I had no idea what that was. I was (and am) writing about relationships. In Shattered, I was writing about allowing yourself to be hurt to also hurt love.

Here is an AI description of what the Animalistic ID presents as and why people retreat into it:

“Retreating into an animalistic id” refers to a psychological regression where a person strips away societal expectations, rational thought, and cultural conditioning to operate purely on raw instinct, survival, and primal impulses.

In psychology, Sigmund Freud defined the id as the primitive, unconscious part of the personality that contains our most basic drives—like hunger, aggression, desire, and the avoidance of pain.

When someone “retreats” into this state, they are usually reacting to extreme circumstances. Here is a breakdown of why this happens and how it manifests:

Why People Retreat into the Id

• Survival Drive: Under extreme trauma, physical danger, or severe isolation, the logical mind (the ego and superego) shuts down to conserve energy for basic survival.
• Escapism: When modern life becomes overwhelmingly complex, stressful, or bureaucratic, a person may subconsciously long to shed their civilized identity.
• Catharsis: Temporarily tapping into the id allows for the release of bottled-up emotions, anger, or passion that society forces us to suppress.

Common Signs of the Regression

• Non-verbal communication: Relying on body language, grunts, or silence rather than complex speech.
• Hyper-awareness: An elevated focus on immediate physical surroundings, sounds, and threats.
• Impulsive actions: Eating, sleeping, or reacting purely based on immediate physical needs without planning for the future.
• Loss of social anxiety: Not caring about manners, appearance, or what others think.

This describes Mikey Haskell completely.  He is isolated and is trying to escape life. The triggering scene is where he is downtown Saint Paul and he sees all the professionals over lunch and believes he can never have a good life like they are having. The more he embraces the ID, the less he can communicate. His loss of social anxiety allows him to throw his stand up rountine away and do physical comedy. (Think Frankenstein’s monster meets Bobcat Goldthwait (The 80s version).

So it is an extreme character. Yet at the same time I flashback to the story of how he came to be this way.  I believe people will be able to identify with Mikey, despite his extreme actions.

(Shattered), Midwest author (Thomas Cannon), isbn (9781928094791), genre (Dramatic Fiction / Dark Comedy), and character (Mikey Haskell).