title: Three principles of mental functioning in psychoanalytic theory and practice.
abstract: In this essay I have reformulated the relationship of the pleasure principle, reality principle, and Nirvana principle. I have linked this conception of the three principles of mental functioning to the idea of the paranoid-schizoid position. And I have attempted to demonstrate the utility of these various notions for illuminating the analyst's sleepiness during analytic sessions.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000374:Aggression / Q000523:psychology; D003643:Death; D003674:Defense Mechanisms; D004243:Divorce; D004325:Dreams; D004328:Drive; D004532:Ego; D005619:Freudian Theory; D006801:Humans; D008093:Literature, Modern; D008297:Male; D010990:Pleasure-Pain Principle; D011573:Psychoanalytic Interpretation; D011574:Psychoanalytic Theory; D011575:Psychoanalytic Therapy; D011936:Reality Testing; D012557:Schizoid Personality Disorder / Q000523:psychology; D012894:Sleep Stages