Definitions HQ

Repression (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠properly a voluntary act — though nervous people can hide such decisions from themselves so well it looks wholly unconscious.

Repression (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠an illegitimate way of evading a conflict — pretending it does not exist — and the conflict, still alive, must reappear somewhere.

Repression (n.) leaves ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠our own desires sticking like arrows in our flesh — the wounding shafts come not from outside gossip but from the ambush of our own unconscious.

Repression (n.) makes ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠impulses childish: the less they are acknowledged, the more infantile and archaic they become.

Repression (n.) does ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠not get rid of anything; the repressed crops up again at the very spot where we are most sensitive.

Repression (n.) began ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠when we wanted to be good and so had to repress evil — and with that the paradise of the collective psyche came to an end.

Repression (n.) theory ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠(n.) was the logical first guess about the unconscious: from the feeling of fear one infers something dangerous, from resistance something repellent.

Repression (n.) blocks ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠a natural organ: like bile kept from the bowel and seeping into the blood, the repressed content infiltrates body and mind — hysteria, phobias, obsessions, disturbed dreams.

Repression (n.) preserves ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠rather than kills: repressed contents have the best chance of survival, since nothing is corrected in the unconscious.

Repression (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠an artificial unconsciousness that becomes harmful and unbearable once it no longer reflects the life of the instincts.

Repression (n.) breaks ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the thin wall between wishing and knowing one wishes: the wish is forgotten, and a rational justification moves into its place.

Repression (n.) makes ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠things archaic: whatever falls into the unconscious takes on an older form, so a mother's repressed complex becomes a skeleton in the cupboard, an incubus — and she becomes, to her child, the witch who devours children.

Repression (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠a half-hearted letting go — dropping hot cakes, reviling grapes that hang too high, looking the other way from one's desires.

Repression (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠done by a higher psychic order — ethical, aesthetic, religious ideas — which has energy many times greater than the physiological psyche it disturbs.

Repression (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠an artificial loss of memory, a self-suggested amnesia — unlike suppression, which merely sets a content aside and can always recover it.

Repression (n.) follows, ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠in Freud's early account, when a traumatic complex is incompatible with the normal contents of consciousness, so the patient treats it as "non arrivé" and the affect cannot be abreacted.

Repression (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the mechanism that displaces a conscious content into the unconscious; sometimes it is a cowardly "putting aside" of painful feeling, sometimes a passive sinking, as if dragged down by a force from below.

Repression (n.) only ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠prolongs and extends a conflict of opposites — which is to say it produces a neurosis; the therapist instead confronts the opposites and seeks their lasting union.

Repression (n.) turns ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠even helpful tendencies into demons: the energy of a neglected numinous symbol sinks into the unconscious and swells whatever is uppermost there.