When I first learned of the different models and concepts of Freud’s psychoanalytic theory, they seemed logical until it came to the psychosexual stages which felt disturbing to me since they involved erogenous zones and pleasure even for infants. His perspective involved sexual pleasures even at a young age but I remember my childhood as an age of innocence. I don’t think I experienced the Oedipus conflict or castration anxiety when I was younger. It makes me wonder how he first conceptualized these stages and how he carried out his research.
What I liked most from the psychodynamic perspective was the defense mechanisms that I see being used by different people every day. For years, I’ve observed how people regularly use mechanisms like denial, displacement, and rationalization and now I know that they were studied and categorized since long ago. Even I use defense mechanisms when it comes to anxiety, commonly sublimation and rationalization. When I get stressed, I try to put my anger out through exercising. It’s much easier to take out your frustration when you’re working out. My PE class at the moment is Muay Thai so I feel satisfied when I get to do a lot of kicks and punches. When I get low grades and scores, I try to make excuses and rationalize so it doesn’t hurt as much.
This reminds me of one intrapsychic conflict I had when I wanted to go on a vacation trip with my friends. I wanted to go because all my close friends went but the problem was two of my exes were also there. This was during the semestral break and I wanted to go with them because they would go island hopping and do so much. In reality, I could easily go. Everything had already been planned and prepared, my parents said they would allow me, and I didn’t need much money since one of my friends was hosting. My id and ego were already good with it. The only problem was that I was in a long-distance relationship with my girlfriend and my superego told me that she might get jealous and sad about it. And so after a week, I eventually decided not to go through with it. During the semestral break, I coped using sublimation, enjoying time with myself and relaxing by playing video games instead.
Understanding the Self 