Question

Janel was sexually abused by her uncle when she was five yeärs old. This experience was so devastating and traumatic that she removed the memory awareness. What is this an example of?

Answer 1

It is an example of Repression

Explanation:

• You force an unpleasant memory to the back of your mind where you
  don’t have to think about it in the hope that you will simply end up
  forgetting it
• It can lead to a person becoming inexplicably naïve, have memory
  lapses and/or not be as aware of their personal situation or condition
• It would be more than likely that the person would be referred to
  therapy to help bring those memories to the conscious mind so that the
  person can resolve their problems in a healthy manner that won’t harm them

                                      **Defence Mechanisms**
  

  Denial:
  - This is when the person refuses to accept the fact that they have a
  bad memory so do not accept the reality of their situation
  - E.g. Not revising as you have not accepted the fact that you have
  exams coming up

Regression:
- The ego goes back to a previous stage of development rather than
handling the situation in an adult manner that would be considered
socially unacceptable
- E.g. whining rather than using the correct grammar that they have
already learnt
- The stage you go back to will most probably be the one that you are
fixated in

Displacement:
- Transmitting the emotion from the source onto another person or object
-E.g. a teacher shouts at a child even though it is really her husband she is angry at