The Unconscious Mind

To understand why people think, feel, speak, and act the way they do we must grasp the concept of the unconscious mind. To an­ticipate a fuller description in the following chapter, we shall give a very brief resume at this point.

The unconscious mind is the repository of thoughts and feelings of which we are una­ware. It files and remembers (but does not necessarily release to conscious memory) all our past experience. Indeed, it releases com­paratively little, largely because we want to forget or repress unpleasant memories. We can assign a theoretical structure to the un­conscious mind which helps us to comprehend its operation.

The unconscious mind is assumed to consist of three parts: id, ego, and superego. The id may be said to represent the primitive drives and instincts of the human being. The ego represents the conscious self, which makes contact with reality and tries to keep the de­mands of the id in tune and touch with the real world- The superego is, crudely, the con­science, which also seeks to direct the ego.

The ego has a tough job. It must seek to satisfy the demands of the id, the superego, and external reality at the same time. To protect itself, the ego must adopt defenses; it must find compromise solutions which at least temporarily stabilize conflict in the un­conscious mind and permit the individual to carry on. These compromises are often called mental mechanisms. This is not all that is required of the ego. It represents that part of the psyche which looks, acts, and builds to­ward individual satisfactions and socially commendable achievements in human life.

Interaction of Mind and Body

Physical health and mental health are cer­tainly intertwined. For purposes of discussion we may separate mind (psyche) and body (soma), but in the everyday business of living they are indivisible. What we think and feel, consciously or unconsciously, is reflected in the cells of our bodies. Consider, for example, the shiver of fear and the blush of shame. Conversely, damage, deprivation, or disorder of the body affects the mind. Take, for in­stance, the delirium produced by high fever. Furthermore, our feelings and conduct can be drastically altered by drugs—for example, alcohol, narcotics, tranquilizers, and cerebral stimulants. These are fairly extreme exam­ples. A more subtle interaction goes on all the time under the mediation, regulation, and control of the two important integrative sys­tems of the body the nervous system and the endocrine system.

The simple principles for maintaining a reasonably good state of physical health — adequate diet, sufficient rest and exercise, attention to warning signals of disease, and so forth —apply also to the quest for mental health. One cannot pursue mental health as if it were a butterfly to be caught in a net. In­deed, constant concern over health js itself unhealthy. One attains and maintains mental health by indirection. The positive steps are outward. A person in a good state of mental health is identified by the fact that he enjoys good personal and social relationships with other people. He is not brooding about him­self, nor introspectively exploring the state of his unconscious mind. He is living out, within the framework of the culture around him, something that may be called a satisfying and mature philosophy of life.

The revolution in psychiatry and psychi­atric treatment which began with Sigmund Freud is not to be wiped out or overthrown; but the Freudians (especially since the advent of a new psychopharmacology in the 1950"s) can no longer assume the role of the only legit­imate priests and prophets in the further de­velopment of the mental health of individuals, communities, and nations. The help of all professional groups, psychologists, physicians,social workers, teachers, nurses, parents, and others, and of the people themselves, is necessary if the high and laudable goals of mental health are ever to be achieved. With such cooperation mental hygiene is not a vain hope but rather a major weapon in the armament with which mankind can fight suc­cessfully against the mounting menace of its mental ills.