Irma's injection

Freud later noted that "Irma's injection" was the first dream he had devoted a meticulous level of interpretation to.

Although he spent much time analyzing it, he confessed that his interpretation had gaps and did not completely uncover the meaning of his dream.

After some time had passed, Freud visited with a colleague who knew Irma and asked about her condition.

I took her to the window and looked down her throat, and she showed signs of recalcitrance, like women with artificial dentures.

She then opened her mouth properly and on the right I found a big white patch; at another place I saw extensive whitish grey scabs upon some remarkable curly structures which were evidently modelled on the turbinal bones of the nose.

- I at once called in Dr M., and he repeated the examination and confirmed it ... Dr M. looked quite different from usual; he was very pale, he walked with a limp and his chin was clean-shaven ... My friend Otto was now standing beside her as well, and my friend Leopold was percussing her through her bodice and saying: 'She has a dull area low down on the left.'

In his analysis of "Irma’s Injection", Freud substituted many of the individuals in his real life for the people in the dream, including patients, family members, and friends.

He thought about the medical mistakes he had made and believed that he was unconsciously seeking to rid himself of the guilt caused by them.

This led Freud to question his diagnosis, and he sought to find a possible error to avoid blame for the lack of presenting a cure.

In his analysis he stated that these particular signs in the dream reminded him of his daughter’s illness and the difficulties his family went through at that time.

[3] In the dream, Dr. M. assures Freud that Irma’s symptoms point to an infection and that her body will rid itself of the effects.

Freud believed that this fact allowed him to shift the blame for Irma’s illness because his treatment could not have caused such an infection.

For example, it has been suggested that aspects of the dream reflect Freud's concerns about his own health problems, his wife's pregnancy, or the process of developing his new psychoanalytical techniques.

Schur believed that Freud's dream represented an attempt to shift the blame for this situation onto Eckstein, and thus absolve both Fliess and himself from responsibility.

[8][9] However, the real person whom Freud conceals behind the name of "Irma" is probably not Emma Eckstein; it is more likely to be a family friend of his, Anna Lichtheim.