Freudian Unconscious:

By observing a series of patient, starting from Anna O., whose was reported in “Studies on hysteria,” along with hard work of self-analysis, Freud defined and formulated his concept of the “unconscious mind.”  He gave two types of descriptions. The first, called “topographical theory.” According to this description, the overall mental activity can be divided into three levels: the conscious mind, preconscious mind and unconscious mind. He elaborated on this idea in  “Studies on hysteria” and ” The interpretation of dreams.”

 Later in the 1920s, he developed further his unconscious theory with what he called the “structural theory of mind.” In this theory, he mentions the well-known “id,” “ego” and “superego” components of the mind. The “id” is the part where all our primitive instincts, including sexual drives and death instinct, reside. The “id” works according to the “pleasure principle,” meaning that its main interest is to fulfil all its wishes, to get pleasure and reduce the tension. The superego contains all the “do’s” and don’ts” that we have learned in our life, particularly during childhood. While the content of” id” is mostly present from birth, the contents of the superego are received from parents and society. The ego is the intermediary power. It is the mental faculty that is somewhat logical and works on the ” reality principle.” It tries to make compatible the desires of the “id” with the conditions of the environment and the regulations of the “superego.”

All of these three parts can be conscious or unconscious. The “id” is mostly unconscious. It is the residence of our instincts and emotions, but part of it is also conscious, as we are aware of many of our emotions and instinctual drives.  The others are also a mixture of conscious and unconscious. The “ego” is mostly conscious, but many of its “defence mechanism,” like repression and projection, are done unconsciously. The same thing is about the superego.   Superego is the place which reserves all the social values we learn and gather, part of which is also unconscious.  In all three parts, the intermediary between the conscious and the unconscious is the pre-conscious. Therefore we see that the two descriptions that Freud gave are complementary.