Three Psychologists Who Influenced Me The Most
Dorothea Lynde Dix was born technically in Massachusetts because the actual location was on the Maine frontier which had not ratified statehood yet. She was said to have had an unhappy childhood which entailed her leaving home at the young age of 12 to live with relatives in the Boston and Worcester areas. "Her father was an itinerant Methodist preacher. Hampden was taken over by the British in the War of 1812, however, the Dix's took refuge in Vermont shortly before the war began. Her family life can be described as abusive and nonexistent. Her mother was not in good mental health and her father was an abusive alcoholic." (Bumb, 2005)To demonstrate her advanced mental posture, she opened a school for young children in 1816 when she was only 14 years old. "In the fall of 1816, at age fifteen, she faced her first twenty pupils between the ages of six and eight. She ran this school of sorts for three years. All this time Edward would continually visit her and keep her company. She was forever grateful to Edward for getting her dream of a school to become a reality." (Bumb, 2005) She enjoyed a brilliant twenty year educational that consisted of teaching the subjects of poetry and religion for young readers. She w
She created the patterns of Neurotic Needs becauee she had a "... another way of looking at neurosis -- in terms of self images. For Horney, the self is the core of your being, your potential. If you were healthy, you would have an accurate conception of who you are, and you would then be free to realize that potential (self-realization)." (Quinn, 2005) These entailed: The neurotic need to restrict one's life to narrow borders, to be undemanding, satisfied with little, to be inconspicuous. Even this has its normal counterpart. Who hasn't felt the need to simplify life when it gets too stressful, to join a monastic order, disappear into routine, or to return to the womb? She was so taken aback by this new insight that she vowed to have the magistrate correct the living conditions and whenever possible release these retched souls. She took the matter to the local courts and although all of her charges were denied, the prison's living conditions were enhanced to the benefit of the inmates. One most understand that during her time, there were few institutions that offered assistance or treatment for the insane. Those that suffered from mental illness usually were subjected to harsh conditions in their personal homes, prisons, or in the common poorhouses. The neurotic need for social recognition or prestige. We are social creatures, and sexual ones, and like to be appreciated. But these people are overwhelmingly concerned with appearances and popularity. They fear being ignored, be thought plain, "uncool," or "out of it." She was thought to have been ambitious and even rebellious early on. She was said to have followed a path of being smart because she considered herself not to be pretty. There were rumors of her being very sexually attracted to her brother who then pushed her away mentally. She fell to depression after this and this problem stayed with her on and off of the rest of her life. Her family problems included being left behind with the strict father after they divorced in 1904. She entered medical school in 1906. She did this against her father's and technically society's wishes. During her tenure in school, she met a law student named Oscar Horney and they were married 1909. One year later she gave birth to the first of her three daughters. One year later her mother died and the culmination of all of these events steered her into the realm of psychoanalysis. There was a great deal of turmoil in her life such as her husband's authoritarian abuse of his children, his business ventures failing and his getting meningitis. Also her brother died and all of these events started to show in her personality. She was literally discussing suicide on a regular basis. The neurotic need for personal admiration. We need to be admired for inner qualities as well as outer ones. We need to feel important and valued. But some people are more desperate, and need to remind everyone of their importance -- "Nobody recognizes genius," "I'm the real power behind the scenes, you know," and so on. Their fear is of being thought nobodies, unimportant and meaningless.
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Approximate Word count = 2368
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)
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