Repression: Can It Be Hard For Someone To Accept They Are Carrying Repressed Pain If They Are In A Repressed State?

One thing that could cause someone to reach out for support is if they suffer from anxiety and/or often feel low. They could soon read or be told, depending on what approach they take, is that they need to look into and change what is taking place in their mind.

What is going on up top, so to speak, is then going to be the area of focus. For their life to change, then, it will be essential for them to be ‘mindful’ of what is taking place in their mind and to replace their negative thoughts with positive thoughts.

Powerful Things

Their thoughts will have a lot of power and by being aware of and having the right ones, their inner world will be transformed. Another part of this process can be for them to become aware of and change their negative beliefs.

After following this approach for a number of weeks or months, they may find that their inner world starts to change. If so, this can end up being seen as evidence that what was going on up top was the problem.

Another outcome

At the same time, this approach might not work for very long or it might not work at all. If it only works for a short while, they could continue to do the same thing again in the hope that it will last this time.

But, if it doesn’t work, they could still go back to doing the same thing. As they are likely to live in a society that is very mind-centred, it will not be a surprise if they are encouraged to do the same thing.
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How It Is

In this society, the majority of people can spend most of their life in their heads and very little in their bodies. The average person’s point of awareness is then typically going to be in their head and what is going on in their body can largely be a mystery.

So, when someone like this is told that their mental health is defined by what is going on in their mind, it will be as if they are being told that the sky is blue. What they are told won’t be seen as radical, that’s for sure; it will simply be seen as self-evident.

Another Angle

If it was put forward to them that what is going on in their mind could be an effect of what is taking place in their body, this could be hard for them to accept. Thanks to the view that they have of their mind, a view that will be backed up by the society they live in, it can be as though their body is merely there to support their head.

Therefore, to say that their body will have an effect on their mental health will be similar to them being told that the socks that they wear will have an effect on their appetite. Ultimately, it will be seen as something that is totally irrational.

Completely Overlooked

However, while this part of them can be seen as being irrelevant, it doesn’t mean that this is actually the truth. When it comes to their body, this part of them will carry pain that they haven’t been able to face and work through.

Yet, as their brain will automatically repress pain and thus, remove it from their conscious awareness or their mind, there will be no reason for them to be aware of this. Once this has taken place, they will have forgotten that they have forgotten about it.

The Outcome

But, although this pain will be outside of their conscious awareness, it doesn’t mean that it will lie dormant. No, this pain will assert pressure on their conscious mind and influence how they think, feel and perceive reality.

With this understanding, they will be able to gradually connect to this pain and work through it, which may very well, over time, improve their mental health. Without this understanding and being in a repressed, shut down state, they won’t know that they are carrying pain, let alone work through it.

The Norm

As to why they would be in a repressed, shut own state, this can be because of the amount of pain that they have experienced throughout their life. Assuming that their early years were not overly nurturing, this would have been a time when their brain would have automatically repressed the pain they were in, in order for them to function and keep it together.

The more pain that built up inside them, along with the pain that they have experienced throughout their adult years, the more shut down and estranged from their body and emotional self they would have become. But, if they have been this way for most of their life, it won’t occur to them that they are in an unfeeling, disconnected and shut down state, as this will just be what is normal.

The Symptoms

Feeling edgy, having irrational and automatic thoughts and/or feeling low can then be a sign that their brain is finding it harder and harder to keep their pain at bay. There can simply be far too much pain inside them for it to be kept at bay and not affect their conscious mind.

The key will be for them to face and gradually work through this pain, and this may require the assistance of a therapist or healer. This is something that will take courage and patience and persistence.

Final Thoughts

The fact that repressed pain is largely overlooked in today’s world and bodywork is seldom mentioned is surely a clear sign of how effective the average person’s brain is at repressing pain. This ability is not bad; it is a key part of what has allowed humanity to survive for so long.

The issue is when this is not something that is understood at an individual and collective level and mental problems are solely seen as an effect of what is taking place in someone’s mind. Of course, if the correct diagnosis can’t be made, how can the right solution be provided?

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