"Doctor of the Mind"

Sigmund Freud was a medical doctor of a different sort. He did not perform surgeries, give shots, or set broken limbs. Instead he focused on a part of the body that is often harder to understand and illnesses that are often harder to diagnose and treat than appendicitis, infections, or broken arms and legs. Freud was a "Doctor of the Mind."

There are important differences between the human mind and the human brain. The brain aids thinking and learning. It enables the exercise motor control over other parts of the body such as hands and feet, arms and legs. At the same time, the brain controls involuntary functions like breathing. The mind is more sensitive. It tells us how we feel and affects how we behave. It was these kinds of feelings and behaviors that Sigmund Freud spent his life trying to understand.

When Freud began his studies of the mind in earnest, he was embarking on a journey that few others had attempted. During the nineteenth century, mental illness was still a mystery to most doctors. Although the medical profession had made certain improvements in the care and treatment of mental patients, for the most part doctors were still largely unsure about the causes and treatment of mental illness.

Among the most popular therapies was the use of hypnosis. By placing the patient in a state resembling deep sleep, doctors found they could sometimes distinguish ailments with a physical from those with a psychological cause. This was no easy task. Even if properly diagnosed, the patient remained dependent on the doctor to find a remedy and was often quite ignorant of the exact nature of the illness.

In 1880, Freud went to Paris to study with the celebrated French physician, Jean Martin Charcot, who was using hypnosis to study and treat patients suffering from hysteria. "Hysterics," as they were called, manifested a wide array of symptoms that seemed to have no set pattern. Some patients acted wildly, running about, tearing at themselves, or shouting and screaming. Others, on the contrary, lost the power of speech or complained that they could not move their arms or legs. Doctors who examined these patients could find nothing physically wrong to explain their symptoms. The symptoms were real, but the illness originated in the mind. Under hypnosis, Dr. Charcot found that he could implant suggestions that enabled these patients to overcame their disabilities and behave normally. Freud could see, however, that the improvements were temporary. Once brought out of the hypnotic state, each patient exhibited the same symptoms as before. Charcot had not cured them; he had only succeeded in providing momentary relief from their suffering.

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