Dr. Sigmund Freud is an Austrian psychologist, psychiatrist and neurologist who immortalized his name with the discovery of psychoanalysis.

On January 8, 1900, Dr. Sigmund Freud melancholy remarks in a letter to his friend, the famous ear-nose-throat doctor Wilhelm Fliess: "This new age is of particular interest to us because it contains the date of our death."

Key to hysteria.

In a few months, Freud will be 44 years old. In the new twentieth century, he will live another 39 years. The last 16 - along with the disease, which, in the end (despite his vitality and the efforts of the best doctors), will bring him to the grave.

Well, in the meantime, everything is going more or less successfully: the onset of the new century is marked by the release of his new work "The Interpretation of Dreams", in which the area of ​​the irrational is subjected to careful rational analysis. He proceeds from the fact that it is in dreams that the rudiments of the entire psychology of neuroses are contained. There is also the key to understanding hysteria.

All together makes it possible to trace the "work of sleep", to penetrate into the world of the secret, unsteady, speaking to everyone in the language of the unconscious. It gives meaning to dreams, translates the language of dreams into the language of thought. There is reason to celebrate victory!

In 1885, Freud was trained by the famous Dr. Charcot, before whom he simply reveres. Charcot lectures and practices in the clinic of nervous diseases, where he deals mainly with patients with hysteria. Heals with hypnosis.

It was there, in Paris, that Freud groped his way to what would later be called "psychoanalysis", which would glorify his name.

“In a whole series of cases, falling in love is nothing but a mental capture by an object, dictated by sexual primal impulses for the purpose of direct sexual satisfaction and with the achievement of this goal and fading away; this is what is called base, sensual love. But, as you know, the libidinal situation rarely remains so simple. Confidence in the new awakening of a need that had just died away was probably the immediate motive why the possession of a sexual object turned out to be prolonged and he was "loved" even in those periods of time when there was no attraction. Sigmund Freud.

But as a harmonious and logical system, psychoanalysis will take shape on a dark autumn night in 1895, when, in a state close to mild insanity, Freud suddenly feels that all the barriers are moving apart and the veils are falling. In a letter to Fliss, he writes: “Everything fell into place, all the gears came into engagement, and it seemed that in front of me was like a machine that functioned clearly and independently. Three systems of neurons, "free" and "bound" states, primary and secondary processes, the main tendency of the nervous system to reach compromises, two biological laws - attention and protection, concepts of quality, reality of thought, inhibition caused by sexual causes, and finally , factors on which both conscious and unconscious life depends - all this has come to its interconnection and still continues to acquire connectedness. Naturally, I'm overjoyed!"

But he is not only happy about this. He understands well that if Martha had not been around, everything would have turned out differently. After nine years life together preceded by a four-year engagement, he could argue that she was more than a wife. Martha was his guardian angel.

The wife of a genius.

She came from a well-known Jewish family, the Berneys, who were famous for their cultural traditions. He fell in love with her as soon as he saw her, but circumstances prevented their connection.

At that time he was still poor, success came slowly, and he could not take responsibility and start a family. For several years of engagement, they went through ardor, impatience, jealousy, but only in the autumn of 1886, in the decorous solemn atmosphere of the Wandsbek town hall, they were officially named husband and wife.

She will bear him three sons and three daughters. Both the children and the house will be entirely supported by Marta, who will take care of all household chores so that he can calmly do his work. She will share with him his finest hours, and the dark days of melancholy, all the ups and downs.

“It is human nature to value and desire above all else what he cannot achieve.” Sigmund Freud.

She will not pay attention to the rumors spread by his student Carl Jung about not only the friendly relations of her husband with her own sister Minna, who settled in their house after the death of the groom. She will try not to notice his "strange" relationship with Wilhelm Fliess, which lasted more than one year.

It is to him, Fliess, that Freud writes, with what impatience he looks forward to the next meeting, because his life is dreary, and only a meeting with him can make him feel better.

During one of these meetings, he faints, which turns out to be a reason to claim that some uncontrollable homosexual feeling is the cause of the fainting. Martha will also survive her husband's cooling off for sex (this is at the age of 40), which came after the birth of their last and most beloved child - daughter Anna. Marta will turn a blind eye to everything, for the sake of preserving her family, at home ...

Illness and self-control.

At the turn of the 1890s, the first serious illnesses began to fall on him. The Lord endowed him with willpower and clarity of spirit, his parents gave him vitality, but sooner or later every person begins to have health problems. There are no exceptions to this rule.

For quite a long time, Dr. Freud has been haunted by repeated attacks of tachycardia with an enviable frequency with severe arrhythmia, severe chest pains radiating to the left arm. More and more often he experiences shortness of breath.

“Patients are nothing more than the dregs of society. The only use they can bring is to help us earn a living and provide material for study. We can't help them anyway." Sigmund Freud.

Being a heavy, incorrigible smoker, he cannot live for an hour without a cigarette, and then a cigar. And even with a strong will, he is not able to give up tobacco.

"Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar." Sigmund Freud.

Already at the age of 72, answering a questionnaire sent to many famous people(the questions concerned tobacco addiction), Freud writes: “I started smoking at 24, first cigarettes, and soon only cigars; I still smoke today ... and I think with horror of giving up this pleasure ... I remain faithful to this habit or this vice and I believe that I owe a high capacity for work and better self-control to a cigar.

Summarizing.

As for self-control, the great scientist has it at its best. In April 1923, he discovers inside jaw, to the right of the palate, a neoplasm that is increasing every day.

He gathers his will into a fist and courageously resists the disease. Barely in his 70s, his name is world famous, and a few years ago he was included in the list of Jewish philosophers – Philo, Maimonides, Spinoza, Freud, Einstein – honored by the University of London and the Jewish Historical Society with a series of special papers.

He wrote fundamental scientific works, he has a school, students. It would seem that you can stop, take stock. But if cancer means physical death for him, then the rejection of work and creativity means intellectual, spiritual death.

"Love and work are the cornerstones of our humanity." Sigmund Freud.

And he continues to work furiously, overcoming constant pain. In creativity, he draws strength to resist this vile monster that has settled in his larynx.

In 1927, the book "The Future of an Illusion" was published, in which he examines the origin of religious ideas from the standpoint of psychoanalysis. In 1930, “Dissatisfaction with Culture” appeared, in which dissatisfaction modern man culture and civilization is associated with the excessive redundancy of the prohibitions imposed on it by society.

Exodus.

Meanwhile, in Germany next to Austria, the Nazis who came to power continue to rule the ball. They persecute all those whose views do not coincide with the views of their Fuhrer - Adolf Hitler.

In May 1938, a demonstrative execution was held on one of the Berlin squares - books were thrown into a giant fire. Some - because they were written by Jews, others - because they were not Jews, but anti-fascists. Dr. Sigmund Freud is both.

The Auto-da-fe is being repeated in Frankfurt, where it was only three years ago that he was awarded the Goethe Prize. Furnaces are lit concentration camps into whose furnaces no longer books are thrown, but people.

On March 11, 1938, the Nazis occupy Vienna. Exactly four days after the Anschluss, a group of security officials break into the apartment of Sigmund Freud. But this is only the beginning: a week later the Gestapo comes and takes away their beloved daughter Anna. True, she is released in the evening of the same day, but this visit overflows the cup of his patience.

Freud decides to leave the country, but the new regime puts all sorts of obstacles in his way. The American Ambassador Bullitt helps to leave. Powerful and influential support is coming from all sides, and the Nazis are yielding to the pressure.

In July 1938, he arrives in London, comparing this with the exodus of Jews from Egypt. He will still have time to publish the book "Moses and Monotheism", he even begins a work that should be called " short course psychoanalysis", but it will not be possible to finish it.

... He burned down in front of his relatives in just a few months. A new tumor that appeared near the eye socket in early 1939 was inoperable...

Dr. Sigmund Freud was well aware that doctors were powerless - it was pointless to continue the cruel torture. On September 21, while in a London clinic, he reminded his personal doctor Shura, who moved with him to England, of a conversation that took place between them many years ago, when the illness was just beginning: “You promised not to leave me when my time comes.”

Max Schur, reluctantly, fulfilled his promise: the first subcutaneous injection of a dose of morphine was followed by another. This went on every 12 hours for two days.

On September 23, 1939, Dr. Sigmund Freud, who immortalized his name with the discovery of psychoanalysis, fell into a coma from which he was never destined to get out.

"I believe in bearded men and long-haired women..." Sigmund Freud.

In the autumn of 1885, having received a scholarship, Freud went on an internship with the famous psychiatrist Charcot. Freud is fascinated by Charcot's personality, but the young doctor's experiments with hypnosis are even more impressive. Then, in the Salpêtrière clinic, Freud encounters patients with hysteria and amazing fact that severe bodily symptoms such as paralysis are relieved by the mesmerist's words alone. At this moment, Freud for the first time guesses that consciousness and the psyche are not identical, that there is a significant area of ​​\u200b\u200bpsychic life, about which the person himself has no idea. Freud's old dream - to find the answer to the question of how a person became what he became, begins to take on the contours of a future discovery.

Returning to Vienna, Freud makes a presentation in the "Medical Society" and is faced with the complete rejection of his colleagues. The scientific community rejects his ideas, and he is forced to find his own way of developing them. In 1877, Freud met the famous Viennese psychotherapist Josef Breuer, and in 1895 they wrote the book Studies in Hysteria. Unlike Breuer, who presents in this book his cathartic method of venting the affect associated with the trauma, Freud insists on the importance of remembering the very event that caused the trauma.

Freud listens to his patients, believing that the causes of their suffering are known not to him, but to themselves. Known in such a strange way that they are stored in memory, but patients do not have access to them. Freud listens to the stories of patients about how they were seduced in childhood. In the autumn of 1897, he realizes that in reality these events might not have happened, that for psychic reality there is no difference between memory and fantasy. What is important is not to find out what was "really", but to analyze how this psychic reality itself is arranged - the reality of memories, desires and fantasies. How is it possible to know something about this reality? Allowing the patient to say whatever comes to his mind, allowing his thoughts to flow freely. Freud invents the method of free association. If the course of movement is not imposed on thoughts from the outside, then in unexpected associative connections, transitions from topic to topic, sudden memories, their own logic is revealed. To say whatever comes to mind is the basic rule of psychoanalysis.

Freud is uncompromising. He refuses hypnosis, because it is aimed at relieving symptoms, and not at eliminating the causes of the disorder. He sacrifices his friendship with Josef Breuer, who did not share his views on the sexual etiology of hysteria. When, at the end of the 19th century, Freud spoke of childhood sexuality, Puritan society would turn its back on him. For almost 10 years, it will be separated from the scientific and medical community. It was a difficult period of life and, nevertheless, very productive. In the autumn of 1897, Freud begins his introspection. Lacking his own analyst, he resorts to correspondence with his friend Wilhelm Fliess. In one of the letters, Freud will say that he discovered in himself many unconscious thoughts that he had previously encountered in his patients. Later, this discovery will allow him to question the very difference between the mental norm and pathology.

The psychoanalytic process of self-knowledge of the subject reveals the importance of the presence of the other. The psychoanalyst participates in the process not as an ordinary interlocutor and not as someone who knows something about the analyzed subject that he himself does not know. A psychoanalyst is one who listens in a special way, catching in the patient's speech what he says, but does not hear himself. In addition, the analyst is the one to whom the transfer is made, the one in relation to whom the patient reproduces his attitude towards other people who are significant to him. Gradually, Freud understands the importance of transference for psychoanalytic treatment. Gradually it becomes clear to him that the two most important elements of psychoanalysis are transference and free association.

Then Freud began writing The Interpretation of Dreams. He understands that the interpretation of dreams is the royal path to understanding the unconscious. In this one phrase, one can read all the caution in Freud's attitude to the word. First, interpretation, not interpretation. This makes psychoanalysis related to astrology, the interpretation of ancient texts, and the work of an archaeologist interpreting hieroglyphs. Second, the path. Psychoanalysis is not the practice of relieving symptoms, which is hypnosis. Psychoanalysis is the path of the subject to his own truth, his unconscious desire. This desire is not located in the latent content of the dream, but is located between the manifest and the hidden, in the very form of the transformation of one into the other. Third, it is the path to understanding, not the path to the unconscious. The goal of psychoanalysis, then, is not to penetrate into the unconscious, but to expand the subject's knowledge of himself. And finally, fourthly, Freud speaks precisely of the unconscious, and not of the subconscious. The latter term refers to the physical space in which something is located below and something is above. Freud moves away from attempts to localize the instances of the mental apparatus, including in the brain.

Sigmund Freud himself will designate his discovery as the third scientific revolution that changed the views of man on the world and himself. The first revolutionary was Copernicus, who proved that the Earth is not the center of the universe. The second was Charles Darwin, who challenged the divine origin of man. And finally, Freud declares that the human ego is not the master in its own house. Like his famous predecessors, Freud paid dearly for the narcissistic wound inflicted on humanity. Even having received the long-awaited recognition of the public, he cannot be satisfied. America, which he visited in 1909 to lecture on an introduction to psychoanalysis and where he was received "with a bang," disappoints in its pragmatic attitude towards his ideas. Soviet Union, where psychoanalysis received state support, by the end of the 20s, it abandoned the psychoanalytic revolution and embarked on the rails of totalitarianism. The popularity that psychoanalysis is gaining frightens Freud as much as the ignorance with which his ideas are rejected. In an effort to prevent the abuse of his offspring, Freud participates in the creation of international psychoanalytic movements, but in every possible way refuses to occupy leadership positions in them. Freud is obsessed with the desire to know, not the desire to control.

In 1923, doctors discover a tumor in Sigmund Freud's mouth. Freud underwent an unsuccessful operation, which was followed by 32 more during the 16 years of his life remaining. As a result of the development of a cancerous tumor, part of the jaw had to be replaced with a prosthesis that left non-healing wounds and also made it difficult to speak. In 1938, when Austria becomes part of Nazi Germany as a result of the Anschluss, the Gestapo searches Freud's apartment at Bergasse 19, his daughter Anna is taken away for interrogation. Freud, realizing that this can no longer continue, decides to emigrate. For the last year and a half of his life, Freud lives in London, surrounded by his family and only his closest friends. He is finishing his last psychoanalytic works and struggling with a developing tumor. In September 1939, Freud reminds his friend and physician Max Schur of his promise to render one last service to his patient. Schur keeps his word and on September 23, 1939, Freud passes away by euthanasia, choosing the moment of his own death.

After himself, Freud left a huge literary legacy, the Russian-language collected works have 26 volumes. His works to this day are of great interest not only to biographers, being written in an outstanding style, they contain ideas that again and again require reflection. It is no coincidence that one of the most famous analysts of the 20th century. Jacques Lacan entitled the program of his work "Back to Freud". Sigmund Freud has repeatedly said that the motive of his work was the desire to understand how a person became what he became. And this desire is reflected in all his legacy.

Name: Sigmund Freud

Age: 83 years old

Place of Birth: freiberg

A place of death: London

Activity: psychoanalyst, psychiatrist, neurologist

Family status: was married to Martha Freud

Sigmund Freud - Biography

Trying to find ways to treat mental illness, he literally broke into the forbidden territory of the human subconscious and achieved some success - and at the same time became famous. And it is still unknown what he wanted more: knowledge or fame ...

Childhood, Freud's family

The son of a poor wool merchant Jacob Freud, Sigismund Shlomo Freud was born in May 1856 in the Austrian Empire, in the town of Freiberg. Soon the family hurriedly left for Vienna: according to rumors, the boy's mother Amalia (the second wife of Jacob and the same age as his married sons) had an affair with the youngest of them, causing a loud scandal in society.

At a tender age, Freud had the opportunity to experience the first loss in his biography: in the eighth month of his life, his brother Julius died. Shlomo did not love him (he demanded too much attention to himself), but after the death of the baby he began to feel guilty and remorseful. Subsequently, Freud, based on this story, will deduce two postulates: first, every child looks at his brothers and sisters as rivals, which means he has "evil desires" for them; secondly, it is the feeling of guilt that becomes the cause of many mental illnesses and neuroses - and it doesn’t matter what a person’s childhood was, tragic or happy.

By the way, Shlomo had no reason to be jealous of his brother: his mother loved him madly. And she believed in his glorious future: a certain old peasant woman predicted to a woman that her firstborn would become a great man. Yes, and Shlomo himself did not doubt his own exclusivity. He had outstanding abilities, was well-read, went to the gymnasium a year earlier than other children. However, for impudence and arrogance, teachers and classmates did not favor him. The ridicule and humiliation that rained down on the head of young Sigmund - psychotrauma - led to the fact that he grew up as a closed person.

After graduating from high school with honors, Freud thought about choosing a future path. As a Jew, he could only engage in trade, crafts, law or medicine. The first two options were rejected immediately, the bar was in doubt. As a result, in 1873, Sigmund entered the medical faculty of the University of Vienna.

Sigmund Freud - biography of personal life

The profession of a doctor did not seem interesting to Freud, but, on the one hand, it opened the way to research activities that he liked, and on the other hand, it gave him the right to private practice in the future. And this guaranteed material well-being, which Sigmund desired with all his heart: he was going to get married.

He met Martha Bernays at home: she went to visit his younger sister. Every day, Sigmund sent a red rose to his beloved, and in the evenings he went for a walk with the girl. Two months after the first meeting, Freud confessed his love to her - secretly. And he received a secret consent to the marriage. He did not dare to officially ask for Martha's hand in marriage: her parents, wealthy Orthodox Jews, did not even want to hear about the semi-poor atheist son-in-law.

But Sigmund was serious and did not hide his passion for "a little tender angel with emerald eyes and sweet lips." At Christmas, they announced their engagement, after which the mother of the bride (the father had died by that time) took her daughter to Hamburg - out of harm's way. Freud could only wait for a chance to raise his authority in the eyes of future relatives.

The case turned up in the spring of 1885. Sigmund took part in the competition, the winner of which was entitled not only to a solid prize, but also the right to a scientific internship in Paris, with the famous hypnotist-neurologist Jean Charcot. His Viennese friends clamored for the young doctor - and he, inspired, went to conquer the capital of France.

The internship brought Freud neither fame nor money, but he was finally able to go into private practice and marry Martha. The woman who loving husband often repeated: “I know that you are ugly in the sense that artists and sculptors understand it”, bore him three daughters and three sons and lived in harmony with him for more than half a century, only occasionally arranging “culinary scandals about cooking mushrooms”.

Freud's Cocaine Story

In the autumn of 1886, Freud opened a private medical office in Vienna and focused on the problem of curing neuroses. He already had experience - he received it in one of the city hospitals. There were also tried, although not very effective techniques: electrotherapy, hypnosis (Freud almost did not own it), Charcot's shower, massage and baths. And more cocaine!

After reading a couple of years ago in a report by a certain German military doctor that water with cocaine “infused new strength into the soldiers,” Freud tried this remedy on himself and was so pleased with the result that he began to take small doses of the drug daily. Moreover, he wrote enthusiastic articles in which he called cocaine "a magical and harmless substitute for morphine" and advised his friends and patients. Needless to say, there was no particular benefit from such a “treatment”? And with hysterical disorders, the condition of the patients even worsened.

Trying one or the other, Freud realized that it was almost impossible to help a person suffering from neurosis with manipulations and pills. You need to look for a way to "climb" into his soul and find the cause of the disease there. And then he came up with the "method of free associations." The patient is invited to freely express thoughts on the topic proposed by the psychoanalyst - whatever comes to mind. And the psychoanalyst can only interpret the images. .. The same should be done with dreams.

And it went! Patients were happy to share their innermost (and money) with Freud, and he analyzed. Over time, he discovered that the problems of most neurotics are connected with their intimate sphere, or rather, with malfunctions in it. True, when Freud made a report on his discovery at a meeting of the Vienna Society of Psychiatrists and Neurologists, he was simply expelled from this society.

The neurosis began already in the psychoanalyst himself. However, following popular expression“Doctor, heal yourself!”, Sigmud managed to improve his mental health and discover one of the causes of the disease - the Oedipus complex. The scientific community also accepted this idea with hostility, but there was no end to the patients.

Freud became known as a successful practicing neurologist and psychiatrist. Colleagues began to actively refer to his articles and books in their works. And on March 5, 1902, when the Emperor of Austria François-Joseph I signed an official decree conferring the title of assistant professor to Sigmund Freud, there was a turn to real glory. The exalted intelligentsia of the beginning of the 20th century, who suffered in turning point from neuroses and hysteria, rushed for help to the office at Bergasse, 19.

In 1922, the University of London honored the great geniuses of mankind - the philosophers Philo and Maimonides, the greatest scientist of modern times, Spinoza, as well as Freud and Einstein. Now the address "Vienna, Bergasse 19" was known to almost the whole world: patients from different countries turned to the "father of psychoanalysis", and appointments were made for many years to come.

"Adventurer" and "conquistador of science", as Freud himself liked to call himself, found his Eldorado. However, health failed. In April 1923, he was operated on for oral cancer. But they could not overcome the disease. The first operation was followed by three dozen others, including the removal of part of the jaw.

By the summer of 1939, the suffering had become unbearable, and Freud reminded his attending physician of their old arrangement to resort to euthanasia when the time came: "Now it's all just torture and no longer makes sense." On September 23, 1939, he was given an injection of morphine, and Sigmund Freud fell asleep quietly. Forever and ever.

Sigmund Freud (Freud; German Sigmund Freud; full name Sigismund Shlomo Freud Sigismund Schlomo Freud). Born May 6, 1856 in Freiberg, Austrian Empire - died September 23, 1939 in London. Austrian psychologist, psychiatrist and neurologist.

Sigmund Freud is best known as the founder of psychoanalysis, which had a significant impact on psychology, medicine, sociology, anthropology, literature and art of the 20th century. Freud's views on human nature were innovative for his time and throughout the life of the researcher did not stop causing resonance and criticism in the scientific community. Interest in the theories of the scientist does not fade even today.

Among Freud's achievements, the most important are the development of a three-component structural model of the psyche (consisting of "It", "I" and "Super-I"), the identification of specific phases of the psychosexual development of the personality, the creation of the theory of the Oedipus complex, the discovery of protective mechanisms functioning in the psyche, the psychologization of the concept "unconscious", the discovery of transference and counter-transference, as well as the development of such therapeutic techniques as the method of free association and the interpretation of dreams.

Despite the fact that the influence of Freud's ideas and personality on psychology is undeniable, many researchers consider his works to be intellectual charlatanism. Almost every postulate fundamental to Freud's theory has been criticized by prominent scientists and writers, such as Erich Fromm, Albert Ellis, Karl Kraus and many others. The empirical basis of Freud's theory was called "inadequate" by Frederick Krüss and Adolf Grünbaum, psychoanalysis was dubbed "fraud" by Peter Medawar, Freud's theory was considered pseudoscientific by Karl Popper, which, however, did not prevent the outstanding Austrian psychiatrist and psychotherapist, director of the Vienna Neurological Clinic in his fundamental work " Theory and therapy of neuroses" to admit: "And yet, it seems to me, psychoanalysis will be the foundation for the psychotherapy of the future ... Therefore, the contribution made by Freud to the creation of psychotherapy does not lose its value, and what he did is incomparable."

During his life, Freud wrote and published a huge number of scientific works - the complete collection of his works is 24 volumes. He held the titles of Doctor of Medicine, Professor, Honorary Doctor of Laws from Clark University and was a foreign member of the Royal Society of London, winner of the Goethe Prize, was an honorary member of the American Psychoanalytic Association, the French Psychoanalytic Society and the British Psychological Society. Not only about psychoanalysis, but also about the scientist himself, many biographical books have been published. More papers are published each year on Freud than on any other psychological theorist.

Sigmund Freud was born on May 6, 1856 in the small (about 4,500 inhabitants) town of Freiberg in Moravia, which at that time belonged to Austria. The street where Freud was born, the Schlossergasse, now bears his name. Freud's paternal grandfather was Shlomo Freud, he died in February 1856, shortly before the birth of his grandson - it was in his honor that the latter was named.

Sigmund's father, Jacob Freud, was married twice and had two sons from his first marriage - Philip and Emmanuel (Emmanuel). The second time he married at the age of 40 - to Amalia Natanson, who was half his age. Sigmund's parents were Jews of German origin. Jacob Freud had his own modest textile business. Sigmund lived in Freiberg for the first three years of his life, until in 1859 the consequences of the industrial revolution in Central Europe dealt a crushing blow to his father's small business, practically ruining it - as, indeed, almost all of Freiberg, which was in significant decline: after how the restoration of the nearby railway The city experienced a period of rising unemployment. In the same year, the Freuds had a daughter, Anna.

The family decided to move and left Freiberg, moving to Leipzig - the Freuds spent only a year there and, having not achieved significant success, moved to Vienna. Sigmund endured the move from his native town quite hard - the forced separation from his half-brother Philip, with whom he was in close friendly relations, had an especially strong effect on the state of the child: Philip partly even replaced Sigmund's father. The Freud family, being in a difficult financial situation, settled in one of the poorest districts of the city - Leopoldstadt, which at that time was a kind of Viennese ghetto inhabited by the poor, refugees, prostitutes, gypsies, proletarians and Jews. Soon, Jacob's business began to improve, and the Freuds were able to move to a more livable place, although they could not afford luxury. At the same time, Sigmund became seriously interested in literature - he retained the love of reading, instilled by his father, for the rest of his life.

After graduating from the gymnasium, Sigmund doubted for a long time about his future profession - his choice, however, was rather meager due to his social status and the anti-Semitic sentiments that prevailed at that time and was limited to commerce, industry, law and medicine. The first two options were immediately rejected by the young man because of his high education, jurisprudence also faded into the background along with youthful ambitions in politics and military affairs. Freud received the impulse to make a final decision from Goethe - once having heard how at one of the lectures the professor reads an essay by a thinker called "Nature", Sigmund decided to enroll in the Faculty of Medicine. So, Freud's choice fell on medicine, although he did not have the slightest interest in the latter - later he repeatedly admitted this and wrote: "I did not feel any predisposition to practicing medicine and the profession of a doctor," and in later years he even said that in medicine, I never felt “at ease”, and in general I never considered myself a real doctor.

In the fall of 1873, seventeen-year-old Sigmund Freud entered the medical faculty of the University of Vienna. The first year of study was not directly related to the subsequent specialty and consisted of many courses in the humanities - Sigmund attended numerous seminars and lectures, still not finally choosing a specialty to his taste. During this time, he experienced many difficulties associated with his nationality - because of the anti-Semitic sentiments that prevailed in society, numerous skirmishes took place between him and fellow students. Steadfastly enduring regular ridicule and attacks from his peers, Sigmund began to develop in himself the stamina of character, the ability to give a worthy rebuff in a dispute and the ability to resist criticism: “From early childhood, I was forced to get used to being in the opposition and being banned by the “majority agreement”. Thus the foundations were laid for a certain degree of independence in judgment..

Sigmund began to study anatomy and chemistry, but he enjoyed the lectures of the famous physiologist and psychologist Ernst von Brücke, who had a significant influence on him. In addition, Freud attended classes taught by the eminent zoologist Karl Klaus; acquaintance with this scientist opened up broad prospects for independent research practice and scientific work, to which Sigmund gravitated. The efforts of an ambitious student were crowned with success, and in 1876 he got the opportunity to carry out his first research work at the Institute of Zoological Research of Trieste, one of the departments of which was headed by Klaus. It was there that Freud wrote the first article published by the Academy of Sciences; it was devoted to revealing sex differences in river eels. During his time under Klaus "Freud quickly stood out among other students, which allowed him twice, in 1875 and 1876, to become a fellow of the Institute of Zoological Research of Trieste".

Freud retained an interest in zoology, but after receiving a position as a research fellow at the Institute of Physiology, he was completely influenced by Brücke's psychological ideas and moved to his laboratory for scientific work, leaving zoological research. “Under his [Brücke] guidance, the student Freud worked at the Vienna Physiological Institute, sitting for many hours at the microscope. ... He was never as happy as during the years spent in the laboratory studying the structure of nerve cells in the spinal cord of animals.. Scientific work completely captured Freud; he studied, among other things, the detailed structure of animal and plant tissues and wrote several articles on anatomy and neurology. Here, at the Physiological Institute, in the late 1870s, Freud met the physician Josef Breuer, with whom he developed strong friendships; both of them had similar characters and a common outlook on life, therefore they quickly found mutual understanding. Freud admired Breuer's scientific talents and learned a lot from him: “He became my friend and helper in the difficult conditions of my existence. We are used to sharing all our scientific interests with him. Naturally, I derived the main benefit from these relations..

Freud passed with excellent marks in 1881. final exams and received a doctorate, which, however, did not change his way of life - he remained to work in the laboratory under Brücke, hoping to eventually take the next vacant position and firmly associate himself with scientific work. Freud's supervisor, seeing his ambitions and given the financial difficulties he faced due to family poverty, decided to dissuade Sigmund from pursuing a research career. In one of his letters, Brücke remarked: “Young man, you have chosen a path that leads nowhere. There are no vacancies in the Department of Psychology for the next 20 years, and you do not have enough means of subsistence. I see no other solution: leave the institute and start practicing medicine.”. Freud heeded the advice of his teacher - to a certain extent this was facilitated by the fact that in the same year he met Martha Bernays, fell in love with her and decided to marry her; in connection with this, Freud needed money. Martha belonged to a Jewish family with rich cultural traditions - her grandfather, Isaac Bernays, was a rabbi in Hamburg, his two sons - Mikael and Jakob - taught at the Universities of Munich and Bonn. Martha's father, Berman Bernays, worked as a secretary for Lorenz von Stein.

Freud did not have enough experience to open a private practice - at the University of Vienna he acquired exclusively theoretical knowledge, while clinical practice had to be developed independently. Freud decided that the Vienna City Hospital was best suited for this. Sigmund started with surgery, but after two months he abandoned this idea, finding the work too tiring. Deciding to change his field of activity, Freud switched to neurology, in which he was able to achieve some success - studying the methods of diagnosing and treating children with paralysis, as well as various speech disorders (aphasia), he published a number of works on these topics, which became known in scientific and medical circles. He owns the term "cerebral palsy" (now generally accepted). Freud gained a reputation as a highly skilled neurologist. At the same time, his passion for medicine quickly faded away, and in the third year of work at the Vienna Clinic, Sigmund was completely disappointed in her.

In 1883, he decided to go to work in the psychiatric department, headed by Theodor Meinert, a recognized scientific authority in his field. The period of work under the guidance of Meinert was very productive for Freud - exploring the problems of comparative anatomy and histology, he published such scientific works as “A case of cerebral hemorrhage with a complex of basic indirect symptoms associated with scurvy” (1884), “On the question of the intermediate location oliviform body", "A case of muscle atrophy with extensive loss of sensitivity (violation of pain and temperature sensitivity)" (1885), "Complex acute neuritis of the nerves of the spinal cord and brain", "Origin of the auditory nerve", "Observation of severe unilateral loss of sensitivity in a patient with hysteria » (1886).

In addition, Freud wrote articles for the General Medical Dictionary and created a number of other works on cerebral hemiplegia in children and aphasia. For the first time in his life, work overwhelmed Sigmund with his head and turned into a true passion for him. At the same time, a young man striving for scientific recognition experienced a feeling of dissatisfaction with his work, since, in his own opinion, he did not achieve really significant success; Freud's psychological state was rapidly deteriorating, he was regularly in a state of melancholy and depression.

For a short time, Freud worked in the venereal division of the department of dermatology, where he studied the relationship of syphilis with diseases of the nervous system. He devoted his free time to laboratory research. In an effort to expand his practical skills as much as possible for further independent private practice, from January 1884 Freud moved to the department of nervous diseases. Shortly thereafter, a cholera epidemic broke out in Montenegro, neighboring Austria, and the government of the country asked for help in providing medical control at the border - most of Freud's senior colleagues volunteered, and his immediate supervisor at that time was on a two-month vacation; due to circumstances, for a long time, Freud served as chief physician of the department.

In 1884, Freud read about the experiments of a certain German military doctor with a new drug - cocaine. There have been claims in scientific papers that this substance can increase endurance and significantly reduce fatigue. Freud was extremely interested in what he had read and decided to conduct a series of experiments on himself.

The first mention of this substance by scientists is dated April 21, 1884 - in one of the letters, Freud noted: "I got hold of some cocaine and will try to test its effect by using it in cases of heart disease, as well as nervous exhaustion, especially in a terrible state of withdrawal from morphine". The effect of cocaine made a strong impression on the scientist, the drug was characterized by him as an effective analgesic, which makes it possible to carry out the most complex surgical operations; an enthusiastic article on the substance came out from Freud's pen in 1884 and was called "About coke". For a long time, the scientist used cocaine as an anesthetic, using it on his own and prescribing it to his fiancee Martha. Fascinated by the "magical" properties of cocaine, Freud insisted on its use by his friend Ernst Fleischl von Marxow, who was ill with a serious infectious disease, had a finger amputation and suffered from severe headaches (and also suffered from morphine addiction).

Freud advised a friend to use cocaine as a cure for morphine abuse. The desired result was not achieved - von Marxov subsequently quickly became addicted to a new substance, and he began to have frequent attacks similar to delirium tremens, accompanied by terrible pains and hallucinations. At the same time, from all over Europe, reports of cocaine poisoning and addiction began to arrive, about the deplorable consequences of its use.

However, Freud's enthusiasm did not diminish - he explored cocaine as an anesthetic in various surgical operations. The result of the work of the scientist was a voluminous publication in the "Central Journal of General Medicine" on cocaine, in which Freud outlined the history of the use of coca leaves by South American Indians, described the history of the plant's penetration into Europe and detailed the results of his own observations of the effect produced by the use of cocaine. In the spring of 1885, the scientist gave a lecture on this substance, in which he recognized the possible negative consequences of its use, but noted that he did not observe any cases of addiction (this happened before the deterioration of von Marxov's condition). Freud ended the lecture with the words: "I do not hesitate to advise the use of cocaine in subcutaneous injections of 0.3-0.5 grams, without worrying about its accumulation in the body". Criticism was not long in coming - already in June the first major works appeared, condemning Freud's position and proving its inconsistency. Scientific controversy regarding the appropriateness of the use of cocaine continued until 1887. During this period, Freud published several other works - "On the study of the action of cocaine" (1885), "On the General Effects of Cocaine" (1885), "Cocaine addiction and cocainophobia" (1887).

By the beginning of 1887, science had finally debunked the last myths about cocaine - it "was publicly condemned as one of the scourges of mankind, along with opium and alcohol." Freud, by that time already addicted to cocaine, until 1900 suffered from headaches, heart attacks and frequent nosebleeds. It is noteworthy that Freud not only experienced the destructive effect of a dangerous substance on himself, but also unwittingly (since at that time the perniciousness of cocainism had not yet been proven) spread to many acquaintances. E. Jones stubbornly concealed this fact of his biography and preferred not to cover it, however, this information became reliably known from published letters in which Jones stated: “Before the dangers of drugs were identified, Freud was already a social threat, as he pushed everyone he knew to take cocaine.”.

In 1885, Freud decided to take part in a competition held among junior doctors, the winner of which received the right to a scientific internship in Paris with the famous psychiatrist Jean Charcot.

In addition to Freud himself, there were many promising doctors among the applicants, and Sigmund was by no means the favorite, which he was well aware of; the only chance for him was the help of influential professors and scientists in academia, with whom he had previously had the opportunity to work. Enlisting the support of Brücke, Meinert, Leidesdorf (in his private clinic for the mentally ill, Freud briefly replaced one of the doctors) and several other scientists he knew, Freud won the competition, receiving thirteen votes in his support against eight. The chance to study under Charcot was a great success for Sigmund, he had great hopes for the future in connection with the upcoming trip. So, shortly before his departure, he enthusiastically wrote to his bride: “Little Princess, my little Princess. Oh how wonderful it will be! I will come with money ... Then I will go to Paris, become a great scientist and return to Vienna with a big, just a huge halo over my head, we will immediately get married, and I will cure all the incurable nervous patients ”.

In the autumn of 1885, Freud arrived in Paris to see Charcot, who at that time was at the height of his fame. Charcot studied the causes and treatment of hysteria. In particular, the main work of the neurologist was the study of the use of hypnosis - the use of this method allowed him to both induce and eliminate such hysterical symptoms as paralysis of the limbs, blindness and deafness. Under Charcot, Freud worked at the Salpêtrière clinic. Encouraged by Charcot's methods and impressed by his clinical success, he offered his services as an interpreter of his mentor's lectures into German, for which he received his permission.

In Paris, Freud was passionately involved in neuropathology, studying the differences between patients who experienced paralysis due to physical trauma and those who developed symptoms of paralysis due to hysteria. Freud was able to establish that hysterical patients vary greatly in the severity of paralysis and injury sites, and also to identify (with the help of Charcot) the existence of certain links between hysteria and problems of a sexual nature. At the end of February 1886, Freud left Paris and decided to spend some time in Berlin, getting the opportunity to study childhood diseases at the Adolf Baginsky clinic, where he spent several weeks before returning to Vienna.

On September 13 of the same year, Freud married his beloved Martha Bernay, who subsequently bore him six children - Matilda (1887-1978), Martin (1889-1969), Oliver (1891-1969), Ernst (1892-1966), Sophie ( 1893-1920) and Anna (1895-1982). After returning to Austria, Freud began working at the institute under the direction of Max Kassovitz. He was engaged in translations and reviews of scientific literature, conducted a private practice, mainly working with neurotics, which "immediately put on the agenda the issue of therapy, which was not so relevant for scientists engaged in research activities." Freud knew about the successes of his friend Breuer and the possibilities of successfully applying his "cathartic method" in the treatment of neuroses (this method was discovered by Breuer while working with the patient Anna O, and later was reused together with Freud and was first described in "Studies in Hysteria") , but Charcot, who remained an unquestioned authority for Sigmund, was very skeptical about this technique. Freud's own experience told him that Breuer's research was very promising; beginning in December 1887, he increasingly resorted to the use of hypnotic suggestion in his work with patients.

In the course of his work with Breuer, Freud gradually began to realize the imperfection of the cathartic method and of hypnosis in general. In practice, it turned out that its effectiveness was far from being as high as Breuer claimed, and in some cases the treatment did not work at all - in particular, hypnosis was not able to overcome the patient's resistance, expressed in the suppression of traumatic memories. Often there were patients who were not at all suitable for introduction into a hypnotic state, and the condition of some patients worsened after the sessions. Between 1892 and 1895, Freud began to search for another method of treatment that would be more effective than hypnosis. To begin with, Freud tried to get rid of the need to use hypnosis, using a methodical trick - pressure on the forehead in order to suggest to the patient that he must definitely remember the events and experiences that had previously taken place in his life. The main task that the scientist solved was to obtain the desired information about the patient's past in his normal (and not hypnotic) state. The use of the laying on of the palm had some effect, allowing us to move away from hypnosis, but still remained an imperfect technique, and Freud continued to search for a solution to the problem.

The answer to the question that so occupied the scientist turned out to be quite accidentally suggested by the book of one of Freud's favorite writers, Ludwig Börne. His essay "The Art of Becoming an Original Writer in Three Days" ended with: “Write everything you think about yourself, about your successes, about the Turkish war, about Goethe, about the criminal process and its judges, about your bosses - and in three days you will be amazed at how much completely new, unknown lies in you ideas for you". This thought prompted Freud to use the entire array of information that clients reported about themselves in dialogues with him as a key to understanding their psyche.

Subsequently, the method of free association became the main method in Freud's work with patients. Many patients reported that pressure from the doctor - the insistent compulsion to "pronounce" all the thoughts that come to mind - prevents them from concentrating. That is why Freud abandoned the “methodical trick” with pressure on the forehead and allowed his clients to say whatever they wanted. The essence of the technique of free association is to follow the rule according to which the patient is invited to freely, without concealment, express his thoughts on the topic proposed by the psychoanalyst, without trying to concentrate. Thus, according to Freud's theoretical propositions, thought will unconsciously move towards what is significant (what worries), overcoming resistance due to lack of concentration. From Freud's point of view, no thought that appears is random - it is always a derivative of the processes that happened (and are happening) with the patient. Any association can become fundamentally important for establishing the causes of the disease. The use of this method made it possible to completely abandon the use of hypnosis in sessions and, according to Freud himself, served as an impetus for the formation and development of psychoanalysis.

The result of the joint work of Freud and Breuer was the publication of the book "Studies in Hysteria" (1895). The main clinical case described in this work - the case of Anna O - gave impetus to the emergence of one of the most important ideas for Freudianism - the concept of transfer (transfer) (this idea first occurred to Freud when he was thinking about the case of Anna O, who was at that time a patient Breuer, who told the latter that she was expecting a child from him and imitated childbirth in a state of insanity), and also formed the basis of the ideas that appeared later about the oedipal complex and infantile (childish) sexuality. Summarizing the data obtained during the collaboration, Freud wrote: “Our hysterical patients suffer from memories. Their symptoms are remnants and symbols of memories of known (traumatic) experiences.. The publication of the Hysteria Studies is called by many researchers the "birthday" of psychoanalysis. It is worth noting that by the time the work was published, Freud's relationship with Breuer had finally broken off. The reasons for the divergence of scientists in professional views to this day remain not completely clear; Freud's close friend and biographer Ernest Jones believed that Breuer categorically disagreed with Freud's opinion about the important role of sexuality in the etiology of hysteria, and this was the main reason for their breakup.

Many respected Viennese doctors - mentors and colleagues of Freud - turned away from him after Breuer. The statement that it is repressed memories (thoughts, ideas) of a sexual nature that underlie hysteria provoked a scandal and formed an extremely negative attitude towards Freud on the part of the intellectual elite. At the same time, a long-term friendship between the scientist and Wilhelm Fliess, a Berlin otolaryngologist, who attended his lectures for some time, began to emerge. Fliess soon became very close to Freud, who was rejected by the academic community, had lost his old friends and was in desperate need of support and understanding. Friendship with Fliss turned into a true passion for him, capable of being compared with the love for his wife.

On October 23, 1896, Jacob Freud died, whose death Sigmund experienced especially acutely: against the backdrop of despair and a sense of loneliness that seized Freud, he began to develop a neurosis. It is for this reason that Freud decided to apply analysis to himself, examining childhood memories through the method of free association. This experience laid the foundations of psychoanalysis. None of the previous methods were suitable for achieving the desired result, and then Freud turned to the study of his own dreams.

In the period from 1897 to 1899, Freud worked hard on what he later considered his most important work, The Interpretation of Dreams (1900, German Die Traumdeutung). An important role in preparing the book for publication was played by Wilhelm Fliess, to whom Freud sent the written chapters for evaluation - it was at the suggestion of Fliess that many details were removed from the Interpretation. Immediately after its publication, the book did not have any significant impact on the public and received only minor publicity. The psychiatric community generally ignored the release of The Interpretation of Dreams. The importance of this work for the scientist throughout his life remained undeniable - thus, in the preface to the third English edition in 1931, the seventy-five-year-old Freud wrote: “This book ... in full accordance with my current ideas ... contains the most valuable of the discoveries that a favorable fate has allowed me to make. Insights of this kind fall to the lot of a person, but only once in a lifetime..

According to Freud's assumptions, dreams have overt and covert content. Explicit content is directly what a person talks about, remembering his dream. The latent content is a hallucinatory fulfillment of some desire of the dreamer, masked by certain visual pictures with the active participation of the Self, which seeks to bypass the censorship restrictions of the Superego, which suppresses this desire. The interpretation of dreams, according to Freud, lies in the fact that on the basis of free associations that are found to individual parts of dreams, certain substitute representations can be evoked that open the way to the true (hidden) content of the dream. Thus, thanks to the interpretation of fragments of a dream, its general meaning is recreated. The process of interpretation is the "translation" of the explicit content of the dream into the hidden thoughts that initiated it.

Freud expressed the opinion that the images perceived by the dreamer are the result of the work of the dream, expressed in displacement (non-essential representations acquire a high value inherent in another phenomenon), condensation (in one representation, many meanings formed through associative chains coincide) and substitution (replacement specific thoughts with symbols and images), which turn the latent content of a dream into an explicit one. A person's thoughts are transformed into certain images and symbols through the process of visual and symbolic representation - in relation to the dream, Freud called this the primary process. Further, these images are transformed into some meaningful content (the plot of a dream appears) - this is how recycling (secondary process) functions. However, recycling may not take place - in this case, the dream turns into a stream of strangely intertwined images, becomes abrupt and fragmented.

Despite the rather cool reaction of the scientific community to the release of The Interpretation of Dreams, Freud gradually began to form around himself a group of like-minded people who became interested in his theories and views. Freud became occasionally accepted in psychiatric circles, sometimes using his techniques in work; medical journals began to publish reviews of his writings. Since 1902, the scientist regularly received in his house interested in the development and dissemination of psychoanalytic ideas of doctors, as well as artists and writers. The beginning of the weekly meetings was laid by one of Freud's patients, Wilhelm Stekel, who had previously successfully completed a course of treatment for neurosis with him; It was Stekel who, in one of his letters, invited Freud to meet at his house to discuss his work, to which the doctor agreed, inviting Stekel himself and several especially interested listeners - Max Kahane, Rudolf Reiter and Alfred Adler.

The resulting club was named "Psychological Society on Wednesdays"; its meetings were held until 1908. For six years, the society acquired a fairly large number of listeners, whose composition changed regularly. It has steadily grown in popularity. “It turned out that psychoanalysis gradually aroused interest in itself and found friends, proved that there are scientists who are ready to recognize it”. Thus, the members of the Psychological Society who subsequently gained the greatest fame were Alfred Adler (member of the society since 1902), Paul Federn (since 1903), Otto Rank, Isidor Zadger (both since 1906), Max Eitingon, Ludwig Biswanger and Karl Abraham (all from 1907), Abraham Brill, Ernest Jones and Sandor Ferenczi (all from 1908). On April 15, 1908, the society was reorganized and received a new name - the Vienna Psychoanalytic Association.

The development of the "Psychological Society" and the growing popularity of the ideas of psychoanalysis coincided with one of the most productive periods in Freud's work - his books were published: "The Psychopathology of Everyday Life" (1901, which deals with one of the important aspects of the theory of psychoanalysis, namely reservations), "Wit and its Relation to the Unconscious" and "Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality" (both 1905). Freud's popularity as a scientist and medical practitioner grew steadily: "Freud's private practice increased so much that it occupied the entire working week. Very few of his patients, both then and later, were residents of Vienna. Most of the patients came from Eastern Europe: Russia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, etc.”.

Freud's ideas began to gain popularity abroad - interest in his works manifested itself especially clearly in the Swiss city of Zurich, where since 1902 psychoanalytic concepts were actively used in psychiatry by Eugen Bleuler and his colleague Carl Gustav Jung, who were engaged in research on schizophrenia. Jung, who held Freud's ideas in high regard and admired him, published The Psychology of Dementia praecox in 1906, which was based on his own developments of Freud's concepts. The latter, having received this work from Jung, appreciated it quite highly, and a correspondence began between the two scientists, which lasted almost seven years. Freud and Jung first met in person in 1907 - the young researcher strongly impressed Freud, who, in turn, believed that Jung was destined to become his scientific heir and continue the development of psychoanalysis.

In 1908 there was an official psychoanalytic congress in Salzburg - rather modestly organized, it took only one day, but was in fact the first international event in the history of psychoanalysis. Among the speakers, in addition to Freud himself, there were 8 people who presented their work; the meeting gathered only 40-odd listeners. It was during this speech that Freud first presented one of the five main clinical cases - the case history of the "Rat Man" (also found in the translation of "The Man with the Rats"), or the psychoanalysis of obsessive-compulsive disorder. The real success that opened the way for psychoanalysis to international recognition was Freud's invitation to the United States - in 1909, Granville Stanley Hall invited him to give a course of lectures at Clark University (Worcester, Massachusetts).

Freud's lectures were received with great enthusiasm and interest, and the scientist was awarded an honorary doctorate. More and more patients from all over the world turned to him for advice. Upon his return to Vienna, Freud continued to publish, publishing several works, including The Family Romance of the Neurotic and Analysis of the Phobia of a Five-Year-Old Boy. Encouraged by the successful reception in the United States and the growing popularity of psychoanalysis, Freud and Jung decided to organize a second psychoanalytic congress, held in Nuremberg on March 30-31, 1910. The scientific part of the congress was successful, in contrast to the unofficial part. On the one hand, the International Psychoanalytic Association was established, but at the same time, Freud's closest associates began to divide into opposing groups.

Despite the disagreements within the psychoanalytic community, Freud did not stop his own scientific activity - in 1910 he published Five Lectures on Psychoanalysis (which he gave at Clark University) and several other small works. In the same year, Freud published the book Leonardo da Vinci. Childhood Memories”, dedicated to the great Italian artist.

After the second psychoanalytic congress in Nuremberg, the conflicts that had matured by that time escalated to the limit, initiating a split in the ranks of Freud's closest associates and colleagues. The first to come out of Freud's inner circle was Alfred Adler, whose disagreements with the founding father of psychoanalysis began as early as 1907, when his work An Investigation into the Inferiority of Organs was published, which caused outrage among many psychoanalysts. In addition, Adler was greatly disturbed by the attention that Freud paid to his protégé Jung; in this regard, Jones (who characterized Adler as "a gloomy and captious person, whose behavior oscillates between grumpiness and sullenness") wrote: “Any unrestrained childhood complexes could find expression in rivalry and jealousy for his [Freud's] favor. The requirement to be a "beloved child" also had an important material motive, since the economic situation of young analysts depended for the most part on those patients whom Freud could refer to them.. Due to the preferences of Freud, who made the main bet on Jung, and the ambition of Adler, relations between them rapidly deteriorated. At the same time, Adler constantly quarreled with other psychoanalysts, defending the priority of his ideas.

Freud and Adler disagreed on a number of points. First, Adler considered the desire for power to be the main motive that determines human behavior, while Freud assigned the main role of sexuality. Secondly, the emphasis in Adler's studies of personality was placed on the social environment of a person - Freud gave most attention unconscious. Thirdly, Adler considered the Oedipus complex a fabrication, and this was completely contrary to Freud's ideas. However, while rejecting the fundamental ideas for Adler, the founder of psychoanalysis recognized their importance and partial validity. Despite this, Freud was forced to expel Adler from the psychoanalytic society, obeying the demands of the rest of its members. Adler's example was followed by his closest colleague and friend, Wilhelm Stekel.

A short time later, Carl Gustav Jung also left the circle of Freud's closest associates - their relationship was completely spoiled by differences in scientific views; Jung did not accept Freud's position that repressions are always explained by sexual trauma, and in addition, he was actively interested in mythological images, spiritualistic phenomena and occult theories, which greatly annoyed Freud. Moreover, Jung disputed one of the main provisions of Freud's theory: he considered the unconscious not an individual phenomenon, but the heritage of ancestors - all people who have ever lived in the world, that is, he considered it as "collective unconscious".

Jung also did not accept Freud's views on libido: if for the latter this concept meant psychic energy, fundamental for the manifestations of sexuality directed to various objects, then for Jung libido was simply a designation of general tension. The final break between the two scientists came after the publication of Jung's Symbols of Transformation (1912), which criticized and challenged Freud's basic postulates, and proved extremely painful for both of them. In addition to the loss of a very close friend, Freud suffered a major blow to his differences of opinion with Jung, in whom he initially saw the successor and continuation of the development of psychoanalysis. The loss of support of the entire Zurich school also played its role - with the departure of Jung, the psychoanalytic movement lost a number of talented scientists.

In 1913, Freud completed a long and very difficult work on the fundamental work "Totem and Taboo". “Since writing The Interpretation of Dreams, I have not worked on anything with such confidence and enthusiasm.” he wrote about this book. Among other things, the work on the psychology of primitive peoples was considered by Freud as one of the largest scientific counterarguments to the Zurich school of psychoanalysis headed by Jung: "Totem and taboo", according to the author, was supposed to finally separate his inner circle from dissidents.

The First World War began, and Vienna fell into decay, which naturally affected Freud's practice. Economic situation The scientist was rapidly deteriorating, as a result of which he developed depression. The newly formed Committee turned out to be the last circle of like-minded people in Freud's life: "We became the last associates that he was ever destined to have," recalled Ernest Jones. Freud, who was in financial difficulties and had enough free time due to the reduced number of patients, resumed his scientific activity: “Freud withdrew into himself and turned to scientific work. ... Science personified his work, his passion, his rest and was a saving remedy from external hardships and internal experiences. The following years became very productive for him - in 1914, Michelangelo's Moses, An Introduction to Narcissism, and An Essay on the History of Psychoanalysis came out from under his pen. In parallel, Freud worked on a series of essays that Ernest Jones calls the most profound and important in the scientific activity of a scientist - these are "Instincts and Their Fate", "Repression", "The Unconscious", "A Metapsychological Complement to the Doctrine of Dreams" and "Sorrow and Melancholy ".

In the same period, Freud returned to the use of the previously abandoned concept of "metapsychology" (the term was first used in a letter to Fliess dated 1896). It became one of the key in his theory. By the word "metapsychology" Freud understood the theoretical foundation of psychoanalysis, as well as a specific approach to the study of the psyche. According to the scientist, a psychological explanation can be considered complete (that is, "metapsychological") only if it establishes the existence of a conflict or connection between the levels of the psyche (topography), determines the amount and type of energy expended (economics) and the balance of forces in consciousness, which can be directed to work together or oppose each other (dynamics). A year later, the work "Metapsychology" was published, explaining the main provisions of his teaching.

With the end of the war, Freud's life only changed for the worse - he was forced to spend the money set aside for old age, there were even fewer patients, one of his daughters - Sophia - died of the flu. Nonetheless, scientific activity The scientist did not stop - he wrote the works “Beyond the pleasure principle” (1920), “Psychology of the masses” (1921), “I and It” (1923).

In April 1923, Freud was diagnosed with a palate tumor; the operation to remove it was unsuccessful and almost cost the scientist his life. Subsequently, he had to endure 32 more operations. Soon, the cancer began to spread, and Freud had part of his jaw removed - from that moment on, he used an extremely painful prosthesis that left non-healing wounds, in addition to everything else, it prevented him from speaking. The darkest period in Freud's life came: he could no longer lecture, because the audience did not understand him. Until his death, his daughter Anna took care of him: “It was she who went to congresses and conferences, where she read the texts of speeches prepared by her father.” A series of sad events for Freud continued: at the age of four, his grandson Geinele (the son of the late Sophia) died of tuberculosis, and some time later his close friend Karl Abraham died; Sadness and grief began to take hold of Freud, and words about his own approaching death began to appear more and more often in his letters.

In the summer of 1930, Freud was awarded the Goethe Prize for his significant contribution to science and literature, which brought great satisfaction to the scientist and contributed to the spread of psychoanalysis in Germany. However, this event turned out to be overshadowed by another loss: at the age of ninety-five, Freud's mother Amalia died of gangrene. The most terrible trials for the scientist were just beginning - in 1933, Adolf Hitler was elected Chancellor of Germany, and National Socialism became the state ideology. The new government adopted a number of discriminatory laws against the Jews, and books that contradicted Nazi ideology, were destroyed. Along with the works of Heine, Marx, Mann, Kafka and Einstein, the works of Freud were also banned. The Psychoanalytic Association was dissolved by government order, many of its members were repressed and their funds were confiscated. Many of Freud's associates persistently suggested that he leave the country, but he flatly refused.

In 1938, after the annexation of Austria to Germany and the ensuing persecution of Jews by the Nazis, Freud's position became much more complicated. After the arrest of his daughter Anna and interrogation by the Gestapo, Freud decided to leave the Third Reich and go to England. It turned out to be difficult to carry out the plan: in exchange for the right to leave the country, the authorities demanded an impressive amount of money, which Freud did not have. The scientist had to resort to the help of influential friends in order to obtain permission to emigrate. Thus, his longtime friend William Bullitt, then the US ambassador to France, interceded for Freud before President Franklin Roosevelt. The German ambassador to France, Count von Welzek, also joined the petitions. Through joint efforts, Freud received the right to leave the country, but the question of "debt to the German government" remained unresolved. Freud was helped to resolve it by his longtime friend (as well as a patient and student) - Marie Bonaparte, Princess of Greece and Denmark, who lent the necessary funds.

In the summer of 1939, Freud suffered particularly badly from a progressive illness. The scientist turned to Dr. Max Schur, who was caring for him, reminding him of his earlier promise to help die. At first, Anna, who did not leave a single step from her sick father, opposed his desire, but soon agreed. On September 23, Schur injected Freud with several cubes of morphine, a dose sufficient to end the life of an old man weakened by illness. At three o'clock in the morning, Sigmund Freud died. The scientist's body was cremated at Golders Green, and the ashes were placed in an ancient Etruscan vase donated to Freud by Marie Bonaparte. A vase with the ashes of a scientist stands in the mausoleum of Ernest George (Ernest George Mausoleum) in Golders Green.

On the night of January 1, 2014, unknown people made their way to the crematorium, where there was a vase with the ashes of Martha and Sigmund Freud, and broke it. Now the police in London have taken up the matter. The caretakers of the crematorium moved the vase with the ashes of the spouses to a safe place. The reasons for the attacker's act are not clear.

Works of Sigmund Freud:

1899 Interpretation of Dreams
1901 Psychopathology of everyday life
1905 Three essays on the theory of sexuality
1913 Totem and Taboo
1920 Beyond the Pleasure Principle
1921 Psychology of the masses and analysis of the human "I"
1927 The Future of One Illusion
1930 Dissatisfaction with culture

The birth of psychoanalysis

The history of psychoanalysis dates back to the 1890s in Vienna, when Sigmund Freud worked to develop more effective way treatment of neurotic and hysterical diseases. Somewhat earlier, Freud had encountered the fact that part of the mental processes were not conscious of him as a result of his neurological consultations in a children's hospital, and in doing so he found that many children with speech disorders do not have organic causes for the occurrence of these symptoms. Later in 1885, Freud had an internship at the Salpêtrière clinic under the French neurologist and psychiatrist Jean Martin Charcot, who had a strong influence on him. Charcot drew attention to the fact that his patients often suffered from somatic diseases such as paralysis, blindness, tumors, while not having any organic disorders characteristic of such cases. Prior to Charcot's work, women with hysterical symptoms were thought to have a vagus uterus ( hystera in Greek means "womb"), but Freud found that men could also experience similar psychosomatic symptoms. Freud also became familiar with the experiments in the treatment of hysteria by his mentor and colleague Josef Breuer. This treatment was a combination of hypnosis and catharsis, and later processes of discharging emotions similar to this method were called "abreaction".

Despite the fact that most scientists considered dreams to be either a set of mechanical memories of the past day, or a meaningless set of fantastic images, Freud developed the view of other researchers that a dream is a coded message. Analyzing the associations that arise in patients in connection with one or another detail of a dream, Freud made a conclusion about the etiology of the disorder. Realizing the origin of their disease, patients, as a rule, were cured.

As a young man, Freud became interested in hypnosis and its use in helping the mentally ill. Later, he abandoned hypnosis, preferring it free association method and dream analysis. These methods became the basis of psychoanalysis. Freud was also interested in what he called hysteria, and is now known as the conversion syndrome.

Symbols, in contrast to the usual elements of an explicit dream, have a universal (the same for different people) and a stable value. Symbols are found not only in dreams, but also in fairy tales, myths, everyday speech, and poetic language. The number of objects depicted in dreams by symbols is limited.

dream interpretation method

The method Freud used to interpret dreams is this. After he was told the content of the dream, Freud began to ask the same question about the individual elements (images, words) of this dream - what does the narrator come to mind about this element when he thinks about it? The person was required to report every thought that came to his mind, regardless of the fact that some of them may seem ridiculous, irrelevant or obscene.

The rationale for this method is that mental processes are strictly determined, and if a person, when asked to say what comes into his mind regarding a given element of a dream, a thought comes into his head, this thought can by no means be accidental; it will certainly be associated with this element. Thus, the psychoanalyst does not interpret someone's dream himself, but rather helps the dreamer in this. In addition, some special elements of dreams can still be interpreted by a psychoanalyst without the help of the owner of the dream. These are symbols - elements of dreams that have a constant, universal meaning, which does not depend on in whose dream these symbols appear.

last years of life

Freud's books

• "The Interpretation of Dreams", 1900
• "Totem and Taboo", 1913
• "Lectures on Introduction to Psychoanalysis", 1916-1917
• "I and It", 1923
• Moses and Monotheism, 1939

Literature

1. Brian D. Freudian Psychology and the Post-Freudians. - Refl-book. - 1997.
2. Zeigarnik. "Personality Theories in Foreign Psychology". - Publishing House of Moscow University. - 1982.
3. Lacan J. Seminars. Book 1. Freud's work on the technique of psychoanalysis (1953-1954) M: Gnosis / Logos, 1998.
4. Lacan J. Seminars. Book 2. "I" in Freud's theory and in the technique of psychoanalysis (1954-1955) M: Gnosis / Logos, 1999.
5. Marson, P. "25 Key Books on Psychoanalysis." Ural Ltd. - 1999
6. Freud, Sigmund. Collected works in 26 volumes. St. Petersburg, publishing house "VEIP", 2005 - ed. continues.
7. Paul FERRIS. "Sigmund Freud"