The subconscious and psychoanalysis[edit]The subconscious is
commonly encountered as a replacement for the unconscious mind and
therefore, laypersons commonly assume that the subconscious is a
psychoanalytic term; it is not. Sigmund Freud explicitly
argues:
"If someone talks of subconsciousness, I cannot tell whether he
means the term topographically to indicate something lying in the
mind beneath consciousness or qualitatively to indicate another
consciousness, a subterranean one, as it were. He is probably not
clear about any of it. The only trustworthy antithesis is between
conscious and unconscious."[3] In Freud's opinion the unconscious
mind has a will and purpose of its own that cannot be known to the
conscious mind (hence the term "unconscious") and is a repository
for socially unacceptable ideas, wishes or desires, traumatic
memories, and painful emotions put out of mind by the mechanism of
psychological repression
Charles Rycroft explains that the subconscious is a term "never
used in psychoanalytic writings".[4] Peter Gay says that the use of
the term subconscious where unconscious is meant is "a common and
telling mistake";[5] indeed, "when [the term] is employed to say
something 'Freudian', it is proof that the writer has not read his
Freud".[6]
Freud's own terms for thinking that takes place outside
conscious awareness are das Unbewusste (rendered by his translators
as "the Unconscious mind") and das Vorbewusste ("the
Preconscious"); informal use of the term subconscious in this
context thus creates confusion, as it fails to make clear which (if
either) is meant. The distinction is of significance because in
Freud's formulation the Unconscious is "dynamically" unconscious,
the Preconscious merely "descriptively" so: the contents of the
Unconscious require special investigative techniques for their
exploration, whereas something in the Preconscious is unrepressed
and can be recalled to consciousness by the simple direction of
attention. The erroneous, pseudo-Freudan use of subconscious and
"subconsciousness" has its precise equivalent in German, where the
words inappropriately employed are das Unterbewusste and das
Unterbewusstsein.
The subconscious and instinct[edit]The subconscious mind is a
composite of everything one sees, hears and any information the
mind collects that it cannot otherwise consciously process to make
meaningful sense. The conscious mind cannot always absorb
disconnected information, as it would be an information overload,
so the subconscious mind stores this information where it can be
retrieved by the conscious mind when it needs to defend itself for
survival (and for other reasons, such as solving puzzles).
The subconscious mind stores information that the conscious mind
may not immediately process with full understanding, but it stores
the information for later retrieval when recalled by the conscious
mind, or by an astute psychoanalyst who can draw out information
stored in the subconscious, bringing it to the individual's
conscious awareness.[7] This can especially be observed with
heightened sensitivity of victims of violence and other crimes,
where victims "felt something" "instinctually" about a person or
situation, but failed to take action to avoid the situation, for
whatever reason, be it embarrassment, self-denial or other reasons
to ignore instinct, as they disregard internal warning signals.
A precise example of the subconscious mind at work and related
phenomena can be found in a book written by psychoanalyst Gavin De
Becker, "The Gift of Fear". He describes how a victim "knew
something was wrong", but initially discredited her own
instinct/subconscious mind, opting instead to respond to the
perceived threat in a normal, "socially acceptable" manner,
completely ignoring that the subconscious mind tried to tell the
conscious mind "that something is wrong." De Becker tapped into the
mind of the victim regarding her "prior awareness by the sub
conscious mind that caused her to act instinctively" allowing
her to realize that the perpetrator was going to kill her. The
analyst brought her conscious mind to recognize how her
subconscious was working on her conscious mind, by eliciting her
original "inner thoughts/voice" through a series of events to which
her subconscious mind ultimately drove her conscious mind to behave
in such a manner as to protect her from being killed. Gavin was
able to elicit her subconscious mind's recognition of a dangerous
situation that compelled her conscious mind to act to save her
through its basic survival instinct, bringing to the victim's
conscious mind that it was the "subtle signal that warned her." The
victim describes this as an unrecognized fear that drove her to
act, still unaware consciously of precisely why she was afraid. Her
conscious mind had heard the words, "I promise I won't hurt you,
while her subconscious mind was calculating the situation much
faster than the conscious mind could make sense out of WHY the fear
was there. The victim stated that "the animal inside her took
over." ALWAYS SPEAK WELL OF YOURSELF: Never criticise yourself.
Itis self-sabotage and it irritates people. If you have nothing
goodto say about yourself, say nothing.LOOK FOR GOOD THINGS IN
OTHER PEOPLE: People who feelbad about themselves search for faults
in others. The flip side is:look for qualities in others and you
will feel better aboutyourself.LOOK FOR BEAUTY EVERYWHERE: To
recognise beauty withina flower, a cathedral, a rock, a sunset, a
puppy, you have tohave it within you. Otherwise, you wouldnt know
it when yousaw it.Appreciation of everything around us leads us to
self-love.TAKE CARE OF YOUR HOME: Where you live affects how
youfeel. Create a space that will uplift you when you walk in
thefront door. Neatness costs nothing. Better to live in a
one-roomapartment that is clean than in a mansion thats a mess.
Your home may not be grand but it can be tidy! Hang pictures or
photographs that inspire you.Fred says, When I get successful, Ill
quit living like a rat.Wrong! To be a success you have to begin to
live well. You haveto feel good now.NURTURE YOURSELF: Firstly,
heres what nurturing yourself isNOT.Lisa, who is a month behind in
her rent and owes ten grand onher credit cards, buys a
two-thousand-dollar handbag andproclaims, I deserve it! No, Lisa!
Blowing big money you donthave on stuff you dont need is not
nurturing yourself; itspunishing yourself.Nurturing yourself is
doing things that make you feel good that you can afford.Heres what
it might mean:If you are flat-broke: walking in a city park and
enjoyingthe flowers; sitting in the foyer of a beautiful five-star
hoteland reading a book (its free); learning massage online witha
friend and spoiling each other with a relaxing treatmentonce a
week.If you have some spare dollars: buying an economy air ticket
and using points to upgrade to business class for thefirst time in
your life; saving ten dollars a week until youcan afford to take
your Mum to lunch at the bestrestaurant in town.Make it your
mission to enjoy affordable pleasures. Start now.Nurturing yourself
means spending time with people who upliftyou. It means seeking out
sweet experiences, stretching your expectations and feeling better
and better, bit by bit.MEDITATE: The purpose of meditation is TO BE
withoutpurpose. We are so busy doing, we often forget to be
humanbeings. Meditation is the ultimate exercise in detachment
andfeeling good.LEARN TO RECEIVE: Maybe you have a friend like
Mary.You invite her to dinner. She says, Dont go to anytrouble.You
buy her a birthday present. She says, You shouldnthave.You offer to
carry her groceries. She says, I can manage.You tell her shes
beautiful and she says, Ive got a fatbutt.Maybe you are like Mary.
If you want a rich life, learn to accept
Get comfortablewith receiving.other peoples help, invitations,
gifts and compliments happily.DO THINGS YOU LOVE: Spend time doing
things you love if not in your work time, then in your spare time.
If you lovemusic, or painting or swimming with sharks, make time
for it.When you do things you love, you affirm, I am worth it
andwhat I care about matters.BE GENTLE WITH YOURSELF: If you find
itdifficult to love or forgive yourself, get aphotograph of
yourself aged two, or four,and put it on your desk. It is much
easier to forgive a four-year-old.We love our husb
