Universal repression from consciousness versus abnormal dissociation from self-consciousness
Behavioral and Brain Sciences October 1, 2006 Robert G. Kunzendorf
Freud's explanation of uncovered incest shifted from real abuse dissociated from self-consciousness to wishes repressed from consciousness. Dissociation is preferred on theoretical and empirical grounds, as it emerges from double-aspect materialism, while repression implicates Cartesian dualism. Studies suggest that abnormal individuals dissociate trauma from self-conscious source-monitoring, convincing themselves the trauma is imaginary and re-experiencing it as an unbidden image.