5 Funny Facts About Sigmund Freud

Sigmund Freud is known all over the world as the creator of psychoanalysis. He is also one of the most influential, controversial figures of the twentieth century. He is known for having created a completely new approach to the understanding of the human personality.

Freud’s theories were the basis of a school of psychology that quickly became the dominant force for the understanding of the brain and behavior. The publication of his book, The Interpretation of Dreams, in 1899, provided the basis for theories and ideas that shaped the field of psychoanalysis.

But despite being one of the most famous people of our time, there are many interesting things you probably do not know about him. We will dive into some of the most interesting facts about this psychologist, physicist, physiologist and thinker that changed our perception of the mind.

Sigmund Freud was the eldest of eight children

Freud was born on May 6, 1856 in Freiberg, Moravia (now Příbor, Czech Republic). His father Jakob was a wool producer and had two children from a previous marriage. His mother, Amalia, was twenty years younger than her husband. His father’s failed business forced the family to leave their home and move to Vienna.

Freud’s parents had seven more children. But  Freud often described himself as his mother’s favorite. It’s something that might be relevant to the way he thinks about himself. In fact, Freud once said,  “I have found that people who know they are preferred or loved more by their mothers have a whimsical self-sufficiency in their lives and an unimpeded optimism that often brings them great success.”

Freud was an advocate for and a user of cocaine

Before its harmful effects were discovered, cocaine was often used as a means of improving mood (thanks to its euphoric abilities). It was even used in some quite normal products, such as household products, sodas and cough medicines. Freud was interested in the potentially antidepressant effects of cocaine and defended its use for various purposes.

At that time, cocaine was seen as a universal remedy for all sorts of pain. However, when the addictive and harmful aspects of cocaine were discovered, Freud’s medical reputation was affected. And he himself had become addicted.

Freud became a doctor to marry the woman he loved

When he was 26 years old, Freud was possessed by a 21-year-old woman named Martha Bernays. They started dating two months after they met. But he was a poor student who still lived with his parents. His work in the laboratory was not enough to support a family.

Six months after meeting Martha, he left his scientific career to become a doctor. He studied for three years at Vienna Hospital and was rarely able to be seen with his girlfriend who had moved to Germany. After four years of waiting, Freud and his girlfriend got married. The couple had six children. In relation to his marriage, historians say he had an affair with her sister, Minna.

Freud developed “speech therapy”

Although Freud’s theories are often criticized or denied by current psychotherapists, many continue to use the methods of the famous psychoanalyst as the basis of their therapies. Psychoanalytic therapy is also known as “speech therapy”. It plays a major role in the therapies of current analysts and has become an important part of many therapeutic techniques.

The use of speech therapy tries to bring patterns or major events to light that may play a role in the patient’s current problems. Psychoanalysts believe that childhood experiences and feelings, thoughts, and unconscious motivations play an important role in mental illness and inappropriate behavior.

Freud left Vienna because of the Nazis

When the Nazis invaded Austria, many of his books were burned, along with some from other famous thinkers. His view of the matter is marvelous, to say the least. It is said that Freud once said to his friend,  “We are making progress. In the Middle Ages, they would have burned me. Nowadays, they are happy to just burn my books. ”

Freud and his daughter, Anna, were interrogated by the Gestapo, and thanks to her friend, Marie Bonaparte, she was able to secure their escape to England. Bonaparte also tried to save Freud’s four younger sisters, but was unable to do so. The four women died in Nazi concentration camps.