Disordered Personalities 2ed

Disordered Personalities — Second Edition
Ego Defenses Illustrated
Repression is considered to be the principal ego defense and therefore
receives the largest drawing. This defense involves an active process
of excluding distressing material from conscious awareness, which
Freud thought was integral to the formation of psychological symptoms.
The “distressing material” can be further defined as consisting of an
instinctual impulse, an idea, and the accompanying emotion or affect.
For an example, let’s get oedipal. A boy may consciously be aware of
hating his father, an idea and emotion which are both too upsetting to
bear. If the idea reenters consciousness, it be altered so that rather
than the father being hated, a substitute is used such as another
authority figure. In this way, what is forgotten is not forgotten, and the
object of the strong feelings is symbolically linked to the original conflict.
Primary
repression
refers to stopping
an idea or affect
before it reaches
consciousness.
Secondary
repression
removes from
consciousness
what was once
experienced.
Suppression is
the conscious
avoidance of
attending to an
impulse or conflict.
For example,
primary repression
would involve not
reading this page in
the first place.
Secondary repression would be reading it and then forgetting what
was presented. Suppression would be consciously avoiding this book
because it reminds you of an unpleasant event (like an examination).
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