Analysis Of Sigmund Freud's Oedipus Complex

Sigmund Freud – an Austrian neurologist born in 1856 – is considered one of the most influential people regarding the evolution of psychology and not only that.2 His influence on the Western civilization cannot go unnoticed in the fields of literature, medical humanities and in our daily life. Nowadays, terminologies such as “daddy issues” and “mommy issues” are often being used to indicate something abstract and often false, but Freud actually devised the “Oedipus Complex” regarding a child’s erotic feelings towards his/her parent of the opposite sex. 1 Of course, in modern psychology, this term is obsolete and proved false but it would be pure ignorance not to appreciate the impact Freud had on the majority of the aspects of the Western

It was Freud who deduced one common factor among all these cases of women through his psychoanalytic al techniques; the factor being that all women have undergone through great trauma as children or adolescents. The trauma was often related to sexual abuse and was often caused by members of the family. This was the beginning of the discovery that children have to be prominently protected as they grow up since events that take place in that time period of a human’s life, has a titanic impact on his/her later years. Although Freud didn’t have the greatest impact in child psychology, he was surely one of the first scientists that introduced the concept. Child psychology today is one of the most crucial fields in medicine since it’s the time where a person’s character, ideas and ethics are being formed and will leave a noticeable impression on the rest of his/her life. Diagnosing signs of mental syndromes, personality disorders and other syndromes early in life, will not only increase the life span of the particular person, but will also increase quality of life by adapting to the special needs of that person and provide treatment and

Grünbaum stated that the theory was “fundamentally flawed, even if the validity of his clinical evidence were not in question" but that "the clinical data are themselves suspect; more often than not, they may be the patient's responses to the suggestions and expectations of the analyst". There was a general consensus among critics that Freud’s theory was lacking empirical data, the demographical sample used to determine the efficacy of the theory was limited.10 Some more practical limitations of psychoanalysis would include the extensive time needed for each patient, the fact that it doesn’t work for all patients and sometimes can even surface repressed memories that will exacerbate the patient’s illness. Ultimately, it comes down to the question of whether medical professionals should treat the symptoms of the mental illness or the cause. A combination of psychoanalysis, medication and cognitive – behavioural therapies should be used and embrace the limitations and advantages of each theory/treatment and used