Conflict and Anxiety

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Each stage of Freud's psychosexual development presents certain conflicts in which the child attempts to settle using social and familial constraints (Gould,& Howson 2021). Freud believed that a fixation could continue into adulthood and cause psychological disorders like neurosis and hysteria. Freud also believed that when we do not resolve these conflicts then we can develop a fixation on an erogenous area.

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Freud believed that there was constant conflict among the id, ego, and superego. The id always wants to be satisfied while the ego fights for the need to deal with reality, and the superego attempts to provide the person with a sense of morality and ethics. Freud believed that this constant battle could create anxiety (Gould,& Howson 2021):

Neurotic Anxiety

When someone believes that they will lose control of the id's desires and be punished for inappropriate behavior. For example, children touching their genitals in public A

Reality Anxiety

Being afraid of events that are happening in the real world such as a car crash.

Moral Anxiety

This occurs when someone is afraid they will violate their society's moral principles such as killing a parent

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Freud believed that when anxiety starts, the ego tries to resolve the conflict by using defense mechanisms. Freud, his daughter, and his successors identified and classified defense mechanisms (Gould,& Howson 2021) :

Repression

A thought or memory is prevented from entering the consciousness.

Projection

When someone places their own undesirable thoughts on someone else. An example would be someone believing that someone else does not like them when in reality they do not like the person.

Rationalization

Someone justifies a behavior or belief for reasons other than the usually socially or morally unacceptable reasons that really lie behind the belief or behavior. An example is someone stealing from their boss because they believe that they are underpaid.