Mental illnesses are disorders characterized by abnormal cognition, emotions and behavior (Plagerson 2015). Psychologists such as Sigmund Freud and Ivan Pavlov have studied the concept of mental health disorders and derived to theories regarding the subject.
The psychodynamic theory of mental health was developed and advanced by Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis. Freud called his theory ‘the psychoanalytic theory’ where he developed two important components: conscious portion and the unconscious portion. Freud argued that the conscious part of a person is aware of events, thoughts and feelings; while the unconscious part consists of feelings and thoughts that are not accessible in the conscious realm (Plagerson 2015). In this way, a person’s mental health could be described from the viewpoint of three types of personality: the id, impulsive emotions and feelings structured on the unconscious primitive desires; superego, moral standards based on ethical beliefs and self-criticism; and ego, based on the conscious rationalization of events in the decision making process (Plagerson 2015).
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Ivan Pavlov, a Nobel-prize winner in psychology, presented his theory of associative stimulus-response behavioral tendencies in dogs. He conducted an experiment where he rang a bell just before feeding his dogs; an experiment he repeated severally. After a while, he noted that the dogs associated the sound of a bell (conditioned stimuli) with the presence of food (conditioned response), and they started drooling. Therefore, his theory was called ‘classical conditioning’, where he asserted that one could be conditioned to behave a certain way (Manwell et al. 2014).
The two theories are diverse and similar. Psychoanalytic theory describes the ability for one to become acquaint with both the conscious and the unconscious realm; while the classical conditioning describes the association between two things that are unrelated in nature (Jutras 2017). Psychoanalytic theory can be used to explain the level of growth in one’s thoughts and help overcome trauma by reaching the unconscious mind; while the classical conditioning can help one adopt new methods and strategies.
References
Jutras, M. (2017). Historical perspectives on the theories, diagnosis, and treatment of mental illness. BC Medical Journal, 59 (2): 86-88.
Manwell, L. A., Barbic, S. P., Roberts, K., Durisko, Z., Lee, C., Ware, E. & McKenzie, K. (2014). BMJ Open, 5 (6): 40-53.
Plagerson, S. (2015). Integrating mental health and social development in theory and practice. Health Policy and Planning, 30 (2): 163-170.
