The Return of the Repressed

The definition of ‘Repressed’ is the ego one holds for suppressing and forgetting its instinctual impulses. The Return of the Repressed is Sigmund Freud’s theory of neurotic symptoms. The unconscious thought and feeling that would push for access to the fiction which the mind holds in order to be discharged. Repression is when the subject repels and keeps at a distance from consciousness representations (thoughts, images, memories) that are disagreeable because they are incompatible with the ego. Freud’s repression is the privileged mode of defense against the instincts. This is linked to the discovery of the unconscious; the notion of repression accompanies all the developments of Freudian theory. It is one of its major points, "the corner-stone on which the whole structure of psychoanalysis rests" ("On the History of the Psycho-Analytic Movement).

It is described in combination with hysteria; repression plays a major role in other mental disorders as well as in psychic activity. Generally, repression is a type of defense that mobilizes the mind to deal with conflicts and to protect the ego from the demands of the instincts.

An example is, an only child whose parents are having a second baby. The first child receives the most attention as it’s the only child, and is the centre of the parents’ universe. The child which has then had to give up their spoilt role as being the only child, and will feel demoted when the new child comes along. Typically, there is a mix of love, excitement, and trepidation at the arrival of the new baby; when the child realizes the new baby is going to get most of the attention that used to be all his, the child then gets jealous and angry. The child then realises that yelling and screaming is not going to get the child what it wants. The anger goes underground and eventually becomes unconscious. Often, as part of that process, the child shows his overwhelming love for the baby (a defence known as "reaction formation" is involved); the unconscious anger toward the baby then reveals itself in the child's attempts to "love it to death." This usually happens with children from age 3 onwards; therefore parents shouldn’t leave toddlers alone with infant babies. Eventually, the child manages to find ways to deal with his anger in acceptable ways and ideally learns that his love for his sibling outweighs his childhood resentment.

Freud showed the existence of a real intention of the mind that looks to forget, to cause disagreeable representations to disappear. These representations are isolated in a "second consciousness. Separated from the mainstream of thought. The psyche is thereafter "dissociated," the unpleasant idea having been transferred to another place, "repressed," is then blocked by any discharge of painful emotion that might be associated with it. It can be seen that the notion of repression, from the outset appears as a relation to the unconscious.