Ressentment and Bitterness
In the subconscious mind, immorality is often associated with pleasure. Because such pleasure is socially forbidden, it becomes tied to anxiety. In turn, this anxiety helps to generate compulsion. Therefore the process of purifying the subconscious mind involves both releasing this anxiety and bringing the immoral thoughts into normal consciousness. [¹]. The function of resentment and bitterness is that they remove the attractiveness of forbidden ideas and vain phantasies.
In the abreaction of guilt, when the first two stages of narcissism and jealousy are worked through, the stage of guilt is reached. Now feelings of degradation arise concerning the immorality of the catharsis stage. The last stage, that of resentment, highlights the feelings of degradation and rejects all the previous excitement. [²].
Prior to the catharsis, immorality was associated with pleasure (at a subconscious level of mind). During the catharsis this subconscious pleasure is raised to the conscious level of mind. When abreaction is complete the resentment and bitterness have dissociated the pleasure from the immoral thoughts.
Anxiety was attached to the memories since to take pleasure in immorality is not socially acceptable. The final result is that both anxiety and pleasure are separated from the aspect of immorality that was the subject of the abre action. Whence such immoral thoughts no longer bother the person because there are no longer any emotional dynamics in the subconscious mind attached to such thoughts.
In this way, the subconscious mind is gradually purified of compulsive immoral thoughts and the amount of determinism is reduced. The person may still call up immoral phantasies if he / she wants to, but they no longer retain their previous influence over him / her and so will not affect their behaviour.
Purification and SensualityWhy does the purification of the subconscious mind produce so much distress? . Why is the elimination of determinism so disturbing for the adult ? The distress turns upon the links between determinism, sensuality and conformity. The young child desires support above all else. It needs boundaries within which it can feel secure. If these boundaries are not supplied by the parents, or if the parental boundaries are inharmonious to it, then the child has to create its own boundaries as it grows up.
Boundaries are created as a way of producing a safe haven. Why does the child, and the adult, need a safe environment ? . Because the person fears his freedom! The fear of freedom, the fear of venturing into the unknown, underlies most human activity. [³].
The boundaries that the person accepts or creates are ones that offer the promise of happiness. He / she prefers to seek happiness and conformity rather than freedom. Happiness and conformity are safer options to the fear of freedom. [4]. And happiness is sought within forms of sensuality. Freedom is buried and denied by activities such as the over-indulgence in sex, alcohol, cannabis, television and by the pursuit of a nice respectable social status. This burial of freedom is characterised by the sense of alienation or by the sense of there being no meaning to life.
As the desire for freedom grows within the person, so he / she must devote more and more energy to repressing it. As freedom is denied more and more, so sensuality grows in intensity. The more that a person is dominated by any form of sensuality, the more compulsive becomes their behaviour, and the more difficult it is for them to cultivate broad-mindedness and flexibility. A psycho-analysis has the effect of eliminating weakness and determinism (though only if they were created in the current life, and not in past lives), and so enlarges the possibilities of freedom. Therefore a psychoanalysis always affects the sensuality of the person. [5]
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