Sigmund Freud said that in order to have mental health a
person had to be able to love and work. well what goes into being able to love
and to work?
To answer this question we have to understand what motivates
man, particularly his feelings. for men’s behavior is guided more by his
feelings than by his rational thinking.
Men’s feelings come from the interaction of four major
forces:
1.
Love and
Hate's effect on Mental Health : one constructive and the other
destructive, a pair of drives from the basis for the feelings of love and hate.
When the energies of both are combined and
directed into solving problems, man using them in his own interest and in
behalf of others around him-in supporting his family. Pursuing his career, attacking social problems, building a business.
The aggressive energy is tempered and
guided by the constructive energy. When, however, these energies are diverted
from ideally useful channels, a person makes less efficient use of them and to
that extent is less healthy mentally.
For example, a man may over control his
feelings of aggression and fume internally with anger of hate. This produces
tensions which literally wear away his body organs and result in a physical
ailment called psychosomatic illness. Or a man may, instead of directing his
anger to problem-solving, transfer it to his wife, children, subordinates,
store clerks, waiters and other people who cannot defend themselves against
him.
This is the mechanism that lies behind
scape goating, racial prejudice,
exploiting others.
Or a man may turn his anger on himself, in which case we see
men who are their own worst enemies, who have painful accidents, or repeatedly
get themselves into trouble, or, in extreme instances, commit suicide.
The same kind of thing can happen with
feelings of love. Some people, tragically, can love only themselves, and find
in extremely difficult to have affectionate two-way relationships with others.
Still others are so narrowly confined to
themselves that they spend inordinate amounts of time treating themselves and
talking about their illness. These ways of mishandling love, of course, drive
other people away.
2 Conscience: we are not born with a conscience; we acquire
it. It is made up of values we are taught, such as religious values, moral
precepts and proper behavior.
Each of us, too, has an ego ideal, which is
part of the conscience- a vision of ourselves as the persons we could be if
only we could achieve those aspirations our parents and other respected figures
hold out for us. Our aspirations usually far exceed our achievements; so we are
rarely satisfied with ourselves.
Finally, each of us has an internal
police-judge which calls us to account if we have violated our values or are
not working toward achieving our ego ideal. This police-judging induces feelings of guilt. Inasmuch as the
conscience must be strong if we are to conduct ourselves reasonably without
constant control by somebody else, we all have a goodly share of guilt feelings
which make us feel unworthy.
3.
The need to master: everyone wants to have the feeling that he is
in charge of himself and that, as time goes by, he is more and more in charge
of the forces that affect him. If a man feels he cannot do anything about these
forces, he stops trying and becomes apathetic.
This is what happens to people when they
are unemployed for long periods, or spend their whole lives on relief. They
become dependent on someone else and, being dependent, feel childlike. Their
consciences then make them feel even more worthless, and they redirect their
drives to themselves, being at once angry and preoccupied with themselves.
This
is what we see as apathy; apparently these people just do not care.
Or sometime they get angry at the world and
strike back by committing a crime. Any
situation in which people are discriminated against, manipulated or demeaned
produces the feeling of being a target. It is a major social problem that so
many people feel this way.
To master of himself and the forces that
affect him, a man must continue to grow psychologically. He must have the
feeling that he is becoming wiser as he grows older, that he is discovering new
and interesting things about the world, that he has a more adequate perspective
on what goes on in life and that he
enjoys close, affectionate relationship with friends. In a word, to grow is to
feel ever richer.
Man has many ways of trying to increase his
mastery. For some, religion provides an important avenue; for others, science
and reason; for still others, expertness in their work or profession; and, for many,
the acquisition of money, most people evolve some combination of these means of
achieving mastery. Yet there are some who are afraid of growing up and who forever
remain dependent and childlike.
(will be continue.......will be end 2nd part.please see 2nd part)
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