raw, unorganized, and from the time of birth it tries to reduce tension caused by our primary drives. The ego, a section that develops soon after birth, balances the instinctual desires of the id and the realities of the outside world. Last of course is the superego, the final personality structure that is developed in childhood, and represent the rights and wrongs of society, contained within the superego is the conscience, the part of us that prevents us from behaving in a morally deplorable way and is responsible for guilt. Psychoanalytic personality theory is not without its virtues; Freud’s proposed five psychosexual stages – oral, anal, phallic-oedipal, latency and genital – are all supported in life.

Freud’s theory of personality examined the interplay between the primitive, instinctual urges—the ‘id’; the practical and rational ‘ego’; and the morally attuned ‘superego’; ‘object relations’ refer to the "object" of an instinct”, which is “the agent through which the instinctual aim is achieved”—most often a person and, according to Freud, most often the mother (Ainsworth 1969, p. 1). The psychosexual development theory that Freud launched reduces our behaviour to mechanistic responses to an instinctive need for pleasure fueled by the ‘libido’ and barriers or distortions to the gratification of the libido at various delineated stages of development were responsible for later problems in life (Kail & Zolner 2012, p. 5). Erik Erikson later added depth to the approach by including more humanistic elements to Freud’s stages and including more periods of development (p.

Another criteria for Narcissistic Personality Disorder that Oedipus fulfills “Is often envious of others or believes that others are envious of him or her.”(DSM-5 669) For example, Oedipus tells Creon that,

The myth of Narcissus, written by Ovid, is the tale of a hero whose self love gradually brought him to his death. Although Eve’s memorization of herself at the pool did not ultimately take her life, there are many similarities which tie Eve’s scene at the pool and the myth of Narcissus together. Mr. Collett writes, “This situation by the pool echoes Ovid's tale of Narcissus and attributes to Eve a native vanity that issues in the Fall, sometimes finding additional sinister implications in periodic resemblances between the creation of Eve and the birth of Sin.” (Collett 88). Throughout his article, Collett notes on similarities found not only between Narcissus and Eve, but also between the birth of Eve and the birth of Sin. One similarity can be found in the myth of Narcissus. Echo, a local nymph, crosses paths with Narcissus, and at first glance, notices his beauty and falls in

This research paper will compare and contrast two of the most influencial psychologists who helped shape the way we understand the development of the human mind; Sigmund Freud and Erik Erikson. The paper will focus on the similarities and differences between Freud’s Psycho-sexual theory, and Erikson’s psychosocial theory. Freud was one of the very first influencial psychologists who changed the way we study humans. Erikson recognized Freud’s contributions, and although he felt Freud misjudged some important dimensions of human development, he was still influenced by Freud, which caused some similarities in their theories.

Evaluation of a Psychodynamic Theory of Personality Development The basis of Freud's psychoanalytic theory was that the mind contained three parts: The Id, Ego, and Superego. He argued that the Id controlled the primal instincts such as aggression and sexual desire ('libido'), and was found in the unconscious mind. Its purpose is to gain immediate gratification, according to the 'pleasure principle'. The Id, he said, was in competition with the ego.

Freud described humans as having three essential components that built personality. The three components were the id, the ego, and the superego. He described the id, as being what governed an infant’s drive to overcome their primitive biological desires. According to his theory infants had no other goal than to release the tension that built up when their

Freud argued that an individual’s instinctual drive was sexually orientated. In the same way that “hunger seeks nutrition,

The main aim of this essay is to demonstrate an understanding of Freud’s theory of psychosexual development and how this theory may help us to explain and identify adult neurotic behaviour. I shall be evaluating the pros and cons of psychosexual theory and the extent to which it helps us to understand a client’s presenting issue. I shall also define and consider the relationship between the Id, Ego and Superego and the way in which these constructs of our psyche are in many ways representative of earlier experiences and of those early

It is a well-known fact that narcissists are great story tellers, and more often than not they are the center of their tale. According to Sigmund Freud, we are all born with a natural healthy form of narcissism, the notion of self-love and self-care, and a balance between them and the notion of object-love. However, when that balance is broken, it can greatly affect the individual and those around him. In

The construct of narcissism finds its origins in ancient Greece and Ovid’s Metamorphoses, with the proud and vain figure of Narcissus, cursed by the goddess, Nemesis, to fall in love with his own reflection. However, conceptualizations of pathological narcissism did not became a part of psychological theory until the late nineteenth century with Freud’s eminent essay: On Narcissism (Ronningstam, 2005). As Freud theorized on narcissism and, ironically, experimented with cocaine, the formal diagnosis of addiction was precipitously incorporated into the medical literature in response to increasing uncontrolled narcotic use and growing public health concern (Markel, 2012). Perhaps predictably, theorizing on the possible association between narcissism and addiction, particularly in the psychoanalytic tradition, has been addressed by theorists since. The term narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) was first introduced by Heinz Kohut in 1968, and saw inclusion in formal diagnostic literature in 1980 as a part of the significant revisions to personality disorders in the third edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM; American Psychiatric Association, 1980).

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.

From a Freudian perspective human development is based on psychosexual theory. From a psychosexual perspective maturation of the sex drives underlies stages of personality development (Shaffer et al., 2010). Ultimately, Freud believed that sex was the most important instinct and any mental disturbance revolved around sexual conflicts that were suppressed from childhood. Furthermore, Freud believed that parents permitting too much or too little gratification of sexual needs led