Psychology of sex - Total No. of Records in System :: 2032

CONCLUSIONportion of the psyche to which as the " Unconscious" he attachesso potent an influence. This would be a primitivekind of mental activity, overlaid by human reason, correspondingto the instinctive knowledge possessed by animals.Repression, says Freud, would be the return to thisinstinctive stage, and man would be paying for his ownnew acquisitions by a liability to neurosis.We are again brought tobalance of ex-that rhythmicpression and repression which is so dominant a featurein our civilized life, but is also to be seen in all animallife. As I have already pointed out, psycho-pathologists,in accordance with their own special experiences, aretoo often tempted to see here mainly a possibility ofneurotic disorder.Within the normal range, and in the sound organism,the play of expression and repression, it is essential tounderstand, is harmless and wholesome, even essential toariy developed form of life. To hold that the Unconsciousis always, or even often, in disharmony with the Consciousis a distortion of the facts. He is indeed an unfortunateperson whose Unconscious isalways out of harmony withhis Conscious. A verylittle consideration shows that, formost of us, it is not so. We have only to appeal to dreamswhich furnish the most familiar revelation of the Unconscious.It must be within the experience of most normalpeople that dreams perpetually bring back to us, with evena heightened beauty or tenderness, the facts and emotionsof our conscious wakinglife. Dreams are sometimes arevelation of concealed disharmonies. They are also themost brilliant proof we possess of unsuspected harmoniesbetween our conscious and unconscious lives. We are tooapt to be content with the superficial aspect of dreams, andfailto see their latent and more significant content.[359]