Freud, in his text written in 1890, describes the so-called Psychic Treatment (or Soul ), bringing a whole reflection about what would then be a treatment of the soul or psyche In the sense of the word, "Psyche" is a word of Greek origin which, in German, means soul. Therefore, psychic treatment means treatment of the soul.

In this sense, psychic treatment is treatment that starts from the soul, treatment that can be emotional or physical, using means that act directly on the human being in a psychic way. Thus, in his text, Freud describes the power of the word, as one of the main means used for psychic treatment, applicable both in the treatment of physical and psychic diseases.

Table of Contents

• Meaning of soul
• Freud's State of Mind
• What is Freud's soul treatment?
• The Importance of the Word in Soul Treatment
• How do the soul states manifest themselves in the body?
  • Emotions
  • Thoughts

Meaning of soul

The word Animic, in the dictionary, is that which concerns the soul In other words, related to the spirit of man, to what is immaterial to him. In this way, we should not confuse it with the word Anemic, which has a totally different meaning, referring to those who suffer from the disease anemia.

Freud's State of Mind

Freud writes that certain moods, which can be called affections, can influence the body and, consequently, illnesses. To explain, he brings examples of depressive affections, worry, and grief, which influence the state of illness. Consequently, the affections of happiness and infer on the recovery and potentiality of life.

Therefore, Freud emphasizes that when evaluating pain, which is usually associated with physical issues, one must consider the dependency link of the state soul Still in this context, Freud approaches the soul state of expectation, in relation to belief and fear, where the credulous expectation is the effective force that mobilizes the subject in the healing process.

What is Freud's soul treatment?

In his 1890 text Freud writes about the soul treatment, describing it as that which comes from the soul It uses the word as its essential and fundamental means.

Thus, for the time, this would mean making medicine act in treatments beyond the field of scientificity, a time when treatments were seen only from the point of view of the physical body. In this sense, Freud states that the forms of suffering and pathologies were generally associated with the influence of mood swings and preoccupation.

Right at the beginning of his text he brings up the word "psyche", which refers to the soul, in this sense, psychic treatment is a treatment of the soul. But understand that it is a treatment that works not only to heal the soul, but also to heal the physical processes.

The Importance of the Word in Soul Treatment

Freud then describes the word as one of the means of psychic, or psychic treatment. He then explains that the layman could not possibly understand that pathological disturbances of body and soul could be eliminated by words Where, for a long time, medicine has not accepted the question of psychic treatment, but Freud has tried to demonstrate the opposite.

One of the important passages in your text that refers to this aspect is:

"One of these means is above all words, and words are also the essential tool of psychic treatment. The layman will surely find it difficult to understand that pathological disturbances of body and soul can be eliminated by 'mere' words. He will think that he is being asked to believe in witchcraft. And he will not be so wrong: the words of our daily speech are nothing more thanattenuated magic. [...]"

In this way, Freud explains what would be the "magic" of words, where words are nothing more than the most important mediator of the influence that one man intends to exert on another. In other words, it is through words that one provokes psychic changes in those to whom they are directed.

As a result, it then states from the power of words to eliminate pathological symptoms especially those that are based on psychic states.

How do the soul states manifest themselves in the body?

As time went by, at the time of Freud, some strange diseases appeared, whose suffering did not make sense in the light of a biological understanding only. Then, the need to understand the psychic processes was seen, understanding how emotions influenced the pathologies.

Thus, it shows that people with signs of suffering are clearly under the influence of excitements, commotions and worries. Thus, as if the word usage can alter these conditions As the following excerpt from Freud's text demonstrates:

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In other words, Freud explains that people who are suffering from illnesses are much more related to their everyday emotional issues than to the physical cause itself. When, then, these patients came to be called neurotics, or sick to the nerves.

Therefore, Freud says that there is no point in calling these sick people, for example, sick in the eyes or in the feet when, in fact, they are not sick because of these limbs, because they are illnesses related around the psychic, thus going towards explaining how the soul interferes in the body's processes.

Emotions

Next, in the text, Freud explains that the soul states manifest themselves, mainly, through emotions and affections, that is, they appear when the subject is irritated, nervous, worried, that is, when these emotions lead to alterations in the organism.

Such as, for example, change in facial expressions, altered blood pressure, digestive states change, muscle contraction. These are changes in the body that can be related solely to the individual's state of mind.

In addition, he explains that the negative affective states, such as depressed and sad, result in suffering On the contrary, if people are happy, the emotional states manifest themselves, bringing positive results to the organism.

Thoughts

Furthermore, Freud also shows how thought also influences the soul state, indicating that the soul states are also those that we consider as thought processes, giving as an example two elements of the psychism:

• Will (volition): the will to want something, the expectation about something
• Attention: displacement of interest from one thing to another.

Later on, Freud emphasizes the importance of the expectation element Whereas a confident expectation makes treatments much more effective, as stated in your text:

Therefore, in his text about Psychic (or Psychic) Treatment, Freud, in short, highlights the importance of words in the treatment of diseases, even in bodily pathologies. Because, if the patient is with a professional who, through his words, emanates confidence, giving him all the support, the treatment will evolve positively.

Finally, Freud demonstrates how the word is fundamental in the soul treatment, because it allows the mobilization of the patient's psychic states, in the measure that these states manifest themselves emotionally, affectively in the body. Even more, that through expectation, attention, and interest, the patient builds with the professional a treatment adequate to his illness.

Finally, if you have read this article about soul In this sense, we invite you to get to know the Training Course in Clinical Psychoanalysis, offered by IBPC. Also, if you like our content, like and share it on your social networks.

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