Psychoanalysis in Nazi Germany: A Dark Chapter in History

 

Psychoanalysis as a theory and its application in clinical, educational, and other spheres was influenced by each country’s conditions.

 

Freud’s works were translated into several languages:

French  

                             English

 Spanish     🌍

Italian                Russian

In the Soviet Union in the 1920s, some government officials initially supported psychoanalysis despite the official communist doctrine of limiting the spread of scientific knowledge from capitalist countries (Shiraev, 2016). 

🧩These officials believed that psychoanalysis could help reveal the psychological weaknesses and flaws of individuals living in a capitalist society.

Several Soviet scholars received government funding to start psychoanalytic centers.

🎞️🎞️Sabrina Spielrein (1885–1942)

 Soviet psychoanalyst and former patient and confidante of Jung, returned to the Soviet Union to use psychoanalysis in her work with children. Her life was popularized in the 2011 Hollywood movie A Dangerous Method, in which Keira Knightley played her role (Shiraev, 2016). 

📅1930s        

• 📅📅Soviet Union's support for psychoanalysis ended
• 🌍🌍 Psychoanalysis theorizes the power of unconscious processes and this did not align with the communist ideology.
• 🌍Communists believed that all inner conflicts within someone would disappear once they were placed in conditions of what they called social equality under communism (Shiraev, 2016). 
• 🌍🧩🧩 From the 1930's to the 1980s psychologists in the Soviet Union could only write or teach about Freud and his views from a critical perspective.

🟥 Psychoanalysis was labeled Jewish science and this allowed Germany to openly attack professors and clinicians (Shiraev, 2016).

🟥In 1933 The Nazi Party rose to power.

🟥Germany collected and burned Freud's books🟥Anyone who studied or taught psychoanalysis was punished

 

 Only a few managed to emigrate from Germany to the United States or other countries; many others died in concentration camps. Psychoanalysis was soon officially banned in Germany as both a theory and treatment method (Shiraev, 2016).

Martha Gellhorn: A Pioneering War Correspondent

 

Martha Gellhorn

Martha Gellhorn was a pioneering war correspondent who challenged the established rules of journalism. She was motivated by her own personal beliefs and desires, and she wasn't afraid to challenge the status quo (Shiraev, 2016).

• Gellhorn did not believe in Freud's theory of unresolved infantile conflicts or Adler's logic of overcoming inferiority.
• She read Freud but disagreed with him. She did not believe that unresolved infantile conflicts were the source of her actions. She had a happy childhood and loving parents. She disliked self-pity and believed that people must take responsibility for their own lives. She even criticized Freud for giving people the right to blame someone else for their own problems.
• Instead, she may have been motivated by anger, boredom, or a desire to scream.
• She may also have been motivated by self-challenge, or a desire to make a difference.

Martha Gellhorn read Freud's work, but she disagreed with his theory that unresolved conflicts from childhood are the source of our actions. She had a happy childhood with loving parents, and she believed that people must take responsibility for their own lives. She even criticized Freud for giving people an excuse to blame their problems on others (Shiraev, 2016).

Only Gellhorn knew what motivated her, but her story is an inspiration to those who are willing to fight for what they believe in.

• Gellhorn's work as a war correspondent took her to some of the most dangerous and chaotic places in the world, including Spain, Finland, France, and Vietnam.
• 
  
  She was one of the first female reporters to be accepted by male colleagues as an equal.
• Her writing was often praised for its honesty and immediacy.
• She was a recipient of the National Book Award for Nonfiction.

Her work has been credited with helping to shape public opinion about war and conflict  (Shiraev, 2016).

References

 

Shiraev, E. (2016). Personality Theories: A Global View. SAGE Publications, Inc. (US). https://mbsdirect.vitalsource.com/books/9781506300795

 ASK

988 offers 24/7 access to trained crisis counselors who can help people experiencing mental health-related distress. That could be (988 Key Messages, n.d.):

1. Thoughts of suicide
2. Mental health or substance use crises
3. Emotional distress

988 serves as a universal entry point so that no matter where you live in the United States, you can reach a trained crisis counselor who can help (988 Key Messages, n.d.).

In 2021(988 Key Messages, n.d.):

1. The U.S. had one death by suicide about every 11 minutes
2. For people aged 10–14 and 25–34 years, suicide was the second-leading cause of death
3. 
   Suicide rates increased significantly among non-Hispanic Black & American Indian and Alaska Native people
4. Nearly 900,000 youth aged 12-17 and 1.7 million adults attempted suicide
5. About 107,000 people died from drug overdoses

 

References

 988 Key Messages. (n.d.). Www.samhsa.gov. https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/988/key-messages

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 CellML

Scientists Create New Programming Language for Living Cells

Scientists at MIT have created a new programming language for living cells. This language, called CellML, allows scientists to directly give cells new instructions and tasks. CellML is a text-based language, similar to the languages that computer scientists use to develop software. Cells can "learn" to perform new tasks by being given CellML instructions. For example, scientists could use CellML to teach human cells to transport and release cancer drugs upon encountering a tumor in the body. They could also teach plant cells to discharge natural insecticides to fight insects. The development of CellML has the potential to revolutionize the way we treat diseases. In the future, scientists may be able to create special informational programs for living cells that could replace many medications or be significantly more effective than most of them.

Here are some of the potential benefits of CellML (Shiraev, 2016) :

1. It could lead to new treatments for diseases like cancer and Alzheimer's.
2. It could help to improve crop yields and make food production more sustainable.
3. It could be used to create new types of materials with enhanced properties.
4. The development of CellML is still in its early stages, but it has the potential to have a major impact on our lives. It is an exciting new field of research that is full of potential.

Here are some additional thoughts on the potential of CellML:

1. CellML could be used to create new types of vaccines that are more effective and less likely to cause side effects.
2. It could be used to develop new ways to deliver drugs to the body, such as through nanoparticles or gene therapy.
3. It could be used to create new types of sensors that can detect diseases at an early stage.
4. The possibilities are endless. CellML is a powerful new tool that has the potential to change the world.

References

Shiraev, E. (2016). Personality Theories: A Global View. SAGE Publications, Inc. (US). https://mbsdirect.vitalsource.com/books/9781506300795