Just as there is, according to the Freudian line of psychoanalysis, a topographical division of the mind between the conscious, preconscious and unconscious levels, this same line of psychoanalysis identifies another distinction of the human mind. This second division would be between Id, Ego and Superego .

As the structural theory of mind puts it, the Id, Ego and Superego can move, to some extent, between the mental levels we mentioned above. In other words, they are not static elements or completely rigid structures.

Have you ever heard about these psychic instances of the mind? No? Then read on and find out now all about these three parts of our mind!

ID

The Id is a psychological element of our mind, where our impulses, our psychic energy, our most primitive impulses are stored. Guided by the pleasure principle, for the Id there are no rules to be followed: all that matters is the flow of desire, the action, the expression, the satisfaction.

The Id is located at the Unconscious level of the brain, and does not recognize social elements. Therefore, there is no right or wrong. There is no time or space. The Id is the environment of sexual impulses. It is always looking for ways to realize these impulses, that is, does not accept to be frustrated .

EGO

The Ego would be, for Freud, the main element between Id, Ego and Superego. It is our psychic instance and evolves from the Id, therefore, it has elements of the Unconscious. Nevertheless, it functions mainly at the Conscious level.

Guided by the reality principle, one of its functions is to limit the Id when it considers its desires inappropriate for a given moment or occasion. The Ego represents the mediation between the demands of the Id, the limitations of the Superego, and society.

Ultimately, after a certain point in childhood, most of the time, it will be the Ego that will make the final decision. A person who does not have a well-developed Ego would not be able to develop the Superego, and would be guided exclusively by his primitive impulses, that is, by the Id.

SUPEREGO

Superego, in turn, is conscious and unconscious It is developed in childhood, starting from the Ego, at the moment when the child begins to understand the teachings passed on by parents, school, and others.

It is the social aspect of the trio Id, Ego, and Superego. It results, in large part, from the impositions and punishments suffered in childhood. It meets and participates in these two mental levels. The Superego is censorship, guilt, and fear of punishment. It can be seen as a regulating instance. Morals, ethics, the notion of right and wrong, and all social impositions are internalized in the Superego.

It stands against the Id, because it represents what is civilized, what is cultural in us, to the detriment of archaic impulses. While for the Id there is no right or wrong, for the Superego there is no middle ground between right and wrong In other words, if you are not doing the right thing you will automatically be wrong.

Working Together

With the development of the personality, the Id, the Ego, and the Superego are all already present in our mind. A "battle" then takes place on many occasions. The Id and the Superego try at various times to take control of the situation. Since the two represent completely opposite desires and impulses, the Ego begins to work.

The Ego maintains the balance between these two very different sides. As a kind of mediating scale, it evaluates the wills of the Id and the Superego, to often reach a middle ground.

In this way, we keep ourselves in life in society, without behaving like an "irrational animal", but also, without "overthinking everything". In other words, even when we commit not to eat a candy, for example, we sometimes give ourselves this small pleasure, because we know that it will help us psychologically.

Example

Imagine you are in a bar. You arrive at 7 p.m. and it is already midnight. Tomorrow you go into work at 8 a.m., and you have had enough beers to relax. Friends propose one more, and you stop and think. In this situation, the following would happen:

• O Id I would say: Stay there, just one more, you can still get plenty of sleep and a hangover never killed anyone .
• O Superego , in turn, would say something like: No way! You've had more than enough to drink, you won't work well tomorrow and your boss will notice. You know he doesn't like you very much anymore. And it's Monday!
• O Ego then I would make a conciliatory decision by saying: Well, why don't you grab a bottle of water and go rest? Come to think of it, you're already sleepy, and it's good not to give the boss any reasons in these times of crisis. You know how weird you look with a hangover.

This is how we can perceive the presence of these three psychic instances in our day to day life. They are like voices inside our own head, almost always discordant, advising our actions and decision making.

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Id, Ego and Superego - Conclusion

One of the functions of the ego, according to Freud, is to repress the unconscious content and ensure that it remains there. This content, however, strives to somehow circumvent this repression. To do so, it would use some mechanisms called by the author displacement and condensation Jakobson later associated displacement with the figure of speech called metonymy, while condensation would be like a metaphor.

In dreams, through imagetic symbols, the unconscious thoughts would be able to express themselves. These imagetic symbols can be either metaphorical or metonymic. In addition to dreams, this expression occurs through speech or, more specifically, through flawed acts or humor. For Freud, these expressions that assume the character of a joke or a random misunderstanding are not devoid of meaning.They are, in fact, speech mechanisms that allow the expression of unconscious ideas combined with conscious ideas They are a way to release, even partially, the impulses of the Id.

Like dreams, speech appears then as a way to investigate the human Unconscious and understand the causes of psychopathologies. For this reason, Freud, in his studies and work, began to associate the field of linguistics with that of psychoanalysis. Later on, this association is rescued by Lacan, as we have already mentioned.

Recapping

Through the understanding of the Id, Ego and Superego we can, therefore, better understand where our feelings of guilt and self-censorship (Superego) come from. We can also understand why many decisions are difficult to make, and we hardly feel fully satisfied with them. Id, Ego and Superego cannot agree And this internal disagreement is what brings us, many times, frustrations, indecision and uneasiness, as well as many of the psychopathologies that interest psychoanalysis.

Id, Ego and Superego are part of our Unconscious. Ego and Superego, however, are also found in the conscious, while the Id remains limited to the other level. Thinking of the metaphor of the iceberg, its emersed tip is composed of elements of Ego and Superego. These extend to the submerged part of the iceberg, where they meet the Id.

If we think about the importance and influence of the Superego in relation to the other two parts, we could say that it occupies the whole left side of the iceberg - the emersed and submerged part - while Id and Ego share the opposite side.

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As seen, the concepts of Id, Ego and Superego and the Conscious and Unconscious are the basis of psychoanalytic study. Did you like the article? Leave a comment about your main considerations! Do you want to deepen your knowledge about this very important therapeutic technique? Then don't miss this opportunity!

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