Jung personality types... with a twist

Carl Gustav Jung (1875 - 1961)

Jung's personality type theory divides the psyche into three parts. The first is the ego, which Jung identifies with the conscious mind. Closely related is the personal unconscious, which includes anything which is not presently conscious, but can be. The personal unconscious is like most people's understanding of the unconscious in that it includes both memories that are easily brought to mind and those that have been suppressed for some reason. But it does not include the instincts that Freud would have it include.

But then Jung adds the part of the psyche that makes his theory stand out from all others: the collective unconscious. You could call it your "psychic inheritance." It is the reservoir of our experiences as a species, a kind of knowledge we are all born with. And yet we can never be directly conscious of it. It influences all of our experiences and behaviours, most especially the emotional ones, but we only know about it indirectly, by looking at those influences.

We all have our ups and downs. For some though the "downs" are  more persistent.  Some may need professional help. It is this author's opinion that Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor (SSRI) drugs like Paxil and Prozac may do more harm than help.