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.”

+ Add / Edit / Opinion

Reaction Formation

Freud Quiere Bailar + OU: Wookie Sidecar

In Sigmund Freud‘s psychoanalytic theory, a defense mechanism in which the subject exaggerates the opposite of a repressed, socially unacceptable impulse.

The original impulse remains unresolved in its infantile form within the unconscious, thus feeding the fires of a neuroses.

But reaction formation can lead to a successful sublimation of the original impulse.

An example of the negative, neurotic type of reaction formation would be the gay basher who has repressed his or her own homosexual fantasies.

The positive, adaptive type would be the father who sublimates inappropriate sexual desire for his daughter into buying her fine, attractive articles of clothing.

Some would say, however, that the best solution to the above scenario would be to become conscious of and entirely resolve the unacceptable impulse through analysis, prayer and/or purification techniques.

Critics of this approach believe it’s impossible to eradicate sexual desires, appropriate or not. This view is at loggerheads with personal accounts from saints like Faustina Kowalska who claim to have received celibacy as a divine gift. » Reversal

References:

• Charles Rycroft, A Critical Dictionary of Psychoanalysis, Harmondsworth: Penguin 1977, pp. 136-137.

Add to this, report errors, suggest edits or voice your opinion

Undoing

John Singer Sargent: Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth (detail) by freeparking

Undoing

A defense mechanism in which an unpleasant thought or action is blotted out from consciousness.

Undoing differs from or could be seen as a subtype of repression in that the negative memory is repressed through obsessive ritual activity.

Lady Macbeth‘s repeated hand washing “Out, damned spot!” after the murder of King Duncan in Act V of Macbeth could be taken as a loose literary example of undoing.

It’s loose because she still talks about blood, death and hell during her late-night washing ritual. In short, she goes a little off base in an attempt to deal with guilt and anxiety. » Obsession

Add to this, report errors, suggest edits or voice your opinion by posting a comment

Abreaction

Conversación / Conversation

Originally uploaded by Heart Industry

Abreaction A psychoanalytic term which refers to a discharge of emotion attached to a repressed experience.

In contemporary psychoanalysis the analysand tries to not only feel but also intellectually understand the emotion, that is, the why and how of its repression.

According to the theory, emotional experience and intellectual understanding together bring about a therapeutic result.

In the early days of psychoanalysis, however, it was not deemed important for the intellectual component to be present for successful therapeutic progress. » Catharsis, Cathexis, Freud (Sigmund)

Add to this, report errors, suggest edits or voice your opinion by posting a comment