Suppression - psychology

Suppression is also the mind's way of keeping us from doing something stupid. Impulses that are deviant or criminal pop into everyone's mind from time to time and suppression is a very important method of keeping one's self-control in check. If we didn't suppress certain unhealthy impulses, there would be far more murders, assaults and suicides. But just because you may have been successful in pushing that traumatic experience out of your consciousness, that doesn't mean you've put it out of your mind entirely. Suppressed feelings and thoughts remain in the subconscious and though you may not be actively thinking about what happened, those thoughts and impulses can still find a way out and get manifested in behavior. One of the most common ways that suppression of your own emotions comes out is in the attempt to suppress others. This explains why so many people who are outspoken against one issue or another are eventually revealed to have been engaging in exactly the same kind of behavior they railed against. Another problem with prolonged suppression and the refusal to deal with the trauma and anxiety can be manifested in what might be termed viral suppression. You may begin by suppressing your homosexual attraction and end up by suppressing any hint of flamboyance in your character. Those who trust in suppression too much tend to be very bland, boring, unimaginative people.