Sigmund Freud

Freud was the founder father of “psychoanalysis”, which is a method for treating mental illness and explanations for human behaviors. He is considered as one of the most influential and authoritative thinkers of the twentieth century. He was a doctor who treated psychopathology by talking with his patients. He also developed a topographical model of the mind (he compares the human mind with an iceberg). Later, he developed a more structural model of the mind (id, ego, and superego). These are considered as some mental function in the mind. He read a lot of Shakespeare, so a lot of his understanding of the human psychology may have come from Shakespeare’s plays.

He was a cigar smoker because he believed that smoking enhanced his capacity to work and could moderate self-control. He also suggested that this addiction was substituting other addictions, such as masturbation. Freud started to use hypnosis in 1886. Anna O. was invited to talk about her symptoms while she was hypnotized. Talking freely was considered as the best way for symptom relief.