Anxiety: A threat to the Ego

Freud made anxiety an important part of his personality theory, asserting that it is fundamental to the development of neurotic and psychotic behavior. He described anxiety as an objectless fear to a specific object that induced it. When we cannot cope with anxiety, when we are in danger of being overwhelmed by it, the anxiety is said to be traumatic. Anxiety serves as a warming signal to the person that all is not as it should be within the personality. Freud believed that superego exacts a terrible retribution for violation of its tenets. Types of Anxiety: Freud proposed three types of anxiety, reality anxiety, neurotic anxiety and moral anxiety. Reality anxiety: the first type of anxiety, the one from which others are derived, is reality or objective anxiety. This involves a fear of tangible dangers in the real world. Most of us justifiably fears, hurricanes, earthquakes and similar disasters. Basically reality anxiety serves the positive purpose of guidance our behavior to escape or protect ourselves from actual dangers. Neurotic anxiety: Neurotic Anxiety has its basis in childhood, in a conflict between instinctual gratification and reality. Neurotic anxiety is an unconscious fear of being punished for impulsively displaying id-dominated behavior. Moral Anxiety: The third type is Moral Anxiety which results from a conflict between the id and the superego. This is a fear of one’s conscience. It is a function of how well developed the superego is. A person with a strong inhibiting conscience will experience greater conflict than a person with a less stringent set of moral guidelines.