CHAPTER XVI

REPRESSION

Repression is a refusal to permit an idea to enter consciousness. The instant it looms up upon the fringe of consciousness the attention is resolutely turned away from it. This device is resorted to when an idea enters the mind which is repugnant to our character, when we find ourselves thinking thoughts which are out of harmony with the general tone of our nature. Unwilling to admit to ourselves that we have such a side to our dispositions, we turn away from the repulsive images; but as it is impossible to erase from the mind any idea which has once entered it, we endeavour to store these ideas, since they must be stored somewhere, in that part which is furthest away from consciousness, and so, to use the technicalities of the psychologist, we repress them into our subconscious.

When it is remembered that every child is born into the world a little savage, and that it is only by education he achieves civilisation, it will readily be seen that our primitive nature is not a thing which our cultivated self can regard with any complacency. That the untrained child is selfish and dirty, we are all aware; and that we ourselves, before our training had time to take effect on us, were also selfish and dirty, we cannot with logic deny; but a merciful veil of forgetfulness has been drawn across this period, for we have developed into something so different from what we were that our primitive self is utterly repugnant to us, and repression is resorted to to prevent this unpleasant ghost of our original natures from intruding upon our self-esteem.

All ideas of an uncivilised type which enter the mind are apt to call forth a certain amount of response from us--hence the success of the smutty story--for the primitive side of our natures is not dead, and stirs in its sleep if a note of the same pitch is sounded in its hearing; therefore ideas which wake our lower nature are quickly repressed into the subconscious lest they should be translated into action. Repression is essentially the mechanism of self-disgust.

It is still an open question whether repression is normal or abnormal; whether it is part of the functioning of the healthy mind, or whether it is to be regarded as a psychic corn or callosity, an endeavour on the part of nature to reinforce a point of pressure, which, though intended as a defence, is apt to become a disease.

The part played by consciousness in repression is equally an open question. In my opinion, an idea must be present to consciousness before its nature can be apprehended and the judgment formed which leads to its banishment.

There is no question but that, if we were strong enough, we could deal with these problems in the conscious mind by means of thought control, and that repression is only resorted to when the first line of defence has gone down before the onslaught of the lower side of our natures. Repression may therefore be looked upon as a reaction due to weakness; the mind that was perfectly adapted to its environment would assimilate all experiences and grow stronger in the process.