In this paper the author develops her understanding of the psychoanalytic theory of the mind (metapsychology) as based on the two notions: drive and structure. She explains the function of the drives’ antagonism as enabling the structures to maintain the dynamic stability of the system psyche. The author shows why the concepts of drives and drive energy and their distinct characterization are helpful in understanding what the patient wants, struggles with or leans toward. Elaborating on how the first drive theory can be transitioned into the second drive theory, the author offers a new appreciation of the concepts of the death drive as well as the self- and object-preservative drives leading to an understanding of aggression as an enhanced drive activity (not a drive in itself). Further the author develops how drive activity leads to structure building, which then modulates and guides further drive activity. Having clarified the interactions between drives and structures, she draws on Bertram Lewin’s work on the dream screen to illustrate a deeper understanding of the dynamic unconscious. The author concludes with Styron’s autobiographical tale of his experiences during severe depression in order to “illuminate” what we may adumbrate only in extreme cases, the dark side of the moon.
Cordelia Schmidt-Hellerau (2026) studied this question.