Psychological Needs

Each human being has fundamental physical and psychological needs. These are fundamental to the survival and development of the individual as an organism and a personality. The child that does not receive love from its mother may become as emotionally deprived as one not receiving enough food is physically deprived.

Basic needs of a physical nature revolve around needs for air, sleep, food, and sex. We would not survive in an environment that lacked air for more than a few minutes. We spend approximately a third of our lives satisfying our need for sleep. The need for food serves as a prime motivator for a person developing marketable skills so that he can purchase this commodity. Sex needs are the ones most likely to be frustrated or sublimated because our culture has certain taboos with regard to sexual activity and because personal values of some people lead them to sublimate this drive until marriage.

Physiologists feel that the disruption of the functioning of any system of the body creates a basic physical need because the life of the organism can be endangered. A lack of oxygen or the inability of blood to clot could serve as two of many possible examples.

Emotional needs are based initially on receiving love, affection, and acceptance from parents in the early years of life. It has been dramatically demonstrated that infants who are separated from their mothers or a mother substitute for extended periods of time become extremely dispirited. They not only exhibit obviously poor mental health but can also become physically ill by this deprivation. Delinquency and varied emotional problems are related to the failure to receive normal love and affection at an early age. This emotional barrenness may cause the individual to grow up with distrust for other people and the inability to give or receive love.

As the child grows older, added to the needs of love, affection, and acceptance by parents are needs for achievement and the development of status. The need to achieve is basic to our ego development. The means of satisfying these needs are of course many and varied. Some individuals have talent academically, others develop creative skills with paints, music, or dance, and some demonstrate multiple talents. Actually, the important thing is not so much the profoundness of the achievement as it is the satisfaction one derives from the experience. For instance, who is to say that the solving of a complex mathematical problem is a greater accomplishment than the successful growing of a beautiful rose?

Need for status is related to, and sometimes, grows out of, the fulfillment of the psychological needs, namely love, affection, acceptance, and achievement. The person needs initially to have status in his family group; later in his development this need is extended to his peer group. As an adult, the person seeks added status in his or her field of endeavor. When a person’s status is threatened, the assertive question, “Just whom do you think you are talking to?” may be heard or actions reflecting the question may be seen. This kind of response and its frequency reflect how important status needs are to the individual. Very often the desire for status will lead to the acquisition of material possessions that are not really needed but become psychological trophies for the individual (the expensive car, the mink coat, the bizarre wardrobe).

Maslow, in his theory of hierarchy of human needs, states that people have physical needs that lead to personality growth and toward self-actualization. Maslow states that these needs must be successively satisfied. The organism seeks to satisfy the lower-level needs such as hunger before it becomes concerned with higher-level love needs. The epitome of personality development, according to Maslow, is the self actualizing person. This person is dedicated to a profession, cause, or science. The self actualizing person is dedicated not for the recognition or other rewards his work may bring him. He follows his dedication to wherever it may lead him, even though it may result in disapproval from others, or even persecution. Darwin, with his theory of evolution, and Pasteur, with his germ theory of disease, stirred up a great deal of controversy. These men did not, however, waver in their dedication and their work. This Maslow regards as self actualization.

Maslow also states that the person whose needs have been met early in life develops a strong personality structure. He is then capable to a much greater extent to weather opposition, rejection, and other negative conditions later in life. In planting a small tree one takes every precaution to protect it from the elements so that it will develop strong roots and have a good start in life. The transfer of this principle from trees to man on occasion falls short. This is exemplified by the father who feels he must subject his son to “rough” treatment in order for the boy to grow up to be a man.” The physical and emotional violence directed toward the youngster is comparable to stomping on the young tree and shaking it from its roots. Growth is not a response to overzealous, misconceived actions, but a reaction to nature’s slow, positive, and constructive elements.

The ability to satisfy our psychological needs is reflected in our self-concept. How a person views himself is quite crucial to his mental health and to his effectiveness. Some people are so convinced of their inability to perform certain tasks that they inevitably fail. The coach’s locker-room pep talk is often aimed at improving the self-concept of his team. As we know, this can at times prove an effective antidote to an uninspired group. However, we must also be realistic enough to realize that all cannot be accomplished by merely the will to do. A certain amount of talent is also necessary. A person whose self-concept is on a healthy level is one who is confident of his decisions, has set fairly specific goals, understands his values and ideals, and is comfortable with regard to opinions of others about him.

It is important to know that self-concept is learned. One’s concept of self is strongly influenced by his childhood interrelationships with parents and siblings. The child becomes more and more aware of how he is being appraised by others. If these appraisals are positive, feelings of worth then develop. If the appraisals are derogatory, then the person is made to feel undesirable, worthless, and inferior. One’s self-concept is always subject to change throughout life. Greater changes usually occur during childhood as compared with the adult years. One of the important responsibilities of parenthood is to help children to grow up feeling accepted in an environment reflecting warmth and affection. In addition, each of us has the opportunity to make a contribution in dignifying every human life we come in contact with. Self-concepts are made, not born.

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Category: Mental Health