This blog post is dedicated to different theories pertaining the way the human brain works. Understanding mental health and the limitations of the mind can help us learn how to improve our learning strategies.
Die Heimkehr (The Return), by Arnold Boecklin (1887)
The Psychodynamic Model of Abnormality
To what Degree Instinctual Drives Define Us?
Angelo Juarez
Since the early 20th century, Freud’s contributions to the psychodynamic model signified a ground-breaking approach to the understanding and treatment of mental disorders. He postulated that an individual’s personality is the result of three forces that, to a great extent, he or she is not fully aware of, and therefore does not have full control over. According to the model, the first of these forces to develop, the id, is largely the result of a person’s upbringing and nurturing during childhood. The ego and superego, which are more conscious, emerge later in childhood and adolescence and deal with integration of a person to society. Once Freud said, ‘Where the id is, there shall ego be’ (Freud, 1930), which exemplifies his high regard of the id as the paramount driving force behind personality. This classical view has encountered disagreement among several scientists, which has caused psychodynamic theory to evolve into many variants that give more emphasis to the other two spheres of the model, such as the ego theory, yet there is still consensus that the forces of the initial model do exist (though with different characteristics) and are dynamic in nature. The ego theorists give more emphasis to the ego and believe it is not as dependent on the id as Freud initially proposed. Likewise, other scientists divert from classic psychodynamic theory, by stating that the self and individuality, rather than unconscious controlling forces, are the major causes of every person’s character, while there are those who consider relationships to be the ultimate shapers of personality (Comer, 2015). Nevertheless, there are still arguments to support the id is the most powerful and deterministic force in a person’s mind, which would explain the development of psychological deviances, from depression to psychopathic behavior, in societies that undermine its presence by basing their progress largely on reason, organization and productivity.
Considering current disagreements and the realization that there is not yet quantifiable anato-physiological evidence to clearly delimit an id-ego-superego model, the best way to suggest its presence is by quantifying the effectiveness of psychoanalysis. In a study by Knekt and colleagues (2011), 324 psychiatric outpatients with mood and anxiety disorder were given short and long-term psychodynamic psychotherapies as well as psychoanalysis. It was found that both psychodynamic psychotherapies and psychoanalysis were effective, but the longer the duration of therapy (up to five years), specially for psychoanalysis (at the 5-year follow-up), meant more effective results in work ability and functional capacity (Knekt et al.).
It is of crucial importance to briefly discuss brain anatomy in the context of evolution before diving into the implications of concealing instinctual drives. During the sixties, the American neuroscientist Paul MacLean (who was profoundly aware of Freud’s psychodynamic theory) formulated the triune brain model, based on anthropologic and evolutionary evidence, which suggested the modern human brain is the result of three anatomical structures, each having a different evolutionary age, building upon one another in a continuum of time that draws back to the brains of our evolutionary, non-human ancestors. These include the reptilian complex, the oldest of the three, composed by the basal ganglia, brain stem and cerebellum, dating back to 200 million years, the paleomammalian complex or limbic system, which comprises the hippocampus, amygdala and hypothalamus, and is as old as 3.3 million years, and the neomammalian complex, also known as the neocortex, which constitutes the cerebral hemispheres and corpus callosum, being the most recent of the three structures, with an estimated age of 100,000 – 35,000 years (this is the age of the modern Homo sapiens brain neocortex. The neocortex in non-human species dates as far back as 300 million years) (MacLean, 1973; Ploog, 2003; Max-Plank Gesellschaft, 2018; Anderzhanova, Kirmeier, and Wotjak, 2017). Based on MacLean’s model, it would be prudent to believe that the reptilian and paleomammalian complexes, far older structures in our brain, might as well be our most reliable behavioral sources, while the young neocortex, though responsible of our most elevated thoughts, may still be undergoing a maturing phase. Such imparity of evolutionary development would implicate a confrontation among these structures which ultimately transcends in psychopathologic conduct.
The preponderance of instinctual drives may be justified from a morpho-evolutionary slant, by drawing an analogy between the triune model and psychodynamic theory. The reptilian brain and paleomammalian complex can explain instinctual drives in that, aside from being responsible for physiologic regulatory functions, like heartrate and blood pressure, it expresses of other survival mechanisms, such as anger, fear and libido, as well as feelings and emotions. For instance, an office worker might have a disagreement with his boss and, consequentially, develop feelings of rage and engage in an argument with him, yelling and cursing, without taking into consideration the consequences of such action. Similarly, the paleomammalian complex works alongside the ego, in that it gives the individual a conscience for the consequences of his uncontrolled drives. In such regard, the worker’s initial desire to pursue a quarrel would be immediately subdued by the thought that such action could get him fired. Finally, the neomammalian complex gives rise to the superego by elaborating a rationale in which ideals transcend personal desires interests. In this sense, the worker would conclude that getting into a quarrel would set a bad example for his fellow co-workers and maintaining an environment of peace and communication would lead to progress as well as fulfillment of the company’s mission. The concordance between id and the reptilian brain supports the idea that instinctual drives are monitored by a far more mature cerebral structure, evolutionarily speaking, which would indicate the id is far more ingrained in our minds than the more recent ego and superego.
Morality might be accountable for an excessive hindrance of instinctual drives in present society. Ever since humans formed bands (groupings that rage between 100 to 200 people), 100,000 – 10,000 years ago, it is believed that morality began to evolve as a means to cohere them, to attain social control, conflict resolution and solidarity among group members (Wikipedia contributors, 2018). It was then that society commenced the construction of a myriad of norms and values. In such regard, one could venture to say that the ego and superego, our mechanisms of coping with social standards, also initiated their evolutionary development at that time. Human beings became increasingly more involved, beyond the confinements of their nuclear families, by carrying out group hunting and food gathering, as well as defending themselves from exterior threats, like predators and invaders from neighboring tribes. Concurrently, values like respect and altruism began to emerge. Not long after, there was a social need for spirituality and higher entities were praised and blamed for fruitful crops and plagues. The ensuing forces of good and evil did not take long to dictate what choices man should make in every aspect of life as societies became increasingly larger and complex. Eventually, actions needed to be ruled by a number of standards to attain generalized approval. Today, ‘acting’ the way we do is the artificial consequence of a socio-cultural construct that builds upon millennia. Several scientists, including Erving Goffman and Kenneth Burke, support the idea that people constantly interact with others in unnatural manners, as if performing in a play, to gain acceptance. This sociological perspective is known as dramaturgy and poses that the self is a changing sense of one’s identity, as it adjusts to distinct settings of social interaction (time, place, audience), depending on the values and norms present in any given social encounter. Supporters of this theory also believe that identity, instead of being invariable, continually acclimates to different ‘theatrical scenes’ (Wikipedia contributors, 2018). Apart from the size and general moral nature of a civilization, multiculturalism is another factor that might account for an increased suppression of instinctual drives. Notwithstanding what it accomplishes in favor of social development, the resulting added set of morals brought about by multiculturalism might entail further repression of instinctual drives. By way of illustration, moving into a village with only a few hundred religious and conservative residents might dissuade a person from engaging into sexual encounters as often as s/he did before arriving, because of fear of being discovered and judged by a community where everybody knows each other and might be observant of the newcomer.
In modern society there is a struggle between instinctual drives and reason. There is a high demand for psychological stressors, which include efficient performance, a tendency for multitasking (even though it may not be an appropriate technique), and the ideal physical image. Movie actors, tv adds and fashion magazines set an unconscious high standard upon individuals, who might feel frustrated by not fulfilling the expectations of others. Several societies also have a more rigid set of sanctions, with long-lasting consequences, which may not always turn out to work for the best, or for what is fair. An example could be that of a young, recently-graduated American nurse, who unknowingly does not register how many morphine ampoules she has been administering to patients for a certain number of days. Even though she administered the drug, there is not a way to verify if all ampoules were indeed used for the patients, leaving room for suspicion of a drug addiction or illegal commercializing of morphine, and consequently the board of nursing she is subjected to revokes her license, impeding her not only from practicing her profession anymore but also from practicing in any other health-related field for the rest of her life. Similarly, societies can produce abnormal levels of stress in people by rendering a high value on references. Even if they can have a positive effect by letting employers, universities and community service programs know the applicant better, they might also negatively increase an individual’s awareness of his/her social interactions, and consequentially undermine the id in favor of a greater social acceptance. In the end, the struggle between instinctual drives and society’s high standards can lead to people realizing how unadapted they are, which will eventually translate into depression, social anxiety and other psychiatric disorders.
Even though the psychodynamic school of thought has progressively departed from Freudian classic psychoanalytic theory by emphasizing on the ego and the unified personality as determinants of normal and deviant behavior, instinctual drives are nonetheless the pillars and major determinants of an individual’s psychology, as can be elucidated from the triune brain model. Because of their shorter age, the limbic brain and neocortex might still be undergoing an evolutionary adolescence, hence being less reliable and a key source of conflict between the elements in this model. Is our supposed-to-be rational behavior reliant upon a cerebral structure that has only begun to develop? Would having a better social conscience of this idea have a positive impact in our lives? The abnormal behaviors that result from a disparity between social expectations and instinctual drives may lead to abnormal behavior. It is important to realize the force and extent to which instinctual drives affect the human psyche, since many of society’s current social problems are misunderstood and could be resolved if we were able to make key changes in its structure as well as find ways to make people express themselves more openly.
References
Anderzhanova, E., Kirmeier, T., Wotjak, C. (2017). Animal models in psychiatric research: The RDoC system as new framework for endophenotype-oriented translational neuroscience. Neurobiology of Stress 7, 47-56. doi: 10.1016/j.ynstr.2017.03.003
Comer, R.J. (2015). Abnormal Psychology (9th edition). New York, NY: Worth Publishers.
Freud, S. (1930). Introductory Lectures on Psycho-Analysis. Lecture given in Vienna, December 1930. Lecture retrieved from the Freudean Association. Website: https://freudianassociation.org/en/wp-content/uploads/Sigmund_Freud_1920_Introductory.pdf
Knekt, P. et al (2011). Quasi-experimental study on the effectiveness of psychoanalysis, long-term and short-term psychotherapy on psychiatric symptoms, work ability and functional capacity during a 5-year follow-up. Journal of Affective Disorders. 132, 37-47. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2011.01.014
MacLean, P.D. (1973). A Triune Concept of the Brain and Behaviour. Toronto, Canada: University of Toronto Press.
Ploog, D.W. (2003). The place of the Triune Brain in psychiatry. Physiology & Behavior 79, 487-493. doi: 10.1016/S0031-9384(03)00154-9
Max-Plank Gesellschaft. (2018, January 24). Modern human brain organization emerged only recently. Retrieved 16:04, October 10, 2018, from https://www.mpg.de/11883269/homo-sapiens-brain-evolution
Wikipedia contributors. (2018, October 2). Triune brain. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 16:02, October 10, 2018, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Triune_brain&oldid=862106106
Wikipedia contributors. (2018, October 5). Evolution of morality. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 16:03, October 10, 2018, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Evolution_of_morality&oldid=862533581