Kurt Cobain Personality Theory

Analysis of Kurt Cobain’s Personality from the Standpoint of Freud’s Classical Psychoanalysis

As one of the most influential theories in the field of psychology, Freud’s psychoanalytic theory is fundamentally interested in internal workings of personality with a particular focus on early childhood experiences and unconscious forces which stem from unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feeling etc. that have been repressed since they prove anxiety. Thus, the following section will elaborate on Kurt’s personality in that sense by using Freud’s core concepts as a framework.

The Unconscious

Freud believed that the most important determinants of behavior are not available to our conscious thought and proposed three levels of consciousness: the conscious,

According to Freud’s psychosexual development theory, which explains personality development through a series of stages during which libido is focused on different areas of the body, there is a high probability that he was fixated at first psychosexual stage, the oral stage. At the oral stage, the erogenous zone that libido is focused, is the mouth and infant gains pleasure through feeding. Fixation at this stage produces oral character that is described by being dependent, addicted and pessimistic. Kurt suffered from life-long depression and was a heavy heroin user which usually accompanied by marijuana and other chemicals. As a drug addict, he obviously had some impulse control difficulties which can be related to a failure to develop normally through the oral stage. Therefore, his drug addiction and depressive mood might be rooted in this

He reached to a huge reputation in his short life. He was suffering from both physical and psychological problems. He was suffering from various physical deficiencies including a chronic stomach pain that he addressed as the source of his drug addiction. On the other hand, his psychological problems seem to be started after his parents’ separation which was a significant incident that shaped his personality. It is sensible to think that he started to feel anger toward both of his parents, particularly to his father who was already distant and broke the promise he gave to Kurt on marriage. He may have felt worthless and guilty because of the misbehaviors of his father. I believe that he could never get rid of this anger he had for them and try to repress it. His depression may be stemming from the feelings of guilt and worthless he had from the divorce onward. Also, his drug addiction can be seen as a form of tension reduction since marijuana helped him to free his mind and heroin allowed him to cope with physical pain. I believe that his ego strength was low, and he was mostly predominated either by his id impulses or superego restrictions. Since his ego was not strong enough, he strictly used defense mechanisms which signals psychological maladjustment. Besides, his undiagnosed stomach pain may be a psychosomatic response which results from repressed thoughts and