Discussion Board Week Two Part Two

Billy Wood
The Examined Life
Discussion Board Week Two Part Two
3-10-2011

Freud believed that our behavior is primarily controlled by unconscious motivations. Give one example from your own experience which supports this view.

In my line of work one type of situation that I consciously fear is performing life saving interventions on pediatric or infant patients. Years ago I had received extensive training on the subject but had never had to use that training. That training was traumatic to me. I prayed that I never would have to use it.
Recently I was dispatched to a 20 year old male patient who was having a seizure. Upon my arrival I was met by another first responder carrying a lifeless two year old male (not a twenty year old male) to my ambulance. I immediately overcame my fear and began to perform the necessary interventions as if I had just practiced those minutes before. The child survived the ordeal and recovered well.
I never realized that my unconsciousness had retained that valuable training even though I consciously tried to suppress the idea of having to perform something so emotional and stressful. My behavior actually surprised me. I never imagined that I could, under intensive emotional stress, perform what was needed that day. Freud felt that the unconsciousness was a storage area for unpleasant or traumatic memories. I believe that he was right. Although the idea of having to save a child was traumatic to me, the memory of that distressful training turned out to be positive.

William M. Wood Jr.