Josef Breuer, Forerunner Of Psychoanalysis

Josef Breuer was a prominent physician and physiologist who was of decisive importance in the genesis of psychoanalysis. He met and became friends with Sigmund Freud, who, in one way or another, saw him as a fatherly and endearing figure, for which he always had great affection and respect for him. The admiration and friendship were mutual.

Breuer wrote with Freud part of the first edition of Studies on Hysteria , the foundational work of psychoanalysis. He was also the first to attend to the famous Anna O., who would become the first patient treated with the psychoanalytic method, after Josef Breuer referred her to Freud’s office.

This fantastic Austrian doctor was also the one who discovered the relationship between respiration and body temperature. In addition to the relationship between hearing and balance. He is considered the creator of the cathartic method, the forerunner of the free association method used in psychoanalysis. But let’s go in parts, let’s start with a brief review of his life until we understand the scope of his discoveries.

The first stage in the life of Josef Breuer

Josef Breuer was born in Vienna (Austria) on January 15, 1842. His father was an important figure in Judaism, a religion that Breuer never decidedly professed, but from which he never strayed either.

The mother died when Josef Breuer was only 4 years old. Since then he was in the care of his father and his maternal grandmother. In 1859, at the age of 19, he began his medical studies at the University of Vienna. There, he was a student of great scientists of the time, such as Karl Rokitansky and Josef Skoda.

He also studied under Johann Ritter von Oppolzer, a famous clinical internist from Vienna. He took him as his assistant at the Vienna General Hospital. Later, he joined the Ewald Hering Physiology Laboratory, which was conducting studies on perception .

In the laboratory, he discovered the role of the pneumogastric nerve in regulating body heat through respiration. This discovery gave Breuer a great recognition in the medical field. Later, he continued to investigate and was able to establish the relationship between hearing and balance.

The meeting with Sigmund Freud

In 1871, Josef Breuer decided to dedicate himself to the private practice of medicine. He had prestigious patients such as Franz Bentano and Johannes Brahms. He alternated his practice with research and teaching at the Institute of Physiology of the University of Vienna, where he became close friends with one of his students, Sigmund Freud, in 1877.

Since the late 1870s, Josef Breuer had been drawn to psychology. He showed great interest in hypnosis, which was very much in vogue in those years. His patients were, for the most part, wealthy women who had hysterical symptoms. This was probably what sparked his interest in psychic phenomena.

Freud shared these same concerns and, perhaps, as a result of these common interests, they became great friends. Breuer loaned him a large sum of money so that the father of psychoanalysis could set up his private practice. It also guided him to start his medical career. Without realizing it, each of them, in their own way, began to become a specialist in mental disorders.

Anna O and hysteria

Josef Breuer began to care for the patient who went down in history by the name of Anna O., he worked hypnosis with her and achieved great achievements. However, she showed a special affection towards him that eventually ended up making the doctor uncomfortable. The professional relationship  reached an irreconcilable breaking point when Anna O. deliriously claimed to be giving birth to Dr. Breuer’s son. 

It was then that Breuer referred the case to Freud and this fact would be decisive for the theoretical and practical development of psychoanalysis. It was also the starting point of a break between the two famous Austrians. Upon completion, Freud was ready to launch a definitive theory on hysteria, but with which Breuer would not agree.

Meanwhile, Breuer collected the money he owed from Freud. The latter showed his digust that, added to the theoretical disagreements he already had with his mentor, would cause an enormous cooling and distancing in their relationship. Although it should be noted that Breuer never stopped tracking his brilliant student.

When Breuer died in 1925, Freud sent a message of condolence to his son. He responded by commenting on the interest that his father always maintained around the advances of psychoanalysis. Freud, in turn, replied: ” What you have said about your father’s relationship with my later works was new to me, and it worked like a balm on a painful wound that never closed. “

Thus, with a bittersweet taste, he concluded one of the most fruitful relationships of the time. The admiration never faded, but the differences were stronger and kept apart. At present, both names are studied and recognized, although Freud’s perhaps resonates more in more common settings. However, we must not forget that Josef Breuer was a decisive figure for psychoanalysis.