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An overview of Freud in five hundred words or less.
Sigmund Freud was an Austrian physician who completely revolutionized the fields of psychiatry and psychology. He developed a theory that the subconscious controls the actions of the conscious mind. He believed that the human from childhood is influenced and driven by sex. Freud determined that there were five stages of development to mature adulthood. He also established that if a person is frustrated in attempt to find satisfaction in one of these developmental stages, libido is withdrawn and they are stuck in a sense in that particular developmental stage. The stages are:
Oral. From birth to one year old. Libido is in the mouth and focuses on sucking reflexes. When stuck in this stage, one becomes Oral Incorprative, gullible, a hoarder or orally aggressive, a biter or a verbal abuser. People stuck in this phase have trouble communicating.
Anal. From one to three years old. Libido is in the anus. During the potty-training stage, pleasure and pride are found in defecation. People stuck in this stage are either Anal Expulsive, carrying lots of emotional baggage and suffering from diarrhea of the emotions, or Anal Retentive, holding back, cautious, emotionally blocked up.
Phallic. Three to five years old. Libido has moved to the genitals. This discovery now brings pleasure. There are four theories about the Phallic stage. The Oedipus Complex is a theory that a boy is in love with his mother. He wants to marry his mother and have sex with her, but daddy is in the way. The boy wants to kill his father so he can be with his mother, this theory stems from the Greek myth. The Elektra Complex is the jealousy of a girl because she loves her father and resents her mother. The Castration Anxiety is the fear of the boy that if he shows his true hatred for his father, the father will castrate him. Penis Envy is the discovery of young girls what they lack. It causes intense frustration and eventually submission to the more dominant, physically endowed sex. Being stuck in the Phallic stage could lead to disastrous things as are explored in Macbeth and Hamlet.
Latency. Age five until puberty. Libido is focused on the whole body. Pleasure is derived from the world around one. Emotional and physical development over sexual development.
Genital. Puberty to death. Libido is once again in the genitals. Sexual pleasure is now a conscious desire as opposed to the subconscious struggles of the phallic stage.
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