Chapter Commentary of The Interpretation of Dreams - Study Guide by Sigmund Freud

that the wish belongs to one system (the unconscious) while it has been repudiated and suppressed by the other system (the preconscious) and these two systems are in constant conflict with each other. Suppression of the unconscious is necessary to prevent unpleasurable material being released. If the inhibition from the preconscious ceases the unconscious excitations may release anxiety material. So in an example of a dream where his mother was dying, Freud interpreted it the anxiety as repression, but the fundamental source could be traced back to an obscure and sexual craving – ands sexual connotations begin to influence his interpretations.

E. The Primary and Secondary Processes – Repression

Freud, having denied two of the contradictory views from the first chapter – that dreams are meaningless and that they are purely somatic in source, continues with a brief resumée of his points made so far, so that the underlying processes may be identified:
1. Dream thoughts are continuations from your waking life of the few previous days
2. Dreams are hypermnesic – having access to material from early childhood
3. External sensory stimuli can be significant in dream material, but not so much related to the fundamental dream wish (in the same way that left over thoughts from few previous days)
4. Internal sensory stimuli – provide material accessible at any time which the dream- work uses whenever it has need of it for expressing dream thoughts.
5. Dreams are distorted and mutilated by memory – but Freud argues that this is no real obstacle as it is no more than the distorting activity which has been in operation since the dream's formation.

Furthermore, Freud proposes that there is a sleeping state of the mind – to be differentiated from the day time state – reflected by differences such as the fact that the mind has free play in its functioning in dreams as the preconscious activity allows the dreams to take their course, But Freud differs from others in arguing that the 'dream- work' is distinguishable from the normal day-time workings of the unconscious – it is more specific.

So we have 'trains of thought' either neglected or broken off and suppressed – these are 'preconscious' - drawn into the unconscious, and lead to the formation of a dream by becoming active – either through somatic causes, or being linked to another wish in the preconscious. In dream formation this train of thought then undergoes a series of transformations – which are no longer recognisable as normal psychical (conscious) processes.

1) Condensation of a whole train of thought into a single ideational element – an intensification of its content (i.e. trimethylamin in the dream of Irma's injection). 2) Freedom of transference of significance results in the construction of 'intermediate ideas – e.g. such as names with double meanings etc.) 3) Associations based on homonyms and verbal similarities as mentioned above, are then treated as equally valuable as the rest. 4) Mutually contradictory thoughts often combine to form condensations as thought there were no contradiction between them.

So there are two different kinds of psychical processes in the formation of dreams. One produces perfectly rational thoughts of no less validity than normal thinking and the other treats these thoughts in a bewildering and irrational manner (i.e. the dream-work 'proper').

Furthermore, a normal train of thought is only submitted to abnormal psychical treatment of the sort described if an unconscious wish derived from infancy and in a state of repression, has been referred on to it. Of the two systems that are involved in the formation of dreams – analogous to the unconscious and preconscious, - the first system is directed towards securing freedom of thought activation and the second inhibits this discharge. Furthermore Freud proposes that the these two systems are analogous to two 'processes' a primary and secondary one respectively. Thus, by analysing dreams he proposed that we are gaining insight into the unconscious activities of the mind, as we analyse the products of the preconscious, from these unconscious trains of thought.

F. The Unconscious and Consciousness – Reality

Freud divides the unconscious into two classes – unconscious and preconscious (excitations of the latter are able to reach consciousness). Meanwhile, consciousness is left to play the part of a sense-organ for the perception of psychical qualities. Excitatory information enters the consciousness by two directions: (i) from the perceptual system and (ii) from internal quantitative processes in a qualitative pleasure-unpleasure scale.

For an example of evidence for these propositions, Freud uses patients of hysteria. For example, a young female patient, dressed in a dishevelled manner, complained of having pains in the leg and a shaking, motion feeling through her body. Freud diagnosed this as a case of the censorship from preconscious to conscious being bypassed and resulting in the symptoms found, as the sexual phantasy (which he saw her condition to be symptomatic of) was disguised as a physical complaint.

In conclusion, he argues that the 'theoretical' value of the study of dreams to psychological knowledge is great, and it throws light on psychoneuroses. The practical value of such a study could address questions concerning the hidden characteristics of men and the importance of real forces in mental life, not to mention the ethical significance of suppressed wishes – as they lead to dreams, may