#psychosexual development

Freud's psychoanalysis:

The whole idea of the Psychosexual development explained in the previous post was to finally share what kind of impact it has on our behaviours as we grow up. 

Freud thought we could get stuck in any of these stages by ‘fixating’ if our needs weren’t fulfilled or were overfulfilled. 

Fixation in the oral stage could mean: oral receptive type = when the child is dependent to its caregiver resulting in a naive and gullible personality OR oral aggressive type = when the child tends to be verbally aggressive resulting in a dominant, sarcastic or argumentative personality. 

Fixation in the anal stage could mean: constipated type = develops an  anal-retentive personality, basically they’re used to hold it in until they can’t anymore, resulting in a perfectionist, greedy but conscientious personality OR a diarrheic type =  develops an anal-expulsive personality, resulting in a disorganized, aggressive, neurotic personality.  

Fixation in the phallic stage is somewhat weird to me, because in this stage children realize that apparently they are different down there resulting in the Oedipus and Electra complex and whether they get over this complex or not shapes their personality. If they don’t it kind of results in mommy or daddy issues :)).

Fixation in the latency stage is almost... non-existent?  Freud thought that most sexual impulses are repressed during the latent stage.

Psychosexual Development Stages

Freud's psychoanalysis:

Freud made it very clear that our experiences during childhood are extremely important because of the impact they have on our behavior.

Honestly this must be one of the most important aspects of his work, that is also relevant to today's approach. (Not what I'm about to say but just this simple idea.)

He theorized that as we grow up, we go through different emotional and intellectual developmental stages also known as the Psychosexual development in which our experiences either initiate, enhance or alter some behaviors.

Therefore we have (and to me this is where the disturbing parts starts):

The oral stage: 12-18 months = the child's sexual needs are focused on the oral region of the body. They find pleasure by stimulating the oral region.

The anal stage: 2-3 years = the child's sexual needs are focused on the anal region, and they find pleasure by stimulating that area (which apparently means defecating and peeing)

The phallic stage: 3-6 years = the child's desires or libido are focused on their genitalia, they discover the difference between sexes.

The latency stage: 6-12 years = there isn't a particular erogenous zone here, but rather this is a time of transition, the child is focused on relationships and discovers the world throughout their experiences.

THE ONE ABOUT PERSONALITY

THE ONE ABOUT PERSONALITY

Personality is the unique and distinctive way of perceiving, behaving and interacting with the environment and other people. It is the sum of all traits that differentiate one individual from another and the total behavior pattern of an individual through which inner interests are expressed.

Your personality is what makes you different and unique from other people. It…

(art from: https://www.cyclosteo.fr/psychologie-et-osteopathie-le-lien-entre-le-corps-et-lesprit/) 

Freud’s psychosexual stages gives us a glimpse on the different stages that may have (or may have not) occurred in our lives which might have influenced our development as individuals. However, I personally do not subscribe to the entirety of his theory because it places too much focus on the biological aspects of an individual, i.e. the erogenous zones, and is biased on a heteronormative society. It is good that Freud was able to highlight the influence of a person’s childhood on his/her development, but the emphasis on sexuality and the over gratification or under gratification of erogenous zones were excessive.

However, there are concepts from his theory that I consider as useful insights. While I do not agree with the ideas expressed in the Oral and Anal Stage, I do think that Freud made some sense when he inferred that a child begins the process of identification with the parent and learns the social roles for men and women. However, I do believe that a child does not necessarily identify with the parent of the same sex. I think that a child identifies himself/herself with the parent he/she is more comfortable with. Moreover, children begins to become aware of the social roles for men and women, but they may also choose to subscribe to the social roles of the opposite gender, whichever they are more comfortable with. 

I also support the idea that moral and social values are adopted by the child in the latency stage. As he/she begins to discover the world beyond his/her comfort zone, the child begins to be aware of the values needed to effectively deal with others and live accordingly and responsibly. Furthermore, I also agree with Freud when an individual becomes open to expressing his/her sexuality and is free to engage in sexual behaviours when he/she reaches the genital stage.