The Unconscious Mind

The most serious criticism of the psychoan­alytic formulation of human conduct is prob­ably that it does not give full enough weight to the physiological factors involved; it more or less takes them for granted. Freud himself, who began as a neurologist, anticipated this criticism and worked out his theory precisely because there was not enough information at

 that time on the physiology or pathology (disorder) of the human nervous system to explain the huge backlog of unhappy people and mental illness that confronted him.

The success of recent drug therapy (e.g. tranquilizers and cerebral stimulants) in treating mild and severe mental illness sug­gests that physiological modifications of the nervous system can favorably modify the events presumed to occur in the unconscious mind. But the new ability to alter and im­prove the physiological factors in mental ill­ness does not entirely wipe out the psychic factors.

Those who doubt the existence and impor­tance of the unconscious mind must find a better explanation for such questions as: How can a fact be remembered one minute and forgotten the next? Where do dreams come from? Why do so many people feel uncomfor­tably anxious and guilty about trivial and unimportant events of their past and present experience? Why do patterns of reaction es­tablished in childhood persist throughout adult life?

Although other terminology for the struc­ture of the unconscious mind can be and has been used, the well-accepted (Freudian) con­struct divides it into three interacting parts: the id, the ego, and the superego.

The Id

A newborn baby, helpless though he is, nevertheless has a lust for life, instincts, and aptitudes (like the sucking reflex) for sur­vival. This passion for existence, this inher­ent vital emotional energy we have pointed out. can he described as his libido In a more impersonal term it can also be characterized as the id. All that we can guess or posit con­cerning the existence of the id we gain from observations of the conduct of the libido. (We have already traced the normal course of libido attachments to "love objects" from early inlancy through adulthood.) In the structure of the unconscious mind, therefore, the id can be construed as the uncontrolled source of the inborn tendencies, the instincts, the uncon­scious striving of the human organism to live and enjoy life

The id, however, has characteristics which are not in accord with the best in human con­duct Like a child who "wants what he wants when he wants it." the id constantly seeks its own pleasure and gratification. It acts as if pleasure were the only thing in the world that counts. It operates on the pleasure prin­ciple exclusively. This is the way infants and children behave, and it takes education, ma­turation, and social pressure before they give up the pleasure principle as the chief guide to conduct. Even in adults, of course, the pleasure-seeking drive persists but it is under greater control.

The pleasure-seeking id does not distin­guish between good and evil It is illogical; it holds contradictory wishes and impulses at the same time. In a word, the id it unrealistic The human organism which responded solely to its whims, its sexual and aggressive tend­encies, would probably not long survive.