Copyright © 2017 by MOTIVATION magazine. All rights reserved.

“As long as the mind is enslaved the body can never be free. Psychological freedom and a firm sense of self-esteem is the most powerful weapon against the long night of psychological slavery.”
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

Remember the psychoanalytic story of an iceberg? According to this theory, what we are consciously aware of belongs only to a tip of the iceberg. The rest of it goes to sub-conscious and unconscious. Repression is known as one of the main defense mechanisms that we unconsciously use to ensure that the thoughts, emotions or memories unacceptable to our conscious mind do not come in into it. To put it in other words, our mind uses this mechanism to pack away emotions or memories we don’t want to deal with at the moment because they are too disturbing. Repression as an ego-defense mechanism was introduced by Sigmund Freud and is widely accepted by psychoanalytic psychologists.

Our brain has different levels of repressing memories. Some life stories are determined extremely painful or threatening to our mental well-being. Thus they are buried so deep in subconscious that almost nothing can trigger their recall. Some people would forget only some details of the traumatic story, while others will forget the whole experience. However, these painful or traumatic memories are being stored with the possibility to become accessible at some point in our life.

Locked deep into the subconscious and not accessible to conscious awareness are the overwhelmingly stressful or traumatic stories from one’s past. These repressed stories can create emotional pressure that often leads to anxiety, depression, fear, aggression, guilt or shame. Although not present in your conscious mind, this pressure can also progressively deteriorate your life quality. The internal pressure of repressed emotions can become so overwhelming to where it causes a person to have an emotional or nervous breakdown.

With this being said, it seems rather obvious why it is important to unlock and set free your repressed stories. If you keep them in the basement of your mind for too long, they will hinder and start to rule your life. You may start to feel isolated, misunderstood, broken, damaged or judged, then withdraw from social life and sink into depression, guilt or anger.

When we unlock and deploy more of our positive emotional power, we will become more stable, hopeful, supportive, productive, and harmonious. ~ Ty Howard

In order to set your repressed stories free, you must be ready to release them. You will need courage to face the emotions behind the burden story, to interpret them and accept them. Some memories like those of sexual abuse, child abuse/neglect or traumatic life experiences require assistance of a highly-skilled mental health professional in order to be processed and coped with properly. These experiences need to be accepted as a part of one’s life in order for a person to move on without or with a reduced amount of emotional pressure.

“Life is one big road with lots of signs. So, when you’re riding through the ruts, don’t complicate your mind. Flee from hate, mischief and jealousy. Don’t bury your thoughts. Put your vision to reality. Wake Up and Live!”
~ Bob Marley

Repressed stories are blocked deep down in our mind for a reason. Nevertheless, staying in our subconscious for too long, they can deteriorate our quality of life and affect our mental health. You will not feel free until you set your repressed stories free.

Stay mindful of the fact that if you are not ready to face your buried stories, you may experience significant negative emotions associated with repressed memory which you will not be able to cope with. The process of releasing suppressed memories is always long and often painful, and most of the time requires assistance from a mental health professional. I encourage and employ you to go the process and the journey of setting free your repressed stories because it will be liberating for you in the end.

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About the Author: Ty Howard,
Founder, CEO and Editor-in-Chief of MOTIVATION magazine

Ty Howard is an internationally recognized authority on personal, professional, relationship and success habits development. He is the creator and lead facilitator of the trademarked Untie the Knots® Process, and the author of the best-selling book Untie the Knots® That Tie Up Your Life: A Practical Guide to Freeing Yourself from Toxic Habits, Choices, People, and Relationships, as well as dozens of published articles on relationships, success habits development, empowerment and peak performance worldwide.

For information on the author click on the following link: Ty Howard.