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The Psychopathology of Everyday Life
Along with the Introductory Lectures on Psycho-analysis, this book remains one of Freud's most widely read. It is filled with anecdotes, many of them quite amusing, and virtually bereft of technical terminology. And Freud put himself on the line: numerous acts of willful forgetting or "inexplicable" mistakes are recounted from his personal experience. None of such actions can be called truly accidental, or uncaused: that is the real lesson of the Psychopathology.
395 pages, Paperback
Published September 17, 1990
About the author
Sigmund Freud
4,540 books8,678 followersDr. Sigismund Freud, M.D. (University of Vienna)—later changed to Sigmund—was a neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, who created an entirely new approach to the understanding of the human personality. He is regarded as one of the most influential—and controversial—minds of the 20th century.
In 1873, Freud began to study medicine at the University of Vienna. After graduating, he worked at the Vienna General Hospital. He collaborated with Josef Breuer in treating hysteria by the recall of painful experiences under hypnosis. In 1885, Freud went to Paris as a student of the neurologist Jean Charcot. On his return to Vienna the following year, Freud set up in private practice, specialising in nervous and brain disorders. The same year he married Martha Bernays, with whom he had six children.
Freud developed the theory that humans have an unconscious in which sexual and aggressive impulses are in perpetual conflict for supremacy with the defences against them. In 1897, he began an intensive analysis of himself. In 1900, his major work The Interpretation of Dreams was published in which Freud analysed dreams in terms of unconscious desires and experiences.
In 1902, Freud was appointed Professor of Neuropathology at the University of Vienna, a post he held until 1938. Although the medical establishment disagreed with many of his theories, a group of pupils and followers began to gather around Freud. In 1910, the International Psychoanalytic Association was founded with Carl Jung, a close associate of Freud's, as the president. Jung later broke with Freud and developed his own theories.
After World War One, Freud spent less time in clinical observation and concentrated on the application of his theories to history, art, literature and anthropology. In 1923, he published The Ego and the Id, which suggested a new structural model of the mind, divided into the 'id, the 'ego' and the 'superego'.
In 1933, the Nazis publicly burnt a number of Freud's books. In 1938, shortly after the Nazis annexed Austria, Freud left Vienna for London with his wife and daughter Anna.
Freud had been diagnosed with cancer of the jaw in 1923, and underwent more than 30 operations. He died of cancer on 23 September 1939.
In 1873, Freud began to study medicine at the University of Vienna. After graduating, he worked at the Vienna General Hospital. He collaborated with Josef Breuer in treating hysteria by the recall of painful experiences under hypnosis. In 1885, Freud went to Paris as a student of the neurologist Jean Charcot. On his return to Vienna the following year, Freud set up in private practice, specialising in nervous and brain disorders. The same year he married Martha Bernays, with whom he had six children.
Freud developed the theory that humans have an unconscious in which sexual and aggressive impulses are in perpetual conflict for supremacy with the defences against them. In 1897, he began an intensive analysis of himself. In 1900, his major work The Interpretation of Dreams was published in which Freud analysed dreams in terms of unconscious desires and experiences.
In 1902, Freud was appointed Professor of Neuropathology at the University of Vienna, a post he held until 1938. Although the medical establishment disagreed with many of his theories, a group of pupils and followers began to gather around Freud. In 1910, the International Psychoanalytic Association was founded with Carl Jung, a close associate of Freud's, as the president. Jung later broke with Freud and developed his own theories.
After World War One, Freud spent less time in clinical observation and concentrated on the application of his theories to history, art, literature and anthropology. In 1923, he published The Ego and the Id, which suggested a new structural model of the mind, divided into the 'id, the 'ego' and the 'superego'.
In 1933, the Nazis publicly burnt a number of Freud's books. In 1938, shortly after the Nazis annexed Austria, Freud left Vienna for London with his wife and daughter Anna.
Freud had been diagnosed with cancer of the jaw in 1923, and underwent more than 30 operations. He died of cancer on 23 September 1939.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
November 4, 2013
Well, I always meant to read this one. Out of all his theories I've always considered this to be one of his most interesting, and hardest to prove or pinpoint since you have to have complete honesty to crawl backwards in your brain for some of those sneaky slips of the tongue or bizarre reactions we all do from time to time. The text is a little repetitive, but it gets it's point across. Personally, and as a complete aside, I was struck by Freud's fixation on whether or not he would be paid by his patients. Part of me doesn't blame him, he was creating a new medical process which i suppose was as risque then as it is blase now, and i suppose there were people back then trying to run out on their bills, but at the same time I found his skinflint-i-ness really amusing. (I imagine him saying 'I am the godfather of modern psychology... and so and so still owes me x$$ from december of 1903....' too funny!)
July 29, 2011
This is a phrase that I use every week. I first read this in a college course, and found his body of work to be eye opening and thought provoking--although not all that easy to read--I would never have guessed that I would go on to be a psychiatrist, but he rocked my world
January 29, 2008
A much easier read than Civilization and its Discontents. Full of interesting examples of some bizzare associations that might explain why one would forget something.
January 15, 2019
Too many examples that don’t add meaningful information
April 5, 2024
read selections for class, will return
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews