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sky_reaper's review against another edition
4.0
I saw this book somewhere and for the lack of any particular preference of things to read, I picked an ebook copy. Psychology is not my field professionally, so anything I'd review below is based on a layman's understanding of a technical book in understanding and untangling neurosis.
There's a lot going on in the book, but central to its main argument is that a neurotic personality comes in conflicting tendencies that an individual would have problems reconciling: personal and cultural conditions in which all of us are exposed.
The author highlight anxiety, fear, hostility as just some of the main causes for the triggers of inhibitions and defense mechanisms a person could carry on, consciously or not. Childhood could play a part, but only as a medium. Environmental conditions, in which all this, later on, would be carried out, contributes an important role in how all the intricacies faced by a person is going to be addressed.
Examples and definitions of each technical terms are explained and thoughtfully considered. It doesn't dwell much on the sociological factors, yet it shows that society has a huge impact to either make or break an individual. A timely and appropriate read.
There's a lot going on in the book, but central to its main argument is that a neurotic personality comes in conflicting tendencies that an individual would have problems reconciling: personal and cultural conditions in which all of us are exposed.
The author highlight anxiety, fear, hostility as just some of the main causes for the triggers of inhibitions and defense mechanisms a person could carry on, consciously or not. Childhood could play a part, but only as a medium. Environmental conditions, in which all this, later on, would be carried out, contributes an important role in how all the intricacies faced by a person is going to be addressed.
Examples and definitions of each technical terms are explained and thoughtfully considered. It doesn't dwell much on the sociological factors, yet it shows that society has a huge impact to either make or break an individual. A timely and appropriate read.
softlights's review against another edition
4.0
"Contradictions embedded in our culture are precisely the conflicts which the neurotic struggles to reconcile: his tendencies toward aggressiveness and his tendencies toward yielding; his excessive demands and his fear of never getting anything; his striving for self-aggrandizement and his feeling of personal helplessness. The difference from the normal is merely quantitative. While the normal person is able to cope with the difficulties without damage to his personality, in the neurotic all the conflicts are intensified to a degree that makes any satisfactory solution impossible." (p. 289)
virtualmima's review against another edition
5.0
It's sad that the most insightful book on psychology is one of the most obscure.
steffihoman's review against another edition
4.0
Written in 1937 so expectedly a bit dated, but contains a lot of valuable, powerful ideas that seem very ahead of her time
"I do not believe that one can understand any severe neurosis without recognizing the paralyzing hopelessness which it contains."
"Through the eclipse of large areas of the self, by repression and inhibition as well as by idealization and externalization, the individual loses sight of himself; he feels, if he does not actually become, like a shadow without weight and substance."
"A person so shut off from every possibility of happiness would have to be a veritable angel if he did not feel hatred toward a world he cannot belong to."
"Any kind of affection may give him a superficial reassurance, or even a feeling of happiness, but deep down it either meets with disbelief or stirs up distrust or fear. He does not believe in it, because he is firmly convinced that no one can possibly love him. And this feeling of being unlovable is often a conscious conviction, unshakeable by any factual experiences to the contrary."
"According to existing ideologies, success is due to our own intrinsic merits, or in religious terms, is a visible sign of grace from God; in reality it is dependent on a number of factors independent of our control-fortuitous circumstances, unscrupulousness, and the like. Nevertheless, under the pressure of existing ideology, even the most normal person is constrained to feel that he amounts to something when successful, and is worthless if he is defeated. Needless to say, this presents a shaky basis for self-esteem."
"I do not believe that one can understand any severe neurosis without recognizing the paralyzing hopelessness which it contains."
"Through the eclipse of large areas of the self, by repression and inhibition as well as by idealization and externalization, the individual loses sight of himself; he feels, if he does not actually become, like a shadow without weight and substance."
"A person so shut off from every possibility of happiness would have to be a veritable angel if he did not feel hatred toward a world he cannot belong to."
"Any kind of affection may give him a superficial reassurance, or even a feeling of happiness, but deep down it either meets with disbelief or stirs up distrust or fear. He does not believe in it, because he is firmly convinced that no one can possibly love him. And this feeling of being unlovable is often a conscious conviction, unshakeable by any factual experiences to the contrary."
"According to existing ideologies, success is due to our own intrinsic merits, or in religious terms, is a visible sign of grace from God; in reality it is dependent on a number of factors independent of our control-fortuitous circumstances, unscrupulousness, and the like. Nevertheless, under the pressure of existing ideology, even the most normal person is constrained to feel that he amounts to something when successful, and is worthless if he is defeated. Needless to say, this presents a shaky basis for self-esteem."
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