Case study 2 - Assignment Example

Dream analysis is indispensible given that dreams are the key towards understanding of the subconscious (Freud, 1953 p.145-9). When one goes to sleep, they get withdrawn from reality and cease to even take the least of interest on it though the extent does not warrant total perception towards the environment hence the subject of dreams. For an individual to proceed into peaceful sleep, factors like negative emotions, forbidden thoughts and unconscious desires must be covered up in any way possible so that their occurrence does not distress the sleeper (Freud, 1953 p. 190-1). According to Freud, a dream is composed of two major parts, the manifest and the latent contents because formation of visual responses to a stimuli is not coincidental.

The manifest content is the part of a dream that an individual is able to remember when they wake up. This aspect is termed as symbols by Sigmund since they can result to constant meaning and they are more or less sexual. This part of a dream does not create any meaning whatsoever given that it is a covered aspect of the true thought behind the dream. While the latent part of the dream presents the true meaning of a dream of both the unconscious desires and forbidden thoughts, some parts of the manifest content in most cases corresponds to the latent content most so in ‘infantile dreams’ (Freud, 1953 p. 200-5). This is despite the fact that the manifest aspect in this is disguised and hence appears unrecognizable.

This brings us to the forms of distortion, which exists, in the concept of dreams and dreams interpretation. ‘Dream work as the process by which the latent content is interpreted into manifest content can result into a distortion and disguise. Dream work is disguised and distorted as either condensation or displacement; this result into a completely different meaning. Through condensation, two or more latent thoughts are brought together to result into one manifest dream image or situation.

Here, the dreamer has the behavior of trying to hide their feelings or urges by way of contracting or minimizing its representation in the forms described. According to Freud (1953), every situation in a dream seems to be put together out of two or more impressions or experiences, which exists in extremes. One need only think about how people and places tend to meld into composite figures in our dreams for such dreams to be complete (Freud, 1953 p. 212-15). Displacement on the other hand works in a manner that it directs he emotions and desires onto a meaningless or unrelated object in a manifest dream instead of directing the same towards the intended object (Freud, 1953 p.145-61). Therefore, some other very different thing symbolizes the desire for a thing.

The harmful emotions associated with threatening impulses are displaced so that the trivial elements of a manifest dream do not cause distress. According to Freud, "Displacement is the principle means used in the dream-distortion to which the dream-thoughts must submit under the influence of the censorship" (Freud, 1953 p. 298). These forms of distortion hence become so ingrained in the ID making them posses the quality of rigid symbols and these are similar in all human race. Most of the unclear aspects of dreams become