... Freud would then use these words to put together a picture to explain the person's problems. One of Freud's most important assumptions was that the primary driving force in a person's mental life, which also affects behaviour, is the sexual instinct. It broke up the personality into three parts, the id, ego and superego. The id is the part that operates at an unconscious level; the ego satisfies the demands of the id's sexual instincts. The superego represents the person's conscience and ideal self. The id and superego work against each other and the ego tries to reduce the conflict. Freud also came up with idea of defence mechanisms. These played an important role in protecting the ego from anxiety-provoking information and situations. They are denial, which prevents our mind thinking about unwanted or threatening situations. Repression, like denial but we are unknowingly exclude these dangerous situations from are consciousness. Projection, ...

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