Insights

by Edmund Talob, BScPsych, MAEd Guidance & Counselling, MRehabClng, PhD(c) (07 June 2026; First published as a blog 01 June 2021)

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This article was first published online in 2021. It is not meant to replace seeing a mental health professional when the going gets tough and people are rough. We are sharing it to raise mental health awareness and inspire hope for those struggling with mental health issues. We encourage everyone to seek help and support when rainy days and Mondays get you down.

The month of June ushers in the winter season in the southern hemisphere and in the great southern land. To overcome the psychological impact of the winter blues, IHET will feature handy tools that may help alleviate stress and cope with the challenges and struggles associated with the cold chilly months. While there is no one-size-fits-all solution and quick fix to human problems and crisis situations, we are sharing practical and simple steps people can take to manage the humdrum and stress of everyday life.

Without any doubt, the global health crisis has placed its toll on our mental health. The historical coronavirus pandemic, the wars in Ukraine, the Middle East and the Gaza Strip and the global financial crisis has been wreaking havoc on the lives and livelihoods of many people around the world. The intermittent disruptions to our daily activities caused by virulent surges and lockdowns as well as extreme weather events and natural calamities did our heads in and undermined our coping skills. 

For starters, we may have to prioritise on self-care as much as we set high need expectations for our financial and material well-being. We need to take good care of ourselves not only in a physical sense but also emotionally, psycho-socially and spiritually. Let us therefore begin with the importance of looking after ourselves above all else.

Self-care is not a new concept. Since time immemorial, many mental health experts and medical professionals have been talking about self-preservation, mental hygiene and holistic health. Looking after ourselves may sound complex and complicated for some people. But in essence, self-care may be as simple as being alone, enjoying a moment of silence, listening to your favourite playlist of music, going for a walk, praying in solitude, meditating, eating well, sleeping well and other activities we may consider as good for our mental health and psychological well-being. As such, kick-starting your day with a meaningful and useful self-care routine is an initial step moving forward.

Please do not delay contacting your general practitioner or mental health service provider if you have persistent personal issues requiring ongoing support and treatment.

Mental health is a very personal topic of interest for some people. There are those who may not respond well to mental health issues and inquiries. People are simply different from one another. More so, it is vital for our health and wellbeing to give mental health the first look and s simple priority.

Psychodynamic approaches are widely used by mental health professionals in providing mental health support to those of us who may be more responsive to being given directives and instructions than being given the autonomy to self-regulate and control our own healing and therapy. The psychoanalytic method is the most prominent and popular of these approaches.

Founded by Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), Psychoanalysis evolved from an interest in neurophysiological research centred on human sexuality and into a clinical method of treating psychopathology through an interactive dialogue between patient and therapist (Freud, 1990). Hence in its original form, Freud designed his method as a "talking therapy" or "therapy on a couch" (Corey, 2020; Sharf, 2008; Ivey, Ivey & Simek-Morgan, 1997; Freud, 1990). While the psychoanalytic approach has been declining in popularity because of obsolescence and controversies surrounding its virulent methodology that may sometimes result in harm than good, Freud continues to be widely acknowledged as the father of modern psychology and his psychoanalytic theories remain to be conveyed and taught as basic principles of human behaviour and personality. Many of his groundbreaking concepts and theories are respected and studied by many people who embark on a profession in counselling, psychology and psychiatry.

The structure of human personality, consisting of the id, ego and superego, is one of the tenets of Freudian psychoanalysis (Corey, 2020; Sharf, 2008; Ivey, Ivey & Simek-Morgan, 1997; Freud, 1990). In simple terms, humans behave and react to people and the environment from these vantage points. The id is the repository of human instincts and operates according to the pleasure principle. The ego is the seat of reason and operates according to the reality principle. The superego houses and nurtures our ethics, morals and social standards. To elaborate on these Freudian concepts, let us look at the basic human behaviour of eating. Eating is an essential behaviour that constitutes our response to hunger. From our id, we grab something to eat by instinct. But our superego tells us that in the modern world, we just do not grab something to eat from a store when we are hungry. Our ego intervenes and mediates between our id and superego, and tells us to pay for food we find in a store. Certainly, it will be a totally different response if we were trapped in the middle of a desert or an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Try yourself and analyse this scenario.

In a world full of instability and uncertainty, some of us may be responding from the pleasure-seeking id. As such, some people may ignore health and safety protocols amid a pandemic to satisfy their basic instincts to survive or inflate their ego to control the environment. Some may allow their conscience to take over their lives and fixate their minds on conspiracy theories. Consequentially, an overuse of superego response may result in a more harmful than helpful situation of cultist beliefs and extremist thinking. In the end, the realistic mindset of our ego somehow alleviates the inner battle between our id and superego. It is our ego that tells us to feel and think that if we do not play by the rules, we may have to suffer the consequences of our behaviour.

But beware that everything decided from the ego is not always perfect and airy-fairy. Humans have egos that are sometimes inflated (too much ego) or deflated (no ego). We can imagine a spectrum or a pendulum. The extreme ends are ego-deflation and ego-inflation. In a pandemic where there is an outbreak and surge not only of the virus but also of information and misinformation, we may experience feelings of helplessness and hopelessness resulting in ego-deflation. In a blink of an eye, we find ourselves exhausted and tired of thinking about the pandemic. Paradoxically, some may resort to ego-inflating behaviours to hide their depleting or dying egos. In other words, people with big egos are in fact ego-deflated. As such, we may expect a prevalence of protesters, conspiracy theorists, anti-groups and anti-social behaviours when situations get out of hand and out of control.

Is this normal? Yes and no.

Yes, because it is a function of our ego defense mechanism (Corey, 2020; Sharf, 2008; Ivey, Ivey & Simek-Morgan, 1997; Freud, 1990). No, because we can help ourselves naturally as our human brain has the capacity to think differently from another perspective. Like our immune system, humans are created with defence mechanisms that protect us from external threats. This paradoxical truth is simply part of being human, but can be alleviated with proper education, good governance and consistent information dissemination. Humans are different from all other creatures in the animal kingdom because we are equipped with the will power harnessed from the balanced functioning of the id, ego and superego.

While psychoanalysis was conceived to be a dynamic approach that takes into account all aspects of the human psyche, we can make use of the id-ego-superego concept to understand our responses to daily life events and frustrating situations. Applying this concept in a piecemeal approach may require caution, guidance and support from a mental health professional as necessary and if required.

Stay mentally fit and healthy amid the winter blues season in the southern hemisphere!

References:

Corey, G. (2020). Theory and Practice of Counselling and Psychotherapy Enhanced (10th Ed). Belmont, CA: Brooks / Cole Cengage Learning.

Freud, S. (1990). The Psychopathology of Everyday Life (J. Strachey & P. Gay Eds). New York: W.W. Norton & Company.

Ivey, A. E., Ivey, M. B. & Simek-Morgan, L. (1997). Counseling and Psychotherapy: A Multicultural Perspective. Needham Heights, Massachusetts: Allyn & Bacon.

Sharf, R. S. (2008). Theories of Psychotherapy and Counseling: Concepts and Cases. Belmont, CA: Brooks / Cole Cengage Learning.