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Repression as a Defense Mechanism
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Repression as a defense mechanism
Repression can best be defined as the psychological defense mechanism that involves pushing undesired thoughts into the unconscious in order to not think about them anymore.
While our consciousness keeps the thoughts and feelings we want to be aware of, the unconscious mind holds our entire history which, without the help of repression, might actually lead us to psychological distress.
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Types of repression
Repression is of two types: primary and proper.
While the primary one takes into account the fact of hiding undesired thoughts or facts, the proper one takes place whenever an individual becomes aware of the thoughts that had initially been hidden and tries to hide them again.
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Repression and its way of functioning
The objective of hiding our undesired thoughts in our unconsciousness is to feel less anxious.
However, Freud stated that this process can backfire at any point, as these hidden thoughts or feelings can still create anxiety, eventually leading to psychological distress.
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Repression and its impact
By hiding our undesired thoughts or feelings, we might actually end up feeling more anxious and depressed, without even knowing the reason.
Dreams were thought by Freud to be one way these repressed thoughts would try to come back to our minds.
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Examples of repression
Some of the most known examples of repression:
- Slips of the tongue: we tend to express hidden thoughts by mistake
- The Oedipus Complex: children try to identify themselves with their same-sex parent in order to avoid competition for the other parent's love
- Phobia: hidden thoughts can still influence our behavior.
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Repression and the controversy around it
Repression has been a controversial topic in recent times:
- In the field of psychoanalysis, there are people who both sustain and deny the beneficial effects of repression.
- In regards to our memory, there is a controversy on whether hidden or traumatic memories can really be recovered.
- Neurosis: research has shown that repression can have a beneficial effect when it comes to individuals with dysfunctions at this level.
- Therapy: besides lifting repression, there are also other therapeutic actions that lead to a successful therapy and psychoanalysis.
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The need to understand psychology
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The Beginnings of Psychology
Psychology was not separate from philosophy until the late 1800s.
- During the 17th century, philosopher Rene Descartes introduced the idea of dualism - that the mind and body were two entities that interact to complete the human experience.
- While early philosophers relied on methods such as observation and logic, today's psychologists use scientific methodologies to draw conclusions about human thought and behavior.
- Physiological research on the brain and behavior also contributes to psychology.
Psychology as a Separate Discipline
- During the mid-1800s, a German physiologist Wilhelm Wundt outlined many of the major connections between the science of physiology and the study of human thought and behavior.
- He viewed psychology as the study of human consciousness and tried to apply experimental methods to study internal mental processes.
- His processes are known as introspection and seen as unreliable and unscientific today, but it helped to set the stage for future experimental methods.
- The opening of his psychology lab In 1879 is considered to be the official start of psychology as a separate scientific discipline.
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The Ego And The Reality Principle
According to the original psychoanalyst, Sigmund Freud, our ego is part of our personality that is between the id (our primal, animalistic instincts), our superego (the mature per...
The Ego Is The Balancer
The ego has its one internal, silent and invisible measures, known as defense mechanisms to curb the ‘id’. These measures are not visible and can only be known retroactively, like repression, for example.
Our basic and primal instincts are regulated by our ego, and our more moral and idealistic standards, set by the superego, are also kept under check. The ego operates in the preconscious, unconscious and conscious states of the mind. Example: The ego is a safety valve that prevents us from getting out of the car and attacking the driver that has offended us for some reason, however satisfying that may seem at the moment.
Sigmund Freud
"The ego represents what we call reason and sanity, in contrast to the id which contains the passions."