You May Be a Freudian
Of all branches of science, only psychology trashes its towering figures.
Posted May 6, 2026 | Reviewed by Lybi Ma
William Harvey is remembered for accurately describing the circulatory system. If his name is mentioned in a medical school or in a college classroom, I doubt that anyone snickers at his beliefs that the blood carried the soul or that the lens of the eye, rather than the retina, was where light changed to nervous impulses. Nobody questions the calculations of Newtonian physics because Newton himself believed that the design of the temple of Solomon contained secrets about the dimensions of the earth. Nobody ridicules Darwin or avoids using his name because he had no conception of DNA .
Yet if psychoanalysis is taught at all in college, it usually includes a unit on Freud’s odd beliefs. These scoff at Freudian ideas . A typical defense is to insulate science from the personality of any one person. To me, though, a better defense is to point out how only Freud’s odd ideas are currently associated with his name, and all of his good ideas are now seen as things that everybody knows.
I’m writing this on his 170th birthday. I thought I’d review some of his best ideas. You may find that you are, in fact, a Freudian .
One of Freud’s best ideas has to do with his approach to the human condition as a doctor. He championed the sensibility that many physical maladies have to do with culture and spirit, and that philosophy , literature, and history were relevant to understanding these maladies, not just chemistry and biology. It’s a sign of how far we’ve drifted that many patients now present for treatment with spiritual complaints, and they are told that their problem has to do only with biology and chemistry. If you think someone might be depressed because the course of their life conflicts with their concept of an ordered and moral universe, you may be a Freudian.
Freud believed that many people suffer because the mind is at war with itself. Usually, the battle cries have to do with what kind of person we are, but lesser skirmishes are fought over what we want, what we deserve, and how we are regarded. Life is disappointing to anyone who exercises their imagination and expects something better. Freud said the goal of therapy is to replace neurotic suffering with normal unhappiness. Not with happiness , but with a normal sense of disappointment rather than the neurotic sense of entitlement and perfectionism that makes us think we were unjustly treated. If you think people are troubled by trying to win a battle with themselves rather than trying to seek a livable peace between the contending sides, you may be a Freudian.
Freud believed we do constant public relations; we hide who we are from others and from ourselves. Thoughts, feelings, fantasies , and memories often run counter to the narrative we are promoting about who we are. If you think people’s claimed self-knowledge is biased, you may be a Freudian.
People often hide what they are by claiming to be the opposite. If you think the sixth-grader who argued with you about everything was really sweet on you, you may be a Freudian.
Freud believed we assimilate new experiences, especially new relationships, into old expectations based on old experiences, and this interferes with our ability to navigate them. He thought the crux of therapeutic change depended on taking advantage of the patient’s tendency to reveal problematic patterns in their expectations of the therapist. Change followed not from pointing these out, but from reworking the expectations by exploring what the expectations do for the person. If you think you are being treated at times as a character in someone else’s drama rather than as yourself, you may be a Freudian.
Freud believed that children are sexual creatures, not the innocent and virginal beings Victorian society held them up to be. If you slip a towel around your waist upon leaving the shower before tending to your 3-year-old, you may be a Freudian.
Freud believed that determinism applied to the psyche, just as it applies to physical phenomena. This led to the associative method, where the patient is encouraged to say whatever comes to mind, assuming their minds don’t wander at random. True feelings about what is on the patient’s mind will be illustrated by images and stories that occur to them. Once the patient is talking freely, the therapist is more like an eavesdropper than an audience. If you think eavesdropping is more likely than active listening to reveal uncomfortable truths, then you may be a Freudian.
Freud believed that suppressed and marginalized aspects of the self would have their due. He was especially interested in the revealing nature of dreams and slips of the tongue. If your lover cries out someone else’s name in bed and you take umbrage, you may be a Freudian.
Why am I writing a birthday card to Sigmund Freud? I let my mind go, and it fills up with images of my dad. Sometimes, I emphasize the negative images of my dad to feel distant from him. I think my interest in Freud’s genius might be a way of trying to help myself become more whole by appreciating my dad’s positive qualities, right along with his other qualities. This is the kind of quest for wholeness and peace a Freudian view of the world can facilitate.
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Michael Karson, Ph.D. , is a retired professor from the University of Denver.
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This article is part of the Bringwise Psychology Journal — daily insights on human behavior, mental health, and personal growth.