I (psychoanalysis)
definition
In reference to the psychoanalysis of Siegmund Freud , which was published around 1890, the ego is understood to be a primary part of the human, spiritual sense of self.
According to his theory, Freud subdivided the human psychological structure into the super-ego , the id and the ego. The ego represents the important regulator between the reception of stimuli by the id and the values and norms that are delivered by the superego. It reflects these and responds to them, whereby above all the classification into real events can arise . The ego sees itself as the main indicator of the critical mind and weighs decisions in relation to past experiences and events. This creates possible control over logical and rational thinking, taking into account the avoidance of over-stimulation by the id or superego. The ego develops primarily during the phase of adolescence and the maturation of the psyche in childhood and early adolescence.
Control and disturbance
The ego is probably the most important psychomotor component of the mind in terms of self-control and thus maintaining psychological security. If the ego is overwhelmed by the id or the super-ego and can no longer mediate it equally between the two, one speaks of a loss of control or ego loss. This disruption leads to the fact that one's own actions or the influence of other people on the self can no longer be realistically assessed and implemented. The rational structure of the mind is severely impaired and can occur along with mental illness, see also loss of reality . This happening can be observed very often when serious stimulus overloads occurred in early childhood or during the maturation process, for example through traumatic experiences, and thus disrupted the relationship to one's own self. The psychoanalytic apparatus is then distributed unevenly and the control function is acutely or permanently prevented and overburdened by one of the other components. The two most well-researched diseases in which ego loss occurs are:
The ego loss can also be caused by other factors that are symptomatic or conducive to mental illness. For example through excessive fatigue or the intake of psychotropic substances. As a result, disorientation , thought disorders and delusional states as well as the feeling of demarcation from the social and spatial environment arise .
awareness
The ego splits into different levels of consciousness. For the most part it can be found in clear consciousness. This is constant through the relation to reality and the logical thinking ability. This enables the ego to classify, realistically assess and also control events. Another important part of the ego exists at the level of the preconscious. It is about deepening the anticipation of future events or situations. The super-ego and id are clearly recognized and stored as a source of experience in order to be able to be passed on to the conscious and reflected part of the ego. A small part of the self is also in the human subconscious. There experiences are taken in unconsciously and passed on to the preconscious level. This subconscious level works mainly during sleep, more precisely during dreaming. In the dream state, collected stimuli and impressions are processed, which is why the conscious part of the ego does not work here and consequently the controlling part also remains in the background.
See also
literature
- "The Vocabulary of Psychoanalysis" - J. Laplanche
- "Outline of Psychoanalysis" - Siegmund Freud
- "A thousand plateaus: capitalism and shizophrenia" - Günther Rösch