The Essential Tool-Kit...

Sigmund Freud. The Sugar Daddy of Psychology. Maybe not so favored anymore. Psychology has been swamped over by the scientific method &  Pharmacology.  You know, it's about all the Drugs, now, man. But I always thought Freud was a damn good storyteller, and super-on-target on what makes Human Beings tick. Maybe his method was more "art" than "science," but maybe "art" is a worthy frame, useful for basic understanding of the Human Condition?

After a day of spending lots of time  in close proximity with a variety of Human Beings, an up close and personal deep-lesson in both Normal and Abnormal Psychology, I think of Freud and his concept of Defense Mechanisms. Oh baby, this is the Motherlode of Human behaviour. The hidden key that unlocks the treasure of Humanity's flaws and features. At least, that's how it resonates with me.

These are like the Ten Commandments of Human Psychology and the defensive tactics for keeping oneself from going over the edge. Of course, they are all double-edged swords, taken to the extreme, they actually hasten one's plunge into the deep abyss of dysfunction and madness. They should be carved into tablets and carted down the mountain for all to gaze and wonder at. Be aware, and beware...

Projection, Denial, Repression, Rationalization, Displacement, Reaction Formation, Sublimation, Intellectualization, Compartmentalism.

All of these methods of survival were on display yesterday. Yes. Indeed. These 10 methods are pretty much the Swiss army knife of defenses in our basic & essential tool-kit. Yes. We are all so damn Freudian.