Critical Thinking: What Would A Repression-Informed Society Look Like?

It is not uncommon for the average person, and even for those who are working in the area of 'mental health', to believe that they, along with their fellow human beings, only have one mind. They are then going to have a conscious mind and a physical body and that will be all they are.

As a result of this, it won't occur to them that they have both a conscious and an unconscious mind. By being this way, it is naturally going to have an effect on how they experience life.

One Step Further

Moreover, when a society is made up of a number of people who have this outlook, it is also going to have a big impact on what that society looks like. What is taking place at an individual level will shape what is going on at the collective level and vice versa.

Therefore, both the individuals and the society that has been created by them will play a part in sustaining this experience. Still, the people who are on the outside, so to speak, who see life differently, can end up slowly changing this reality.

A Closer Look

So, when someone is not aware of the fact that they have an unconscious mind, they are not going to realise that the material that they have disconnected from in their conscious mind hasn't disappeared. It could be as though they just felt one way in one moment and in another, they felt just felt another way.

If they have ever had any kind of behavioural therapy, they could believe that they were able to change how they felt simply by changing their thoughts. Their thoughts will are then going to be seen as defining how they feel, so their previous feelings will have just vanished.

Two Levels

This will be an example of how both the individual and the society that they live in will play a part in keeping this view alive; the view that they only have one mind. The point of focus will be the intellect, causing the body to be totally overlooked.

In this mind-centred society, the body will largely be seen as just an object that plays up for no apparent reason. Or, if there is a reason why it would 'malfunction', it can be put down to genetics or due to what is going on externally.

An Analogy

What will be taking place when someone loses touch with their inner material will be very similar to what happens when things are taken away from a room and put into a loft. The difference is that when the latter takes place, someone will know that these items haven't really gone anywhere.

They will be out of sight and often out of mind, but they won't end up believing that they have left their house. However, when someone has removed something from their conscious mind they will believe that it has left them or they will have forgotten that they have forgotten about it.

A Million Miles Away

Once an emotional experience has been pushed out of their conscious mind, it will end up being stored deep in their body. Their body is then likely to constrict and different defences will be put in place to stop this pain from re-entering their conscious mind. 

Along with this, they are likely to unconsciously behave in ways that will help to make sure that this pain doesn't come to the surface. This is going to mean that a lot of their energy, without them even being aware of it, will be used to keep their true feelings at bay. 

The Outcome

But, although this emotional material will be out of their conscious mind and be completely forgotten about, it won't just be lying dormant. Over time, it is likely to have a negative impact on their physical health. 

Nonetheless, it could take a number of decades before a serious illness will materialise. Along with this, one could end up struggling with mental and emotional problems, phobias and 'irrational' fears, among other things.

The Solution

In each of these cases, as well as others, there is going to be an emotional component (with this component most likely outside of their awareness) to what is taking place that needs to be acknowledged. But, by living in a society that largely ignores this aspect and the body and primarily focuses on the mind and sees the body as just as an object, this is unlikely to occur.

Consequently, if they have something wrong with their body, they can just end up taking something that will merely cover up the symptoms and won't actually resolve the underlying issue. If, on the other hand, they have a mental and emotional problem, it can be put down to a 'chemical imbalance' or merely 'faulty thinking'. 

More of the Same

If this is what takes place, another form of repression will be taking place. Ultimately, their body will be calling out to them, trying to let them know that something inside them needs to be acknowledged.

Instead, the effect will be covered up and the actual cause will continue to undermine them. One will be seen as nothing more than an observer of their experience as opposed to a co-creator of it (an illusion that their extroverted intellect and eyes will create), with this being another viewpoint that their society is likely to be built on.

Final Thoughts

What is clear is that if it was widely accepted that repression is part of the human experience and it is a key part of what has allowed humanity to survive for so long, with it being something that takes place from a very young age, resolving repressed material would be seen as a key part of not only having healthy individuals but a healthy society. All the money that is spent annually on dealing with the effects of it would be able to be used differently too.

These are just a few of the things that would arise if society was to become repression-informed. If someone was to think about what it would look like, there is no doubt that plenty of other answers would come to mind.

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Oliver JR Cooper
http://www.oliverjrcooper.co.uk