Irma's injection
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

"Irma's injection" is the name given to the dream that
Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies explained as originating in conflicts ...
dreamt on the night of July 23, 1895, and that he subsequently analyzed to arrive at his theory that dreams are
wish fulfillment A wish is a hope or desire for something. In fiction, wishes can be used as plot devices. In folklore, opportunities for "making a wish" or for wishes to "come true" or "be granted" are themes that are sometimes used. In fiction In fiction a ...
s. He described his ideas on dream theory and provided his analysis of the dream, alongside other dreams from case studies, in his book ''
The Interpretation of Dreams ''The Interpretation of Dreams'' (german: Die Traumdeutung) is an 1899 book by Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, in which the author introduces his theory of the unconscious with respect to dream interpretation, and discusses what w ...
''. Freud later noted that "Irma's injection" was the first dream he had devoted a meticulous level of interpretation to. Although he spent much time analyzing it, he confessed that his interpretation had gaps and did not completely uncover the meaning of his dream.


The dream

Freud had been treating a patient, whom he called Irma, during the summer of 1895. At one point he proposed a particular treatment solution that Irma was not willing to accept. Irma’s treatment was partially successful, but it ended before it was complete. After some time had passed, Freud visited with a colleague who knew Irma and asked about her condition. Freud was informed that Irma was “better, but not quite well.” That night, Freud dreamt the dream that is now known as "Irma’s Injection". He described it as follows:


Freud’s analysis of the dream

Freud wrote down his dream immediately once he awoke. He felt that this dream had an advantage over others because it was clear that the events from the previous day had provided a starting point for the dream. Freud analyzed every aspect of the dream in great detail. In his analysis of "Irma’s Injection", Freud substituted many of the individuals in his real life for the people in the dream, including patients, family members, and friends. He thought about the medical mistakes he had made and believed that he was unconsciously seeking to rid himself of the guilt caused by them. The dream starts with the hall at Bellevue, where Freud and his wife were staying for the summer. In the upcoming days they were to host a party for his wife’s birthday. Freud was informed of the guests and remembers his patient being among them. This patient serves as Irma in the dream, who is still suffering from pains. Freud informed Irma that her suffering was her own fault for not accepting his diagnosis. Irma complained of pains in her stomach and the feeling of being choked by them. This led Freud to question his diagnosis, and he sought to find a possible error to avoid blame for the lack of presenting a cure. Freud proceeds to re-examine Irma and inspects her oral cavity. Freud stated in his analysis that Irma’s actions at this point in the dream reminded him of a female friend of Irma’s. He thought of a few explanations as to why he replaced Irma with someone else in the dream. These explanations included the idea that he did not want Irma as a patient or the fact that he held Irma’s friend in high regard for her intelligence. Freud also considered Irma to be irrational for not taking his offered solution to her problem. He believed that Irma’s friend would have been wiser and would have agreed to Freud’s proposed solution. When Freud looked in Irma’s throat he saw a white scab on the turbinal bone. In his analysis he stated that these particular signs in the dream reminded him of his daughter’s illness and the difficulties his family went through at that time. At one point when Freud was using cocaine frequently to counter an ailment, he learned that a dear friend of his (
Ernst von Fleischl-Marxow Ernst von Fleischl-Marxow, also Ernst Fleischl von Marxow (5 August 1846, Vienna – 22 October 1891, Vienna), son of Karl Fleischl Edlem von Marxow and his wife Ida (née Marx) was an Austrian physiologist and physician who became known for his i ...
) had died because of the misuse of the cocaine treatment. He confessed of having "been the first to recommend the use of cocaine in 1885, and this recommendation had brought serious reproaches down on me". Freud believed that the scab in the dream was an indicator of the concern he had had with his own health at the time. In the dream, Freud asks Dr. M. for a second opinion. Once again, Freud recalled a past medical mistake during his analysis. He was reminded of a patient whom he unknowingly prescribed a toxic drug. The patient became ill, and Freud was forced to ask his more experienced colleague for help. Freud also recalled that this patient had the same name as his daughter, Mathilde. Freud analyzed that it seemed he was using the dream as an opportunity to criticize himself for the medical mistakes he had made. In the dream, Dr. M. assures Freud that Irma’s symptoms point to an infection and that her body will rid itself of the effects. Freud believed that this fact allowed him to shift the blame for Irma’s illness because his treatment could not have caused such an infection. He was relieved in knowing that Dr. M. supported him and that this was not his fault.


Freud's dream theory

Freud came to a conclusion about the meaning and intention of the dream using his analysis. He believed that the dream fulfilled several wishes and that it represented a particular situation that he might have wished to exist in. Freud concluded that the motive of the dream was a wish and the content of the dream was a wish fulfillment. Freud eventually concluded that all dreams represent some sort of wish fulfillment. He analyzed his patients' dreams as well as his own using free-association and found that in nearly every case, the latent content included wishes, even if the manifest content seemed to be the opposite of a wish fulfillment. Freud believed that every dream contained manifest and latent content. He believed that the manifest content was the consciously experienced aspect of the dream, while the latent content was the hidden inspiration of the dream that could only be remembered after free-association. Freud concluded that in cases where only the latent content of the dream contained a wish, the manifest content was helping to hide the embarrassing aspects of the latent content.


Other interpretations

Since its publication, the dream of Irma's injection "has received more attention than any other dream in the history of psychoanalysis". Numerous interpretations of the dream have been proposed, often with reference to what is known of its real-world context. For example, it has been suggested that aspects of the dream reflect Freud's concerns about his own health problems, his wife's pregnancy, or the process of developing his new psychoanalytical techniques. The dream has also been seen as an expression of Freud's suppressed sexual desires.
Max Schur Max Schur (26 September 1897 – 12 October 1969) was a physician and friend of Sigmund Freud. He assisted Freud in euthanasia. Ernest Jones considered that "Schur was a perfect choice for a doctor... his considerateness, his untiring patience, ...
, Freud's friend and physician, argued that the dream was heavily influenced by an incident involving one of Freud's patients,
Emma Eckstein Emma Eckstein (1865–1924) was an Austrian author. She was "one of Sigmund Freud's most important patients and, for a short period of time around 1897, became a psychoanalyst herself". She has been described as "the first woman analyst", who b ...
. Two months prior to the dream, Freud had referred Eckstein to
Wilhelm Fliess Wilhelm Fliess (german: Wilhelm Fließ; 24 October 1858 – 13 October 1928) was a German otolaryngologist who practised in Berlin. He developed the pseudoscientific theory of human biorhythms and a possible nasogenital connection that have n ...
for nasal surgery, the consequences of which were almost fatal for Eckstein and left her permanently disfigured. Schur believed that Freud's dream represented an attempt to shift the blame for this situation onto Eckstein, and thus absolve both Fliess and himself from responsibility. However, the real person whom Freud conceals behind the name of "Irma" is probably not Emma Eckstein; it is more likely to be a family friend of his, Anna Lichtheim.


See also

*
Rat man "Rat Man" was the nickname given by Sigmund Freud to a patient whose "case history" was published as ''Bemerkungen über einen Fall von Zwangsneurose'' Notes Upon a Case of Obsessional Neurosis"(1909). This was the second of six case histories ...
*
Sergei Pankejeff Sergei Konstantinovitch Pankejeff (russian: Серге́й Константи́нович Панке́ев; 24 December 1886 – 7 May 1979) was a Ukrainian aristocrat from Odesa, Ukraine, best known for being a patient of Sigmund Freud, who ...
(The "Wolf Man")


References

Further reading *Didier Anzieu, ''Freud's Self-Analysis'' (London 1986)


External links

* Irma's injection i
''The Interpretation of Dreams'', Chapter 2
* Žižek's discussion of Irma's Injection in the ''London Review of Books''
'Freud Lives!'
{{Sigmund Freud Case studies by Sigmund Freud Dream