The Id is driven by the pleasure principle, which strives for immediate gratification of all desires.
If these wants are not satisfied, a state of tension and/or anxiety results.
A baby's impulse to cry when its needs are not immediately met ensures - in the right (mother's) hands - survival.
In time, the young child develops the Ego (the reality principle that enables the individual to attempt to obtain what it needs by means which are deemed socially acceptable); and, later, the Superego (a sort of moral map, gauge or guide).
In adulthood, the Superego can become highly-developed, usually as a consequence of childhood needs being ignored, or of some terrible trauma. The adult no longer screams and wails (as a baby would do); instead, she may become pathetically compliant or mute. Simultaneously, she loses touch with the Id, except through nightmarish dreams where death and destruction reign.
Despite the chronic condition (both causes and symptoms) of an over-developed Superego, the disease is neither progressive nor terminal. Indeed, an external trigger (such as a sympathetic, long-term companionship or collaboration) can jolt the Ego back into action and within months, the individual will find an increased ability to articulate, once again, her desires and wants.
The subsequent articulation of what is - to all extents and purposes - self-presevation manifests itself in numerous ways, according to various controlled experiments and psycho-analytic case-studies.
The Ego may speak eloquently and subtly or more bluntly and simply; expressing itself by a vehement 'no' to all unreasonable and selfish demands. This act of defiance further enhances the Ego's growth: a pleasure in itself.
