2020 Dr. Gadi Psychiatric Clinic
INFO
Psychoanalytic personality theory
Psychoanalysis is a theory of personality which describes man is governed by unconscious needs and
impulses. Made popular by Sigmund Freud, he states that man's source of problems lies in past, unresolved
conflicts in childhood which somehow resurface, years later. Freud also divided the human mind into three
parts, the id, where the source of unconcious needs and drives such as sex and aggression lie. However,
society makes certain rules to individuals not to display id-like behavior, here the superego (or conscience)
steps in to check the needs of the id, whether it is within moral and cultural bounds. Finally, the ego's function
is to allow the needs of the id safely, and within moral and cultural bounds. Freud also devised five stages of
human development; when a conflict is not resolved in one of these stages, it resurfaces anew in later years.
The five stages are: oral, pleasure from feeding; anal, toilet training, phallic stage attachment to the opposite-
gender parent; latency stage, where problems are the adolescent's problems are repressed; and genital
stage, where the individual seeks a suitable marital partner.
Frustration and life problems
Frustration means that an individual's goal is blocked due to an extraneous problem; where obtaining a
solution is difficult. Because of this, the individual feels stressed. Symptoms of stress include anxiety or an
inability to concentrate. Prolonged stress will cause major depression and social withdrawal and may cause
substance abuse such as alcohol or narcotic drugs. These substances changes normal brain and nerve
functioning giving the user an altered state of awareness leading to addiction. It is therefore imperative that
the individual resort to support groups, friends and family ties for physical comfort, reassurance and a
solution when conflicts arise. Conflicts can be categorized as approach-approach, where the subject must
choose only one good alternative from two; approach-avoidance is a choice between one pleasing and one
unpleasant situation; avoidance-avoidance is a choice between two unpleasant situations.
Mental Disorders
Mental disorders are classified into different categories: Anxiety disorders occur when the person
experiences traumatic events (such as the death of a loved one); the person becomes nervous and/or
depressed thorughout everyday waking hours because they can't forget the traumatic event. Another;
dissociative disorders result when a person "forgets" a particular life event (usually traumatic) and goes on in
life without any knowledge of the event. Identity disorders is similar to dissociative disorders, but the subject
loses his or her own personality and "creates" another one, sometimes opposite to his or her original
personality. Mood disorders causes the individual to experience severe depression, elation and even both,
such in the case of bipolar disorders where the individual's mood swings back and forth from an emotional
"high" to a dysthymic "low". However, the worst case of mental disorder is psychosis; which is marked by
withdrawal from reality, disorganized thoughts, visual or auditory hallucinations, and delusions.
Therapy and Treatment
Psychotherapy means that the clinical psychologist or psychiatrist meets with the client face to face, or with
the support group the client has. The client seeks solutions to his or her problem, where the psychotherapist
provides answers; sometimes this problem could last for weeks until the client has resolved it through
medicine and counseling. There are five types of psychotherapy: First is psychoanalytic where the therapist
analyzes unconsious, repressed and past unresolved anxieties. Second is humanistic, where clients are
encouraged to become more self-aware, self-confident and independent in resolving their own problems.
The third is behavioral, where negative learned behavior are curtailed while positive behavior are encouraged
through learning and conditioning. The fourth is cognitive, here adaptive thinking, curative reasoning and
rationalization is emphazised in treating anxiety. Finally the eclectic approach borrows techniques from the
previous four psychotherapy treatment types.
Psychiatry
Psychiatrists are licensed physicians who administer drugs that can cure altered mental states such as
bipolar disorders particularly manic-depressive; or psychotic disorders particularly schizophrenia. Some of
these drugs such as Nozinan and Stilnox contain a special chemical substance which induces sleep among
anxious and sleepless patients. Another example is Prozac, which help treat major depression among
patients. A potent combination of medical drugs and practical advice is enough to treat the most cases of
abnormal behavior among patnents. However, in some cases patients with severe mental disorders are
required to be institutionalized because of the danger they may inflict upon themselves and to others. Some
of these patients have been in the mental hospital for years until he or she is fully recovered and is normal
enough to fit into society.