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This is another of the defence mechanism that all of the others could be said to come under. Any one of the myriad of Defence mechanism comes under the purpose of escaping our current sense of dissonance, with the aim of removing the uncertainty and into a more familiar (safer) place, regardless of how functional to us this is. With the main two aims of the ego mind said to be, in order of importance, the need to be right and to keep us safe. My perspective is that the need to be right comes down to us needing to trust ourselves, as if we are wrong that could lead to our own death. However, it is easy to see how the need to be right can also have different consequences when it comes to day to day life. Through are living conditions being extremely different to how they once were, these old ways of acting can lead to inappropriate actions in today’s world. When unpleasant consequences occur in our life we believe that via the use of escapism we can leave our stressors behind. And this is usually done by allowing our attention to be consumed by other stimulus, with the objective being for us to forget what is actually going on. If we reflect on this understanding for a moment we can see how important this is for functioning in the world. What leads to dysfunctional consequences is the accumulation of these events and through that, the build up of inner conflict and tension. And this then creates external consequences that make us feel powerless. And then we can create a life that is just our history repeating itself, over and over again. My perspective is that our effort is put into these escapes, not only as a way to avoid pain, but what is also going on, is that we are also looking to somehow find a way of claiming our natural state of aliveness. The parts of ourselves that we are trying to escape from could be described as our shadow, as no matter where we go or how fast we go, it is also there until we face ourselves. The use of alcohol, drugs, overeating, and other things, are a way for us to feel this sense of aliveness again, and as much as these things are label as the ‘problem’, ultimately they are neutral. With what really needs to be asked is ‘why’ these things are being consumed in such high amounts in the first place. As my outlook is, as long as we judge these things as bad or wrong, we are missing and ignoring the real issues that need to be looked at. My perspective is that although the use of these can be prohibited, another problem will appear unless we look at what’s really going on. If you feel this has been of value, please leave a comment, like or get in touch. And feel free to share this article. Oliver J R Cooper http://www.oliverjrcooper.co.uk/
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Repression, as I see it, is denying a situation of any expression or exposure, until it has gone from our awareness or rarely takes up too much of our attention. This can be brought about in two ways, which depend on the subjective severity of the experience. The first one is by the use of instantly denying an experience and doing everything we can in the moments after, to escape from it, so that no amount of time is allowed for the event to consume our mind. The other way is through a more gradual process of escaping and denying of an unpleasant memory. This may be more appropriate if the experience is less traumatic for us. But the question that arises is - Do we truly believe that once we have repressed something it has gone from our lives forever or is it still there influencing our lives. It is easy for us to assume that situations throughout our life that have been overwhelming and unpleasant have been removed completely by the useful action of repression. However, upon closer inspection we can see that our reality does not validate this perception. And by living in a society that encourages repression, it makes it natural and even ‘normal’ for us to continue to live this way without ever questioning if it’s helping us or if there is another way to live. Moments in our life when we feel down or off and can’t figure out why, are usually due to leading a repressed life. This could be from a moment in our past when we have pushed down an experience that was too painful and which now causes us to feel numb in certain situations or for prolonged periods of time in our lives. This can understandably make us feel disconnected from ourselves and from life. Feeling numb can create a strong desire in us to feel a sense of aliveness, with there being plenty of options in our society to take care of this urge. With drugs and alcohol being obvious examples, however there are numerous other ways. Another common occurrence to repression is the tendency to react to life, instead of responding. The ability to respond could be described as a conscious occurrence, with reacting being the result of unconscious memories being triggered and resurfacing. This happens due to the fact that the more we push something down the stronger it becomes, until we become like a ticking time bomb, ready to go off at any moment and without any real control of our emotions. And along with the tendency to react comes the potential for violence. This can of course be on a small scale and even on the larger scale in life. This leads us to doing things that, once we have done them, we have an instant surge of regret and ask ourselves ‘why did I do that’. And this is because most of our actions and internal process are not conscious and are coming from our repressed pain. So it is easy to see how living a repressed life can create abuse and lead to the often talked about ‘unexpected behaviour’ of people portrayed in the media and everyday life. It is also my perspective that health problems are also the consequence of not dealing with our repressed memories and experiences. This shows to me, that it is of paramount importance to work on our history, or should I say, that which keeps turning up in our present moment. If you feel this has been of value, please leave a comment, like or get in touch. And feel free to share this article. Oliver J R Cooper http://www.oliverjrcooper.co.uk/ Dissociation is the result of trauma we have experienced in our life. And by dissociating from the intensity of the trauma, we can minimize the suffering caused. With these experiences being subjective in nature and usually extremely overwhelming for the individual, they may however seem insignificant and even trivial to other people in the same situation. Once the event is pushed out of the conscious mind and into the unconscious, it is very often forgotten about. This form of selective amnesia can last for years and even as long as a life time in certain instances. While it may be beneficial in the short time, one of the main consequences of long term dissociation is in losing our ability to function in the world as a whole human being. Although we can repress the experience from our mind, our reality will always show this conflict in one way or another. And due to the pain that is felt after a traumatic event we can go to the extreme of cutting ourselves of from our heart, with it being too painful for us to feel anymore. This can then lead to a whole myriad of personal and societal problems. Once we lose our own ability to feel it can then create a separation from ourselves and other people, and a consequence of this is in losing our ability to empathise with other people. As if we can't feel our own pain, then it is very difficult to feel another person's pain. This then makes it possible for us to become abusive to other people and also to our environment and often without ever being consciously aware that we are doing so. Another consequence of cutting ourselves off from our own being is in living a life of extreme extroversion and becoming caught up in the dramas of life. Which is the result of not being able to make the correlation to see that what is going on outside is a reflection of what is going on inside. A pertinent example of something that can create and prolong dissociation, is the media. By constantly filling our mind with fear, trauma and anxiety, we are further creating disconnection from our heart and from ourselves. So in a way, it could be said that the very act of constantly exposing ourselves to the news has the potential to create harm, as opposed to stopping it. The complete opposite of what the media is supposedly for If you feel this has been of value, please leave a comment, like or get in touch. And feel free to share this article. Oliver J R Cooper http://www.oliverjrcooper.co.uk/ Most of us have heard of the term projection, but what is our subjective meaning when we think about it? It could be argued that our whole experience of reality is a projection and that all of the Ego defence mechanisms are a projection, but for now I will remain in this context. I believe the only person who can really realise or come to an understanding of this, is oneself, once one move's beyond a mere intellectual understanding and into a visceral knowing. My empirical understanding of it is the parts of ourselves that cause us pain or that we have not yet realised in ourselves, become repressed or just below conscious awareness and from that point on, start to show up in other people, via experiences, relationships, at work, family and other areas that causes us conflict in our life's. When we look at day to day life, a defence mechanism can be seen as a necessary and important aspect of being able to function in the world. With it being rarely possible to process these parts of ourselves in each moment. And this is not just because we are often too busy, but due to the pain that is caused by having to face ourselves can often overwhelm us. One of the long term consequences of not dealing with our defences is the avoidance and renunciation of our own responsibility. With my understanding being that the Ego's main purpose is to keep us alive and part of our own evolution is to mature the Ego mind, so we can work together and not fight with it or engage in the futile attempt to remove it. ''we repress parts of ourselves and we then project those parts out into the world and in turn, become the victims of our own projections'' - Oliver J R Cooper If we leave these parts repressed and don't take the time to process what is causing the conflicts in our life's, we can expect all kinds of consequences to occur as a result. The parts that cause us pain can create consequences that can be unpleasant at best and often devastating at there worst and appear to come out of nowhere. And the parts of our true nature that we have not yet realised, can create a life of worship, feeling inferior to others and numerous other occurrences. Our ego mind Will then create value judgments about what's going on and how we are unlucky, unfortunate and many other expressions that make us feel powerless and a victim of external circumstances. However, from my experience, I believe once we start to let go of the baggage we have accumulated throughout our life and by removing the dissociation we have with our own being, we will begin to see that the conflict and drama we experience in our life is just feedback for that which we need to look at.
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 Oliver JR CooperAuthor of 28 books, Transformational Writer, Teacher & Consultant. Introductory Consultation
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Disclaimer
That which is contained within these articles is based on my own empirical understanding and is true for me at the time they were written. However, as I continue to grow, what I perceive as the truth will inevitably change and as a result of this - parts of these articles may not reflect my current outlook.
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