Sigmund Freud (1856–1939), the Austrian psychoanalyst and founder of psychoanalysis, spent a lot of time studying various mental traumas suffered in childhood. According to Freud, every person carries these traumas within himself and they have a decisive influence on his life. Freud's theory was developed and supplemented by Erik Erikson (1902-1994), a German psychologist and psychoanalyst who lived for many years in the USA. According to Erikson, the traumas received in childhood are complemented by the peculiarities of life in the modern world, when a person is not always able to reveal his creative abilities and realize himself as a professional. As a result, life seems to him a waste of energy and a series of missed opportunities. The book contains the most significant works of Sigmund Freud and Erik Erikson on this topic.