Repression vs. Suppression

Repression and suppression are both psychological defense mechanisms, but they differ in how they function. Repression is an unconscious process where distressing thoughts, memories, or desires are pushed out of awareness, often due to trauma or anxiety. In contrast, suppression is a conscious effort to avoid or control unwanted thoughts and emotions.

In both cases, these defenses help reduce anxiety in the moment. They serve the purpose of removing unwanted information from conscious awareness.​

Repression (Unconscious Defense)

​Repression refers to unconsciously blocking out unacceptable or painful memories, impulses, or feelings so that they cannot be easily recalled.

A person who represses something is not aware they are doing it – the troubling thought or memory is essentially forgotten or kept out of conscious awareness by the psyche’s own mechanisms​.

This was famously described by Sigmund Freud as motivated forgetting of unpleasant material​.

For example, someone who experienced a traumatic childhood event like abuse or a near-drowning might have no conscious memory of it as an adult because the memory has been repressed.

They may later feel inexplicable anxiety around related triggers (such as a phobia of water) without realizing the root cause is a repressed memory of the early trauma​.

In repression, the person doesn’t choose to forget; the mind does it for them to reduce emotional pain or internal conflict.

Freud noted that repressed feelings and memories are not gone – they remain in the unconscious mind, influencing mood and behavior in indirect ways (e.g. through dreams or slips of the tongue)​.

Suppression (Conscious Defense)

Suppression is a conscious, intentional decision to avoid thinking about or engaging with distressing information​. It is a voluntary form of forgetting or ignoring.

Here, a person recognizes an unwanted thought or emotion but actively tries to put it out of mind.

It is sometimes described as intentional avoidance of distressing thoughts​

Unlike repression, the individual is aware of the thought’s existence but makes a conscious effort to push it aside or “bottle it up.”

For example, someone haunted by intrusive thoughts of a recent embarrassing mistake might decide to distract themselves and not dwell on it, effectively suppressing the thought.

Or a person having upsetting memories of a traumatic event might deliberately force their mind onto other topics whenever those memories start to surface​.

In these cases the person is aware of what they’re doing – choosing not to think about it in the moment.

Suppression can involve strategies like distraction, denying or “brushing off” feelings, or delaying dealing with emotions until a more appropriate time.

Notably, because suppressed material is still in conscious memory (just pushed to the side), it can usually be retrieved or addressed later, whereas truly repressed material is inaccessible without special effort (such as therapy)​.

Examples

Each of these examples highlights the core difference:

In repression, the person does not realize something is being hidden (the mind does it on its own), whereas in suppression, the person knows what they’re feeling or thinking but makes a choice to push it away.

Repression: the person does not realize something is being hidden

• Childhood Trauma: An adult who was in a serious accident or abused in early childhood has no recollection of the event. The memory may be so deeply repressed that they are genuinely unaware it happened, even though it might influence their adult relationships (e.g. trust issues)​.
• Repressed Fear: Someone who nearly drowned as a toddler might have developed a phobia of deep water without conscious memory of the near-drowning incident. The original trauma is repressed, but its emotional effect (fear) surfaces whenever they are near a large body of water​.
• Unacceptable Impulses: A person raised believing a certain sexual desire was sinful might completely repress those feelings, later struggling with intimacy without knowing why​.
• Emotion Repression: An individual receives distressing news (like a loved one’s death) but immediately feels “numb” and blank – their mind has repressed the strong emotions of grief as a way to cope with the shock.
  
  They might not cry or feel anything at first, because the emotion is pushed down unconsciously. Only later might bits of those feelings emerge in dreams or unexpected moments.

Suppression: conscious decisions to put aside thoughts or feelings

• Deliberate Distraction: After a painful breakup, a person keeps themselves busy with work and hobbies to avoid thinking about their ex.
  
  When memories or sadness intrude, they purposefully shift their attention (turn on the TV, call a friend) to suppress the heartache. They know they’re upset, but they choose not to dwell on it during the day.
• Postponing Worry: A college student anxious about an upcoming exam notices panic rising the night before the test. They decide to “not think about it” and watch a calming movie, effectively suppressing their worry so they can sleep.
  
  In this case the suppression is temporary – a conscious effort to manage anxiety until the exam is over.
• Avoiding Triggers: A person who survived a car accident finds themselves recalling the crash whenever they drive. They actively try to push those memories out of mind while on the road so they can concentrate on driving.
  
  If the memories start flooding back (intrusive thoughts), they might turn up the radio or firmly tell themselves “Now’s not the time,” consciously suppressing the recall of the trauma.
• Professional Demeanor: A nurse working in a hectic emergency room might witness distressing sights. During the shift, the nurse suppresses emotional reactions (fear, sadness) to remain focused and effective.
  
  They intentionally set aside their feelings about a tragic patient case until later, when off duty, because breaking down in tears at work would impede their ability to help others.
  
  This conscious emotional suppression is a coping mechanism to get through acute stress.

Psychological Effects

It’s worth noting that everyone uses these defenses to some degree – they are not inherently ‘abnormal.’

In the short term, these defenses can be helpful or even necessary to cope with overwhelming stress.

They become problematic when they are a person’s primary way of dealing with problems.

Chronic repression or suppression means important emotions never get processed, which is what ultimately causes mental health difficulties.

Unprocessed emotions don’t just disappear – whether suppressed consciously or repressed unconsciously, they can fester and lead to emotional distress or health issues until they are acknowledged.

Repression

Because repression completely buries issues out of awareness, it often means a person never directly processes or resolves those issues.

The repressed feelings can then manifest as symptoms or indirect problems. Freud believed that unresolved unconscious conflicts (held in repression) were a major cause of anxiety and neurotic disorders.

Modern views also suggest that bottling up trauma or pain unconsciously can lead to anxiety, depression, and psychosomatic symptoms (physical symptoms with psychological origins)​.

For instance, someone with repressed grief may develop signs of chronic stress or mood swings without obvious cause.

In extreme cases, repression of traumatic memories might result in dissociative amnesia (inability to recall autobiographical information) or contribute to dissociative disorders.

The chronic internal stress of unprocessed emotion can keep the body in a state of tension. Repressed anger, for example, might show up as chronic muscle tension or high blood pressure, even if the person outwardly appears calm.

Furthermore, because the person isn’t aware of the true source of their distress, they may feel confused or helpless about their anxiety or depression (“I don’t understand why I feel this way”).

Over time, repression can also interfere with relationships – the individual might seem distant or emotionally unavailable, or they might project their buried feelings onto others without realizing it.

On the positive side, repression may allow someone to function during a crisis (by shutting down pain), but if the repressed material is never addressed, it often lingers and causes harm.

Many forms of psychotherapy (especially psychodynamic therapy) aim to help people uncover and work through repressed emotions precisely because keeping them buried can be so damaging to mental health.

Suppression

Suppression, being conscious, might seem easier to manage, but it too can have downsides if overused.

In small doses, suppression is a common coping mechanism – almost everyone occasionally puts aside feelings to get through the day.

Short-term or situational suppression (like staying composed during an emergency) typically causes no lasting harm​ and can be quite adaptive.

The trouble comes when suppression becomes someone’s go-to method of dealing with emotions all the time.

Continually refusing to face uncomfortable feelings can lead to a buildup of unresolved emotions. Psychologically, this might result in increased stress and internal tension.

Suppressed emotions don’t actually vanish; they “sit in the background” and can resurface later, sometimes more intensely.

A well-known phenomenon is the rebound effect of thought suppression.

Research by Daniel Wegner and colleagues found that when people deliberately try not to think about something (famously, a white bear), the unwanted thought tends to come back even more frequently once suppression is relaxed​.

In other words, suppressing a thought can make it bounce back into the mind stronger than before.

This rebound effect can maintain or worsen anxiety in conditions like obsessive-compulsive disorder or generalized anxiety, where the person’s very efforts to suppress intrusive worries end up fueling them.

Emotional suppression can likewise lead to outbursts or mood swings – for example, someone who chronically suppresses anger might eventually have an explosive episode over a minor issue because the pent-up anger seeks an outlet.

If you never allow yourself to acknowledge sadness or fear, you may end up feeling numb or detached (which can be a feature of depression).

Suppression is also associated with stress-related illnesses; the continued effort to constrain emotions puts strain on the body.

Over time, a person who never expresses or processes emotions might experience psychosomatic issues (headaches, fatigue, etc.) or unhealthy coping behaviors (like turning to alcohol or overeating to keep emotions at bay).

Sources

• Baumeister, R. F., Dale, K., & Sommer, K. L. (1998). Freudian defense mechanisms and empirical findings in modern social psychology: Reaction formation, projection, displacement, undoing, isolation, sublimation, and denial. Journal of Personality, 66(6), 1081-1124.
• Cramer, P. (2015). Defense mechanisms: 40 years of empirical research. Journal of Personality Assessment, 97(2), 114-122.
• Freud, A. (1937). The Ego and the mechanisms of defense, London: Hogarth Press and Institute of Psycho-Analysis.
• Freud, S. (1894). The neuro-psychoses of defence. SE, 3: 41-61.
• Freud, S. (1896). Further remarks on the neuro-psychoses of defense. SE, 3: 157-185.
• Van der Kolk, B. A. (1994). The body keeps the score: Memory and the evolving psychobiology of posttraumatic stress. Harvard review of psychiatry, 1(5), 253-265.