Repression

The Prison •. by Felipe S. Morin G.

Often called the master defense mechanism in Freudian psychoanalysis, repression is said to occur when anxiety provoking impulses or ideas are banished to the unconscious by the ego or superego.

Freud says primary repression is the blocking of an instinctual impulse before it reaches consciousness.

Secondary repression occurs when camouflaged variants of the initial impulse are kept at bay–that is, when they are relegated to the unconscious.

An example of secondary repression would be a respected religious figure’s inability to remember a dream image of himself as an axe-murderer. The image itself generally would represent thanatos or the death instinct and, more specifically, a desire to depose a threatening object (Freud’s usage of ‘object’ includes other people).

Because this violent desire is inconsistent with the dreamer’s conscious self-image, the dream image is repressed.

Repression can be healthy if it prevents the ego from being overwhelmed with crippling anxiety. But it becomes unhealthy when fears and neuroses are never dealt with and, as a result, a person’s outlook becomes rigid and, in some instances, overall functioning and quality of life are impaired.

On the Web:

• “This video is a demonstration of defense mechanisms and related broad concepts as defined by Freud. Further, the clip illustrates what a healthy therapeutic relationship may look like using a psychoanalytic framework.”

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