The subconscious and psychoanalysis[edit]

The subconscious is commonly encountered as a replacement for the unconscious mi

nd and therefore, laypersons commonly assume that the subconscious is a psychoan
alytic term; it is not. Sigmund Freud explicitly argues:
"If someone talks of subconsciousness, I cannot tell whether he means the term t
opographically
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 be
tween conscious and unconscious."[3]
In Freud's opinion the unconscious mind has a will and purpose of its own that c
annot be known to the conscious mind (hence the term "unconscious") and is a rep
ository for socially unacceptable ideas, wishes or desires, traumatic memories,
and painful emotions put out of mind by the mechanism of psychological repressio
n
Charles Rycroft explains that the subconscious is a term "never used in psychoan
alytic 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 te
rm] 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 V
orbewusste ("the Preconscious"); informal use of the term subconscious in this c
ontext thus creates confusion, as it fails to make clear which (if either) is me
ant. The distinction is of significance because in Freud's formulation the Uncon
scious is "dynamically" unconscious, the Preconscious merely "descriptively" so:
the contents of the Unconscious require special investigative techniques for th
eir 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 equiva
lent in German, where the words inappropriately employed are das Unterbewusste a
nd das Unterbewusstsein.
The subconscious and instinct[edit]
The subconscious mind is a composite of everything one sees, hears and any infor
mation the mind collects that it cannot otherwise consciously process to make me
aningful sense. The conscious mind cannot always absorb disconnected information
, as it would be an information overload, so the subconscious mind stores this i
nformation where it can be retrieved by the conscious mind when it needs to defe
nd itself for survival (and for other reasons, such as solving puzzles).
The subconscious mind stores information that the conscious mind may not immedia
tely process with full understanding, but it stores the information for later re
trieval 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 sensit
ivity of victims of violence and other crimes, where victims "felt something" "i
nstinctually" about a person or situation, but failed to take action to avoid th
e situation, for whatever reason, be it embarrassment, self-denial or other reas
ons 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 he
r own instinct/subconscious mind, opting instead to respond to the perceived thr
eat in a normal, "socially acceptable" manner, completely ignoring that the subc
onscious mind tried to tell the conscious mind "that something is wrong." De Bec
ker 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 tha
t 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 elicitin
g her original "inner thoughts/voice" through a series of events to which her su
bconscious mind ultimately drove her conscious mind to behave in such a manner a
s to protect her from being killed. Gavin was able to elicit her subconscious mi
nd's recognition of a dangerous situation that compelled her conscious mind to a
ct to save her through its basic survival instinct, bringing to the victim's con
scious mind that it was the "subtle signal that warned her." The victim describe
s 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 prom
ise 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 the
re. 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 wil
l feel better aboutyourself.LOOK FOR BEAUTY EVERYWHERE: To recognise beauty with
ina flower, a cathedral, a rock, a sunset, a puppy, you have tohave it within yo
u. Otherwise, you wouldn t know it when yousaw it.Appreciation of everything aroun
d us leads us to self-love.TAKE CARE OF YOUR HOME: Where you live affects how yo
ufeel. Create a space that will uplift you when you walk in thefront door. Neatn
ess costs nothing. Better to live in a one-roomapartment that is clean than in a
mansion that s a mess. Your home may not be grand but it can be tidy! Hang pictur
es or photographs that inspire you.Fred says, When I get successful, I ll quit livi
ng like a rat. Wrong! To be a success you have to begin to live well. You haveto f
eel good now.NURTURE YOURSELF: Firstly, here s 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 mon
ey you don thave on stuff you don t need is not nurturing yourself; it spunishing your
self.Nurturing yourself is doing things that make you feel good that
you can afford.Here s 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 hote
land reading a book (it s 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 tak
e 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 peop
le who upliftyou. It means seeking out sweet experiences, stretching your expect
ations and feeling better and better, bit by bit.MEDITATE: The purpose of medita
tion is TO BE withoutpurpose. We are so busy doing , we often forget to be human bein
gs . Meditation is the ultimate exercise in detachment andfeeling good.LEARN TO RE
CEIVE: Maybe you have a friend like Mary.You invite her to dinner. She says, Don t
go to anytrouble. You buy her a birthday present. She says, You shouldn thave. You offe
r to carry her groceries. She says, I can manage. You tell her she s beautiful and sh
e says, I ve got a fatbutt. Maybe you are like Mary. If you want a rich life, learn t
o accept
Get comfortablewith receiving.other people s help, invitations, gifts and complime
nts 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 wi
th sharks, make time for it.When you do things you love, you affirm, I am worth i
t andwhat I care about matters. BE GENTLE WITH YOURSELF: If you find itdifficult t
o love or forgive yourself, get aphotograph of yourself aged two, or four,and pu
t it on your desk. It is much easier to forgive a four-year-old.We love our husb

ands, wives, parents, boyfriends and they renot perfect. So why should you have to
be perfect? Tell yourself, I don t have to be perfect
and that s perfect .GIVE YOURSELF
CREDIT: A happy life is about improvement,not perfection. Celebrate small steps
of progress.In a Nutshell
Love yourself. Your life dependson it.