Who Was the Wolf Man (Sergei Pankejeff)

Who Was the Wolf Man (Sergei Pankejeff) History and Biographies Print Sergei Pankejeff: Who Was the Wolf Man? The Wolf Man, a.k.a. Sergei Pankejeff, Was One of Freuds Most Famous Patients By Kendra Cherry facebook twitter Kendra Cherry, MS, is an author, educational consultant, and speaker focused on helping students learn about psychology. Learn about our editorial policy Kendra Cherry Updated on October 22, 2019 Getty Images More in Psychology History and Biographies Psychotherapy Basics Student Resources Theories Phobias Emotions Sleep and Dreaming Pankejeff was a patient of Sigmund Freud who gave him the case name Wolf Man to protect his identity. Pankejeff was born to a wealthy family from St. Petersburg. In 1906, his older sister Anna committed suicide and Pankejeff began experiencing symptoms of depression. In 1907, his father also committed suicide by overdosing on sleeping pills. Soon after, Pankejeff began seeking treatment for his own depression. In 1910, Pankejeff went to Vienna to be treated by Freud. The first description of the case was published in 1918 under the title From the History of an Infantile Neurosis. Much of Freuds analysis centered on a dream that Pankejeff had as a young child: I dreamt that it was night and that I was lying in bed. (My bed stood with its foot towards the window; in front of the window there was a row of old walnut trees. I know it was winter when I had the dream, and night-time.) Suddenly the window opened of its own accord, and I was terrified to see that some white wolves were sitting on the big walnut tree in front of the window. There were six or seven of them. The wolves were quite white, and looked more like foxes or sheep-dogs, for they had big tails like foxes and they had their ears pricked like dogs when they pay attention to something. In great terror, evidently of being eaten up by the wolves, I screamed and woke up. My nurse hurried to my bed, to see what had happened to me. It took quite a long while before I was convinced that it had only been a dream; I had had such a clear and life-like picture of the window opening and the wolves sitting on the tree. At last I grew quieter, felt as though I had escaped from some danger, and went to sleep again   Freuds Analysis of the Wolf Man Freud believed that the dream was the result of Pankejeff having witnessed his parents having sex. The case of the Wolf Man played an important role in Freuds development of his theory of psychosexual development. Freuds Stages of Psychosexual Development After a year of treatment, Freud declared Pankejeff cured and the man returned to Russia. Despite Freuds assessment that the problem had been resolved, Pankejeff continued to seek psychoanalysis, often from followers of Freud, until his death in 1979. Pankejeffs assessment of the success of his treatment was far less optimistic than Freuds. Prior to his death, he was interviewed by an Australian journalist and said, the whole thing looks like a catastrophe. I am in the same state as when I came to Freud, and Freud is no more. Criticism of Freuds Analysis Psychologist and science writer Daniel Goleman criticized Freuds analysis and treatment of Pankejeff in The New York Times, writing: Freuds key intervention with the Wolf Man rested on a nightmare in which he was lying in bed and saw some white wolves sitting on a tree in front of the open window. Freud deduced that the dream symbolized a trauma: that the Wolf Man, as a toddler, had witnessed his parents having intercourse. Freuds version of the supposed trauma was contradicted by the Wolf Man himself, Sergej Pankejeff. In an interview with Karin Obholzer, a journalist who tracked him down in Vienna in the 1970s, he explained that he saw Freuds interpretation of his dream as terribly far-fetched. Obholzer also reported that Pankejeff believed that The whole thing is improbable, since in families of his milieu young children slept in their nannys bedroom, not with their parents. As for Freud curing him, Pankejeff refuted the claim saying that he resented being propaganda and a showpiece for psychoanalysis. That was the theory, that Freud had cured me 100 percent. However, Its all false. An Overview of Freuds Interpretation of Dreams