Sigmund Freud and the beginning of Nirvana

The Nirvana principle is a psychoanalytic concept that Sigmund Freud integrated into his theory and that, over time, had a very interesting development. This article talks about such a postulate and its implications.

The Nirvana principle was a concept discussed by Sigmund Freud in his work Beyond the Pleasure Principle (1920). The essence of this leads the father of psychoanalysis to one of the most important postulates of his theory: the death drive. This concept was initially worked on by an English psychoanalyst named Barbara Low, who used it to explain the functioning of the psychic apparatus.

And Freud used Low’s definition of the Nirvana principle almost literally, describing it as: “a tendency to reduction, constancy, suppression of internal excitation tension”.

This is an interpretation of the traditional concept of Nirvana, whose origins are in Buddhism. Nirvana means “off” and within the framework of Eastern philosophies it refers to a total detachment from fear and desire, which leads to plenitude. But in Freudian psychoanalysis it takes on another dimension. Continue reading to find out.

«Thus, like any other instinct, the death drive will seek satisfaction, that which is only possible completely through death, the zero degree of tension, that state of peace that has preceded the stimulation, is that is, the recovery of a previous state of relief.

-Gabriela Castro Meléndez-

The principle of Nirvana in Freud

From a technical point of view, the principle of Nirvana in Freud is identified as a need that governs the mental apparatus: that of reducing tension. This is a state in which there is no stimulation and, therefore, a relatively stable balance is generated. For Easterners, it is more associated with a phase of transcendence. In the West it would be equivalent to absolute peace.

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When Freud outlined his theory, he did not speak of the Nirvana principle, but of the principle of constancy. He defined it as a tendency of the psychic apparatus to maintain excitation at a very low level or, at least, as stable as possible.

This status It is achieved by discharging the energy already present in the body, avoiding anything that could break stability. and protecting against possible increases in arousal.

After learning about the work of Barbara Low, Freud decided to adopt the name of the Nirvana principle. She referred to him as a homeostatic tendency or recovery of balance of the nervous system. The latter seeks, by nature, to reduce excess stimulation and disturbing tensions.

The Nirvana principle from a Freudian perspective addresses the reduction of tensions.

Pleasure and death: their link with Freud’s Nirvana principle

At first, Freud thought that the Nirvana principle was related to what he called the “pleasure principle.” That is, he believed that the reduction of stimuli and tension was pleasant for the body. However, as he developed his theory, he changed his mind.

By 1924, Freud was already referring to the postulate in other terms. More than associated with pleasure, he linked it with absolute stillness. This would be a deadly kind of pleasure. The absence of stimulation and tension would not constitute a “pure” form of pleasure. In fact, in sexual arousal there is tension and many stimuli that are pleasurable.

Thus, the Viennese psychoanalyst concluded that this “off” state, of absolute stillness and minimal tension, made up the “death drive.” Therefore, in his work The economic problem of masochism, He did not hesitate to point out: «The Nirvana principle expresses the tendency of the death drive ».

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This postulate in an article of the Chilean Journal of Psychology It is classified as controversial, since some experts consider its influence on the understanding of aggressive phenomena in mental life, while others find it less reliable from a clinical point of view.

The concept of traditional Nirvana has its roots in Buddhism.

Life and death drive

As the magazine reviews Mental health, In Freudian psychoanalysis there are two basic forces of the psyche: Eros and Thanatos. The first is understood as life drives, those that seek the satisfaction of the physical and psychological needs of the organism. The second would be death drives, with a destructive nature that seek disintegration and destruction.

Although the Eros force is aimed at pleasure, life itself is a source of pain, disorder, chaos and tension. The human being feels called to eliminate this discomfort.

So, The death drive acts as a force that aims to eliminate psychic tension. All this refers more to the world of the inert, than to life with all its complexities.

In this way, according to Freud, what leads to the desire to eliminate stimuli and tensions, in search of stillness and peace without limit, is nothing more than an expression of the death drive. This, in turn, is exacerbated in those who neurotically wish to return to paradise lost out of nowhere.