Paper Topic:

How usefull is the psychodynamic approach in explaining and treating abnormality

The Usefulness of Psychodynamic Approach in explaining and treating abnormality

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Introduction

The psychodynamic perspective is based on the work of Sigmund Freud . He created both a theory to explain personality and mental diss , and the form of therapy known as psychoanalysis . The psychodynamic approach assumes that all behavior and mental processes reflect constant and unconscious struggles within person . These usually involve conflicts between our need to satisfy basic biological instincts , for example , for food , sex or aggression , and the restrictions imposed by society . Not

all those who take a Psychodynamic approach accept all of Freud 's original ideas , but most would view normal or problematic behavior as the result of a failure to resolve conflicts adequately . This attempts to distinguish itself in trying to not only understand the theory that Freud pioneered and polished by some of his faithful followers but especially determine the extent of its usefulness in explaining and treating abnormal behavior . It is the aim of the author to present in prycis a and explanation of the psychodynamic approach and its usefulness in the context of abnormal behavior (Kaplan 1994

Discussion

Many of the diss or mental illnesses recognized today without a doubt have their psychodynamic explanation aside from other viewpoints like that of the behaviourist , or the cognitivists . From simple childhood developmental diseases to Schizophrenia , there is a rationale that from Freud 's camp is able to explain (Kaplan et al , 1994

I . The Psychodynamic concepts

A . Theory of Instincts

Libido , Narcissism , Instincts and Pleasure Reality Principles

Freud employed libido ' to denote to that force by which the sexual instinct is represented in the mind ' This concept is quite crude or raw in its form hence this refers far more than coitus . Narcissism was developed by Freud as his explanation of people who happened to have lost libido and found that in the pre-occupation of the self or the ego like in the cases of dementia praecox or schizophrenia . Persons afflicted with this mental illness appeared to have been reserved or withdrawing from other people or objects . This led Freud to conclude that a loss of contact with reality is usually common among such patients . The libido that he conceptualized as innate in every person is herein explained as invested somewhere else and that is precisely the role of self-love or narcissism in the life of one afflicted . The occurrence of narcissism is not only among people with psychoses but also with what he calls neurotic persons or in normal people especially when undergoing conditions such as a physical disease or sleep . Freud explains further that narcissism exists already at birth hence , one can expect realistically that newborn babies are wholly narcissistic (Sdorow , 1995

Freud classified instincts into different distinguishing dimensions namely : ego instincts , aggression , and life and death instincts . Ego instincts are the self-preservative aspects within the person , while aggression is a separate construct or structure of the mind which is not a part of the self-preservative nature of the...

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