Correlation Between Caffeinated Drinks and Hours of Sleep Research Project III Freud Case Study 1 It is Friday night. Hank is sitting in his apartment eat

Correlation Between Caffeinated Drinks and Hours of Sleep Research Project III
Freud
Case Study 1
It is Friday night. Hank is sitting in his apartment eating a pint of Ben and Jerry’s
Cherry Garcia ice cream and contemplating this past week, which had been
stressful. He is five feet six inches tall and weighs 250 pounds. Today he saw a
therapist about his weight for the first time, something he had been considering
after yet another woman decided not to continue a relationship with him. After
just two dates, Sally told Hank they should not see each other anymore because
they were incompatible.
Sally and Hank had met through a chat room espousing the virtues of Macs
over PCs, and Hank became impressed with Sally’s knowledge of computers and
software. After chatting a few times on the computer, Sally and Hank found that
they lived in the same city and both were single. Because they seemed to have
their love of computers in common, they both thought it would be nice to get to
know each other better. They met for drinks at a mutually agreed on bar and then
went on to dinner. The date did not go as well as Sally had hoped, and one could
understand Sally’s view. She tends to be a calm, friendly person with an aversion
to conflict. Hank, however, tends to be quite sarcastic and often says things to
others that offend them. For example, Hank made an unkind comment about
Sally’s occupation. She is an insurance saleswoman and he implied that she tries
to rip off other people by feasting on their insecurities and selling them insurance
they do not need. Other examples of his verbal insensitivity include Hank berat-
ing the waiter at the restaurant because he was dissatisfied with the service. Hank
became so loud that everyone at the restaurant stopped talking to watch Hank
and Sally. Sally was mortified.
Far from being occasional, these verbal outbursts seemed to be the norm
because Hank engaged in similar behavior on their second date when they went
to a computer show. Hank got into an argument with one of the exhibitors about
which graphics software package was better.
Unfortunately, Hank has always been sarcastic and his biting comments alien-
ated him from his peers, even as a child. Even when he was growing up, he had
difficulty establishing relationships. Friendships were practically nonexistent for
Hank. As a child, while all the other kids were hanging out with their best friends
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Unfortunately, Hank has always been sarcastic and his biting comments alien-
ated him from his peers, even as a child. Even when he was growing up, he had
difficulty establishing relationships. Friendships were practically nonexistent for
Hank. As a child, while all the other kids were hanging out with their best friends
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Case 1
and interacting in groups, Hank was learning to use the computer, which now
places him at an advantage in his line of work.
Hank has other annoying habits that tend to alienate others, including Sally. For
example, he often chews his fingernails when he is nervous. Although minor, this
tendency repulsed Sally. In addition, he is a chain smoker, and Sally is a nonsmoker.
Hank, however, thought that Sally broke up with him because of his weight
problem and soothed his ego by telling himself that she was a very shallow per-
son indeed if she could not see past his appearance and value his personality.
After all, his weight was probably partly genetic: his whole family was somewhat
overweight, including his father, mother, and siblings. He also suggested to others
(and to himself) that he was about to break up with her.
The week after his breakup with Sally, Hank started experiencing chest pains.
After a trip to the emergency room, Hank found out that he had a heart problem.
The doctor told him that he must stop smoking, lose weight, change his eating
habits, and start an exercise program. Otherwise, he was headed for a heart attack
that he might not survive. This was certainly good advice. Hank continuously had
something in his mouth, either food or cigarettes. He especially ate and smoked a
lot when he was anxious. This news was especially disturbing to Hank, who is
relatively young. He is a Caucasian man, only 33 years old.
And so Hank was scared into considering seeing a therapist to help him lose
weight to improve his health. During his first visit to the therapist, the therapist
described himself as psychodynamically oriented and then continued to describe
the types of experiences that would occur in the therapy process. Hank felt confi-
dence in his therapist by the end of the session and decided to continue so he
would lose weight and become healthier.
Hank also thought about the trying week he had at work. As an employee of an
advertising firm, Hank worked primarily with computers. He was the person oth-
ers went to when they had a computer or software question. A whiz at computer
graphics, Hank designed and maintains the firm’s Web page. Occasionally, he met
with clients or potential clients, but his boss usually assigned this duty to other
members of the firm. This week, however, his boss asked Hank to meet with a
potential client, primarily because the people who usually did so were too busy
working to meet a deadline on a different advertising campaign and because other
members of the firm were out with the flu. Apparently, the meeting did not go well
because shortly afterward his boss called Hank in and chewed him out, stating that
this potential client called Hank a loud-mouthed, belligerent cretin. Hank couldn’t
figure out where this opinion came from; he thought the meeting went pretty well.
Sure, he told the client that their health food products were tasteless and that the
portions were too small, but the jerk kept self-righteously promoting weight loss
and healthy eating. Someone had to put him in his place, Hank thought.
His mother often described Hank in terms that implied that he had been loud
even as a baby. His cries used to pierce the air, and his mother would often rush
to make a bottle for Hank or give him a cookie to regain some peace and quiet,
even when she could not understand why he was hungry because he had eaten so
recently. She laughs about it now, but it was stressful at the time.
even when she could not understand why he was hungry because he had eaten so
recently. She laughs about it now, but it was stressful at the time.
Case 1
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The ice cream started to make Hank feel better, more relaxed, and once he fin-
ished off the pint, he pulled out a cigarette and lit it. The first inhale also helped
to reduce the tension he was feeling. He hoped that the next week would be
better.
Hank wished that his co-workers would appreciate him and offer him friendship.
When he was younger, he thought that by becoming good at computers (which he
thought were cool), and being able to answer other people’s questions about com-
puters, he would be able to make contact with others and form the close relation-
ships that other people do, but so far, this strategy has been unsuccessful. More
than anything, Hank wishes a woman would fall in love with him. He thinks that
love will solve all his problems: He would not be lonely anymore, and he would be
able to lose weight and quit smoking, too, if he just had the love of a woman.
Application Questions
Use Freud’s states of consciousness and stages of psychosexual development to
help explain Hank’s behavior by answering the following questions:
1. What personality (or character) type does Hank display according to Freudian
theory? Provide evidence for your answer. At what stage is Hank fixated, according to the
Freudian perspective? Find evidence of fixation in the case study. What would have
caused this fixation?
2. Would Freudian theory describe Hank’s eating and argumentative behaviors as
being internally or externally motivated? Explain the motivation.
3. Find an example of a Freudian defense mechanism that Hank uses in this descrip-
tion. Explain it.
4. Find an example of regression in the case study. Explain it.
5. Would a Freudian therapist view Hank’s weight problem as a behavioral problem
in and of itself, or as a symptom of another problem? Explain.
6. What therapeutic techniques would a Freudian therapist, like the one in the case
study, likely use? What state of consciousness would be the focus of therapy? What brings
healing in Freudian therapy?
Theory Comparison Questions
1. What is an alternate explanation (besides Freud’s) to explain Hank’s eating and
argumentative behaviors?
2. What aspect of Hank’s behavior would be the focus of a therapist who is behav-
iorally oriented? What aspect would be the focus if the therapist were psychodynamically
oriented?
3. Use Erikson’s concept of lack of intimacy to explain Hank’s problems in establishing
long-term relationships with women. How does this differ from the Freudian explanation?
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Subject: Extra Credit #1: Freud
Many of Freud’s majors theories have fallen out
of favor among psychologists for their lack of
falsifiability (i.e., can not be tested empirically
true of false using the scientific method).
Despite that, many of Freud’s ideas have had a
significant impact on the field of psychology-
the study of the unconscious; the importance
of early childhood experiences; stage
development; defense mechanisms. After
reading about Freud this week, which of his
theories/ideas is your favorite? Why? Try to be
specific

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