Repression Health Dictionary

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Repression: From 1 Different Sources

n. (in *psychoanalysis) the process of excluding an unacceptable wish or an idea from conscious mental life. The repressed material may give rise to symptoms. One goal of psychoanalysis is to return repressed material to conscious awareness so that it may be dealt with rationally.
Health Source: Oxford | Concise Colour Medical Dictionary
Author: Jonathan Law, Elizabeth Martin

Psychoanalysis

The term applied to the theories and practice of the school of psychology originating with Freud and developed by Jung and other psychotherapists (see PSYCHOLOGY). It depends upon the theory that states of disordered mental health have been produced by a repression in the subconscious of painful memories or of con?icting instincts, thus absorbing the individual’s mental energy and diverting attention from normal mental activities.

Psychoanalysis aims at discovering these repressed memories, which are responsible for the diversion of mental power and of which the affected person usually is only dimly aware or quite unaware. The fundamental method of psychoanalytical treatment is the free expression of thoughts, ideas and fantasies on the part of the patient. To facilitate this, the analyst uses techniques to relax the patient and maintains a neutral attitude to his or her problems. In the course of analysis the patient will re-explore his or her early emotional attitudes and tensions.

The fundamental conception of psychoanalysis, although hard to prove by orthodox scienti?c methods and therefore challenged by some psychiatrists, has been widely adopted and developed by other schools of psychology. Freud’s work changed the attitudes of the scienti?c community and the public to the problems of the neurotic, the morbidly anxious, the fearful and to the mental and emotional develoment of the child.... psychoanalysis

Blocking

Inability to express true feelings or thoughts, usually as a result of emotional or mental conflict. In Freudian- based psychotherapies, blocking is regarded as originating from repression of painful emotions in early life. A very specific form of thought blocking occurs in schizophrenia: trains of thought are persistently interrupted involuntarily to

be replaced by unrelated new ones.

(See also psychotherapy.)... blocking

Defence Mechanisms

Techniques used by the mind to cope with unpleasant or unwelcome emotions, impulses, experiences, or events. Repression of emotions surrounding a particular event or refusing to accept an event (denial) are both defence mechanisms.... defence mechanisms

Abreaction

n. the therapeutic release of strong emotion commonly associated with a buried memory. The therapist may help the patient to retrieve the memory (sometimes through hypnosis), which is accompanied by the release and discharge of tension and anxiety associated with it; this is supposed to rid the memory of its power. This intervention is now largely obsolete in psychological practice. See repression.... abreaction

Amnesia

n. total or partial loss of memory following physical injury, disease, drugs, or psychological trauma (see confabulation; fugue; repression). Anterograde amnesia is loss of memory for the events following a trauma; retrograde amnesia is loss of memory for events preceding the trauma. Some patients experience both types.... amnesia

Defence Mechanism

the means whereby an undesirable impulse or emotion can be avoided or controlled. Defence mechanisms are regarded as normal forms of self-protection; however, used excessively, they can become pathological. Many defence mechanisms have been described, including *repression, *projection, *reaction formation, *sublimation, and *splitting.... defence mechanism

Hysteria

n. a now obsolete name for a *neurosis characterized by emotional instability, repression, dissociation, some physical symptoms (see hysterical), and vulnerability to suggestion. Two types were recognized: conversion hysteria, now known as *conversion disorder; and dissociative hysteria, comprising a group of conditions now generally regarded as *dissociative disorders.... hysteria

Sublimation

n. the replacement of socially undesirable means of gratifying motives or desires by means that are socially acceptable. See also defence mechanism; repression.... sublimation

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