What is Repression?
Repression was considered by Freud as the “cornerstone on which the whole structure of psychoanalysis rests” (Complete Works of Freud. Vol XIV, p.16). It is the central defense mechanism upon which all other of the analytic defense mechanisms are based. The same concept has been used in present times, albeit within the language and contest of the times. Repression is held to be an “unconscious” defense mechanism where the contents of the “unconscious” (“memories”, emotions, wishes….) are kept hidden from conscious awareness, so protecting the individual from psychological threat. A century after its origins, and its permeation into twentieth century thought- there is no scientific evidence for the concept of repression. The concept of repression followed Freud’s rejection of the “Seduction Theory”- and the analysis of his own memories and dreams! Repression is purely a belief, unsupported by the scientific research on memory. Classically, the contents of the unconscious are “uncovere
