Psychodynamic approach to abnormality

ID- Irrational and primitive, demands immediate satisfaction and ruled by the pleasure principle. If this is over developed then it can lead to ADHD, obesity, addictions.

EGO- Conscious part of the personality that is rational and driven by the reality principle. If the ego is over developed it could lead to bollemia, however if its under developed one of the others will be over powered.

SUPEREGO- This is our conscience and our sense of right and wrong, its morally driven. If this is over developed it can lead to OCD, anorexia, depression. 

Defence mechanisms: 

Denial: people often refuse to believe events or admit how they are feeling.

Regression: behaving in childish ways in traumatic experiences.

Displacement: diverting emotions on someone else because they cant express the emotions themselves. 

Support and criticisms:

- Untestable, freud based on case studies of individuals, its difficult to test these theories.

- Deterministic, it argues individuals have very little conscious involvement in development and behaviour. 

- Retrospective data, it relies on human memory and it's been tested that human memory is flawed.

- Current experiences, underestimating importance of current difficulties, looks at the past. 

+ Influential, freudian theory has been influential, he was the first to use talking therapy.