We shall later find that a detailed self-discovery through psycho-analysis is not always necessary, and that a more general understanding of oneself is sufficient for the milder kinds of nervousness.  But because of the promise which psycho-analysis holds out to those stubborn cases before which other methods are powerless; because of the invaluable understanding of human nature which it places at the disposal of all nervous people, who may profit by its findings without undergoing an analysis; and because of the flood of light which it sheds on the motives, conduct, and character of every human being, no educated person can afford to be without a general knowledge of psycho-analysis.[41]

[Footnote 41:  It is unfortunate that the records of an analysis are too voluminous for use in so brief an account as this.  Since the report of one case would fill a book, and a condensed summary would require a chapter, we must refer to some of the volumes which deal exclusively with the psychoanalytic principles.  For a list of these books, see Bibliography.]

=A Chain of Associations.= Psycho-analysis is not, like hypnosis, based on dissociation; it is based on the association of ideas.  Its main feature is a process of uncritical thinking called “free association.”  To understand it, one must realize how intricately woven together are the thoughts of a human being and how trivial are the bonds of association between these ideas.  One person reminds us of another because his hair is the same color or because he handles his fork in the same way.  Two words are associated because they sound alike.  Two ideas are connected because they once occurred to us at the same time.  A subtle odor or a stray breeze serves to remind us of some old experience.  Connections that seem far-fetched to other people may be quite strong enough to bind together in our minds ideas and emotions which have once been associated, even unconsciously, in past experience.

In this way, thoughts in consciousness and in the upper layers of the subconscious are connected by a series of associations, forming links in invisible chains that lead to the deepest, most repressed ideas.  Even a dissociated complex has some connection with the rest of the mind, if we only have the patience to discover it.  Therefore, by adopting a passive attitude, by simply letting his thoughts wander, by talking out to the physician everything that comes to his mind without criticizing or calling any thought irrelevant or far-fetched, and without rejecting any thought because of its painful character, the patient is helped to trace down and unearth the troublesome complex which may have been absolutely forgotten for many years.  He is helped to relive the childhood experiences back of the over-strong habits which lasted into maturity.