According to Freud's theory of personality, there are three elements of personality:

1. The ego which is grounded in reality mediating between the id and super ego.
2. The id which is the primitive, selfish aspect demanding immediate gratification by increasing pleasure and reducing tension.
3. The superego which is the internalization of parental interjections (extreme).

Neurosis results when the super-ego imposes guilt on the ego to limit the impulses of the id. Neurosis stems from childhood conflicts that occur when the balance between the libido and ego mechanisms are unbalanced.