(855) 4-ESSAYS

Type a new keyword(s) and press Enter to search

Repression of Childhood Memories

This theory makes a good parallel into a situation I experienced at the beginning of my parents tumultuous separation that led to their divorce and how I hardly remember what occurred that night. Flashback to 1992: I hear strained angry voices coming from my doorway. I"m used to yelling so I think nothing of it until I hear the tone of desperation in my father's voice. "I just want to see my daughter, and say goodnight. Move out of the way" my father says. I got out of the warm comforts of my bed and stare through the slit in the doorway where the dim light peaks through. I stand and stare I don't understand what the commotion is about. This was the last night my household ever had both my parents in it.
             The present: I remember nothing else about that night and not much more of what my childhood was like before that night and after that night. My childhood as well as my pre teen years is a blur of scattered images that I"m unable to piece together to grasp a better understanding of what my life was once like. Freud's 1915 article on "Repression" gives his formal definition of what repression is: " that the essence of repression lies simply in turning away, and keeping distance from the conscious"(Freud,147). I've closed off my conscious memory unconsciously so I wouldn't have to deal with the painful remembrance of how deeply that night affected me. I have kept myself distant from these memories so I wouldn't have to deal with them. By repressing the event that took place I was postponing coming to terms with my parents divorce. If I didn't remember that night I could pretend that my parents might actually get back together. If I was " not conscious of certain past happenings and the awareness it could prevent anxiety" (Madison,27)from occurring in my life. Holding on to false hopes helps me to push reality away. Although my repression of this event has made it hard for me to remember what happened, Freud allows me, with a sense a comfort to remember so I can have some closure on my parents divorce when he writes in Civilizations in Discontents:.


Essays Related to Repression of Childhood Memories

1. False Memory Syndrome

In Freud's theory of "repression" the mind automatically banishes traumatic events from memory to prevent overwhelming anxiety. ... The nature of memory causes some memories to be distorted through influences such as the integration of new information. There are also believed-in imaginings that are not based in historical reality; these have been called false memories, pseudo-memories and memory illusions. ... In many cases of recovered memory therapy, clients have memories of childhood sexual abuse, which never happened. ... This disinformation often becomes incorporated into memory, con...

  • Word Count: 989
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

2. Frued V. Fromm

Fromm accepted the importance of unconscious, biological drives, repression and defense mechanisms, but rejected Freud's theory of id, ego and superego. ... Fromm believed repression is a constantly recurring process. ... He described it as repressed, unconscious wishes to maintain infantile sexual fantasies, and the childhood fear of being punished because of one's libidinal impulses, act as resistance to memory. These repressions cause neurotic patterns. ... His childhood included a strong Jewish influence, but he rejected it because he wanted no part of organized religion. ...

  • Word Count: 1703
  • Approx Pages: 7
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

3. Dreams

This repression, Freud believed, also shaped our character and behavior. ... Many times with the id, ego, or super-ego there are repressions that lie deep beneath them. Freud felt that many repressions were rooted in the early childhood. ... By encouraging individuals to illustrate their dreams through art, while the dream was still fresh in their memory, Jung helped to link individuals with the world dream. ... In light of that fact that the three were greatly influenced by their childhood's", I do not feel everyone expresses these urges or desires which they speak of. ...

  • Word Count: 1414
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

4. Inside The Human Mind

This concept of repression leads me to the discourse on Sigmund Freud and his psychoanalysis. ... There is little information about Freud's childhood. He moved from Vienna to Freiburg at a young age and remembered his childhood years as "harsh" and preferred not to be reminded of them. ... In other words, the basis for psychoanalysis is repression. ... Freud and Breur compared a traumatic memory in a dream system to a foreign body causing the symptoms of hysteria. ...

  • Word Count: 3689
  • Approx Pages: 15
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

5. Freud's Theory of Defence Mech

Repression is the most powerful of the defence mechanisms and acts to remove harmful thoughts, feelings or memories from the conscious mind (Santrock, 1997). ... The classic example of repression at its most extreme is that of individuals who have been physically or sexually abused at a young age. Memories of instances of abuse have been "pushed-out" of the consciousness and in some cases, the individual may remember their childhood as being a happy one until something acts to trigger the memories of abuse (such as the use of hypnosis or similar techniques). Freud stated that repression l...

  • Word Count: 1584
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

6. Sigmund Freud

He also concluded that the unconscious is full of memories of events form early childhood. ... These include repression, projection, and reaction formation. Repression is the exclusion of impulses from conscious awareness. ... He believed that if the patient could talk about their unpleasant feelings or painful memories and understand and deal with them, that the symptoms of neurosis might then disappear. ...

  • Word Count: 635
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

7. False Memory Syndrome

There is no doubt that perpetrators of childhood abuse go to great lengths to deny their involvement, and abuse frequently is revealed (and admitted by the perpetrator) only many years after it has occurred. ... In our culture the most frequent precursor to DID (MPD) is extreme physical, emotional, and sexual abuse in childhood, but survivors of other kinds of trauma in childhood (such as natural disasters, invasive medical procedures, war, and torture) have also reacted by developing DID (MPD). ... What is also widely believed by many psychotherapists is that many psychological disorders an...

  • Word Count: 5530
  • Approx Pages: 22

8. Dissociative Identity Disorder in Primal Fear

The more passive identities tend to have more constricted memories, whereas the more hostile, controlling, or "protector" identities have more complete memories. ... Typically the person is hypnotized and encouraged to go back in his or her mind to events in childhood - a technique called "age regression". "The hope is that accessing these traumatic memories will allow the adult to realize that the dangers from childhood are not now present and that his or her current life need not be governed by these ghosts from the past" (Davison). ... For now hypnosis seems to be the best way to bring o...

  • Word Count: 1207
  • Approx Pages: 5
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

9. Mechanism

Sigmund Freud first used defense as a psychoanalytic term, but did not break the notation into categories, viewing it as a single discovery of repression. ... As a part of the never ending interplay between id, ego, and superego, the mind must constantly repress anxiety causing impulses of memories. This repression often tenuous and difficult to maintain. In order to sustain this repression and fend off anxiety, the ego employs several defense mechanism. ... Last but not least, regression is the method of reverting back to a behavior that was comforting, enjoyable, or protective in...

  • Word Count: 767
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: High School

Got a writing question? Ask our professional writer!
Submit My Question