Psychology Case Study
According to Sigmund Freud, the conscious mind includes all the things that are within the awareness of the individual while the unconscious mind includes all thoughts, urges, memories and feelings that are outside the conscious awareness of the individual. Most of the content of the unconscious mind are feelings and emotions that are unpleasant or unacceptable to the individual. They include such feelings as conflict, anxiety or pain. Moreover, the unconscious exerts a significant influence on the daily experiences and behaviors of the individual even though the individual is not aware of the presence of such influences. (Cherry, 2013). According to McLeod (2009), the unconscious contains a lot of disturbing and significant material that is kept out of the awareness of the individual because these experiences and emotions are too threatening to be acknowledged fully by the individual (McLeod, 2009).
According to Carl Jung, archetypes are considered models of people, personalities and behaviors. He developed the concept of the psyche which he says has three components, the ego, the personal unconscious and the collective unconscious (Cherry, 2013). The ego is equivalent to the conscious mind. However, the personal unconsciousness includes memories that have been suppressed from the conscious. The collective unconscious is a part of the psyche that functions like a sort of "psychological Inheritance", which includes all experiences that are shared as the human race.
It is evident that the two theorists recognize a part of the human mind that (the unconscious) that holds information about emotions and experiences that the individual has no awareness of. This component of the mind is said to hold such powerful emotions, but the individual is unaware of it.
In contrast, the concept of collective unconscious sets the two theories apart because it describes a part of "psychological inheritance" shared by all individuals.
Applying both theories to the case study, one would realize that Anna O developed those symptoms whole taking care of her father. This can be explained by the fact that all those disturbing emotions which had been present in her subconscious were brought to the conscious by the event of her father's illness.
However, the timing of the manifestation of the illness can be explained by the concept of collective consciousness which was propounded by Carl Jung. It can be explained by the fact that Anna O began to feel some of the components of her father's illness because both of them have some sort of connection as being from the same family.
I would agree on the point that Anna O's symptoms was a manifestation of emotions which have been suppressed in her unconscious and the purpose was to bring some unresolved issues from her unconscious mind to the conscious mind.
In offering specific treatment to Anna O, Sigmund Freud would have offered her sessions of psychoanalysis in which she recounts experiences in her childhood which could have been the source of her anxiety. Also Sigmund Freud would also have explored contents of her dream with a view to identifying the sources of the repressed emotions. Considering the symptoms which Anna O has been having, she could experience these interventions as a continuation of her ordeal because certainly the emotions which she had repressed for such a long time were so distressing to her for them to manifest in the form of these serious psychotic symptoms.
Carl Jung on the other hand, would have offered to have sessions with Anna o in which she recount contents of her dream with a view to gaining some insight into the origins of her repressed emotions.
REFERENCES
Cherry K (2013). The Conscious and Unconscious Mind. The Structure of Mind According to Freud. About.com Psychology. Retrieved on 30th June 2013 from <http://psychology.about.com/od/theoriesofpersonality/a/consciousuncon.htm>
McLeod S (2009). Unconscious Mind - Sigmund Freud - Simply Psychology. Retrieved on 30th June 2013 from http://www.simplypsychology.org/unconscious-mind.html
Cherry K (2013). Archetypes. Jung’s Archetypes. Retrieved on 30th June 2013 from http://psychology.about.com/od/personalitydevelopment/tp/archetypes.htm
