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Three Case Histories
A Simon & Schuster eBook
324 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1963
26 people are currently reading
790 people want to read
About the author
Sigmund Freud
4,377 books8,438 followersDr. Sigismund Freud (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 - 30 of 33 reviews
July 5, 2022
One of the “cases” included in this book is that of Daniel Paul Schreber, whom Freud never met, but upon whose memoir Freud based some of his thinking with respect to paranoia. The other two cases, the “Rat Man” and the “Wolf Man,” are based on patients with whom Freud worked. The Rat Man’s case is interesting in terms of the way that neurosis can be reflected in a subject’s language. A significant point about the case of the Wolf Man is its role with respect to Freud’s conception of the notion of retroaction, or nachtraglichkeit.
Acquired Aug 28, 2006
P.T. Campbell Bookseller, London, Ontario
Acquired Aug 28, 2006
P.T. Campbell Bookseller, London, Ontario
December 18, 2007
What I learned from this book....People are so weird.....
March 2, 2010
dull and tedious at times, but the meat of these old psychoanalysis case histories is highly entertaining and fassssscinating.
March 27, 2023
enjoyed reading
August 13, 2017
The three case studies that Freud handpicked for this book, with a view of using them to demonstrate his theories, seemed to me so eccentric (and excessively sexualized) as to be of only little relevance to the psychology of the average individual. Besides the blatant sampling bias, I noticed two more shortfalls which take away from the quality of the exposition.
The first shortfall is that part of the connections Freud makes between different events in the [early] lives of his patients seem far-fetched, and even arbitrary in some instances. Freud must have been well aware of this criticism from his more incredulous contemporaries, because he repeatedly defends himself against it with disclaimers throughout the book. In my opinion, this is evidence of a weakness of argument, because the truth should be self-evident.
The second shortfall is that Freud pathologizes sexual behaviors (such as onanism and homosexuality) which nowadays, free from Victorian-era prudishness, we know to be common and entirely normal.
The one thing I liked about the book, however, is that it clearly communicated the idea that humans are born with evolutionary psychological schemata which we use to organize and understand our experiences, therefore partly enslaving our minds to the reflexes accumulated and genetically passed down in the course of human evolution.
The first shortfall is that part of the connections Freud makes between different events in the [early] lives of his patients seem far-fetched, and even arbitrary in some instances. Freud must have been well aware of this criticism from his more incredulous contemporaries, because he repeatedly defends himself against it with disclaimers throughout the book. In my opinion, this is evidence of a weakness of argument, because the truth should be self-evident.
The second shortfall is that Freud pathologizes sexual behaviors (such as onanism and homosexuality) which nowadays, free from Victorian-era prudishness, we know to be common and entirely normal.
The one thing I liked about the book, however, is that it clearly communicated the idea that humans are born with evolutionary psychological schemata which we use to organize and understand our experiences, therefore partly enslaving our minds to the reflexes accumulated and genetically passed down in the course of human evolution.
October 8, 2019
These three case histories illuminate everything that is wrong with Freud: He believes and insists that he has unraveled psyches when he has in fact manufactured explanations and could easily have interpreted his patients' symptoms and memories in any way he chose. How did the world get snookered by this guy?
September 15, 2007
A fascinating look into the Doctor/Patient relationship between Freud and three of his patients, including transcripts of sessions, Freud's musings on which methods to apply to their particular "psychoses", and the results of his application of the developing psychoanalytic method. Great read.
August 6, 2023
Sigmund Freud’s Three Case Histories is an indispensable resource for anyone studying the history and methodology of psychoanalysis. Throughout the text, we are given a direct look into Freud’s case conceptualizations for three patients – “The Wolf Man”, “The Rat Man”, and “The Psychotic Doctor Schreber”. The patients are highly peculiar, yet it is Freud (surprise, surprise) who turns out to be the most peculiar subject of all.
Freud is a slippery thinker, but he is surprisingly transparent in the way he presents these cases here. He shows you exactly the tools that he will use to interpret the cases, and he walks you through them step-by-step. There is, then, a cohesive internal logic governing psychoanalysis, which I think that its detractors fail to recognize. The conclusions are mostly unsound, but there is, nevertheless, a well-defined hermeneutic on display. Although I do not deny that Freud likely caused harm to these patients through his clinical interventions with them, I do admire the imperative to treat deeper structures of the mind as real matters of scientific inquiry.
Psychoanalysis complicated our understanding of ourselves, which was previously thought to be immediately accessible through simple introspection. While Descartes took the Socratic imperative to ‘know thyself’ as clear and distinct, Freud demonstrated that the inner world was just as messy as the outer world – perhaps even messier. The splitting of the cogito, the sense of unconscious motivations, and the recognition of the fundamental importance of childhood development for adulthood – these are all tremendously influential contributions from Freud, and they form some of the incentive for reading him today.
Freud is a slippery thinker, but he is surprisingly transparent in the way he presents these cases here. He shows you exactly the tools that he will use to interpret the cases, and he walks you through them step-by-step. There is, then, a cohesive internal logic governing psychoanalysis, which I think that its detractors fail to recognize. The conclusions are mostly unsound, but there is, nevertheless, a well-defined hermeneutic on display. Although I do not deny that Freud likely caused harm to these patients through his clinical interventions with them, I do admire the imperative to treat deeper structures of the mind as real matters of scientific inquiry.
Psychoanalysis complicated our understanding of ourselves, which was previously thought to be immediately accessible through simple introspection. While Descartes took the Socratic imperative to ‘know thyself’ as clear and distinct, Freud demonstrated that the inner world was just as messy as the outer world – perhaps even messier. The splitting of the cogito, the sense of unconscious motivations, and the recognition of the fundamental importance of childhood development for adulthood – these are all tremendously influential contributions from Freud, and they form some of the incentive for reading him today.
April 27, 2020
I reread the Rat man last week from a recomendation from my shrink. It is really great. It makes me wnat to make a film of it. The whole insane plan of bring A and B to the post office and paying A to pay the checkout girl and then paying B. You could do three stories. the post office bit. The story of his father and the story of the rats and of Freuds Daughter.
I always feel more neurotic myself when i read these thigns. But of coure what is interesting is that the last time I read this I suffered quite heavily from OCD and to be honest I no longer do. So it was almost nostalgic reading all the ritualistic behaviors of the ratman and remembering my own agonizing rituals. Makes me step back and at least acnowledge that progress has been made
I always feel more neurotic myself when i read these thigns. But of coure what is interesting is that the last time I read this I suffered quite heavily from OCD and to be honest I no longer do. So it was almost nostalgic reading all the ritualistic behaviors of the ratman and remembering my own agonizing rituals. Makes me step back and at least acnowledge that progress has been made
April 6, 2024
I read the Wolf Man case through this book, which I found more difficult to accept than Little Hans but ultimately more insightful. There is less access to the messy process of getting to Freud's findings compared to Little Hans, or even Beyond the Pleasure Principle. That necessarily leads to some incredulity at what initially seem absurd findings surrounded by opacity. Nonetheless, the stranger claims are argued well & ripple out into tremendously significant implications. I'd like at some point to go through every single claim with a fine comb, figuring out all the things which are used to prove them & all the things which follow, the connections & ideas which stray from the general framework. For obvious reasons, however, that must be left to a reread.
April 17, 2020
His contention and subsequent proof that most of our psyche can trace its origin back to childhood is groundbreaking. Much of the conclusions he draws from that? A cocaine-influenced trip of loose connections and sexual obsession.
Want to read
July 23, 2019Serious mistake by Freud in the case of the "Wolf man".
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/bl...
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/bl...
October 3, 2023
Heavy going and long but the Schreber case is a fascinating read which navigates the intersection of psychology, law and sexual politics.
Read
February 11, 2024Feels too weird to rate this
February 20, 2024
morbidly fascinating and compelling in the usual fashion for freud. occasionally a little far fetched but always entertaining
Read
March 3, 2024like i know that freud is now gauche and just like wrong in psychoanalysis, but maybe i'm just a loopy hoe but he was kinda spitting here LMAO
July 25, 2020
A gripping psychological thriller. In these three case studies, Freud shows off in the same way that Sherlock Holmes does after unravelling a case to Dr. Watson.
Each of the three case studies is contained within itself. First, Freud introduces the analysis with his patient. Quotes of his early memories, his dreams, the manifestations of his psychosis/neuroses/obsessions.
It would be easy to call these people freaks. Freud's success is in humanizing them. Showing that they are suffering from deep psychological pain.
Each of the three case studies is contained within itself. First, Freud introduces the analysis with his patient. Quotes of his early memories, his dreams, the manifestations of his psychosis/neuroses/obsessions.
It would be easy to call these people freaks. Freud's success is in humanizing them. Showing that they are suffering from deep psychological pain.
May 7, 2010
Reading these case studies is like only watching the end of murder mystery, where the detective explains how the crime was committed and how (s)he figured it out. It's difficult to appreciate or evaluate the conclusions without knowing the full details of the cases.
That being said, I enjoyed the Schreber case the best, because I've read and loved his book. The Wolfman case was all over the place, but there were a few fascinating parts. I was largely bored by the Ratman, but "playing" the Red Krayola song in my head improved things a bit.
That being said, I enjoyed the Schreber case the best, because I've read and loved his book. The Wolfman case was all over the place, but there were a few fascinating parts. I was largely bored by the Ratman, but "playing" the Red Krayola song in my head improved things a bit.
June 22, 2024
Sanırım bu vakaları tekrar tekrar okuyup sindirmeden psikanaliz üzerine okuma yapmaya başlamak büyük bi hata olur. Freud’a yakınlık beslememe, tekrar tekrar hayranlık duymama sebep olan vakalar. Psikanaliz yolunu açması yetmezmiş gibi o yoldaki tüm bu çabaları ilerlemeleri adının bu kadar duyulmasını sonuna kadar hakettiğini gösteriyor. İdolümsün Sigmund 🥹
March 9, 2011
Beyond question Freud is history's most important philosopher of the mind, and he ranks alongside Eliot as the century's greatest literary critic. Modern intellectual life (left, right, and in-between) would be unthinkable without him.
October 2, 2012
Freud tends to get from 'A' to 'B' by what seems to be a psychological maze. He draws conclusions that are counterintuitive and throws them in the trash when he feels they don't suit him. However taken for what it is, it is a great insight to how we came to think about psychology today.
December 22, 2020
Sigmund relates everything to childhood “trauma”. Not a long book, and although his cases were very interesting, his breakdowns, theories, and analysis became monotonous despite their unconventialities. I don’t think you’ll find what you’re looking for out of this one. (1909, 1911, 1918)
June 25, 2007
These was pretty dull. I'm not into psychoanalysis all that much. Sex is to blame for everything.
November 1, 2007
How could you not enjoy intestinal worms, causing Rat Man to express a fantasy for rodent anal rape?
March 28, 2008
I'm not a "Freudian", per se, but I'll engage and even enjoy his sexual obsessions and dream interpreting.
January 29, 2009
I'm glad they took this off the program. A waste of my time, seriously.
Read
August 19, 2011[Only read "The Wolfman":]
July 6, 2016
There were interesting bits and absurd bits. I suppose that's all I have to say.
November 16, 2011
Excerpts read for Literary Cultures.
September 9, 2013
The Truth discovered
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews