chapter 6 — emotional repression and rationalization · 2017-12-12 · revised 6 apr. 2013 and 10...

WORK-IN-PROGRESS (DECEMBER 10, 2017) PARALLEL CHART FOR

Chapter 6 — Emotional Repression and Rationalization

of The Mind at Mischief:Tricks and Deceptions of the Subconscious and How to Cope with Them

(1929)by

William S. Sadler, M.D., F.A.C.S.

© 2013, 2017 Matthew Block

Sources for Chapter 6, in the order in which they first appear

(1) Paul Bousfield, M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P., The Omnipotent Self: A Study in Self-Deception andSelf-Cure (London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co., Ltd., 1923)

[Note: Sadler probably used the American edition, published by E. P. Dutton &Company, New York, in 1923.]

(2) James Winfred Bridges, Ph.D., Psychology: Normal and Abnormal (New York: D.Appleton and Company, 1930)

[Note: This book was published one year after The Mind at Mischief; Sadlerapparently used an earlier, not-yet-identified publication by Bridges that containedthe same text.]

(3) Bernard Hart, M.D., The Psychology of Insanity (Cambridge: at the University Press,1912, 1916)

Key

(a) Green indicates where a source author (or a previous Sadler book) first appears, or wherehe/she reappears.

(b) Yellow highlights most parallelisms.

(c) Tan highlights parallelisms not occurring on the same row, or parallelisms separated byyellowed parallelisms.

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(d) An underlined word or words indicates where the source and Sadler pointedly differ fromeach other.

(e) Pink indicates passages where Sadler specifically shares his own experiences, opinions,advice, etc.

(f) Light blue indicates passages which strongly resemble something in the Urantia Book, orwhich allude to the Urantia phenomenon.

(g) Red indicates either: (1) an obvious error on Sadler’s part, brought about, in most cases,by miscopying or misinterpreting his source, or (2) Sadler’s use of an earlier text of histhat contained time-bound information which he didn’t revise when presenting it in TheMind at Mischief, resulting in a historical impossibility, or (3) Sadler’s use of an earliertext of his which he revised in such a way as to contradict that earlier text.

(h) Gold highlights key words or themes which will be discussed in the analysis of thechapter.

Matthew Block10 December 2017

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SOURCE 6: THE MIND AT MISCHIEF

Work-in-progress Version 11 Nov. 2012© 2012, 2013, 2017 Matthew BlockRevised 6 Apr. 2013 and 10 Dec. 2017

VI — EMOTIONALR E P R E S S I ON A N DRATIONALIZATION

6:0.1 AS civilization progresses andprimitive man comes more and more tooccupy his mind with ethical ideals and torecognize moral standards, many of hisprimitive desires and natural emotions arefound to be greatly at variance with thesenew standards of thinking and living.

6:0.2 This conflict between thebiologic instincts and emotions and thelater acquirements of civilization is some-times very annoying to the individual.The average person seeks to avoid thisunpleasantness by rigorously suppressingthe objectionable thought, the offendingcomplex.

XXIII: MENTAL CONFLICT AND ITSCONSEQUENCES (Bridges 370)

Repression. (Bridges 372)

[contd] Another result of mentalconflict is repression. This means thepushing out of consciousness of someunacceptable experience (Br 372).

This emotional repression is nothingmore nor less than resorting to thetechnique of pushing out of the mindsome unacceptable feeling or objection-able experience.

Again, if a man experiences sentiments oflove and hate for the same woman,

For instance, it is entirely possible for oneto experience the emotions of love andhate for the same person,

in varying degrees and under variouscircumstances.

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loving her for one set of characteristicsand hating her for another,

It is entirely possible for us to love aperson because of one set of traits and tohate the same individual because of thepossession of other traits which areobjectionable.

This is not compatible with peace ofmind, however,

it often happens that either the hate or thelove is put out of mind (Br 372).

and sooner or later we set aboutrepressing either our love or our hate.

It is important to note that accordingto the view here expressed either side ofthe conflict may be repressed—thedesirable or the undesirable. This iscontrary to the Freudian view

6:0.3 Right here I want to take issuewith the exponents of the purely Freudiantheory of emotional repression.

that only the socially unacceptable trendis repressed.

The teachings of Freud tend to lead us tobelieve that it is always the objectionable,the undesirable, the unworthy thought oremotion that is suppressed;

but in actual experience I do not find thisto be the case. I find that individuals aregiven to suppressing either the good orthe bad, the desirable or the undesirable,according to circumstances.

[See 7:4.3.] For instance, one may not only suppresssex thoughts which interfere with thereligious ideals, but one may also come tothe place where he suppresses religiousconvictions so as to give more free ex-pression to sex emotions. Any of ourprofound emotions may conflict and thuslead to more or less suppression.

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DEFENSE REACTIONS

Repressed systems of ideas, feelings andimpulses are called “unconsciouscomplexes.”

6:1.1 Now these suppressed wishes,feelings, emotions, and experiences aresooner or later organized in the sub-conscious into definite complexes;

and it can easily be imagined that

These unconscious complexes such complexes, existing as they do in thesubconscious mind,

are often directly opposite to consciousexperience and behavior (Br 372-73).

are all the while directly at variance with,and opposed to, our every-day conscious-ness and behavior.

Overcompensation. (Bridges 374)

[contd] One of the most common andobvious consequences of repression

6:1.2 One of the results of thissystematic suppression of unpleasant andundesired experiences

is that we are subconsciously on ourguard lest these experiences bediscovered and be brought to light.

This is one of the explanations of

is overcompensation or defense reaction. the so-called defense reaction.

Professor Gault has called attention tothis in his Introduction, and, as he hassuggested, we are all the while on thedefensive, trying to put up a front tosociety which will be directly opposite tothat which we are more or less consciousof having suppressed and put away downinto the subconscious realms of the mind.

It is an exaggerated development inconsciousness and in behavior

6:1.3 The defense reaction is nothingmore than an exaggeration in ourconscious behavior

of the very opposite of what has beenrepressed (Br 374).

of the very opposite to those things whichwe may be conscious of havingsuppressed in our inner life.

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6:1.4 Some one1 has suggested that

It is well known that cynical persons areoften sentimental at heart.

the cynic is really sentimental at heart;

the bully is really a coward;

This is probably why a cynical oldbachelor, if he falls in love late in life,may become unusually sentimental andperhaps silly.

the hard-boiled and unromantic bachelormay be, after all, very affectionate andtender, as is sometimes shown when hefalls in love in middle life.

His love sentiment repressed inadolescence

From adolescence his affections andsentiment have been repressed,

emerges in an undeveloped form, and hisresulting behavior is thus not in accor-dance with his age and other experiences(Br 375).

and now they all but engulf him as theaccumulated repression breaks loose.

[contd] Again, if a person represses afeeling of inferiority due to some real orsupposed defect in his make-up,

We fully understand how those who havean inferiority complex

he may develop the opposite traits ofcharacter, namely, extreme vanity,conceit, and aggressiveness.

often develop a superficial expression ofvanity and conceit,

extending even to the borderland ofbraggadocio.

Also when a person’s sensuality isrepressed he may become on the surfaceextremely prudish and exacting.

There is no question that sometimesprudishness is only the result of the moreor less conscious and long-continuedsuppression of normal sex desires.

It is characteristic of emotions andimpulses which are due to over-compensation that they are very intenseand impelling. Therefore if we experienceany unusually strong emotion or dislike,

In fact, when we find ourselves exper-iencing any set of unusually strong andinsistent emotions, either likes or dislikes,

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we may suspect that we are perhapsovercompensating for the oppositeimpulse or feeling within ourselves.

we would do well to suspect that we maybe indulging in some sort of defensereaction in a subconscious effort tocompensate for feelings and impulses ofthe opposite sort which we may becontinuously and subconsciouslysuppressing.

This is particularly true of prejudice andintolerance.

This is particularly true of prejudices andcertain forms of intolerance.

We cannot tolerate what we are defendingourselves against (Br 375).

It is very difficult for the average personto tolerate in other people those thingswhich he is consistently and persistentlysuppressing in his own experience.

T H E T E C H N I Q U E O FREPRESSION

II: REPRESSION (Bousfield 19)

6:2.1 Emotional suppression reallyconsists of two distinct factors:

[contd] One other faculty of theunconscious mind requires specialmention, and that is its power ofobliterating memories from the consciousmind, or as it is better termed, ofrepressing, since this word not onlyimplies pushing out of consciousness, the effort to push unpleasant things out of

the consciousness

but also preventing from coming intoconsciousness.

and the further effort to prevent theirreturn to consciousness.

It is found that all persons have formed aregular habit of forgetting or partiallyforgetting, (and so disguising), thingswhich are unpleasant to them. Thisespecially refers to those things which areunpleasant to their self-respect, theirmoral beliefs and ideas,

6:2.2 We are desirous of suppressingthose things which are unpleasant to oursense of self-respect, which offend ourego.

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We are particularly intolerant of thosewhich assault

and their general pride in themselves. our personality-pride.

Again, we are all the while desirous ofgetting rid of

The primitive immoralities and thoughtsand actions of early childhood whichwould now offend their æsthetic andmoral susceptibilities, are, more or less,completely put out of sight, together witha host of unpleasant ideas and thoughtswhich have cropped up from childhoodonwards.

those ideas, feelings, and memories thatoffend our moral ideals and ethicalstandards.

Indeed, there is a general tendency foranything of an unpleasant nature to bepushed out of sight (B 19-20).

In fact, we practise the suppression of anysort of psychic experience that isunpleasant to our every-day conscious-ness.

6:2.3 Summarizing in another way, itmay be said that

It is not only memories, however, whichare repressed and remain dormant in theunconscious mind.

we make an effort to suppress allunpleasant memories,

Most of our primitive instincts handed onfrom our savage forefathers before eventhe evolution of man in his present form,lie similarly buried in this unconsciouspart of the mind, and we are wont to denyemphatically that we possess theseunpleasant instincts (B 21).

and to repress those primitive instincts

which are inconsistent with currentcivilized society; that is, our un-conventional biologic urges.

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6:2.4 We form a habit of doing thesethings. We cultivate a memory for theagreeable, and try to put out of our mindsthe undesirable and unpleasant. Ofcourse, we do not wholly succeed; we allhave unpleasant memories which bob upnow and then, and which we would givealmost anything to be finally rid of.Nevertheless, on the whole, we dosucceed in the practise of this repressiontechnique;

Our upbringing and conscious outlookupon [our primitive instincts], however,causes them to be so abhorrent to us, thatwe successfully keep the majority of suchideas and feelings from ever coming outof the unconscious in their primitive form(B 22).

we actually do get rid of the majority ofthose things which we dislike to entertainin our daily consciousness.

This habit of holding on to the pleasantand suppressing the unpleasant is shownin many phases of our daily lives, as, forinstance, in the fact that

We mislay bills very readily, we may easily mislay a bill,

but rarely do we mislay a cheque (B 20). but are hardly likely carelessly to throwabout a large check which has come in asa remittance.

6:2.5 When certain primitive urges orother unpleasant feelings and experienceshave been consistently and persistentlysuppressed, they become organized atlength as subconscious complexes; andwhen that takes place, it is possible forthese complexes of repression to seek togain for themselves action and expressionin the life of the individual by indirectmethods and through such roundaboutchannels as the various neuroses—

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Occasionally, however, there is atendency for these ancestral instincts tobecome conscious, and in our furtherefforts to prevent this we may developinstead hysterias, obsessions and un-reasonable fears, together with othernervous and abnormal signs andsymptoms, into the nature of which it isnot my intention to inquire further in thispresent volume (B 22).

fatigue, anxiety, unreasonable fears,hysteria,

All that I wish to emphasise here is thatwe do push out from the conscious mindunpleasant thoughts and memories, thatwe do repress and keep in theunconscious mind unpleasant desires andinstincts, and that we do, as a result ofthis, have many unconscious or semi-conscious conflicts within ourselves,which may lead to unpleasant feelings ofdepression, irritability, fear, or in morepronounced cases hysterias, obsessions,and even permanent mental derangement(B 22-23).

and even semi-conscious experiences.

6:2.6 There can be little doubt, as willbe shown in subsequent chapters, thatmuch of our hysteria is, after all, an efforton the part of these imprisonedcomplexes to seize the domain of person-ality for the time being, and thus to findtemporary relief in a roundabout mode ofexpression.

[See 22:2.1.] We know that this is true, because, byproperly disposing of these psychicskeletons hidden away in the closet of thesubconscious, we are often able to relievesufferers from various forms of thepsychoneuroses.

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[See 8:0.5.] 6:2.7 In the case of persons of strongconstitution and balanced nervoussystems, it is, of course, possible toindulge in this sort of subconsciousrepression throughout a lifetime withoutprecipitating serious nervous dis-turbances. It is in the case of those whoare constitutionally neurotic that this sortof subconscious suppression results sodisastrously.

RATIONALIZATION

[contd] A further and somewhatimportant result of our possessing somuch which is unconscious and of havingso many feelings and ideas in conscious-ness of which we do not know the origin,or of whose origins we have but thevaguest and haziest notion is known asrationalization. This word signifies thatwe find reasons for doing or believingthings which are of a pleasant nature andagreeable to us, and vice versa (B 23).

6:3.1 Rationalization is another pitfallinto which neurotic individuals early fall.

We are not always able to suppress ourundesirable memories and unpleasantemotions so as to keep them entirely outof the conscious memory, and so wegradually fall into another species of self-deception in an effort to get along morepeacefully with this undesirable residueof psychic life which we are not ablecompletely to suppress. We are tricked byour own inner consciousness intopractising a form of deceptive insincerityupon ourselves.

But the logic of rationalisation is falselogic (B 24).

We develop a system of false logic

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designed to enable us either to reject or tocompromise with certain unacceptablefacts which are constantly coming to usfrom the outside world, and which wecannot bundle up as an unpleasantcomplex and sink into the oblivion of thesubconscious.

Following on this rationalisationcomes also a certain conservatism, whichtends to retard progress of any sort, whichdislikes looking at new ideas, and this fora very obvious reason. Looking at newideas, examining ourselves or our workvery closely, has a tendency to bring tolight, from time to time, the veryprimitive instincts and feelings which wehave been at so much pains to repress.

6:3.2 The vast majority of people fearto make new discoveries.

We are afraid we shall be upset by them;that the smooth running of our day-by-day consciousness will be disturbed bynewly discovered facts. We dislike to beconstantly rearranging our ideas andreadjusting our standards of thinking andliving. We like to go on somewhat afterthe carefree manner of nursery days.

We don’t like to have our mode of lifeinterfered with, and so when anythingdisconcerting comes up we develop asystem of logic which enables us, withsome show of conscious fairness, to rejectthe new and hold on to the old, althostrict sincerity would compel us to admitthat the old ways are wrong and the newways better;

[Hence it is that the truth takes long to emerge, andthat obsessions and hysterias, and even trivialabnormalities are difficult to cure, for the cureinvolves seeing our own imperfections naked andundisguised (B 26).]

and so truth has a rugged, uphill road totravel over the inertia of human prejudice,this inborn disinclination to remodel ourways.

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6:3.3 Another feature of the practise ofthis foolish reasoning:

And rather than submit to the indignity ofdiscovering how really imperfect we are,and having our pride in our divinelyconstituted natures shaken, we haveacquired a habit of denying and fightingstrenuously against discovering truthsconnected with either our moral orphysical evolution which would beunpleasant to us (B 24).

We all object to having our pride injured.

We dislike to view our naked selves. Wereally hate to be shown up, and so we arealways on the defensive, lest we be ledinto some sort of practical admission thatwill injure our pride, debase our ego.

6:3.4 We are particularly eloquent—and, on the surface, logical—when weargue against

Whenever there is a likelihood thatexamination, particularly throughresearch work, has thrown light on hispsychic evolution, on the imperfections ofhis moral laws, or on the crudity of someconventional custom, the process whichtakes place in [a man] is much the same.

Firstly, dislike of the idea. some idea which we dislike,

which we have made up our minds wewill not accept; this sort of foolishargument will be kept up in the mind untilwe develop

Secondly, on further examination of it,hatred of the idea. an intense hatred for the thing which we

have settled we will not accept.

Thirdly, rationalisation directed againstthe idea. Fourthly, contentment, in that hehas proved by logic and reason that theidea is wrong (B 25-26).

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X: THE IRRATIONALITY OF THELUNATIC (Hart 127)

This method of dealing witharguments is not peculiar to the lunatic.Examples of its employment are to beseen everywhere around us, and it hasbecome proverbial in the couplet— You know the old saying,

“A man convinced against his will

Is of the same opinion still” (H 130).“Convince a man against his will, andhe’ll be of the same opinion still.”

Now, this process of arguing insideourselves against what we wish to keepout of the mind has been calledrationalization. And rationalization isnothing more nor less than a technique ofthinking designed to help us in repressingthose things which are unusually difficultof suppression. If we find that forget-ulness and the ordinary pushing ofundesirable ideas out of the conscious-ness will not serve to repress them, weresort to rationalization.

IX: RATIONALIZATION (Bousfield 98)

The reason for reverting here torationalization is this. Already I know thatthere are few readers who will not havediscovered some material in this bookwhich will have touched a tender spot inthemselves. And since we know that thegreat effort of Narcissism is to cover upthose tender spots,

6:3.5 We employ rationalization in ourefforts to smooth over and cover up thetender spots in our experience.

It is marvelous with what ingenuity wewill take some real weakness of character

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and to deceive ourselves in thinking thateither they are not there, or better still,that they are virtues and reallyparticularly healthy spots, it is as well toexamine these tendencies and observe oneof the chief methods by which we doproduce such disguises successfully (B98).

and argue ourselves into recognizing it asa virtue.

If it were not so tragic it would really beamusing to see patients, in the consultingroom, rationalize after this foolish andinsincere fashion, even going so far as totry to convince the doctor that theobvious plague-spots of the mind shouldbe treated with consideration andtenderness rather than be attacked withrude determination to effect theircomplete obliteration.

Now, the unhappy thing about life isthat we are continually wishing to dothings or feel things or believe thingswhich do not follow logically upon otherthings which we have also had to feel orthink or believe at some time.... More-over, we very often do not wish to believeor think things which do follow logicallyon actual facts which have gone before.

6:3.6 We are all conscious of more orless that is inconsistent in our living.

We dislike to get right down to brasstacks and settle our conflicts, harmonizeour complexes, compose our dis-agreements, and otherwise put our mentalhouse in order.

How are we then, as reasonable people, todeal with the situation? By rational-ization, [continues at 6:4.2]

We much prefer this easier and laziermethod of psychic rationalization.

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We want to do something which, ourbetter nature or mental censor tells us,isn’t right; and so, instead of resorting totrue logic, calling conscience to the bar,hearing the testimony and settling thematter in accordance with the real facts,we resort to rationalization, which isnothing but a dishonest way of

[Repeated from 6:3.1, above: This word signifiesthat we find reasons for doing or believing thingswhich are of a pleasant nature and agreeable to us,and vice versa (B 23).]

finding a reason for doing what we wantto do or believing what we want tobelieve.

T H E T E C H N I Q U E O FRATIONALIZATION

6:4.1 Rationalization is resorting to themagic methods of the nursery.

And we have already learnt that the infanthas early associated words and soundswith magic, since by the persistent use ofthese he has got what he wanted (B 99).

In the days when we were children in ourcribs, if we wanted something, or desiredto be rid of unpleasant surroundings, wemerely uttered a cry, and as a rule wesucceeded in getting what we wanted;

but as we grow up, we are forced toabandon our cry-baby stunt; and thus, tothe adult, rationalization becomes asubstitute for his infantile crying. Foolishreasoning becomes the new magic wandwith which he can make his situation inlife more pleasant and acceptable. He“kids” himself into believing that thething he knows is not right, is, after all,not far from right, and perhaps isaltogether just and righteous. This is asubject which we will discuss more fullyin a later chapter.

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6:4.2 Many neurotic individuals almostwear themselves out with this constantprocess of rationalization,

[continued from 6:3.6] by finding a reasonwhich suits our purpose; and this can onlybe done, as a rule, by leaving out someimportant factor, by ignoring some truth,and by arguing from false premises.

this ever-present effort to find a reasonthat suits their purpose and convenience.

We do not do this consciously, that wouldbe unworthy.

Presently this becomes a subtle habit ofone’s inner life; it becomes the acceptedtechnique of the subconscious,

Our unconscious censor manages todelete from consciousness the unpleasanttruth, as we have already pointed out,

and the subconscious censor accepts thisas the normal mode of reasoning

and brings forth an array of facts whichappear irrefutable, and he succeeds ingiving us most plausible reasons

and so is able constantly to push up intothe conscious mind entire groups oflogical arguments, ready made,

thus putting us only to the trouble ofsaying “yes, yes,” and going on with thismerry whirl of self-deception anddishonest living.

so that we may believe that which is mostconvenient to us (B 99-100).

In time the subconscious becomes soexpert that it is able day by day to “kid”us into the enjoyable belief in whateverwe wish to believe.

[See B 100-04.] 6:4.3 We are peculiarly prone torationalize on such matters as politics,religion, sociology,

In a similar way, on the muchdiscussed subject of “prohibition” theprohibitionist will rationalise on a certainfew facts, in order to support his emotionsand desires (B 104-05).

and even prohibition.

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[The literature on the effects of smoking isenormous, but much of it is of little importancescientifically because of its definitely polemicalnature (Conklin 373).]

I am amused frequently in my office atthe way people reason about such acommonplace thing as tobacco. This is asubject on which I seldom find anyattitude that is fair, sincere, or scientific.Those who use tobacco rationalize in itsbehalf much as a mother would argue indefense of the virtues and beauties of herown offspring. The majority of those whodo not use tobacco likewise rationalizeagainst it in the same unscientific andunreasonable fashion.

6:4.4 But the great mischief of thishabitual rationalization, this effort tosustain our self-pride, to bolster up ourself-defense, is that it interferes with ourprogress in life. It is the great enemy ofeducation, the great foe of truth,

And in order to examine facts and to getrid of rationalization as far as possible,

and we cannot hope to break ourselves ofthis tendency toward rationalization

we must try, with the utmost power at ourcommand to refuse that reaction of self-defence and self-pride, which prevents usfrom looking at ourselves and fromrealising that most of our opinions aboutourselves may be completely erroneous.

until we cultivate the habit of looking atthings honestly, fairly, and squarely—

until we learn to face facts willingly, todesire the truth,

We must be prepared to accepttemporary, not fixed, judgments, basedupon the evidence which we have. Wemust be prepared to reverse thosejudgments in the light of new evidence.We must be careful not to reject thisevidence merely because we do not like it(B 106).

to accept all the evidence and to reservejudgment until the evidence is all in.

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We must wait until we are thoroughlyconvinced that we have been honest withourselves and then render judgment, and,like real men and women, abide by thatjudgment and see that it is enforced in ourconsciousness.

6:4.5 If will is the chief executive ofthe human intellect, and our variousmental powers may be regarded as thecabinet of the psychic administration,

[Reason is simply the attorney-general of the mind,appearing before the supreme court of the will. Howfrequently we see men who persistently hold on tocertain opinions which are contrary to all reason.They will so to think, and you may be sure that suchpersons will see to it that their servile reasoningpowers furnish them with abundant, and, tothemselves, satisfactory reasons for their positions(The Physiology of Faith and Fear 58).]

then we can only come to regard reasonas a wholly servile attorney general, everready to supply its master and chiefexecutive with apparently logical andsuperficially legal reasons for doinganything that its master really wants todo.

The sophistries of the subconscious,together with the deceptions of selfishhuman nature, will furnish sufficientevidence to enable the court to handdown decisions which will in every sensejustify us in pursuing the course we reallywant to pursue.

6:4.6 Human reason is far from beingtrue to logic and loyal to truth.

[We must not forget, even in the case of ourmodern civilized men, that human beings arecontrolled by their hearts and not by their heads (TheTruth About Spiritualism 6-7).]

Man, after all, is ruled by his heart andnot by his head;

I repeat, whatever it is that you really andtruly long to do, reason will sooner orlater find justification for your doing.

*Of course this does not imply that no oneis ever capable of putting his consciousfeelings on one side, and examining a subjectin spite of pre-conceived ideas and desires, butthat this is the exception rather than the rule(B 105, footnote).

Of course, to some degree, all this ismodified in the case of the enlightenedand disciplined mind of the educatedindividual.

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I L L U S T R A T I O N S O FEMOTIONAL SUPPRESSION

6:5.1 For the purposes of this narrativewe will call a certain young woman oftwenty-seven, Jane. Jane was a movie fan,and how the silent drama did thrill her!Hardly a day passed that she was not atthe movies—indeed, she went twice aday, and sometimes three times. Thisconstant arousal of her emotions withoutadequate opportunity for expressionalrelief gradually wore on her nerves untilshe was compelled to seek medicaladvice.

[And there is no doubt that the unconscious effectof such mental stimuli is excessively deleterious tothe race in general.... For the phantasy in thecinematograph consists usually in the fulfilment ofimpossible wishes, and in this, as in other cases, theemotional output is increased out of all proportionto the real exciting causes. This results in amisplacement in the emotional output in theunconscious mind, which in its turn is the basis ofmany neurotic conditions which may even requirea physician’s aid to eradicate (B 150).]

There is no question in my mind that thistendency to allow the mind to dwell uponexciting and emotional scenes in themotion-picture house, this repeatedarousal of the strongest emotions thatsurge in the human breast, withoutproviding any opportunity for the mindand body to respond to these emotionalurges, represents a real and verydeleterious strain upon the nervoussystem.

6:5.2 At the height of this moviedebauch, our young lady began toentertain a secret love for a man in theneighborhood; he was unmarried, but wasalready engaged, and this affection shebottled up in her own soul, never tellinganyone about it until she confessed it inthe medical office.

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6:5.3 Here, you see, is a viciouscombination of circumstances: A highlyunstable and semi-hysterical woman inalmost constant attendance at the movies,having her emotions inordinately aroused,is all the while suppressing a secret loveaffair securely within the confines of herown soul; and, as this experience alwaysdoes, sooner or later, it got her—shecollapsed. After six months of training, inwhich she was taught how to indulge inlegitimate self-expression—in her casemore particularly in public singing—shewas eventually able to go to the moviesonce a week without any deleteriouseffect, and in time succeeded in elimin-ating and sublimating her affection for theman, who was married soon after hercollapse. She seems now well on the roadto complete recovery, and there is noreason why she should not enjoy goodhealth, as she has learned how moreproperly and naturally to live heremotional life.

6:5.4 Emotional troubles, of course,are not all due to suppression of sex-complexes. As I shall endeavor to explainin a subsequent chapter, there are othercomplexes which are capable of makingquite as much mischief when they areunnaturally suppressed. To illustrate this,let me relate the story of a young marriedwoman with an inordinate socialambition. She was what you would call,in modern terminology, a social climber.She had the entrée into society, but shedidn’t have the wherewithal properly tocarry on. There was more or less troubleat home because of the money she spenton her social activities, but, notwith-standing all this, she aspired to gain thetop round of the social ladder,

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and she had all but succeeded when heroverexertions and her suppression of themixed emotions connected with her socialclimbing resulted in her undoing. She hada nervous collapse—literally went topieces.

6:5.5 This woman confessed to me thatshe used to “burn up” with envy at thethought of her social rivals; that sheindulged in anxiety to the point ofemotional white heat when she heard ofthe achievements of women in her socialset who were gaining on her or forgingahead of her. She told me that since earlygirlhood she had indulged this inordinatelonging for social leadership. In thisparticular case there was a great deal ofsuppression on her part of the urge topower. The emotion of pride wasinvolved in her manifold activities, andshe was very sensitive in this respect.When she met with any temporary defeator social slight, she was intensely hurt,and she harbored the desire for revengeagainst those who chanced to incur herdispleasure.

6:5.6 She was much interested incharitable work, civic enterprises, etc.,and rationalized to herself that all hersocial ambitions were justified because ofthe good she would do when she onceattained the unquestioned leadership ofher set. Her foolish and deceptive sub-conscious made her believe that all herstrivings were unselfish and that herambitions were wholly altruistic. Never-theless, the crash came, and it was in asanatorium that she found herself whenshe began to realize what a fool she hadbeen.

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[See 6:3.5, above, re ‘tender spot’.]

She afterward said to me: “Doctor, itdoesn’t pay to harbor inordinate ambition.It doesn’t pay to want too much, and mostof all it doesn’t pay to suppress in yourmind and nurse in your heart, grievances,grudges, or any other emotional sorespot.”

SPIRITUAL ANEMIA

6:6.1 Not long ago I came in contactwith rather an unusual case of mentaldisturbance brought on by emotionalrepression; it further illustrates mycontention that ill health from emotionalsuppression does not always indicate thatthe suppressed emotions are of a sexnature.

This is a case of the suppression ofreligious feelings. The subject was abusiness woman about forty years of age,who had had average religious training inher youth, and who had given more orless attention to her religious emotionsuntil she was about thirty years of age,when she came to Chicago and becameconnected with a large concern. Businessand social activities and other “cares ofhis world” multiplied, and before longshe found herself quite neglectful of allthings religious. Notwithstanding herabsence from church and her apparentindifference to everything of a spiritualnature, she had the constantly recurringconviction that she should pay moreattention to these matters; but she keptputting this aside, suppressing it.

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She rationalized, telling herself that thereligion that had been taught her at homewas largely superstition, but she gainedlittle comfort from this line of reasoning;so she began to indulge in the rational-ization that she was too much occupiedwith her other duties now, and wouldattend to these matters in the future; thatshe perhaps had paid too much attentionto religion in the past, and that it was dueto herself now to take full advantage ofher business and social opportunities. Shebecame fairly happy with the life she led,all the while subconsciously—andsometimes consciously—suppressing,repressing, putting out of her mind, thisurge to spiritual growth and development.

[See 1:7.4.]

6:6.2 Years went by and her healthbegan to fail. She grew nervous, began tosuffer from fatigue and eventually frominsomnia, and it was only then that shesought medical advice. You can be sure itwas quite difficult to find out what wasthe matter with her. She didn’t know. Athorough examination revealed that shewas organically sound. She professed tobe happy in every respect and assured usthat there was no emotional conflict goingon in her mind; but the sounding-line ofemotional analysis revealed in the depthsof her soul this suppressed conviction,this subtle struggle, this spiritualstarvation, this suppression of religiousemotion—and when these things werebrought out and placed before her shewas frank to confess that the root of hertrouble had been found. Before a weekhad gone by she had establishedconnection with a group of friends whowere engaged in religious research,friends from whom she had been more orless separated for years.

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1. An indication that the Bridges text came before Sadler’s.

In two or three other ways she madeconnections of a religious, or spiritualnature, and within one month from thattime she was a new woman, gaining inweight, to some extent relieved of herfatigue, and enjoying refreshing sleepalmost every night.

6:6.3 I have never in all myprofessional experience seen a moreremarkable or rapid transformation thanthis one which followed the discovery ofrepressed emotions and their normalelimination.

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chapter 6 — emotional repression and rationalization · 2017-12-12 · revised 6 apr. 2013 and 10...

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