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Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud (1859-1939) was a groundbreaking Austrian neurologist who founded the concept of psychoanalysis, a branch of mental health therapy that involved detailed discussions ...view moreSigmund Freud (1859-1939) was a groundbreaking Austrian neurologist who founded the concept of psychoanalysis, a branch of mental health therapy that involved detailed discussions between patient and doctor and the subsequent analysis of the psyche of the patient, often probing childhood trauma, sexual repression and positing the idea that each patient had both a conscious and an "unconscious" mind (the latter of which often drove behavior). A legend in his field, Freud and his writings have spawned countless acolytes, rivals and critics and his name has become forever linked to the field of mental health.Born in the Moravian town of Freiberg in 1859, Freud was educated in Vienna where he lived and worked for most of his life. He became a doctor of medicine at the University of Vienna in 1881 and and completed his habilitation in 1885, setting up a clinical practice the following year. Freud's work in the mental health was both revolutionary and controversial and many of the therapeutic techniques and theories he developed have become central to the modern fields of psychiatry, psychology and virtually every other subset of mental health analysis. He explored sexuality (formulating the Oedipus complex, among others), posited a theory of the unconscious that included the psychic structure of the id, ego and super-ego, was the first to describe the sexual drive he dubbed the "libido," and developed the theory of the "death drive" described as a source of aggression, compulsive repetition and neurotic guilt. It is difficult to fully encapsulate the enormous impact of Freud's work in the discipline of mental health treatment and analysis. His books, papers and case histories are required reading for his countless admirers and his book "The Interpretation of Dreams" is one of the most widely read books in the field of psychoanalysis.Freud was forced to leave Vienna after the Nazis annexed Austria in 1938 and he died in exile in the United Kingdom the following year.view less