Unveiling the Unconscious: Repressed vs. Unrepressed Memories in Dreams

Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis, introduced the concept of the unconscious mind, a vast reservoir of thoughts, memories, and desires hidden from our conscious awareness. Within this unconscious, Freud proposed the existence of "repressed" content—traumatic or unacceptable experiences we actively suppress. This blog post explores the concept of the unconscious and challenges Freud's view with a more recent understanding  (Scalabrini et al.,2021):

• Freud's Repressed Unconscious

Freud believed the unconscious contained "thing representations"—emotional traces of childhood experiences that were too painful to remember and thus repressed. According to Freud, these repressed memories could only be accessed indirectly, often through dreams. (Scalabrini et al., 2021)

• Challenging Freud: The Unrepressed Unconscious

Recent research by Mancia, Schore, and others proposes a different view. They argue that the first year of life is crucial for self-development. During this period, the right brain, dominant for emotions and implicit memory, plays a more significant role than the left brain, responsible for language and explicit memory.

• Early Trauma and Dissociation

This developmental perspective suggests that very early traumatic experiences, especially those related to insecure attachment with caregivers, cannot be effectively repressed. Instead, they become dissociated – buried deep within the amygdala and implicit memory, influencing our emotional lives without conscious awareness.

• Dreams: A Window to the Unrepressed Unconscious

While Freud saw dreams as expressions of repressed desires, this new view proposes that dreams can also reveal the unrepressed unconscious. These dreams, particularly in individuals with severe personality disorders, may contain fragmented images and emotions linked to those early traumatic experiences.

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  The Role of Memory Systems

The different memory systems involved further support the distinction between the repressed and the unrepressed unconscious. Repressed memories, requiring active forgetting, are linked to the left brain and explicit memory. Conversely, unrepressed memories, often from pre-verbal stages, reside in the implicit memory system, with the amygdala playing a central role.

The Science of Dreaming and Memory

Studies show that REM sleep, characterized by increased hippocampal activity and decreased prefrontal cortex activity (the opposite of deliberate forgetting), might be when the unrepressed unconscious manifests in dreams. This suggests that dreams may be a way to process and integrate these early experiences.

• Implications for Therapy

Understanding the difference between repressed and unrepressed unconscious has significant implications for therapy. It suggests that for individuals with severe trauma, traditional techniques focused on recovering repressed memories may not be as effective. Instead, therapists might need to focus on helping patients process the unprocessed emotional residue from those experiences stored in the implicit memory system.

• Conclusion

The concept of the unconscious mind is complex and ever-evolving. This post highlights the emerging view of the unrepressed unconscious, formed through early experiences and influencing our emotional lives. By exploring this uncharted territory, we can gain a deeper understanding of ourselves and develop more effective therapeutic approaches for those carrying the weight of unprocessed trauma.

 References

1.  Scalabrini, A., Mucci, C., & Esposito, R. (2021). Dreaming the unrepressed unconscious and beyond: repression vs dissociation in the oneiric functioning of severe patients. Research in Psychotherapy: Psychopathology, Process and Outcome, 24(2). https://doi.org/10.4081/ripppo.2021.545