Most of the iceberg is underwater — where psychoanalysis began

As a neurologist in Vienna, Freud encountered hysteria patients who reported paralysis or blindness with no physical cause. He became convinced their symptoms originated from memories and desires the conscious mind couldn't bear — repressed into the unconscious.

He compared the human mind to an iceberg: the consciousness we call 'I' is only the small peak above water, while a far larger unconscious moves beneath the surface, actually driving our emotions and behavior. 'The ego is not master in its own house' compresses this discovery into a single line.