Is repression the key to understanding human behavior?

  • Thread starter coberst
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In summary: Yes. I believe that these repressed inputs are manifestations of a negative or dark side of the individual.
  • #1
coberst
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DO Look Down

Mental Health is a Matter of Degree!

My reading tells me that we are all neurotic and some of us are so neurotic that we cannot function satisfactorily in normal society and are then considered to be mentally ill.

All humans repress aspects of their life that might cause anxiety. This repression is called neurosis. It is the constant conflict wherein the ego constantly struggles to hold down thoughts that will cause anxiety. Freud discovered the unconscious in life and there exists a constant conflict between the unconscious and the ego. The ego keeps that in the unconscious that can cause anxiety from becoming conscious.

Humans are the only species to be self conscious. We dread death and repress that dread because we cannot live with a constant consciousness of our mortality.

Conflict is the essential characteristic of humanness.

Regression to animal existence is one answer to the quest to transcend separateness. Wo/man can try to eliminate that which makes her human but also tortures her; s/he can discard reason and self-consciousness. What is noteworthy here is that if everybody does it, it ain’t fiction; anything everyone does is reality, even if it is a virtual reality. For most people, reason and reality is nothing more than public consensus. “One never ‘loses one’s mind’ when nobody else’s mind differs from one’s own.”

Regression to our animal form of instinctual behavior happens when we replace our lost animal instincts with our own fully developed symbolic instincts; we can then program our self to uncritically follow these culturally formed instincts without further consideration. We can then do like the elephant parade; we hold the tail of the one in front of us with our trunk and march in file without any other thoughts to disturb our tranquility.

“The great characteristic of our time is that we know everything important about human nature that there is to know. Yet never has there been an age in which so little knowledge is securely possessed, so little a part of common understanding. The reason is precisely the advance of specialization, the impossibility of making safe general statements, which has led to a general imbecility.”

The steel worker on the girder
learned not to look down, and does his work
And there are words we have learned
Not to look at,
Not to look for substance
Below them. But we are on the verge
Of vertigo.
George Oppen

Norman Brown informs us that to comprehend Freud one must understand “repression”. “In the new Freudian perspective, the essence of society is repression of the individual, the essence of the individual is repression of the self.”

Freud discovered the importance of repression when he discovered the meaning of the “mad” symptoms of the mentally deranged, plus the meaning of dreams, and thirdly the everyday happenings regarded as slips of the tongue, errors, and random thoughts. He concludes that dreams, mental derangements, and common every day errors (Freudian slips) have meaningful causes that can be explained. Meaningful is the key word here.

Since these psychic phenomena are unconscious we must accept that we have motivation to action with a purpose for which we are unconscious (involuntary purposes). This inner nature of which we are completely unaware leads to Freud’s definition of psychoanalysis as “nothing more than the discovery of the unconscious in mental life.”

Freud discovered that sapiens have unconscious causes which are hidden from her because they are disowned and hidden by the conscious self. The dynamic relationship between the unconscious and conscious life is a constant battle and psychoanalysis is a science of this mental conflict.

The rejection of an idea which is one’s very own and remains so is repression. The essence of repression is in the fact that the individual refuses to recognize this reality of her very own nature. This nature becomes evident when it erupts into consciousness only in dreams or neurotic symptoms or by slips of the tongue.

The unconscious is illuminated only when it is being repressed by the conscious mind. It is a process of psychic conflict. “We obtain our theory of the unconscious from the theory of repression.” Freud’s hypothesis of the repressed unconscious results from the conclusion that it is common to all humans. This is a phenomenon of everyday life; neurosis is common to all humans.

Quotes from Ernest Becker Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction “Denial of Death”
 
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  • #2
Conscious cognition is not equipped to handle the mass of information processed unconsciously by the brain. Spatial relations, light levels, images, sounds, smells, memories, schema, heart-beet, breathing, hormonal levels, ect. These kinds of sensory input, at least, are perhaps necessarily 'repressed'. But I see you are speaking of a repression of character, or personality; thought patterns and not simply thoughts.

Am I correct in assuming you speak of the 'ego' figuratively?
 
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  • #3
robertm said:
Consciousness cognition is not equipped to handle the mass of information processed unconsciously by the brain. Spatial relations, light levels, images, sounds, smells, memories, schema, heart-beet, breathing, hormonal levels, ect. These kinds of sensory input, at least, are perhaps necessarily 'repressed'. But I see you are speaking of a repression of character, or personality; thought patterns and not simply thoughts.

Am I correct in assuming you speak of the 'ego' figuratively?

We have a capacity and Freud has given that capacity the name "ego"

The ego is our command center; it is the “internal gyroscope” and creator of time for the human. It controls the individual; especially it controls individual’s response to the external environment. It keeps the individual independent from the environment by giving the individual time to think before acting. It is the device that other animal do not have and thus they instinctively respond immediately to the world.

The id is our animal self. It is the human without the ego control center. The id is reactive life and the ego changes that reactive life into delayed thoughtful life. The ego is also the timer that provides us with a sense of yesterday, today, and tomorrow. By doing so it makes us into philosophical beings conscious of our self as being separate from the ‘other’ and placed in a river of time with a terminal point—death. This time creation allows us to become creatures responding to symbolic reality that we alone create.

As a result of the id there is a “me” to which everything has a focus of being. The most important job the ego has is to control anxiety that paradoxically the ego has created. With a sense of time there comes a sense of termination and with this sense of death comes anxiety that the ego embraces and gives the “me” time to consider how not to have to encounter anxiety.

Evidence indicates that there is an “intrinsic symbolic process” is some primates. Such animals may be able to create in memory other events that are not presently going on. “But intrinsic symbolization is not enough. In order to become a social act, the symbol must be joined to some extrinsic mode; there must exist an external graphic mode to convey what the individual has to express…but it also shows how separate are the worlds we live in, unless we join our inner apprehensions to those of others by means of socially agreed symbols.”

“What they needed for a true ego was a symbolic rallying point, a personal and social symbol—an “I”, in order to thoroughly unjumble himself from his world the animal must have a precise designation of himself. The “I”, in a word, has to take shape linguistically…the self (or ego) is largely a verbal edifice…The ego thus builds up a world in which it can act with equanimity, largely by naming names.” The primate may have a brain large enough for “me” but it must go a step further that requires linguistic ability that permits an “I” that can develop controlled symbols with “which to put some distance between him and immediate internal and external experience.”

I conclude from this that many primates have the brain that is large enough to be human but in the process of evolution the biological apparatus that makes speech possible was the catalyst that led to the modern human species. The ability to emit more sophisticated sounds was the stepping stone to the evolution of wo/man. This ability to control the vocal sounds promoted the development of the human brain.

Ideas and quotes from “Birth and Death of Meaning”—Ernest Becker
 

1. What is repression and how does it relate to human behavior?

Repression is a psychological defense mechanism that involves pushing away or burying painful or threatening thoughts, memories, or feelings into the unconscious mind. It relates to human behavior because it can influence how a person responds to certain situations and can impact their thoughts, emotions, and actions.

2. Is repression a healthy coping mechanism?

Repression can be a healthy coping mechanism in the short-term, as it allows an individual to temporarily avoid dealing with difficult emotions. However, in the long-term, it can lead to negative consequences such as increased anxiety, depression, and difficulty forming meaningful relationships.

3. Can repression cause psychological disorders?

Yes, repression can contribute to the development of psychological disorders such as anxiety disorders, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder. This is because repressed emotions and memories can resurface and manifest in unhealthy ways, causing distress and dysfunction in an individual's life.

4. How can repression be addressed and overcome?

Therapy, specifically psychoanalytic therapy, can help individuals identify and work through repressed emotions and memories in a safe and supportive environment. Mindfulness techniques and other coping strategies can also be helpful in managing and processing repressed thoughts and feelings.

5. Is repression the only factor in understanding human behavior?

No, repression is just one aspect of understanding human behavior. Other factors such as genetics, environment, past experiences, and individual differences also play a significant role in shaping human behavior. It is important to consider all of these factors in order to fully understand human behavior.

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