What is the difference between repression and sublimation




















Here are some ways people might sublimate these urges. Sublimation can also help to transform other negative feelings into positive paths. The following examples show other ways sublimation works. Sublimation in psychology is a neutral concept, neither good nor bad. It's just a description of something that can happen to humans.

There are two things to remember about defense mechanisms like sublimation. First, they usually happen on an unconscious level. That means you may have little control over them. Second, defense mechanisms falsify reality, either by distorting or transforming your view of what's real. Although it might seem that having a false sense of reality is to be avoided, it can help you get through your darkest days.

In some cases, though, good feelings can be sublimated if they seem too big to endure. So, although sublimation is a positive thing in many cases, there are times when it could rob you of experiencing the ecstatic emotions. Still, Anna Freud and others have classified sublimation as one of the most mature defense mechanisms. As mentioned above, for most of us, sublimation is something that happens subconsciously — without us being aware of it.

As a result, sublimation can be as much a problem as the emotions it is burying. Alternatively, therapists can help you actively use sublimation to help you deal with other issues.

First, you may want to hold onto the energy that's coming from those unacceptable urges. Feelings themselves are never inappropriate as long as you choose appropriate ways of dealing with them. So, it isn't wrong or bad to feel the power of those emotions.

Once you know what feelings are behind your behaviors, you can allow yourself to experience those feelings without acting directly on them. If you have sad feelings, you can recognize that and intentionally choose to write poems or draw pictures that express them. The question is: is this really sublimation?

After all, it's happening on a conscious level. And, you're still well-grounded in reality. The truth is that it doesn't matter how you classify these activities. What matters is that you put those energies to work to do something productive rather than destructive. For instance, you may have a strong desire to paint every waking moment. Yet, you don't know why. By talking to a therapist, you can find out why you have that urge.

Then, you can resolve it more completely. Are you troubled by disturbing urges or distressing emotions? If so, you may be able to find a way to resolve them by putting those energies to a more helpful purpose. You don't have to deny that you have those feelings, but sublimation can help you stay within the bounds of what is socially acceptable and acceptable to you. However, unless you use sublimation naturally and unconsciously, you may have trouble understanding how to make it work.

Or, you may want to choose a different way to deal with the conflict between your urges and your ideals. Fortunately, help is available. Reaching Out with BetterHelp You can go to a mental health center in your local area to help with managing your urges. If you prefer the comfort and convenience of online therapy, you can talk to a licensed and professional counselor through BetterHelp. Fortunately, people have gone before you and left promising testimonials:.

Freud's psychoanalytic theory defined sublimation as a process by which negative urges, drives, and behaviors are channeled into more socially acceptable behaviors. Examples of sublimation are channeling inappropriate urges into positive behaviors like exercise, therapy, or other physical activities.

According to Freud's psychoanalytic theory, defense mechanisms are built-in mental defenses and behaviors that are activated unconsciously by outside circumstances.

Freud believed that sublimation is a defense mechanism that can be activated either consciously or unconsciously in order to channel lower drives into high physical activities. Scientific research supports experimental evidence for sublimation and higher physical activities. According to personality and social psychology, it is believed that sublimation is a built-in psychological defense mechanism.

Sigmund Freud defined sublimation as the process of replacing undesirable desires and behaviors with higher physical activities as an alternative to acting out socially unacceptable behaviors. Real-life examples of sublimation according to the cultural psychological approach occur when people make conscious or unconscious decisions to replace unacceptable behaviors with more socially acceptable behaviors. If someone is feeling angry or violent towards someone, instead of acting out in an aggressive manner, sublimation is a mature way to resolve the issue.

Going for a run or exercising is a higher physical activity than fighting or arguing. Based on interpersonal psychoanalysis, Freud believed that sublimation could be implemented at will using a psychological approach. Social psychology has also shown evidence to this effect that dog tails Freud's sublimation theory for eliminating bad behavior. Freud's sublimation theory is based on cultural psychological factors that frown on behaviors seen as socially undesirable.

Examples of sublimation opposites are arguing, lying, violence, and sexually deviant behaviors outlined in personality and social psychology.

These behaviors are the opposite of socially acceptable behaviors that include physical activities, scientific, artistic, and creative pursuits. There is evidence for sublimation tactics successfully diffusing potentially disastrous situations in social psychology. The process of sublimation can be applied in a variety of situations. This is especially true in sublimation culture and creativity pursuits where people engage in creative behaviors to keep from engaging in harmful and undesirable acts.

This idea falls in line with Freud's view stating that sublimation can be activated at will. In cases of interpersonal psychoanalysis where sublimation was used the use of sublimation was a sign that the situation would likely have a better outcome.

Rather than fly off in a fit of rage, what if you channeled those angry emotions into some type of physical activity, such as cleaning your house? You might spend a few hours angrily scrubbing down your kitchen and bathrooms. Once your feelings of frustration eventually subside, you are left with a positive result—a sparkling clean house.

This is one example of how sublimation can transform negative impulses into behaviors that are less damaging and even productive. The concept of sublimation has a central role in Sigmund Freud 's psychoanalytic theory. Sublimation is a defense mechanism—an unconscious psychological defense that reduces the anxiety that may result from unacceptable urges or harmful stimuli.

According to Freud's psychoanalytic theory, there are three components of personality: the id, the ego, and the superego. The id is the first to form and serves as the source of the libido or the energy that drives behavior.

The id is primitive and basic, composed of all the urges and desires that are often socially unacceptable if we simply acted upon them whenever we pleased. The ego emerges later during childhood and is the part of the personality that reigns in the id and makes it conform to the demands of reality. Rather than simply acting out on urges, the ego forces us to deal with these desires in ways that are more realistic.

Finally, the superego is the component of personality that is made up of all the morals, rules, standards, and values that we have internalized from our parents and culture. This part of personality strives to make us behave in ways that are moral. The ego must mediate between the primal urges of the id, the moralistic standards of the superego, and the realistic demands of reality. Sublimation is one way that the ego reduces the anxiety that can be created by unacceptable urges or feelings.

Sublimation works by channeling negative and unacceptable impulses into behaviors that are positive and socially acceptable. Freud considered sublimation a sign of maturity that allows people to behave in civilized and acceptable ways.

This process can lead people to pursue activities that are better for their health or engage in behaviors that are positive, productive, and creative. Freud's idea of sublimation originated while he was reading the story of a man who tortured animals as a child and later went on to become a surgeon. Freud believed that the same energy that once drove the child's sadism was eventually sublimated into positive and socially acceptable actions that benefited others. Participation in sports and athletic competition can sometimes be examples of sublimation in action.

Rather than acting on unacceptable urges to fight with others, people may play competitive sports in order to dominate and win. This can also extend to exercise activity as well. Imagine that you get in an argument with your next-door neighbor. Your feelings of anger might create an urge to physically strike out at the neighbor. Because such action is inappropriate, you might deal with your feelings of frustration by going for a jog.

Through sublimation, you are able to turn your unwanted impulses into an action that dissipates your anger and benefits your own physical health. Some other examples of sublimation in the real world:. In a study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , researchers looked at whether Protestants were more likely to sublimate taboo feelings into creative endeavors.

They found that individuals who experienced sexual problems related to anxieties over taboo desires were more likely to also have greater creative accomplishments than those who reported no sexual problems or those with sexual problems unrelated to taboo feelings. The researchers suggest that their studies represent "possibly the first experimental evidence for sublimation and suggest a cultural psychological approach to defense mechanisms.

The target can be a person or an object that can serve as a symbolic substitute. Displacement occurs when the Id wants to do something of which the Super ego does not permit.

The Ego thus finds some other way of releasing the psychic energy of the Id. Thus there is a transfer of energy from a repressed object-cathexis to a more acceptable object. Someone who feels uncomfortable with their sexual desire for a real person may substitute a fetish. Someone who is frustrated by his or her superiours may go home and kick the dog, beat up a family member, or engage in cross-burnings. Regression is a defense mechanism proposed by Anna Freud whereby the the ego reverts to an earlier stage of development usually in response to stressful situations.

Regression functions as form of retreat, enabling a person to psychologically go back in time to a period when the person felt safer. A child may begin to suck their thumb again or wet the bed when they need to spend some time in the hospital. Teenagers may giggle uncontrollably when introduced into a social situation involving the opposite sex.

Sublimation is similar to displacement, but takes place when we manage to displace our unacceptable emotions into behaviors which are constructive and socially acceptable, rather than destructive activities. Sublimation is one of Anna Freud's original defense mechanisms. Sublimation for Freud was the cornerstone of civilized life, as arts and science are all sublimated sexuality. Many great artists and musicians have had unhappy lives and have used the medium of art of music to express themselves.

Sport is another example of putting our emotions e. For example, fixation at the oral stage of development may later lead to seeking oral pleasure as an adult through sucking one's thumb, pen or cigarette.

Also, fixation during the anal stage may cause a person to sublimate their desire to handle faeces with an enjoyment of pottery. Rationalization is a defense mechanism proposed by Anna Freud involving a cognitive distortion of "the facts" to make an event or an impulse less threatening. We do it often enough on a fairly conscious level when we provide ourselves with excuses. But for many people, with sensitive egos, making excuses comes so easy that they never are truly aware of it.

In other words, many of us are quite prepared to believe our lies. When a person finds a situation difficult to accept, they will make up a logical reason why it has happened. For example, a person may explain a natural disaster as 'God's will'. Reaction formation is a psychological defense mechanism in which a person goes beyond denial and behaves in the opposite way to which he or she thinks or feels.

Conscious behaviors are adopted to overcompensate for the anxiety a person feels regarding their socially unacceptable unconscious thoughts or emotions. Usually, a reaction formation is marked by exaggerated behavior, such as showiness and compulsiveness. Therapists often observe reaction formation in patients who claim to strongly believe in something and become angry at everyone who disagrees.

Freud claimed that men who are prejudice against homosexuals are making a defense against their own homosexual feelings by adopting a harsh anti-homosexual attitude which helps convince them of their heterosexuality. Another example of reaction formation includes the dutiful daughter who loves her mother is reacting to her Oedipus hatred of her mother.



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