Psycho-Analysis: The Key
to Human Behavior

INTRODUCTION

Psycho-analysis has a two-fold value which places it in the front ranks of the modern constructive sciences. First, it offers untold possibilities, which are only beginning to be realized, as a therapeutic or curative agency for many baffling diseases. The ailments to which it affords cure or relief are not only of the mind, for it has been found that a great number of physical disorders, which heretofore have been considered purely of an organic or functional character, are merely physical reflexes of a neurosis. Relieve the mind of these all-pervading neurotic troubles, and serious physical disturbances are frequently removed.

The mental disorders alone that respond to proper psycho-analytic treatment range all the way from trifling hysterical cases (which, however, tend to become more severe as the individual weakens under the increasing influence of the neurosis) to “dementia praecox,” a severe form of insanity, which the old school psychiatrists have considered hopeless.

Of course, insanity that is due to disintegration of the brain structure, as sometimes happens in the tertiary (third) stage of syphilis, etc., is incurable. Only the charlatan makes all-embracing claims. And psycho-analysis is not magic or alchemy, but a rational science based on very definite natural laws.

The second, and in a way the greater, function [Pg 4]of psycho-analysis is as a cultural study for the self-improvement and development of the individual. I emphasize its possible greater usefulness in this respect because, after all, only a very small percentage of the population is insane, and while the victims of neurotic disturbances make up a more important element of society, numerically, than is generally imagined, there is still the great mass of people who may be classed as “normal.”

Psycho-analysis has revolutionized our former conception of human behavior. It has re-interpreted, and thrown a vastly different light on the passions, loves, hates, fears and other primitive emotions of man.

It has revealed in a startling way many of the heretofore inexplicable motives and actions of individuals. The deeper, underlying significance of seemingly inconsequential actions is often disclosed to the analytic observer at its true value—so far removed from surface indications.

To the student of human problems, whether social, economic, industrial, psychical, physical, educational, or what not, psycho-analysis is of incalculable worth. It leads the way to fundamental causes that hitherto have shielded themselves behind an impenetrable screen, and whose existence we have only guessed at in the misleading light of superficial appearances.

There is scarcely any field of human endeavor to which this science cannot be made an invaluable aid. It is the key to an unexplored region whose portals we have just entered. It is the new Lamp of Aladdin, whose light will [Pg 5]guide us on the way to a better understanding and re-evaluation of human possibilities.

In the following pages, I shall endeavor to give the psycho-analytic interpretation of some of the most common and interesting revelations that the science offers.

People realize in an indefinite way that they “take to” certain individuals—that they tend to love or esteem persons of a certain type, and to dislike and sometimes even hate another type, without themselves knowing the reason why.

Most of us are cognizant of the fact that there are unfortunate people, homosexuals or perverts, that society has very ignorantly gone out of its way to persecute and penalize because it has not understood the cause of their affliction. Their failure to experience sexual desire in the normal, prescribed manner has been considered a deliberately cultivated or inherently vicious trait, instead of a pathological condition. When the cause of an abnormality remains unknown, there is invariably an irrational reaction to it.

There was a time when insanity was considered a state of being “possessed by devils,” and the victim was flogged and otherwise punished for his indiscretion in harboring the damned. Conventional society has modified its views, and now takes it for granted that there are two kinds of people in the world—the sane and insane—that the latter class is hopeless and must be confined to the asylums until released by death. Psycho-analysis shatters this romantic theory.

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It has been an enigma to the student of human behavior why the great masses of people remain so long in self-satisfied contentment often under the most oppressive conditions. It has likewise been a puzzle why a certain few individuals—almost an infinitesimal minority—have always resisted authority and oppression, regardless of personal sacrifices. The pioneers in the radical and feminist movements, etc., illustrate this type. The martyrs of history who have died for various causes and ideals are the best known examples of this phenomenon.

Dreams have been the subject of controversy, speculation and unlimited commentary throughout the ages. The real meaning and profound importance of dreams were never realized until Freud’s discoveries demonstrated their vast significance, and intimate relation to our life, awake as well as asleep.

Our forgetfulness, or absent-mindedness, particularly when it involves a subject or details with which we are quite familiar, is very embarrassing at times. Yet, that there is an unconscious “motive” in forgetting these things that we know so well, or that causes us to suffer from slips of the tongue, and to read words that are not there in sentences, is now established.

Everybody enjoys wit and gets satisfaction out of a joke, particularly when it is on the other fellow. The significance of this psychic manifestation is deeper and more involved than our matter-of-fact acceptance of it has permitted us to comprehend.

The atrocities of war, committed by people [Pg 7]who are believed to have been uplifted by the influence of twenty centuries of Christianity, and many more centuries of cultural civilization, are astounding to the casual observer. The ease with which a group of people, individually peaceful and law-abiding, is transformed into a destructive, even murderous mob, is seemingly incomprehensible. Still, there are very plausible reasons for these phenomena, which an understanding of the new psychology enables us to perceive.

And by understanding all of these and other important factors, which a knowledge of psycho-analysis offers, we are better able to check and overcome our individual and social shortcomings, and to re-direct our course along constructive lines.

I. THE THEORY OF PSYCHO-ANALYSIS

Before taking up the various questions about which psycho-analysis offers so much food for thought, acting as a stepping-stone to goals formerly unattainable, it is desirable briefly to outline the theory of our subject. This will enable the elementary student better to understand the new and sometimes unique terminology that has been evolved with the progress of the science, and to follow more closely the logical course of the analytic procedure.

While this treatise will not be based solely on the orthodox Freudian viewpoint—which would weaken rather than strengthen it—it is necessary to emphasize the original contributions of Freud. For without the findings of this great pathfinder, the science of psycho-analysis [Pg 8]might have lain dormant in the background of a slowly evolving psychology for another century or more.

However, the theories of Jung, Adler and other analytic pioneers will be duly considered, and the vital contributions of all correlated and reduced to a workable, harmonious whole.

It was along about 1890 that Prof. Sigmund Freud of Vienna, a pupil of Breuer and Charcot, made public his theories, developed from psychic discoveries in the realm of the neuroses.

The Unconscious.—The seat of operations of psycho-analysis is the unconscious mind. This is the field upon which it works, and the more we know of the unconscious mind the more we are awed by its vastness.

To the uninitiated, this may seem paradoxical, basing a highly intricate science on the unconscious mind—which possibly suggests a condition of mental passiveness, inaction or an unknowing quantity. But the Unconscious is the unknown rather than the unknowing.

In reality, there is no such thing as an unknowing part of the mind, because the mind is essentially that part of the personality that is knowing. In contradistinction to this fact, the definition of mind generally accepted before the time of analytic psychology had made mind co-extensive with consciousness.

But the psycho-analysts have demonstrated not only that thinking takes place, but that it goes on all the time, whether we are awake or asleep.

The importance and vastness of the Unconscious as a psychic content may be realized [Pg 9]when we use the simile of Dr. G. Stanley Hall, who compares the mind to an iceberg floating with one-eighth visible above the water and seven-eighths below—the one-eighth above representing the Conscious and the seven-eighths below the Unconscious. The influence and controlling power of the unconscious desires over our thoughts and actions are in this relative proportion. Thus, the saying, “he does not know his own mind,” is literally true of all of us.

In the past, people who suffered from disturbances of this unknown psychic region—and they are among the most common of all human ailments—were without prospect of relief, unless some happy and haphazard circumstance should intervene and unwittingly favor them.

Because of the unfathomed depths from which these disorders emanated, they were beyond the range of our understanding, and consequently not subject to effective treatment.

These psychic disturbances, which are capable of indelibly affecting and warping the personality, and causing wounds and conflicts that are painful to the mind and torturous to the soul, also react in definite physical ailments and symptoms of the most varied character.

Psycho-analysis brings to the sufferer from psychic hurts and soul wounds his first opportunity for scientific diagnosis and curative treatment, and renders to him a similar service that surgery does to the physical body. That it should always be successful is no more to be expected than the invariable success of surgery; [Pg 10]in fact, less so, as the analytic treatment requires much more of the individual.

The relation of the unconscious mind to the conscious mind is that the former is the psychic reservoir which receives all the accumulations of experiences and impressions of the personality that pass through, often without notice, the conscious mind.

The Unconscious is that region of the mind where are deposited, and have been since birth, every sight, or sound that we have perceived, and every feeling that we have had; in fact, everything that has happened to us, however trivial.

The first five years of our lives, for instance, are the most fertile in receiving impressions and gaining new experiences. It is by far the most impressionable period of life. The new and wonderful things that we have constantly observed and the sensations, joys and primitive hates felt, are beyond calculation. And yet, in the lapse of time, we forget practically all but a few outstanding incidents that we had experienced during that period. They are lost to the conscious mind—but not to the Unconscious.

As Dr. E. Hitschmann (Freud’s Theory of the Neuroses) has expressed it:

And still we know that our memory can be fully reviewed and reproduced at no time of life; on the other hand, psycho-analysis has shown that the very impressions which we have forgotten leave behind the deepest traces in our mental life and have become determining for our whole later development.

The unconscious mental processes are divided into two classes, those that are “forgotten” on [Pg 11]account of their lack of interest, and those that are “repressed” on account of their painful, or even shocking nature.

The psychic processes of the first group contain all as yet unsettled thoughts, or those not yet brought to a conclusion, and while really “unconscious,” they may often readily be brought into the conscious mind.

Those of the second class, however, are in the highest degree unconscious, or, as it has been stated, they are “unavailable for consciousness.” This characteristic led Freud to divide the Unconscious into the “Fore-conscious” and the “Absolutely Unconscious.”

The term “unavailable for consciousness,” however, is only a relative one, as it is the function of psycho-analysis to bring to consciousness the processes that are normally unavailable for consciousness.

Some of the natural freaks of the Fore-conscious are readily observed in our own mental operations. How often we “forget” proper names, dates and general facts that are quite familiar to us! In the Freudian sense, they simply slip into the upper stratum of the Unconscious, to be released again when some association of ideas in that region brings them to the conscious mind, or as we have so often noticed in our own experiences, when they return to memory spontaneously as it appears.

The Complexes.—The storm centers around which so many psychic disturbances fasten themselves, with frequent serious physical reactions in the form of chronic disorders and pathological symptoms, are the complexes.

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A complex is an outstanding idea that dominates in the realm of the Unconscious, and around which is grouped a phalanx of primitive, repressed emotions. It may consist of painful memories that have been banished into the Unconscious. Such complexes invariably assert themselves in dreams, and form the underlying mechanism of a neurosis.

Some of these, like hysteria and obsessions (“Psycho-neurosis”) are traced back by Freud to erotic experiences in childhood, hence to the influence of unconscious or repressed idea-complexes.

Neurasthenia and anxiety-neuroses (“true neuroses”) are referred to the present abnormal condition of the sexual functions of the individual. Hysteria is more psychic, and neurasthenia is more toxic—but both have a sexual basis.

The most devasting of the complexes is the Oedipus-complex. This has its origin in earliest childhood and consists of an over-attachment of the son to the mother, which in its true form is accompanied by a feeling of jealousy toward the father, whose claim upon the mother’s affections is resented by the young would-be rival.

These tendencies are often noticed by parents, to whom this display of infantile jealousy is amusing. Of course, they are unaware of the possibilities of future consequences of a dire nature that are bound up in the situation if it is not normally outgrown with the approach of puberty, rather than repressed.

Considering our modern customs which sanction [Pg 13]much coddling of the child by its mother, there is a trace of the Oedipus-complex in all children, but in normal cases, as they develop into adolescence, there is a breaking away from these childhood attachments.

Other children, however, never put aside these childish or infantile feelings and attachments, but carry them throughout life repressed in the Unconscious. These persons become neurotic, as the repressed complex furnishes an underlying basis for psycho-neuroses and many abnormal sexual inversions.

It is always the Oedipus-complex, or a characteristic trace of it, which in adult life gives rise to dreams of death of one of the parents usually the opposite parent to that of the infantile attachment.

Freud calls this archaic desire in the soul of the male child the Oedipus-complex in recognition of its analogy to the tragedy of King Oedipus of Sophocles, who was led by his fate to kill his father, Laius, and win his mother, Jocasta, for a wife.

The importance of the Oedipus-complex warrants a brief review of the early Greek myth, from which Freud has taken the name as a symbolic term. Laius, son of Labdacus, King of Thebes, was warned by Apollo’s oracle at Delphi that he would die at the hands of his son. When the child, Oedipus, was born, the father, to protect himself against the prophetic fate, fastened the ankles of the infant and gave him to a faithful herdsman to be exposed on Mount Cithaeron.

The herdsman, ignorant of the oracle, took [Pg 14]pity on the child and gave him to a shepherd of Polybus, King of Corinth, and that ruler, who was childless, brought him up as his own son.

Oedipus never doubted his Corinthian nativity until the taunt of a drunken companion aroused his suspicions, and he fled from the man and woman he had looked to as his actual father and mother. In a narrow highway he met an old man, Laius, disputed his right of way, and killed him. Continuing his journey he reached Thebes, which was harassed by the Sphinx. Oedipus answered the riddle of the Sphinx and thus slew the monster. Thebes rewarded him by offering him the hand of the widowed queen, Jocasta, his mother, whom he married, not knowing the relationship.

Later a terrible pestilence visited the city, and the oracle which was consulted declared that the murderer of Laius must be expelled to bring relief. Oedipus, beginning the search in good faith, discovered the truth, and put out his eyes. Jocasta, the mother wife, hanged herself.

The over-attachment of the daughter to the father, which involves a more or less latent jealousy toward the mother, is termed the Electra-complex, from the myth of Electra of Euripides, who took revenge on her mother for the murder of the husband because she was in this way deprived of her father. It will be noted that the Electra complex is for women quite analogous to the Oedipus complex in men—so much so in fact that the latter term is often used interchangeably for both situations, [Pg 15]it being understood that the sex of the parent is the opposite to that of the child.

In the theory of psycho-analysis, the dream is the true language and most natural medium of expression of the Unconscious, although it should be emphasized that it is not the only means of expression. It is also the chief means by which the Unconscious may be penetrated. Freud calls it the royal road to the unconscious.

Among other characteristic manifestations of the Unconscious are phantasying—or day-dreaming, as it is commonly called; absent-mindedness, which causes us to forget names, dates and facts with which we are really thoroughly conversant; mistakes in speech and writing, and reading words that are not there into sentences.

Wit and laughter are also manifestations of the unconscious mind, and are recognized by Freud as the medium through which the Unconscious obtains the greatest amount of pleasure within the shortest space of time. The psychological structure of a joke, in fact, greatly resembles the psychological structure of a dream.

As our civilization is based upon the suppression of instincts—which is, or should be, compensated for by the advantages of cultural and intellectual development—we find countless numbers of people who have been unable to successfully transform their accumulations of bound-up energy from self-centered to social ends.

The Libido.—The energy or prime mover of human action which Freud calls the Libido, is [Pg 16]termed by Henri Bergson the élan vital, and by Dr. Carl Jung, the horme. Other names have been proposed, one of the best English equivalents, suggested by Putnam, being the Craving. It is the Craving for Life, for Love, for Action.

When the libido (to adhere to the terminology of Freud) is not adequately transformed into channels that are serviceable to society or sublimated, as this process of socialization is called, the result is a derangement of the nervous system and the psychic structure—a neurosis in one of its several forms of variations.

The anxiety-neurosis may be the result of sexual repression, or of some sudden confronting with the facts of sex (a strong argument for some general common-sense instruction of what the continuance of life implies), or of impotent husbands, frigid wives, or of diminishing potency associated with increasing lust, and so on.

The libido, or life force, must have an outlet, or play havoc with the psychic structure, and as the rules of modern society necessarily forbid as an outlet the natural, crude expressions of sensuousness which served the purpose of primitive peoples in so many of their activities, the energy turns within, so to speak, and works on the ego.

As Dr. Hitschmann remarks, a dammed-up libido hunts out a weak place and breaks through, expressing itself in neurotic “substitute gratification.”

Primitive man, like the child, is much interested in the sensations he produces with his [Pg 17]own body; he is auto-erotic. He squanders enormous amounts of vitality in specific sensuality, wasted energy that results in no benefit to the group. One of the essential objects of civilization is to convert this dissipated personal power from the sensual to activities that are useful to the herd.

But by turning wasted energy from the sensual to social uses, we do not mean to imply that the sex-life of normal adulthood should or can be ignored. This, as we shall see, frequently leads to unfortunate, or even disastrous consequences.

As Freud says, “the struggle against sensuality consumes all of a young man’s available energy at the precise moment when he needs it to win for himself a place in the social organization.”

And, again, in alluding to the irrational, ascetic tendency of over-sublimation, he warns:

Experience teaches us that there is for the majority of men, a limit beyond which their constitution cannot comply any more with the “cultural” demands. Those who are trying to be better than their constitution permits them to be succumb to a neurosis; they would have been better off if it had been possible for them to be worse.

Sexuality.—Interpreted in the strictly Freudian sense, nearly all of our instincts, emotions and actions are motivated primarily by an unconscious sexual urge. It should be emphasized that Freud used the word “sexual” in a very broad sense; much broader than the conventionally educated are capable of comprehending until after diligent and painstaking study of psycho-analytic literature, they finally [Pg 18]perceive the meaning of this term at its true value.

In a word, sexuality is not the equivalent of sensuality, but denotes the fundamental instinct which is the very root of the emotional life, called the libido.

It thus refers to the yearning for love, for marriage, for children, for the affection of a parent, etc.—all of a most commendable type, which have as their unconscious biological aim the perpetuation of the race.

The child’s sexuality is at first auto-erotic (a term which the analysts have taken from Havelock Ellis), or turned on itself; then it transfers or fixes itself to those nearest him, usually the mother or some member of the family, or the nurse; and finally, in the normal course of development, as adult life is approached, it transfers it to a person outside the family group—constituting what is termed falling in love.

Freud emphasizes the point that the infant enjoys in the taking of nourishment a sexual pleasure which it frequently seeks to obtain throughout childhood by sucking, with rhythmic movements, independent of the taking of food.

This sometimes grows to a fixed childish fault that continues even up into later years. Often there is associated with the “pleasure-sucking,” a rubbing of certain sensitive parts of the body, the breast, the external genitals, etc. In this way many children proceed automatically from sucking to masturbation.

Jung, in The Psychology of the Unconscious, remarks:

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Sucking still belongs to the function of nutrition, but passes beyond it, however, in that it is no longer the function of nutrition, but rhythmic activity, with pleasure and satisfaction as a goal, without the taking of nourishment.... In the period of the displaced rhythmic activity, the hands appear still more clearly as an auxiliary organ; the gaining of pleasure leaves the mouth zone and turns to the other regions.... As a rule, other openings of the body become objects of the libido interest; then the skin and special portions of that. The activity expressed in these parts, which can appear as rubbing, boring, picking, and so on, follows a certain rhythm and serves to produce pleasure. After longer or shorter tarryings of the libido at these stations, it passes onward until it reaches the sexual (genital) zone, and there, for the first time, can be occasion for the beginning of onanistic attempts.

The theory of sucking as a sexual pleasure is strengthened by the fact that the mouth and lips are known as erogenous (love creating) zones, a significance they retain through normal life in the kiss.

It is also a natural tendency of the infant, as well as the young child, to take a keen satisfaction in the sight of its nude body, and in feeling and playing with many or almost all of the surface parts.

This manifestation is perfectly understandable when it is taken into consideration that the erogenous zones are very diversified in childhood; including, besides the more sensitive places, practically the whole surface of the body. As the child approaches puberty, the erogenous zones normally tend to concentrate to the regions of the reproductive organs. The inclination of the child to glory in its nakedness (termed Narcissism) is nothing to be ashamed [Pg 20]of, nor is the existence of an unconscious sexual motive a matter to be horrified over.

The child should not be scolded for this propensity, as such treatment leaves an indelible impression on the infant mind, and tends to set up repressions in the unconscious that may lead to future mental conflicts. Undue erotic concentration may be prevented by directing the mind of the child to various constructive activities suitable to its age and development. This is the beginning of the process of sublimation.

In regard to sexuality in childhood, Wilfrid Lay (Man’s Unconscious Conflict), states:

The repugnance against seeing anything of the quality or intensity of adult sexual feeling attributed to children under five years of age is so strong in most people that they have accused the Freudians of reading sex into everything. The reply to this accusation is that it is true that all excitement is primarily sexual, but the word sexual is to be understood in a very broad sense, and that, viewed from the purely scientific standpoint, and freed from all ideas of prurience or prudery, there is no reproach in regarding what is admitted as the prime mover in human life and activity as an essential characteristic of all ages of human life, even of infancy.

When looking at it in a rational light, free from prudish notions, there is nothing about this predominant sexual urge to feel ashamed of or to apologize for. It has as its basis the one great object of race preservation, which, biologically speaking, is ALL IMPORTANT.

But as we have evolved beyond the need of using practically all our instincts and activities toward the reproductive end, it follows that while the immediate and concrete urge of sex [Pg 21]life must normally find expression and gratification, the numerous secondary impulses that now have only a vestigial sexual significance, should express themselves in some other than sensuous ways. These are the qualities of the libido that can be sublimated, and diverted from erotic to socially useful fields of activity.

It should not be assumed that because these natural instincts have no longer a specific sexual function to perform that they are not even now sensually employed. Indeed, unless weaned into constructive channels by the process of sublimation, their constant tendency is to seek erotic satisfaction.

Proof of this can be found on every hand, not only in the records of serious crimes and petty misdemeanors, but in all sorts of human impulses that are so common in every-day life, and have such varied ways of manifesting themselves, that their very universality causes us to take them for granted as a matter of course, without reflecting on their real significance.

A very apt elucidation of this principle is given by Dr. William A. White (Principles of Mental Hygiene):

The way in which this bound-up energy is freed is by the process known as sublimation. Of course, the possible illustrations are almost infinite, for they include every activity of man. For example, according to this theory, the curiosity which makes a man a scientist—let us say microscopist—is traceable to that early curiosity in looking—peeping, which has its object in seeing forbidden sexual objects or acts. The immediate sexual element in the curiosity is sublimated into a socially useful purpose to which the original pleasure is still attached, and for which it furnishes the drive. We [Pg 22]know, too, the “Peeping Toms,” who still show this same form of pleasure-seeking, but have been unable to advance their way of obtaining pleasure to a socially accepted means.

Despite the formidable obstacles that stand in the way of a more normal sex life for the great masses of people, Freud sounds the hopeful note of all those who have worked toward an increased control of life, maintaining that degeneration and nervousness are not in any way inevitable results of cultural progress, but excrescences that are to be avoided.

II. DREAMS—THEIR PROFOUND SIGNIFICANCE

Interest in dreams has been manifested in all ages and by all races of people. Dreams have profoundly influenced the lives of individuals and the destinies of nations. There have been numerous books written on the subject and countless theories, ideas and superstitions formulated with reference to dream phenomena.

But notwithstanding this vast field that has been so long open for exploration, study and research, it is only within comparatively recent years—beginning with the epochal disclosures of Freud—that any real substantial progress has been made in getting at a true understanding of the nature of dreams and their processes.

The reason for this is the same as may be given for the slow progress in all friends of scientific research. While dreams in the past have been generally associated with the fantastic, the unreal, the supernormal, when, indeed, not the supernatural, they are now nevertheless [Pg 23]connected with a definite science, and consequently great strides have been made in recent years in understanding them.

The dream is always the fulfillment of a wish or craving of the Unconscious. On the surface, this may seem like a rash statement, if not an utter impossibility, as we have all experienced dreams that were the very antithesis of our conscious desires and repugnant to our feelings. But this involves a dual consideration; first, that the dream represents a wish fulfillment of the Unconscious—the crude, primitive, chaotic element of our personality, and is most frequently influenced by long-forgotten infantile impressions and repressions; secondly, that it is always highly symbolic, and does not express itself in the language of the conscious mind.

To these essential points may be added the fact that the dream is seldom remembered as it was actually dreamed. The version that is remembered is termed the manifest content, and the wish concealed in the underlying thoughts which produced the dream is known as the latent content. The concealing of this latent content, as well as the lapse of memory which accompanies it, is the result of a psychic resistance or an attempt of the “endo-psychic” censor to prevent the true motive from revealing itself.

Hence we have the symbolic dreams, which actually have to be translated to enable us to arrive at their real meaning. This is the function of psycho-analysis. The basic foundation of dreams lies in the wishes of childhood which [Pg 24]being unattainable were stored away in the Unconscious. The long-forgotten wishes have normally disappeared into the unconscious mind because of psycho-sexual development and social inhibitions.

The manifest content of the dream is produced by four chief processes which are called condensation, displacement, dramatization and secondary elaboration.

Briefly, these four terms may be described as follows: Condensation, as the name implies, is the constant tendency of the dream, as remembered, to be a very condensed version of the subject-matter that arose from the depths of our unconscious mind. This also includes the fusing together of dream-thoughts often resulting in a fantastic, ludicrous effect.

Displacement, like condensation, acts as a potent distorting mechanism. It signifies the process by which psychic importance is transferred to a given element in the manifest content from quite different unrelated elements in the latent content. This causes us to place undue stress on comparatively unimportant details in the dream, and to overlook as trivial other things that are really of basic importance in the latent content of the dream.

Dramatization, refers to the symbolic properties of dream phenomena. All dreams are more or less symbolized—most of them highly so. The primary visual nature of dreams readily lends itself to this characteristic which has been called “regard for presentability.”

Secondary elaboration is that situation in which our consciousness contributes to this [Pg 25]extent: When experiencing an unpleasant dream, the thought sometimes occurs to us, “This is only a dream; why worry?” Nevertheless, despite this prompting of our Conscious, we still continue dreaming—harassed on one side by the unpleasant factor of the dream, and reassured on the other that it is not real.

The savage in the child, the archaic in man, still survives in us, but is confined to that part called the Unconscious. It has not been replaced or supplanted, but in most persons has been more or less slightly veneered by the processes of civilization.

One of the characteristics of dreams is their apparent absurdity or triviality. However, psycho-analysis has proven that there are no absurd or trivial dreams. Every dream reflects a definite desire, wish, or fear on the part of the person’s unconscious mind, which has an untold influence over his thoughts and actions, notwithstanding his conscious ideals when expressed in language.

Coriat (What Is Psycho-Analysis?) sums up the significance of dreams and other manifestations of the Unconscious, and their value as interpreting agencies, when he says:

Psycho-analysis presupposes that there is no mental effect without its cause and consequently nervous symptoms are not chance and haphazard products, but are related to definite mental processes which are repressed in the patient’s Unconscious. This relation of mental cause and effect is called determinism. By means of the study of dreams and symptomatic actions and sometimes by use of association tests, psycho-analysis traces out each symptom in the patient’s life history. Sometimes these symptoms are found to be deeply buried in the earliest years of childhood.

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Without going extensively into the ramifications of dream phenomena, it might be well to refer to certain typical dreams, which are the common lot of practically every individual. These are also notable because they usually have their origin in infantile impressions or sexual motives, although the dream may be so thoroughly couched in symbolic expressions that no actual sexual idea is apparent.

There is the dream of injury to, or death of, a parent or relative near and dear to us. To suggest that we wish them harm is unthinkable. This common type of dream has its basis in a temporary childish anger, directed against the person in question, and which was accompanied by the ill-wish that for ethical reasons was repressed.

It should be added that a child has a different conception of death than an adult has. To the former it merely denotes an interruption of the disturbing presence of a person, or of his being out of the way for the time being. A dream of this kind invariably has its root, if not in a true nuclear complex, then in an Oedipus tendency which survives in the Unconscious.

Some trace of this can be found in every individual, and in it Freud sees a definite incest wish toward the mother which lacks only the attribute of consciousness. Moral reactions subject this wish to repression through the functioning of the “incest barrier,” a hypothesis that is compared to the “incest taboo” found among primitive and inferior peoples.

One of the most common dreams is the so-called [Pg 27]embarrassment dream of nakedness. Freud has been led to consider this nakedness dream as an exhibitionist quality revived in the Unconscious, and traces it back to the universal tendency of children to disrobe, which affords them great enjoyment and pleasure.

There is another type of dream that is not uncommon, and in a pronounced form is called the anxiety dream or nightmare. Perhaps the characteristics peculiar to this can best be described by Dr. Hitschmann (Freud’s Theory of the Neuroses):

The dream picture accompanied by anxiety represents the patient (usually female) oppressed by a great and dangerous beast which threatens to throw itself on the dreamer; characteristically, it is often a stallion or bull, thus, animals which have ever stood as symbols of the potent strength of animal masculinity. It is easy to see in these animal figures the symbolized givers of sexual gratification forbidden by conscious thinking. A still plainer symbol aiming at this end appears in dreams of burglars who, armed with revolvers, daggers or similar instruments, press on upon the dreaming lady. The starting up from sleep because of such anxiety-dreams, one finds frequently in widows and ungratified women as a characteristic kind of disturbance of sleep.

It has been remarked that the field of sexual symbolism is an astonishingly rich and varied one, and that a great number are definitely recognized as belonging to this category. Dr. Ernest Jones, the Canadian analyst, maintains that “there are probably more symbols of the male genital organ than all other symbols put together.” Thus the dreamer who dreams of a snake, a dagger, a fish, or a bird, in no way consciously regards these objects as a phallic [Pg 28]symbol, and is usually most unwilling, until the logic of the dream analysis forces him, to accept this conclusion.

The symbolic expression of dream language bears remarkable likeness to the symbolism of ancient mythology. This signifies to the student of psycho-analysis that the Unconscious not only gets many of its deepest impressions from early infancy, but that it has also inherited race impressions that have been passed down through countless generations, and that cause us to live over again in our dreams the ineffaceable experiences of prehistoric ancestors.

One of the most typical of this class is the falling dream, an heritage of the ape-man who lived in the trees. It is notable in these falling dreams that we always catch ourselves, land safely or wake up in the excitement which indicates that our progenitor who originally experienced the shock that caused this indelible mental impression that has become a biological fixture, also caught himself or fell to comparative safety, else the impression could not have been carried down.

The Unconscious dwells in a realm of phantasy, shuns the reality, constructs its indomitable and superhuman heroes (Gods), and deals summarily and mercilessly with its enemies. All the themes of mythology and folk-lore have these common characteristics. Authorities have attributed the origin of myths and fables to dream conceptions and other manifestations of the Unconscious among primitive peoples.

Thus, Dr. Karl Abraham (Dreams and Myths) [Pg 29]says: “The myth is a fragment of the infantile soul life of the people, and the dream is the myth of the individual.” Freud has stated this conclusion from his vast experience in dream interpretations:

The investigation of this folk-psychologic formation, myths, etc., is by no means finished at present. To take an example of this, however, it is probable that the myths correspond to the distorted residue of wish phantasies of whole nations, the secularized dreams of young humanity.

Even earlier philosophers have sensed this great truth, as we observe from Nietzsche (Human All Too Human):

In our sleep and in our dreams we pass through the whole thought of early humanity. I mean, in the same way that man reasons in his dreams, he reasoned when in the waking state many thousands of years. The first causa which occurred to his mind in reference to anything that needed explanation, satisfied him, and passed for truth. In the dream this atavistic relic of humanity manifests its existence within us, for it is the foundation upon which the higher rational faculty developed, and which is still developing in every individual. The dream carries us back into earlier states of human culture, and affords us a means of understanding them better....

The symbol as an expression of our unconscious desires is not by any means confined to dreams. We do many things in our waking hours of a symbolical nature, which satisfy our Unconscious without consciously understanding their real significance. For instance, we throw rice and old shoes at newlyweds without comprehending the true meaning of the act. Consciously, we are following an old established custom; but unconsciously we are doing something more important. We are giving expression [Pg 30]in a symbolical way to a wish that is quite appropriate for the occasion, and which our standard of ethics would not permit us to express in a more direct way.

During all ages and in folklore of all races, shoes have been a symbol of the female genitals, and rice (or wheat or other common cereal) the symbol of the male fructifying seed. Hence, we unconsciously indicate the sexual character of the new relationship with the normal outcome of fruitfulness or prolificacy, which the conventions of modern civilization would not permit us to openly allude to in a direct manner.

Everyone Dreams.—Many people taking exception to the Freudian contention regarding dreams, assert that they rarely, if ever, dream. There are very good scientific grounds for believing, not only that everyone does dream, but that we dream continuously during our period of sleep.

However, in the process of waking up in the normal manner, as we slowly gain consciousness, the “censor” that figuratively stands at the gate of our Unconscious subtly draws the veil over what has been transpiring and we open our eyes with a feeling that our mind during the night has been free from all thought or effort. Our conscious mind, of course, has; our unconscious mind has not.

It has been proven by experimenting with persons who claimed they “never dreamed,” that they do dream, and with a little practice they can soon learn to remember their dreams. One of the best ways of testing the accuracy of [Pg 31]the “dreamless” sleeper is to wake him up suddenly in the middle of the night or at a time he is unaccustomed to be awakened. Invariably, it will be found, if immediately questioned, that he has either a more or less distinct recollection of dreaming.

This is true if the sudden waking-up process occurs once in the night—or twenty times. If a multiple of times, then it may be found that the sleeper has experienced a different dream each time before awakening. This gives strength to the theory that we are constantly dreaming of something; the themes of the dream often rapidly changing from one thing to another, sometimes blending into each other in an incoherent mass—or constantly changing picture without apparent sense or reason.

The fact, too, that dreams are highly symbolized, as before stated, further emphasizes this impression. When analyzed, it is usually found that the most important features or characters in the dream, as remembered, are of little relative importance. On the other hand, some minor detail or insignificant factor proves upon investigation to be of prime importance.

Another deceiving feature of dream phenomena, which makes us believe that we do not dream, is that immediately upon waking we are slightly conscious of some disturbing feeling or annoying mental trend, but with a slight effort pass it off. Instead of attributing it to a dream, we offer ourselves the excuse that it was a noise we may have heard outside the room or that we had just dismissed from mind [Pg 32]an unpleasant episode of the day before—just what, we cannot (or do not care to) recall.

By this half conscious, semi-deliberate action, we bow to the will of the censor and “forget” the dream. The very fact of the universal “forgetting” of dreams confirms the existence of an agency which, for the want of a better term, is called the censor.

If we had exercised sufficient determination or will power to pick up the thread as it passed the outskirts of our consciousness, we could have resurrected perhaps a little of what had preceded. And by practice, it would gradually become possible to get more or less of a logical mental picture of what had been transpiring in our Unconscious.

It is important to remember that the first waking impression of a dream is the only reliable or trustworthy recollection we are able to get of it. If a person, immediately upon waking, jots down the import of the dream as he remembers it, and then later in the day recurs to the dream of the night before, he will find not only that he has forgotten a good part of it, but quite likely that he will even give a different version of it. This is another evidence of the efficiency of the censor in covering up the evidence of unconscious psychic activity.

The victims of anxiety-dreams (nightmares), however, experience no doubt about their having dreams. In fact, until the cause of the neurosis is removed, they suffer much from disturbances that result from this manifestation of the Unconscious. The paradoxical feature of these dreams is that they are a form of [Pg 33]gratification—offering a substitute means of gratification of the Unconscious for the lack or denial of a normal form of obtaining pleasure or satisfaction.

In this connection, it may be said that relief is frequently obtained from these anxiety-dreams or nightmares if the subject is made aware of their true import. By understanding their symbolical meaning, the shock is removed, even if the dreams continue in a milder form. It often happens that when the person becomes conversant with the symbolic significance of these dreams, the symbolism no longer recurs and dreams of a sexual nature to the ungratified take place in an undisguised form. Consequently, if the subject is enlightened and encouraged, there is little distress felt, and the shock of the after-anxiety is largely removed.

Freud maintains that the primary function of the dream is to protect sleep by giving pleasurable activities to the unconscious psychic processes that otherwise would tend to interfere with sleep. This is appreciated when we consider that the unconscious processes are perpetually in action, only prevented from entering consciousness by the influence of the censorship. In sleep, therefore, this censorship is lifted, allowing the unconscious wishes to take the field, and express themselves with abandon, making up for the repressions to which they are subjected during waking hours.

The dreams of children, in particular, afford easy access to the workings of the Unconscious, because with young people, being less sophisticated, and laboring under fewer social inhibitions, [Pg 34]the dreams are not so distorted by an excess of symbolization as is the case with the adult. Nevertheless, there are still countless inhibitions to which children are subjected, as we know from the constant admonitions: “Johnny, don’t do this; Johnny, don’t do that,” etc. Dreams are the removal of sleep-disturbing psychic stimuli by way of hallucinated satisfaction.

Day-Dreams.—Day-dreams, or phantasying, like their prototype of our sleep, are also wish-fulfillments. They represent a tendency on the part of the primitive side of our personality to retreat or get away from reality; to realize and enjoy for a few brief moments the unattainable.

We have all “built castles in the air.” Some of us have soared to untold heights—if only to come down with a crash! Wishes are as common to the beggar as to the king—perhaps more so, as the former has more to wish for that would enhance his condition of life.

Unlike the dreams of our sleep, day-dreams are usually accompanied by some effort; we tend to guide them, although this tendency in many instances may be more apparent than real, as there is also the influence of our Unconscious leading us on, whereas we may believe we are directing it.

Day-dreams have both good and bad influences. If we develop the power to co-operate with the unconscious psychic forces and to “exploit” them through occasional use of the day-dream, we are on the way to accomplishing some worth while work in life.

[Pg 35]

As a result of reveries or day-dreams, combined with some directed thinking, the poet and the artist create their immortal works; and the inventor gives to the world his epoch-making mechanical devices; the scientist discovers natural laws of the universe and utilizes the knowledge so gained for human progress; the ambitious student is inspired and spurred on to reach some goal of constructive effort. Such dreams have resulted in imperishable works of art and literature, and great scientific and mechanical achievements, etc.

The evil side of day-dreaming is in letting the dreams run completely away with us, which in the nature of themselves they tend to do, instead of harnessing them to an object, or conquering them for a purpose. Day-dreamers of this type are represented by the loafer of all types and degrees. All lazy, indolent people work incessantly at this unproductive occupation.

The immature youth, until he is taught by example and precept, or forced by circumstances, is inclined to dream when not occupied with play or work. Naturally the work is usually of a light, diverting nature, and as play is an expression of the unconscious wishes, we see how the Unconscious dominates the child almost completely. In most cases it is merely a question of environmental conditions whether he will dream himself down into a loafer, or up into communion with the gods and become a creator of something worth while.

In other words, day-dreaming in moderation [Pg 36]is desirable under proper conditions. Its abuse is the abomination.

The chronic day-dreamer who becomes a victim of his fault is usually a person who avoids social intercourse. He finds his pleasures in dreaming, and he prefers to be alone so that his dreams may not be disturbed. Thus, he becomes anti-social. He flees from reality whenever the occasion presents itself—and he is always willing to make such occasions—and finds refuge in the unreal world of his dreams. As a result, no matter how shiftless or lazy, no matter how low he has fallen in the social scale, his dreams enable him to realize his goal of superiority.

In his dreams he is again in the fairy-land of his childhood longings. The most absurd desires come true, and the dreamer is invariably the favored fairy prince. This is true, whether the motif of his dreams is clothed in the scenery of the early fairy tales—most often they are not—or in the pictorial effects of contemporary life. In any event, he is regressing to the infantile level.

III. THE UNCONSCIOUS BASIS OF WIT

There are few people so devoid of an innate sense of humor that they do not respond to wit, although often they may manage to successfully conceal the outward appearances of the response. Sometimes, in fact, the reaction to the stimuli of wit may not be conscious at all.

There is reason to believe, however, that every person who approaches what may be [Pg 37]called a normal mental plane experiences an unconscious, if not a conscious response, to wit, humor, the comic, the naive, caricature, etc. And in those of abnormal psychic tendencies who may not react to these stimuli, it will be found that they accomplish the same result by other means—that is, their unconscious mind is relaxed by other forms of expression or diversion.

The manifestations of the various neuroses in themselves constitute an unconscious means of relief—although of the most unnatural and irrational form. They act as a substitute means of gratification.

In behalf of wit, it may be said that, within bounds, it is the most social type of unconscious gratification. Most other forms are egotistical, such as day-dreaming, phantasying, dreaming in sleep, etc., involving only the single individual. They are purely self-centered means of satisfying the unconscious mind.

Wit, however, has a decided social value, unless of course, it is carried to unwarranted extremes. And it is primarily among those whose Unconscious exercises a predominating influence over their actions who are apt to indulge in wit that tends to be destructive or extremely unpleasant.

In the first place, wit usually requires a second or third person, and may involve a large audience, as in the case with professional story tellers, vaudeville performers, and certain other forms of organized amusement. Of course, there are plenty of instances where we smile to ourselves at jokes that come to mind, [Pg 38]or upon reflecting on a witticism that we had once heard. But this, in reality, is an example of day-dreaming into which we lapse momentarily, perhaps in the midst of conscious mental effort.

Thus the social value of wit is in making life pleasant and agreeable—sometimes even when it would be quite unbearable. It is frequently invoked under very trying or even tragic circumstances. We have all heard of instances when a grim joke has been passed by some one in a perilous position.

It invariably relieves the tension in a crisis or at a serious climax. Notwithstanding our realization of the desperateness or even hopelessness of the situation, the unconscious relief or satisfaction which we experience in a joke under these circumstances often lifts us out of an agonizing suspense. If only temporary, the relief is nevertheless real and may be a valuable psychic bracer to sustain us in a time of need.

Even in the presence of death or of some inescapable fate impending, this tendency is quite universal. Soldiers before battle, and in the thick of the fight, are known to relieve the suspense by some expression of wit, however grim. And it is an established fact in psychiatry that soldiers who are capable of so relaxing their unconscious tension are less susceptible to shell-shock.

Shell-shock, indeed, is a form of neurosis produced by the abnormal environment, in which the victim is unable to get relief of the psychic tension over a more or less prolonged [Pg 39]period. As a consequence, he develops shell-shock, which is a neurosis or type of insanity that may be almost any degree of intensity, as a substitute form of gratification of the self-preservation urge. Furthermore, it is usually successful to this extent: The attack makes the victim useless for military service, and sometimes any other kind, so he is sent to a hospital or other institution. But even if not at once removed he no longer suffers from the agonizing suspense of bombardment. By a very abnormal process he has been relieved.

Another example of relieving the tension in the midst of death is the old custom of the Irish wake. This ancient folk tradition of the Irish race makes full allowance for the psychic needs of the occasion by permitting light story telling and other expressions of a diverting nature. The practices of this function unconsciously recognize a basic requirement of the psyche.

Wit, in substance, is a form of mental relaxation because invariably it is illogical. And as logic is a development of the conscious mind, the interruption of concentration, or the deviation from logical reasoning, affords momentary relaxation.

Among those of so primitive a mentality that the faculty of logic is at low stage of development or practically non-existent, then what we consider wit would not to them have the same significance.

For instance, children two or three years of age are prone to make very “funny” remarks. The expressions sound humorous to us because [Pg 40]of their absolutely illogical construction. But to the child, they are not funny or humorous, because the infantile mind lacks the perception to realize that the utterance is illogical. This is the case of an unintentional misuse of words, resulting in a ludicrous effect.

The child or person of primitive, undeveloped mind laughs at what he believes to be a joke when he is placed in a position of apparent superiority. When I get down on the floor on all fours, and my three-year-old youngster grabs my coat-tails or rides on my back and bids me assume the lowly function of the quadruped, he is conscious of a feeling of superiority—as we are in driving a horse. The infant becomes a very superior person in his mind, and this to him is the real kind of a joke.

Wit is a diverting short-cut from the stiffness and sober conventionality so constantly demanded in civilized life. The whole evolution of civilization has been the history of repressing primitive instincts. With this constant repression and inhibition there develops in our unconscious personality a tension of greater or lesser degree. The ever present tendency of the Unconscious is to relieve this tension. And anything that contributes to this form of relaxation is a mental tonic. Of course, an excess of tonic, like an excess of any good thing, is useless.

Besides wit, petty mischief offers a favorite outlet to the youth and adolescent. It is the unconscious prompting and striving for some vogue, indefinite goal of satisfaction which makes gang-companionship, with all its [Pg 41]evil potentialities, so alluring to the boy entering upon the age of puberty.

A working knowledge of adolescent psychology has taught us that a substitute form of gratification for the destructive tendencies of the gang can be obtained by the youth in athletic activities, country hikes, woodcraft, etc. These diversions offer a healthy outlet for the pent-up psychic steam that accumulates so rapidly during this critical period of the boy’s life when he is undergoing profound physical and psychological changes.

Wit, humor and fun are strikingly in evidence during the adolescent period. It is conceded for instance that the leading college comic papers, conducted entirely by youths, many quite inexperienced, contain better examples of real, spontaneous wit and humor than the national comic publications, which have a nation-wide field of professional “humorists” to draw from.

When a semi-civilized being or a person of very low mental status sees calamity befall another, he may sense a huge joke. It is a joke, not because the accident or misfortune is illogical, but because it raises him to a position of greater comparative importance. It amounts to saying: “You are down and I am up.” The victim is now inferior. This is immensely pleasing to the unconscious which does not discriminate as to how the measure of superiority is attained. This quality is typical, in some pronounced degree, among neurotics, as it is to a lesser extent among more normal persons. We have all seen examples of the busy-body [Pg 42]type of person who goes around his or her circle of acquaintances, bringing the latest news of misfortune that has befallen some one. Notwithstanding the conscious lamentations that are forced upon us, the eagerness with which the oracle unfolds his story of somebody’s trouble carries a connotation of pleasure which the student of psycho-analysis readily perceives. A very primitive Unconscious is being gratified.

The characteristic of wit is its brevity; its quick action; its spontaneity. “A flash of wit” in its true sense is as well phrased as “a flash of lightning.” Attempted wit, that results in long, studied dissertations, no matter how carefully gotten up, is rarely, if ever, wit. While it may sometimes involve humorous situations, there is seldom present the characteristic of wit.

The psychology of wit takes into account the intellectual standard of both speakers and the listeners. Subtle jokes that are appreciated by persons of keen mind go over the heads of those with less perception.

This tendency is often observed in vaudeville audiences, which are apt to comprise people of all types and degrees of intellectual development. A particularly subtle joke is uttered by the performer, and here and there is an individual in the audience who will “get it.” A few seconds later quite a large number will begin to snicker and finally the balance of the audience will start to laugh—for the most part because they have caught the spirit of the occasion, even if they have missed the point made by the comedian.

[Pg 43]

The mother-in-law motive in jokes, which is so universally invoked, is given a deeply vital significance by Freud in his book, “Totem and Taboo.”

Among men and women who have had few cultural advantages, wit becomes less and less subtle and descends to a lower and lower intellectual scale. Persons under the influence of alcohol, that is, where the conscious inhibitions are partially lifted, may consider any lewd remark as quite humorous.

Sex and ego, as in dreams, form the underlying themes for most jokes. So either of these tendencies may easily veer into the questionable under the stimuli of their basic sources, especially when the conscious repressions are relaxed by convivial associations or the influence of Bacchus.

Some examples of wit are so outstanding in their excellence that they remain classics for a long time—not for current usage in lieu of the spontaneous variety, but for better illustrating the characteristics of a prominent person. These are usually the jokes of faulty logic. Those associated with the name of Lincoln are almost legion. One attributed to Wendell Phillips was good enough to stand the test of time, as we occasionally hear it referred to at this late day.

When asked by a minister why he did not go right into the heart of the South to save the Negroes from slavery, the abolitionist, in turn, asked the clergyman why in his search for souls he did not go straight to hell. The comparison between the South and Hell can hardly stand the test of logic.

[Pg 44]

My old school master was a ready wit and a man of unusual intellectual attainments, although some of his personal habits were rather slovenly, making him quite a picturesque character of more than local prominence.

One of his petty vices was chewing tobacco, in which he indulged himself out of school and in. One day the local Methodist preacher, a close personal friend, chided him for indulging in so unbecoming a habit, saying, “even a hog wouldn’t chew tobacco.” Instantly the school master asked him if he wouldn’t chew tobacco. The negative reply brought the retort, “then you are a hog.” The idea of putting the dignified parson in the same category as the hog because they had one evident dislike in common was ludicrous because illogical.

There is the Hungarian folk tale which tells of a blacksmith in a village who had committed a crime punishable by death; the Burgomaster, however, decreed that not the smith, but a tailor, must be hanged, as there were two tailors in the village, but only one blacksmith, and the crime had to be expiated. This displacement of guilt from one person to another is contrary to all laws of conscious logic, but not to the psychic operations of the Unconscious. So consciously, this ridiculous idea amuses us.

The natural sequel of wit or a joke is to laugh. We have all experienced the almost unbearable situation wherein our sense of humor had been touched very strongly, but the proprieties of the occasion made it imperative that we should not give way visibly or audibly to our feelings.

[Pg 45]

As a consequence, we have had the painful sensation of being choked up with something that should come out or express itself. Thus, we are under a nerve-racking tension, quite ready to “explode.” Laughter is the physical demonstration which accompanies the response to the stimuli of wit, jokes, humor, etc. It is the means of a free and quick discharge of psychic energy.

Besides the common (or uncommon) variety of good-natured wit, there is also the well-known brand of wit which causes pain or chagrin to the person at whom the shaft of witticism is aimed. The cynic, or perpetrator of this kind of joke, thus exhibits a strong sadist tendency, which is present in all of us, but in widely varying degrees. He causes pain to another—and gets pleasure or satisfaction out of it.

On the other hand, those who good-naturedly laugh or pass off a joke of this kind, are demonstrating a well defined masochistic tendency, which also is inherent in everyone.

Certain jokes, especially the so-called “practical jokes” are frequently of an intensely irritating or even destructive character. The unconscious mind is fundamentally primitive and uncultured, and takes a positive delight in causing pain and misfortune to others. It craves excitement. And it is only our hundreds of thousands of years of human progress, with the consequent development of the social instincts and the sublimation of the primitive forces in our individual lives, which overcomes to a large degree the destructive tendencies of the Unconscious.

[Pg 46]

IV. REPRESSIONS AND THE NEUROSES

We have observed that the psyche is the scene of a constant and often intense conflict between the more primitive and the more social human impulses. It is in the course of this physical conflict and to serve its ends, that the repressions are manifested.

In considering the relations of cause and effect in the psychic realm, we must bear one great fact in mind, a fact that should be quite self-evident, but which, because of our lack of knowledge of the Unconscious, has not been realized, namely: Nothing is accidental in the psychic region. There is no “chance” in the psychic world any more than in the physical. Every effect has a definite cause; every cause produces a definite effect.

What seem to be accidental, unexpected happenings are not so in reality. We observe only some of the unconscious manifestations without realizing that they are logical reactions of some positive force. Thus, they appear as something detached and causeless, and we give them no further consideration.

The human psychic apparatus produces a ceaseless flow of impulses or discharge of energy whose aim is the fulfillment of two great principles, upon which all life is grounded—that is, the pleasure principle, and the reality principle.

The Pleasure Principle.—The pleasure principle represents the primary original form of [Pg 47]mental activity, and is characteristic of the earliest stages of human development, both in the individual and the race. Therefore, it is found in its typical expression in the mental life of the infant, and to a less extent in the savage. Its main attribute is a never-ceasing demand for immediate gratification of various desires that give pleasure to the Unconscious, regardless of cost or consequences. Thus, it may be said to be egocentric, selfish, personal, anti-social.

The infant illustrates in a very observable manner the existence of the pleasure principle as the basic motive for all its actions. Nothing but its own desires concern him, and he demands with unqualified insistence their fulfillment in the shape of food, warmth, petty attentions, and any object that may come to his notice.

But while the infant offers the most perfect example of the pleasure principle in operation, because it works through him with no disguise, it can be noted more or less prominently among all people. No individual is free from this trait. It is of course good that this is so, or life would be more dull and drab than it is at its worst.

A normal, well rounded personality is one in which all the basic characteristics are present in the proper degree, one balancing the other, thus preserving a desirable equilibrium, and fitting one to face and grapple with the realities of life. This is what constitutes a healthy, adaptable human being.

But, as we so well know, not every one is [Pg 48]in this favored category. Leaving aside those who are the victims of so outrageously pernicious an environment that any approach to normal life is impossible, there are still millions and millions of people in all walks of life who fall short, some seriously so, of this standard.

These unadapted people, some fitting like the proverbial square peg in a round hole, are suffering from exaggerated neurotic tendencies. They range from the mildly hysterical or temperamentally unsettled to the definitely insane. And notwithstanding the bleak picture which the more extreme cases make, and which are unfortunate enough even when moderately advanced, they are expressions of the pleasure principle that has followed afar some line of least resistance.

People who maintain their grip on the vitals of reality avoid the alluring pitfalls to which undue surrender to the pleasure principle leads. Where the temptation is strong, there are often elaborate precautions taken to escape the dreaded fate. This is true, even when the exact situation is not consciously realized and when the precautions are the result of intuitive rather than logical effort.

Primitive man offers an excellent example of this fact. He has erected an intricate set of taboos to avert the consequences of his fierce, self-seeking impulses. He realizes vaguely there are inexplicable inner forces pulling him this way and that. He does not know what these emotions and passions are, [Pg 49]nor why or whence they come, but senses the danger in their dominance.

The so-called “civilized” man differs in degree rather than kind from his primitive brother. He disguises and distorts, unconsciously for the most part, and often with surprising ingenuity, that same principle which governs so largely his behavior.

We have only to study our own dreams, phantasies and often unreasonable emotions of jealousy, vanity, etc., and our tendency not to face reality, or our disinclination to recognize the constant pressure and frequent dominance of the pleasure principle within us.

Thousands of years of civilization with the accompanying development of cultural, ethical, religious and social factors and influences have done much to modify and adapt the power of this pleasure principle, but no amount of civilization can eliminate or crush this dynamic force.

As a matter of fact, the objection is that our civilization is becoming so constantly ramified, and with such increasing swiftness, by scientific achievements, mechanical inventions and natural discoveries, etc., that we can hardly adapt our primitive, slow-evolving characteristics to the more rapidly changing environment. And this condition is intensified because, as a social unit, we have preferred to avoid any serious discussion or study of psychic phenomena so as better to cope with the problems that confront us.

The Reality Principle.—The reality principle, to all intents and purposes, is the antithesis [Pg 50]of the pleasure principle. They are both present in all of us all the time. The condition which makes us either “normal” human beings or neurotic misfits in society, is largely governed by the proper balance on the one hand, or on the other, the lack of relative proportion of these two principles in our psychic make-up.

Directly as they manifest themselves in our Unconscious, or indirectly, as in disguised forms in the Conscious, these two principles are ever exerting their respective influences—operating, or co-operating with each other, or coming into conflict.

Freud has described the reality principle as having for its function the adaptation of the organism to the exigencies of reality—that is of the world animate and inanimate, which lies outside and around every individual.

It is evident that if the individual were not capable of acting upon the reality principle to a very large degree throughout life, he would as a consequence be unable to exist.

He must realize the uncompromising force of sea, air, gravity, fire, wild animals, in order to maintain life. He must recognize the claims, needs and superior force of his fellow men, even in the most primitive society or community.

Thus, by the very act of living, even without definite instruction to that end, we are gathering consciously and unconsciously a working knowledge of the reality principle. It is exemplified in the old adage of “learning by experience” rather than by hearsay or being told.

[Pg 51]

Sometimes, as we all know, this is a very painful way of learning, although its effectiveness is unquestioned. The child who touches a hot stove is learning by a very drastic method to adapt himself to reality.

The writer once saw a bright, eight-year-old youngster attempt to walk quickly over the water as the row-boat he was in neared the shore. Although it was only the equivalent of four or five short steps, the youth got a rather sudden and aqueous awakening to a certain phase of the reality principle. This was obviously a perfect illustration of the unconscious in action, as consciously he knew that it is impossible to walk on the water, but he was seized with an inexplicable “impulse.”

The development of the reality principle is through the channels of reason. Those who are of the most logical, rational turn of mind best exemplify the reality principle.

This principle is expressed in directed thinking, in contrast to the phantasying and intuitive expressions of the pleasure principle.

People who have a high degree of intuition may be said to be under the influence of their Unconscious to a greater extent than those who are not so intuitive in their decisions and actions. In many respects, this is a valuable asset, when co-ordinated with a discriminating Conscious, which acts as a regulator in preventing undue extremes in manifestations of the Unconscious.

It is the inevitable conflict between these two great principles in our psychic make-up which is the cause of repressions. And repressions [Pg 52]which become so severe that they cause serious disharmony in our Unconscious result in a neurosis.

In considering the curative value of psycho-analysis, it is well to remember that conflicts are present in all of us. This is assured by the fact that we are all endowed, more or less, with primitive passions and certain instinctive desires, and these tend inevitably to conflict with the social and ethical standards to which we consciously subscribe.

Therefore, there are neurotic strains and tendencies in every individual, which the most rational of us demonstrate at times in little temperamental outbursts, in streaks of unreasonableness, and even physical indispositions that are the positive reactions of a neurosis, incipient or chronic.

When we realize that a neurosis, slight or severe, and many of the incipient forms of insanity, reflect a lack of harmony in the psychic mechanism, instead of being some mysterious, far-fetched visitation of fate, we begin to see the possibilities of remedying the situation. This is especially so when we consider that every “normal” person experiences the same tendencies in a light form, which contribute to the function of a neurosis and insanity.

Physical Effects of Neuroses.—To thoroughly appreciate the widespread effects of neurotic tendencies, it is only necessary to scan the list of physical ailments and symptoms that may be due to unconscious ideas that unduly influence our conduct.

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Dr. William A. White in his Principles of Mental Hygiene states:

The number and duration of physical and apparently physical disorders which may originate at the psychological level is endless. It includes many forms of asthma, sore throat, difficult nasal breathing, stammering, headache, neurasthenia, backache, tender spine, “weak heart,” faint attacks, exophthalmic goitre (Graves or Basedow’s disease), aphonia, spasmodic sneezing, hiccough, rapid respiration, hay fever, gastro-intestinal disturbances (constipation, diarrhea, indigestion, colitis, ulcer of stomach), ptosis of kidney, diabetes, disturbances of urination, polyuria, incontinence, precipitancy, menstrual disorders, auto-intoxication (from long digestive disturbances), nutritional disorders of skin, teeth and hair, etc.

It should be emphasized, however, that while any of these disturbances may be of psycho-genic origin, no reputable psycho-analyst would claim they are always due to this basic cause.

After soberly considering this formidable agglomeration of possibilities from repressions in the Unconscious—the very existence of which the overwhelming majority of people are in ignorance—we should see the necessity for some rational understanding of, and insight into, our psychic processes—particularly the unconscious ones.

The modification of the elemental urges and wishes and their adaptation to the realities of environment is a long, difficult and painful process. Beginning with the infant life, thoroughly bound up in its egocentric activities, and progressing through childhood which is dominated by primitive emotions, we finally reach adulthood in years, but still influenced [Pg 54]profoundly by primitive impulses and modes of thought.

In fact a large percentage of people never grow up psychologically and emotionally, but remain at an infantile, or at the most, an adolescent level in these respects.

Low Mental Average Among Adults.—It is interesting to observe in this connection very significant statistics gathered by the Surgeon General of the American Army during the World War, of men drafted in 1918.⁠[A] Elaborate tests were made attempting to “size up” the brain power of the soldiers, irrespective of education. For instance, children under the age of five seldom can learn to tell time on a clock, but practically all normal children can learn to do so before they are over the age of six. There are other analogous problems or tests which children five or six can do, but which they cannot do if they are younger.

As an example, it is found that the normal child of five can name the four primary colors, even if never taught them. On the other hand, some grown people are so deficient in mental power that, although they can dress themselves and do many kinds of every-day work, they can never learn to tell time by the clock or do the other five-year-old tests. Such people are said to have a “mental age” of under five—that is, they have the potential brain power of a child under five.

Similar tests have been devised for other [Pg 55]ages. For example, the normal child of eleven can detect absurdities in sentences; can define three out of five abstract words, “pity, revenge, charity, justice, envy”; can repeat backward five digits given orally; can interpret fables, etc.

The Surgeon General divided the mental age of many thousands of drafted men according to their occupation. He thought the “average” would be misleading, so instead of finding the average, he omitted from each occupation one-quarter of the men having the lowest mental age, or brain power, and also the quarter having the highest brain power. The men who remained were the middle half.

Now, after dividing these men into some seventy-four occupational groups, they were classified into seven grades of brain power, instead of using the literal term “mental age.” The result was as follows:

A Very Superior Intelligence. This grade was ordinarily reached by only four or five per cent of a draft quota. It was composed of men of marked intellectuality, with the ability to make a superior record in college or university.

B Superior Intelligence. Less exceptional than that represented by “A,” and was obtained by eight to ten per cent of the draft. Men of this grade are capable of making an average record in college.

C+ High Average Intelligence. This group included about fifteen to eighteen per cent of the draft. Can not do so well as “B,” but contained some men with capacity for leadership and power to command.

C Average Intelligence. Included about twenty-five per cent of the drafted men. These men are rarely capable of graduating from a high school. They are of a grade that is said to make “excellent [Pg 56]privates” in the army. Their “mental age” may be put at about fourteen.

C- Low Average Intelligence. These men made up about twenty per cent of the draft, and were considered satisfactory in work of a routine nature. They are distinctly of lower intelligence than the “C” group, but their mental age is probably not below twelve.

D Inferior Intelligence. Included about fifteen per cent of the draft. They are slow in learning, and rarely suited for tasks which require special skill, resourcefulness, or sustained alertness. It is unsafe to expect these, or those of grades “D—” and “E” to read intelligently or understand written directions.

D- and E. Very Inferior Intelligence. The majority of these men are below the “mental age” of ten—some were discovered with a mental age as low as two or three, and were being passed upon for sending to France in 1918.

When such a representative body of men as the American Army drafted under the Selective Service law shows an “average intelligence” comprising about twenty-five per cent that are rarely capable of graduating from high school; twenty per cent that have a mental age of about twelve; fifteen per cent of an even lower mental age, incapable of reading intelligently or understanding written directions; and two other classes that are still inferior with mental ages ranging from below ten years to as low as two or three, then we can get at least some approximate idea of the infantile state of mind of a large section of the general population.

Kinds of Neuroses.—According to the theory of Freud, the neuroses are divided into the true neuroses and psycho-neuroses.

The true neuroses are neurasthenia and anxiety-neurosis. The causes of these diseases, [Pg 57]Freud maintains, is the disturbance of the sexual processes which determine the formation and utilization of the sexual libido.

As he summarizes it:

We can hardly avoid perceiving these processes as being, in their last analysis, chemical in their nature, so that we recognize in the true neurosis the somatic effect of disturbances in the sexual metabolism, while in the psycho-neurosis we recognize besides the psychic effects of the same disturbances. The resemblance of the neuroses to the manifestations of intoxication and abstinence, following certain alkaloids, and to Basedow’s and Addison’s diseases obtrudes itself clinically without any further ado, and just as these two diseases should no longer be described as nervous diseases, so will the genuine neurosis soon have to be removed from this class, despite their nomenclature.

Neurasthenia, in Freud’s opinion, is due to exaggerated sexual self-gratification which weakens the individual’s will-power by making the goal too easily obtainable, affords inadequate relief, diminishes potency and by ignoring too many psychological sources of excitement, may cause physical injury. The neurasthenic turns away from society, from reality, and, if a man, from women, for he cannot tolerate feminine imperfection. Thus, he becomes anti-social and betrays the result of his vain strife against passion in many ways, lack of will-power, doubts about the possibility of achievements and self-reproaches.

Among the symptoms of anxiety neurosis are general irritability, exaggerated visual and auditive sensations which are frequently the cause of sleeplessness, anxious expectations of accidents, death, insanity, accompanied in some cases by a disturbance of one or more bodily [Pg 58]functions, respiration, circulation, glandular functions, etc. One of the most characteristic symptoms of anxiety neurosis is a form of dizziness which never leads to complete loss of equilibrium.

The symptoms of anxiety neurosis are considered by Freud as substitutes for the specific action which should follow sexual excitement and which is accompanied by acceleration of the respiration, palpitation, sweating and congestion.

It is popularly supposed that anxiety neurosis is the result of overwork. Freud says, however, that the physician who informs a busy man that he has overworked himself, or an active woman that her household duties have been too burdensome, should tell his patients they are sick, not because they have sought to discharge duties which for a civilized brain are comparatively easy, but because they have neglected, if not stifled, their sexual life while attending to their duties.

Men who resort to ungratifying forms of sexual activity and women left unsatisfied by the impotence or ejaculatio praecox of their husbands, are often found to be suffering from anxiety neurosis.

Characteristic of the emotional obsessions of psycho-neurosis, sometimes referred to as psychasthenia, are various phobias or fears, agoraphobia, fear of open spaces; claustrophobia, fear of closed spaces; astrapaphobia, fear of thunder and lightning; aerophobia, fear of being in high places; morbid desires for drink or [Pg 59]drugs; volitional obsessions; kleptomania, impulse to steal; pyromania, impulse to set fire to things; arithmomania, impulse to count everything; onomatomania, impulse to repeat one word, and so on.

To afford a more scientific classification, these symptoms of psychasthenia have been divided up by psycho-analysts into hysteria, anxiety hysteria and compulsion neurosis.

Hysteria, Freud states, is due to an emotional conflict between the usual urge and the sexual repression, and its symptoms have the value of a compromise between both psychic streams.

Anxiety hysteria is frequently associated with hysteria proper. In this case the anxiety arises not only from physical sources, but from a part of the ungratified desire which embraces a number of complexes. As the normal mind reacts to danger through anxiety, we might propose the analogy that in this case the mind is defending itself against internal danger. The psycho mechanism is the same as in hysteria except that it does not lead to conversion into physical symptoms. Anxiety hysteria invariably tends to develop a phobia. The most common of hysterical phobias is agoraphobia, which prevents the patient from walking comfortably across an empty space, although he can do so when accompanied by certain persons. Another anxiety hysterical disturbance is erythrophobia, or fear of red, which has as its motivating basis self-reproach or shame of some sort, the feeling of being slighted or of anger.

Hysteria is more peculiar to the female sex, obsessional neurosis to the male sex.

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The obsession neurosis is featured by constant ambivalence, or the experiencing of opposite feelings at the same time, such as love and hatred for the same person, although of course, one of these emotions may predominate in the Conscious and the other in the Unconscious.

In compulsion neurosis, the thought of the possibility of death to others is often present. In every conflict, the subject awaits the death of someone important or dear to him, a rival or one of the love objects between whom his inclination wavers. His obsession is anchored upon a superstitious belief in the potency of his evil wishes. Superstitions of all kinds, in fact, occupy a prominent place in the compulsion neurosis.

The difference between neuroses and psychoses has been made very clear by Adler, who says:

Longing for an unattainable ideal is at the bottom of both. Defeat or fear of defeat causes the weaker individual to seek a substitute for his real goal. At this point begins the process of psychic transformation designated as a neurosis. In the neurosis, the pursuit of the fictitious goal does not lead to an open conflict with reality, the neurotic simply considering reality as a very disturbing element, as he does in neurasthenia, hypochondria, anxiety, compulsion neurosis and hysteria. In the psychoses, the guiding masculine fiction appears disguised in pictures and symbols of infantile origin. The patient no longer acts as though he wished to be masculine, to be above, but as though he had already attained those ends.

In substance, the neurotic is grieved by not being all-powerful. The psychotic is all powerful, [Pg 61]and attempts to force his environment to share his belief.

Curative Value of Psycho-Analysis.—From the foregoing array of psychic disturbances and physical complications, it should readily be perceived that medicine—the importance of which in its place is fully recognized by analysts—can be of little or no service. This explains why people of neurotic disposition are frequently found who are under-going medical treatment either constantly or intermittently for years without relieving the trouble, when, in fact, it doesn’t grow more pronounced.

To those who have regressed definitely into severe neuroses, or worse, have sunk into a pathological condition of incipient or chronic insanity, even of a non-violent type, there is little hope of self-relief.

If the expert services of a competent psycho-analyst practitioner are not available, a change for the better is hardly likely, unless nature in her great resourcefulness overcomes the tremendous odds and brings a favorable turn or, as is more probable, some distressing causative factors are unwittingly or with design alleviated.

We should, therefore, emphasize everything that would tend to promote the latter. Among the great outstanding causes of neuroses is an irrational sexual life. Very many of these cases can be afforded relief, especially among married persons when well mated, by obtaining rational knowledge of marriage psychology and of the emotional and spiritual significance of the sex act, thus giving new meaning to the marriage relations and changing the whole outlook [Pg 62]on life, resulting in improved mental and physical health.⁠[B]⁠

Notwithstanding the economic barriers so frequently in the way of a rational sex life in marriage, the advantages of realizing this goal are so great that it behooves every individual and couple who expect to continue living and have anything to live for, to avail themselves of the knowledge that is accessible.

This will bring with it a new and healthier attitude in facing the problems of life. It will also banish the false notions of an irrational, soul-crucifying prudery and prurience, and enable the father and mother to be better parents and the companions of their children.

The young people, in turn will profit by this superior training and the improved insight into vital matters which it will bring them, and consequently the new generation will be healthier, more adaptable and freer from baneful neurotic afflictions.

As we have intimated, every individual has neurotic tendencies, which assert themselves at times in minor ways, but the normal individual (adult) has adapted himself to the exigencies of reality. Thus, he is not constantly swept and tossed about by these inner forces, like a rudderless craft on the surging sea, as is the case of the victim of malevolent repressions.

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Insanity (except when due to disintegration of the brain structure, such as may result from syphilitic lesion, alcoholic deterioration, tumor or other malignant growth, etc.) is essentially an extreme neurotic state. It has all the symptoms in a more or less exaggerated form of the various neuroses.

This impresses us with the fact that there is not a hard and fast dividing line between the sane and the insane. Even the sanest people sometimes have fits of rage that have all the features of insanity while they last. People with pretty good practical minds occasionally do some very irrational or foolish things when seized by an unaccountable impulse—even to the extent of committing murder, or suicide.

All of these exhibitions are regressions from reality. Some people, it may be said, have a predisposing temperament which makes their struggles with reality harder than for others. It is these individuals that childhood repressions or complexes affect the most profoundly. But psycho-analysis offers relief to them—in fact the only possibility for relief as has been proven many times.

The regressions from reality are toward childhood and the infantile state. Neurotics invest themselves with the prerogatives of children. And it is not without reason (an irrational one, however.) To the child, many things are obtainable, and by very simple means, that the adult cannot command. The child cries for food, or pleads for something it desires, and it is brought to him. Without [Pg 64]consciously realizing it, this easy process appeals irresistibly to the neurotic type of mind. So he regresses; maybe he develops some disability or sickness, purely as a result of his psychic condition, and he finds he is waited on and cared for much as he was when a child. Any number of similes could be cited to illustrate the parallel.

The insane regress even further to the infantile plane. The more hopelessly insane the person is, the more infantile he becomes in his actions. Cases are not uncommon where the victim is so far removed from all interest in life that he lies down, utterly disregarding his environment and all the bodily functions, often assuming the prenatal position of the fetus.

Suicide may be said to be a supreme manifestation of the neurotic symptoms. By this final act, the neurotic successfully and irretrievably flees from reality and returns to the embracing arms of Mother Earth where the problems of life will beset him no more. If he has religious scruples or superstitions, the prospect of being damned in another world is no more forbidding than the hellishness of reality in this. If he is unencumbered by theological dogma, he enters the endless cycle of oblivion, whose incomparable attraction is an eternity of inertia, silence, peace.