A General Introduction to Psychoanalysis

by Sigmund Freud

In the years before the war, when the influx of patients from all parts made me independent of the favor or disfavor of my native city, I followed the rule of not treating anyone who was not sui juris, was not independent of all other persons in his essential relations of life. Every psychoanalyst cannot do this. You may conclude from my warning against the relatives of patients that for purposes of psychoanalysis we should take the patients away from their families, and should limit this therapy to the inmates of sanatoriums. I should not agree with you in this; it is much more beneficial for the patients, if they are not in a stage of great exhaustion, to continue in the same circumstances under which they must master the tasks set for them during the treatment. But the relatives ought not to counteract this advantage by their behavior, and above all, they should not antagonize and oppose the endeavors of the physician. But how are we to contend against these influences which are so inaccessible to us! You see how much the prospects of a treatment are determined by the social surroundings and the cultural conditions of a family.

This offers a sad outlook indeed for the effectiveness of psychoanalysis as a therapy, even if we can explain the great majority of our failures by putting the blame on such disturbing external factors! Friends of analysis have advised us to counterbalance such a collection of failures by means of a statistical compilation on our part of our successful cases. Yet I could not try myself to do this. I tried to explain that statistics would be worthless if the collected cases were not comparable, and in fact, the various neuroses which we have undertaken to treat could, as a matter of fact, hardly be compared on the same basis, since they differed in many fundamental respects. Besides, the period of time over which we could report was too short to permit us to judge the permanency of our cures, and concerning certain cases we could not have given any information whatever. They related to persons who had kept their ailments, as well as their treatment, secret, and whose cure must necessarily be kept secret as well. The strongest hindrance, however, lay in the knowledge that men behave most irrationally in matters of therapy, and that we have no prospect of attaining anything by an appeal to reason. A therapeutic novelty is received either with frenzied enthusiasm, as was the case when Koch first made public his tuberculin against tuberculosis, or it is treated with abysmal distrust, as was the really blessed vaccination of Jenner, which even today retains implacable opponents. There was a very obvious prejudice against psychoanalysis. When we had cured a very difficult case we would hear it said: "That is no proof, he would have become well by himself in all this time." Yet when a patient who had already gone through four cycles of depression and mania came into my care during a temporary cessation in the melancholia, and three weeks later found herself in the beginnings of a new attack, all the members of the family as well as the high medical authorities called into consultation, were convinced that the new attack could only be the result of the attempted analysis. Against prejudice we are powerless; you see it again in the prejudices that one group of warring nations has developed against the other. The most sensible thing for us to do is to wait and allow time to wear it away. Some day the same persons think quite differently about the same things than before. Why they formerly thought otherwise remains the dark secret.

It may be possible that the prejudice against psychoanalysis is already on the wane. The continual spread of psychoanalytic doctrine, the increase of the number of physicians in many lands who treat analytically, seems to vouch for it. When I was a young physician I was caught in just such a storm of outraged feeling of the medical profession toward hypnosis, treatment by suggestion, which today is contrasted with psychoanalysis by "sober" men. Hypnotism did not, however, as a therapeutic agent, live up to its promises; we psychoanalysts may call ourselves its rightful heirs, and we have not forgotten the large amount of encouragement and theoretical explanation we owe to it. The injuries blamed upon psychoanalysis are limited essentially to temporary aggravation of the conflict when the analysis is clumsily handled, or when it is broken off unfinished. You have heard our justification for our form of treatment, and you can form your own opinion as to whether or not our endeavors are likely to lead to lasting injury. Misuse of psychoanalysis is possible in various ways; above all, transference is a dangerous remedy in the hands of an unconscientious physician. But no professional method of procedure is protected from misuse; a knife that is not sharp is of no use in effecting a cure.

I have thus reached the end, ladies and gentlemen. It is more than the customary formal speech when I admit that I am myself keenly depressed over the many faults in the lectures I have just delivered. First of all, I am sorry that I have so often promised to return to a subject only slightly touched upon at the time, and then found that the context has not made it possible to keep my word. I have undertaken to inform you concerning an unfinished thing, still in the process of development, and my brief exposition itself was an incomplete thing. Often I presented the evidence and then did not myself draw the conclusion. But I could not endeavor to make you masters of the subject. I tried only to give you some explanation and stimulation.

END

INDEX

[A], [B], [C], [D], [E], [F], [H], [I], [J], [K], [L], [M], [N], [O], [P], [R], [S], [T], [U], [V], [W], [Z]

Abel, C., [195]
Abel, R., [148]
Abraham, K., [284], [358]
Abstinence, [299]
Accidental and symptomatic acts, [42]
Accumulated and combined errors, [37]
Adler, A., [203], [330], [351]
Agoraphobia, [227], [233]
Alexander, dream of, [65]
Altruism, [360]
Ambivalence, [369]
Amnesia, [244];
childhood, [168];
hysterical, [245];
infantile, [245];
of the neurotic, [244]
Analyses of dreams, [94], [95], [96], [97], [98], [153]
Analysis, experimental, dream for, [93]
Analytical therapy, [372], [388]
Andreas, Lou, [272]
Anxiety, [340], [342];
dream, [183];
equivalents, [347];
form of neurotic fear, [346];
hysteria, [233], [259], [316], [346];
hysteria, resistance in, [250];
neurosis, [338], [344], [347]
Anxious expectation, [344]
Archaic remnants and infantilism in the dream, [167]
Art, and the neurosis, [326]
Association experiment, [86];
free, [84]
Auto-eroticism, [359]
Back, George, [108]
Basedowi, M., [336]
Beheading symbol, [231]
Bernheim, [81], [240], [385], [388]
Binet, [302]
Binz, [66]
Birth of the hero, myths, [182]
Birth, the source of fear, [343];
symbols of, [132];
theories of children, [274]
Bleuler, [86], [369]
Bloch, Ivan, [265]
Bölsche, W., [307]
Breuer, J., [221], [232], [241], [242], [253], [254], [388]
Breughel, P., [263]
Castration complex, [175]
Censor, dream, [110]
Charcot, [119]
Child, sexual life of, [268], [281]
Childhood amnesia, [168];
dreams of, [101];
egoism in, [171];
experiences, phantasy in, [319];
loss of memory for, [168];
prophylaxis, [317]
Children, fear in, [350];
sexual curiosity of, [274]
Children's dreams, [102];
theories of birth, [274]
Choice of an object, [368]
Clinical problem, [244]
Common elements of dreams, [67], [69], [75]
Complex, castration, [175];
family, [285];
Oedipus, [174], [285];
parent, [289]
Compulsion neurosis, [222], [227], [259], [261], [267], [298], [326];
fear in, [349];
manifestations of, [222]
Compulsion neurotics, resistance in, [250], [251];
symptoms, analysis of, [224]
Compulsive activity, meaning of, [239];
acts, [223];
washing as, [233]
Condensation, [142]
Conflict, role of, in neurosis, [302], [305]
Conscious, definition of, [90]
Conversion-hysteria, [259], [339]
Criticism of dream, [194];
of psychoanalysis, reasons for, [246]
Darwin, Charles, [247], [345]
Day dreams, [76], [105], [324]
Death in dreams, [133];
wishes, [169]
Definition of psychoanalysis, [1]
Delusion, [216]
Dementia praecox, [339], [358], [363]
Development and regression, theories of, [294]
Diderot, [292]
Difficulties of psychoanalysis, [2], [5]
Disease, secondary advantage of, [334]
Disguise-memories, [168]
Displacement, [114], [144]
Dream, the, [63];
of Alexander, [65];
anxiety, [183];
approaches to study of, [82];
archaic remnants and infantilism in the, [167];
censor, [110];
character of, [69];
criticism of, [194];
day, [76], [105];
definition of, [67], [68];
difficulties and preliminary approach to, [63];
distortion in, [101], [110], [183];
doubtful points concerning, [194];
for experimental analysis, [93];
hypothesis and technique of interpretation of, [78];
infantile, [183];
interpretation, rules to be observed in, [91], [92];
manifest and latent content of, [90], [96];
of a prisoner, [109];
the reaction to sleep-disturbing stimuli, [70];
stimuli in, [71], [73];
symbolism in, [122]
Dreams analysed, [94], [95], [96], [97], [98], [153];
of childhood, [101];
children's, [102];
children's, elements of, [101-5];
common elements of, [67], [69], [75];
death in, [133];
elaboration in, [74];
examples of, [111];
experimentally induced in, [71];
of neurotics, [395];
typical, [234];
visual forms in, [75];
wish fulfillment, [107];
dream-work, [141];
processes of, [142]
Du prel, [108]
Ego, development of, [304];
impulses, [303];
instincts, [356];
psychology, [365];
regressions, [310]
Egoism, [360];
in childhood, [171]
Elements of children's dreams, [101], [102], [103], [104], [105]
Erogenous zones, [271]
Erotomania, [366]
Errors, accumulated and combined, [37];
forgetting names, [34];
forgetting projects, [34];
losing and mislaying objects, [36];
misreading, [51];
proved by further developments, [39];
psychology of, [10], [23];
repeated, [37];
slips of the pen, [49];
of the tongue, [16], [18];
expectant fear, [344]
Fact, principle of, [309]
Family-complex, [289]
Fear, [340], [342];
in children, [350];
in compulsion neurosis, [349];
expectant, [344];
in hysteria, [348];
of the manifold, [344];
neurotic, [341];
anxiety, form of, [346];
clinical observations on, [347];
origin of, [350];
and real fear, connection between, [350];
real, [341];
and neurotic fear, connection between, [350]
Fechner, G. T., [69]
Federn, P., [127]
Ferenczi, [304]
Fetichism, [302]
Fetichists, [264]
Fixation of the instinct, [295];
traumatic, [236]
Flaubert, G., [263]
Fliess, W., [277]
Fontaine, Th., [324]
Fore-conscious, [256]
Forgetting, defense against unpleasant recollections, [56];
impressions and experiences, [56];
names, [34], [55];
plans, [52];
projects, [34];
proper names, [87]
Free association, [84];
name analysis by, [85]
Free-floating fear, [344]
Fright, [342]
Hall, Stanley, [344], [355]
Hildebrand, [71]
Hoffman, [321]
Homosexualists, [266]
Homosexuality, [263]
Hypnosis, [253], [386];
psycho-therapy by, [253]
Hypnotic and psychoanalytic suggestion, difference between, [390]
Hypnotism, [81], [388]
Hypochondria, [338], [339], [362]
Hysteria, [233], [245], [246], [261], [266], [297];
anxiety, [233], [316];
conversion, [339];
fear in, [348]
Hysterical amnesias, [245];
backache, [339];
headache, [339];
identification, [369];
vomiting, [233]
Illness as a defense, [332]
Imago, [139]
Incest, [176], [290]
Infantile amnesias, [245];
dream, [183];
fear, [353];
neurosis, [316];
sexuality, [272], [279]
Infantilism in the dream, archaic remnants and, [167]
Inferiority, [351]
Inhibition, [294]
Instinct, fixation of, [295]
Intellectual resistances, [251]
Introversion, [325]
Inversions, [149], [263]
James-Lange theory of emotion, [343]
Janet, P., [221]
Jealousy, obsession of, [216]
Jenner, [400]
Jung, C. J., [86], [232], [325], [357]
Koch, [400]
Krauss, F. S., [134]
Latent dream content, [90], [98]
Leuret, [221]
Levy, L., [133]
Libido, [116], [270];
development of, [277], [282];
fixation, [300];
regressions of, [297];
theory, the, [356]
Lichtenberg, [27]
Lindner, [271]
Losing and mislaying objects, [36], [57]
Loss of memory for childhood, [168]
Maeder, A., [39], [202]
Mania of persecution, [366];
of jealousy, [366]
Manifest dream content, [90], [96]
Masochists, [264]
Maury, [66], [71]
Mayer, [16]
Mechanism of the tongue slip, [46]
Megalomania, [366]
Melancholia, [369]
Memory gaps, [244];
loss of, for childhood, [168]
Meringer, [16]
Misreading, [51]
Mistakes, general observations on, [57]
Myths, birth of the hero, [132]
Name analysis by free association, [85]
Naecke, P., [359]
Narcism, [359], [360]
Narcistic identification, [369];
neuroses, [298], [365];
and transference, [386]
Negative transference, [383]
Nervousness, fear and, [340];
ordinary, [328]
Nestroy, [305]
Neurasthenia, [338], [339]
Neurosis, anxiety, [344];
art and, [326];
common experiences in history of, [321];
compulsion, [222];
determining factor in, [321];
development of symptoms of, [311];
etiology of, [296];
general theory of, [294];
infantile, [316];
narcistic, [298];
schematic representation of cause of, [315];
spontaneous, [237];
symptoms of, [317];
traumatic, [237];
true, difference between the symptoms of, and the psychoneurosis, [336]
Neurotic fear, anxiety form of, [346];
clinical observations on, [347];
manifestations of, [344];
origin of, [350];
and real fear, connection between, [350]
Neurotic manifestations, psychoanalytic conception of, [211];
symptoms, evolution of, [244];
meaning of, [221];
objections to interpretations of, [260]
Neurotics, dreams of, [395]
Nordenskjold, Otto, [107]
Oberländer, [334]
Object, choice of, [368]
Obsession of jealousy, [216]
Oedipus complex, [174], [285]
Onanism, [272], [274]
Organic pleasure, [280]
Paranoia, [266], [339], [366]
Paraphrenia, [339], [366]
Parent-complex, [289]
Pathological ritual, [228]
Patricide, [290]
Perverse, [263];
sexuality, [268], [279]
Perversions, sex, [175], [278]
Pfister, [199]
Phantasies, primal, [323]
Phantasy in childhood experiences, [319];
in children, [322]
Phobias, [344];
analysis of, [353];
situation, in children, [352]
Pleasure, principle of, [309]
Pleasure-striving, [116]
Pre-genital sexual organization, [283]
Primal phantasies, [323]
Principle of fact, [309];
of pleasure, [309]
Psychiatry, psychoanalysis and, [209];
therapeutics of, [220]
Psychic flight from unpleasantness, [55];
process, meaning of, [23];
definition of, [7];
in sleeping and waking, differences between, [69]
Psychoanalysis, definition of, [1];
difficulties of, [2], [5];
and psychiatry, [209];
purpose of, [6];
reasons for criticism of, [246];
therapeutics of, [220]
Psychoanalytic conception of neurotic manifestations, [211];
suggestion, hypnotic and difference between, [390]
Psychology of errors, [10]
Psychoneurosis, difference between the symptoms of the true neurosis and, [336];
true neurosis and, connection between symptoms of, [338]
Psychotherapy by hypnosis, [253]
Purpose of psychoanalysis, [6]
Rank, O., [21], [108], [132], [139], [154], [175], [292]
Reaction-formations, [326]
Regression, [295], [296];
of Libido, [297];
theories of development and, [294]
Reik, Th., [290]
Repression, [255]
Reproduction, [269];
sexuality and, [277]
Resistance, [92], [248];
in anxiety hysteria, [250];
in compulsion neurotics, [250], [251];
external, [398];
forms taken by, [250];
internal, [398];
intellectual, [251];
in narcistic neurosis, [365]
Ritual, pathological, [228];
sleep, [227]
Roux, [314]
Sachs, Hanns, [139], [173]
Sadistico-anal sexual organization, [283]
Sadists, [264]
Scherner, K. A., [124]
Schirmer, [74]
Schwind, [109]
Secondary treatment, [151]
Sex symbols, [126]
Sex, the third, [263]
Sexual curiosity of children, [274];
definition of concept, [262];
development, [284];
instincts, [356];
life of the child, [268], [281];
life of man, [262];
organizations, [277], [283];
perversions, [175], [278]
Sexuality, perverse, [268];
and reproduction, [277]
Siebault, [81]
Silberer, V., [203]
Situation-phobia, [345];
phobias in children, [352]
Sleep, definition of, [67];
ritual, [227]
Slips of the tongue, [16];
effects of, [18];
explanation of, [25], [46];
general observations on, [48];
of the pen, [49]
Sperber, H., [138]
Spontaneous neuroses, [237]
Stekel, W., [203]
Struwelpeter, [321]
Sublimation, [8], [300]
Substitute names, [87]
Suggestibility, [386]
Suggestion, [386], [388]
Suppression, [46], [248], [256], [259], [296], [298]
Symbol, [123];
beheading, [231]
Symbolism in the dream, [122];
in every day life, [130]
Symbols, [125], [126];
of birth, [132];
sex, [126]
Symptomatic acts, accidental and, [42]
Symptom-development, [259];
interpretation, [259];
purpose of, [258], [259]
Symptoms, individual, [232], [234];
meaning of, [221];
of neurosis, development of, [311];
neurotic, evolution of, [244];
objections to interpretations of, [260];
significance of phantasy for the development of, [324];
typical, [233]
System of the unconscious, fore-conscious and the conscious, [255-257]
Technique in dream interpretation, [82]
Therapy, analytical, [372]
Therapeutics of psychiatry, [220];
of psychoanalysis, [220]
Third sex, [263]
Tongue slip, mechanism of, [46], [49]
Topophobia, [233]
Transference, [25], [372], [379];
narcistic neuroses and, [386];
neuroses, [259], [339], [384]
Translation of thoughts into visual images, [145]
Traumatic fixation, [236];
neuroses, [237]
Trenck, [108]
True neuroses, [338];
and psychoneuroses, connection between symptoms of, [338];
symptoms of, [336]
Typical symptoms, [234]
Unconscious, the, [236], [255];
definition of, [90];
psychological processes, [240]
Vold, J. Mourly, [66], [127]
Vomiting, hysterical, [233]
von Brücke, [295]
Wallace, [247]
Washing, a compulsive act, [233]
Wishes, death, [169]
Wish fulfillment, [180];
in dreams, [104], [107];
negative, [261];
positive, [261]
Wundt school, [86]
Zola, Emile, [224]
Zurich school, [86]

The following typographical errors have been corrected by the etext transcriber:
Resistance and Supression=>Resistance and Suppression
Dark Ages faithfully perserved things=>Dark Ages faithfully preserved
things
the dream anaylsis=>the dream analysis
reocgnize=>recognize
crimes commited=>crimes committed
embryo in the amnotic fluid=>embryo in the amniotic fluid
Sublim Porte=>Sublime Porte
remote of these thoughs=>remote of these thoughts
uncomfortabe=>uncomfortable
archiac or regressive mode=>archaic or regressive mode
capitalist and the entrepeneur=>capitalist and the entrepreneur
By means of two selected illlustrations=>By means of two selected
illustrations
and did not yet want to a prophet=>and did not yet want to be a prophet
fundamenal difference=>fundamental difference
psychlogical=>psychological
sexual substitute-satsifaction=>sexual substitute-satisfaction
carry on psychonalaysis=>carry on psychoanalysis
with manual anonism=>with manual ononism
the educator, Nesessity=>the educator, Necessity
has been succssfully=>has been successfully
The physician forms a very favorable opinon=>The physician forms a very
favorable opinion
affctionate=>affectionate
destroyed the transfrence=>destroyed the transference
read "Agamemnon" for "angenomen,"=>read "Agamemnon" for "angenommen,"
"Angenomen" is a verb, meaning "to accept."=>"Angenommen" is a verb,
meaning "to accept."
misprints, which are of ocurse to be considered as errors of the
typesetter.=>misprints, which are of course to be considered as errors
of the typesetter.
"Rückhaltos" means "unreservedly."=>"Rückhaltlos" means "unreservedly."
Struuelpeter=>Struwelpeter
Struwwelpeter=>Struwelpeter
Oberlander, 334=>Oberländer, 334