The Psychology of Self-Deception - Ego Defence 2 of 10: Repression

Freud thought of repression as the basic ego defense, since it is only when repression is fragile or failing that other ego defenses come into play to reinforce and rescue it. Put differently, repression is an essential component or building block of the other ego defenses. To understand this, let’s look at an example of the ego defense of distortion, which is the reshaping of reality to suit one’s inner needs. A teenager who has been dumped by her boyfriend no longer recalls this episode (repression) and instead believes that it is she who dumped him (distortion).

Repressed material, though unconscious, is no less present, and can (and usually does) resurface in disturbing forms. As well as a lack of insight and understanding, the inability to process and come to terms with repressed material is associated with a range of psychological problems such as poor concentration, irritability, anxiety, insomnia, nightmares, and depression ; maladaptive and destructive patterns of behaviour such as anger and aggression in the face of reminders of the repressed material; and any number of superimposed ego defenses.

"Neurosis ” is an old-fashioned term that essentially describes the various forms in which repressed material can resurface (poor concentration, irritability, anxiety, and so on). In Studies on Hysteria (1895), Sigmund Freud and his colleague Josef Breuer first formulated the theory that neuroses have their origins in deeply traumatic and consequently repressed experiences.

Treatment, argued Freud and Breuerrequires the patient to recall these repressed experiences into consciousness and confront them once and for all, leading to a sudden and dramatic outpouring of emotion ("catharsis") and the attainment of insight. In the course of treatment, the patient is likely to display "resistance" in the form of changing the topic, blanking out, falling asleep, arriving late, or missing appointments. In fact, such behavior merely suggests that he/ she is close to recalling repressed material but, for the moment, still afraid of doing so.

The mental operation of suppression is similar to repression but with one crucial difference, namely, the "forgetting" is conscious rather than unconscious. Thus, suppression is the conscious and often rational decision to put an uncomfortable (although not totally unacceptable) stimulus to one side, either to deal with it at a later time or to abandon it altogether on the grounds that it is not worth dealing with. As it is a conscious operation, suppression is not, strictly speaking, a form of self-deception, but rather the conscious analog of repression.

A couple of friends who are holidaying with a number of other people start arguing and completely lose their tempers. The next day, they put their differences to one side and behave as though nothing had happened so as not to cast a cloud over the group and ruin the holiday. That day, they share some good times and special moments, and by the evening it has become safe enough to bring up the argument and put it behind them. By dealing with their argument like this, they have deepened rather than undermined their friendship .