The Alter Ego: Why and How To Get a Second Opinion On Your Anxiety
“You don’t have to control your thoughts. You just have to stop letting them control you.” — Dan Millman
A brief history lesson:
Sigmund Freud, 1856 -1939, was an acclaimed Austrian neurologist. He founded psychoanalysis, a clinical method for diagnosing and treating psychiatric disorders.
The human personality, according to Freud, is complex and contains multiple aspects. In his renowned psychoanalytic theory, he claims that the personality is formed into three elements: the id, the ego, and the superego, and talks about how they interact to produce the wide range of human behaviors that we possess.
Phew…an explanation for all the weird. Thanks a bunch, Siggy.
The id, the ego, and the superego
What has been colorfully portrayed as Sigmund’s id and superego is the comical angel/devil concept: an imaginary angel on one side and an imaginary devil on the other, each directing the individual what to do or not do. The angel here is your superego, while the id is the devil.
A few boring facts about these elements:
The Id (Devil)
In his theory, the id depicts a primal and instinctual personality. It is the component of the mind that contains all the urges, impulses, and everything from survival instincts to appreciation of art.
It responds directly to what Freud termed The Pleasure Principle — that every wishful impulse should be gratified.
The Ego
the ego is the part of the id that has been modified by the direct influence of the external world.
It works based on reality. It is what a person is aware of when thinking about themselves and what they project onto others. It makes decisions based on societal realities and norms. Unlike the id, the ego operates on logic and seeks realistic solutions to the id’s desires.
The Superego (Angel)
The superego is the ethical component of the personality. It reflects society’s moral ideals and serves as a voice of self-criticism (the conscience). It acts as a moral compass to control the id’s impulses and persuade the ego to pursue moralistic goals.
Where does anxiety fit into all this?
Anxiety can be defined as a negative emotion characterized by an unpleasant state of inner conflict and distressing external feelings of apprehension about future events.
While there are several causes of anxiety, the majority revolve around fear, worry, tension, shame, and stress.
Let’s break this down.
Most of these feelings and emotions are generally caused by situations either:
- Experienced in a social/outside environment — For example, being rejected, or failing to meet the ‘standards’ and expectations set by the society (parents, your circle of friends e.t.c) Or…
- In our heads — the expectations we set for ourselves.
The superego, according to Freud’s conception, has a wide range of functions. The superego, like a moral ‘compass,’ guides how to act or accomplish specific things.
Mostly these will be involuntarily issued as ‘don’t’ statements. Your angel would say something like:
“Don’t eat another cake, we’re cutting back on sugar, Elizabeth.”
But your id, the devil, well…you know.
This implies that our actions would be put up against some morality scoreboard, based on societal and personal standards. In retrospect, behavior that falls short of said standards is punished through guilt and shame.
The voice of guilt that reminds us how unhealthy we are for eating too much sugar…
The critic that reminds us of the place in society we may have come from, and that nothing good can ever be borne of that…
The thoughts that tell us we’re not good enough, or we can’t ever get it right…
And this goes on and on.
Enter alter ego:
The Alter Ego
An alter ego is a person’s secondary or alternative personality, usually with different behaviors and traits.
We all have alternative egos for different mood states. Whether just in the heat of anger or when you’re intoxicated or high. The changes can be quite inscrutable and hard to notice because the experience is so coherent.
A most inordinate instance of this can be seen with DID (Dissociative Identity Disorders), through the construction of alters to protect the ego from severe traumatic experiences. But we all go through a watered-down variation of the same underlying mechanism.
Comical superhero characters also have alter egos. For various purposes like fighting crime and saving America, yay. Take, for instance, Peter Parker and The Amazing Spiderman — in all the Homes, and Bruce Banner and The Incredible Hulk just to name a few. (Bruce is like, 5 of them).
The Creation Story.
A good alter ego can help conceal your very genuine superhero identity or to help you mentally compartmentalize certain thoughts or actions.
We can create our own ‘superheroes’. Here’s how:
- Defining the goals for your other self — What is the purpose for your alter ego? I would say, for instance, to compartmentalize my thoughts.
- Give your alter ego a voice/personality — what do you want your alter ego to look like? A dashing superhero? Maybe with a British accent? Unlock your imagination, Dora.
- Give him/her an appearance — a face maybe. A complimentary look, with an eye for fashion.
- Give them a name — it could be from your favorite movie character or a celebrity crush. (Ahem, Zendaya)
Don’t agonize over it.
Think of it as writing a book about yourself. You would have to ‘distance’ from yourself to get a better, different point of view. A fresh pair of eyes.
There’s a more detailed procedure for customizing your alter ego here.
Getting that second opinion.
Imagine this: You’ve been having some weird symptoms. Chest pains with say, looseness of the bowels. You decide to visit the hospital for a check-up.
The doctor runs some tests and decides you have to be placed under immediate medication, and advises that you call your family. You’re then rushed to a room, and placed on one of those beds with the white sheets.
As you’re lying down staring at the ceiling confused, the doctor comes in, dramatically takes a look around the room, torpidly adjusts his glasses, and announces in a soft, poignant tone, that you’ve been diagnosed with a terminal condition…
I would…freaking freak out.
All those feelings and emotions are all over the place, and understandably. I would probably argue that the doctors take a test again, or be transferred to a different hospital. Maybe they had bad ceiling lights.
It still would be highly improbable. So what do you do? Maybe start living like you’re gonna die?
Go on an adventure to celebrate the brevity of life? Write a book about your newfound respect for life?
Maybe make new friends, and fall in love. Well, maybe.
But it would make sense to get a different opinion from another specialist. It could have been a false positive…
Anxiety overwhelms. What with all the thoughts and emotions that could randomly just tear the gate down and start running around in a stampede. Some traveling through time. From the past, present, and even into the future. With a couple of highlights.
“You’re not good enough.”
“Is this your third breakup? You’ll never be good enough dude. No one wants you”
“You’re 22 and still don’t have a job. You’re gonna end up poor and begging in the streets, if they’ll even have you.”
And a whole lot of other stuff.
The superego can be harsh sometimes.
Your alter ego can calm things down a bit. An alter ego’s personality usually trumps the ego’s. Unless, of course, you created a Deadpool.
Imagine getting to talk with your favorite superhero or icon, but they weren’t just your superhero, they are a personal friend. What would s/he say?
“Not to be too hard on your self”
Maybe to take things slow.
“There’s plenty of time to get to where you want to be”.
“You don’t have to be perfect. People make mistakes all the time. Like you remember that time I went up against The Hulk without my hammer pfft…boy that was close”.
Get a second opinion from your alternate self.
After all, you’re all you’ve got.
References
McLeod, S. A. (2019, September 25). Id, ego and superego. Simply Psychology. www.simplypsychology.org/psyche.html
