Hello everyone.
I’m not familiar with the english terminology, which is why I wonder whether someone here could lend me a helping hand.
It’s about well known psychological processes.
When one experiences something that generates memories, ideas or feelings that come against his moral code one will try to push those out of one’s consciousness into subconsciousness. From time to time these emotions and notions find an outlet and rush out of the subconscious level and burst into the conscious one.
What are the psychologic terms for these processes?
I know this is kind of basic and you may not find it challenging but I’m kindly asking for your help.
Thank you.
I wish you light in your souls and peace in your mind.
Are you talking about psychoanalytic theory (Freudian theory) where the id (or the unconscious urges of the psyche) struggle to be expressed and are kept under control by the ego, which regulates the expression of these urges to times when they can be effective? Also the super ego which is the embodiement of social values and acts as the conscience? (very simplisitic explanation here)
If you want to follow up on these things, including Fruedian defense mechanisms etc, do a google search, I am sure you will find plenty
I think that the first term that you are looking for is sublimation:
to divert the expression of (an instinctual desire or impulse) from its primitive form to one that is considered more socially or culturally acceptable
I’m drawing a blank right now on what it’s called when these sublimated thoughts resurface, but I’ll let you know if it comes back to me. Must be that I’ve buried the concept deep in my psyche.
I think that the term repression applies to those emotions that are buried and not dealt with. In [i}sublimation* there is an outlet for the feelings but it is often inappropriate and misdirected.
But I don’t mind being corrected if I am mistaken.
I don’t know what the term is for repressed emotions as they surface. But the person who represses such feelings as anger and then “blows up” is often has passive-aggressive behavior.
repression is the burial of thoughts, memories, etc., that are considered painful, unacceptable, etc. Example: feeling anger but not expressing it.
sublimation is similar to repression, but instead of burying the source feelings, they are redirected towards socially acceptable outlets. Example: feeling anger, and channeling that anger into music, art or gardening (snip, snip).
These are both types of defense mechanisms. Others include regression, displacement, avoidance, etc.
“Nervous breakdown”, when some sort of slowly-building subconscious processes come pouring out unstoppably into conscious reality?
There’s also “acting out”, where the person commits obvious acts of anger while feeling no anger consciously, as if their angry subconscious is committing the acts without informing the conscious.
. You would have more luck doing a search for Freudian defense mechanisms