FREUD S P.SYCHO-PATH()L(i<;i(AL TMKORIl-.S. 59/ 



and writing;, forgetting words and names, he also treats as be- 

 longing to the same category. 



To trace the connection between such pathological symptoms 

 and the complex in which they originate, he applies the method 

 of psycho-analysis, which involves the investigation of the ex- 

 periences and mental associations of the individual. There is 

 nothing very novel in this method. But I fancy that before 

 Freud's time the alienist or specialist in nervous diseases paid 

 little attention to the particular mjcanderings or delusions of his 

 individual ])atient. And it may be that Freud, if he has not dis- 

 covered an}- new region, has discovered that certain neglected 

 regions are worth exploring. 



There is great divergence of opinion as to the utility of 

 Freud's theories and consequent treatment of mental disorders. 

 Dr. Mercier, who is no doubt an authority, in a recent issue 

 of the NineteentJi Century refers incidentally to Freud's 

 system, and appears to treat the whole thing as rubbish. But 

 his dogmatic and intolerant attitude hardly inspires one with 

 confidence in his scientific judgment. On the other hand, it is 

 claimed that persons sufifering from hysteria and other nervous 

 disorders have been benefited by being shown the origin of their 

 delusions or mental disturbances. It seems to me, as a layman, 

 that, even though there may be no special virtue in the Freud 

 treatment, the patient in nervous ailments, even ni(»re than iu 

 physical ailments, would be l)enefited by the relief afforded when 

 the mystery as regards his complaint is removed and hi< mental 

 disorder is explamed to him. But these are matters on which, 

 as a non-medical man, I shall not venture an opinion. What 

 we are justified in criticising is the bearing of Freud's theories 

 on ordinary life. We are, sd to speak, invited by Freud to such 

 criticism, as he has written an untechnical work (which has been 

 translated into English), namely, "The Psychopathology of 

 Everyday Life." 



This book, which, if not rigidly scientific, as at least sugges- 

 tive and interesting, deals with such matters as the forgetting of 

 names and words, and the substitution of wrong names and 

 words, mistakes in speech, reading and writing, and in actions, 

 forgetting of intentions, and other errors of every-day life. To 

 explain these Freud applies his theories, his position! being that 

 such mistakes are not merely mechanical or superficial, but the 

 purposive or motivated operations of the unconscious mind, pro- 

 duced by complexes, repressed or otherwise, just as the delu- 

 sions and other symptoms of the insane. To give a typical 

 example (before coming to the actual instances), in speaking you 

 substitute the name Johnson for the name Jobson. This mistake 

 would ordinarily be supposed to arise mechanically through the 

 resemblance of the names. But you apply the meth'id of psycho- 

 analysis to yourself, trying to trace any associations connected 

 with the name Jobson. Perhaps you then remember that years 

 ago a man of the name of Jobson insulted you or was your sue- 



