Sometimes, when life suits us with another dirty trick, and problems surround us from all sides, we want to be back in childhood. It is calm, warm, comfortable there, and mom and dad will protect you from any troubles. The subconscious desire to return to the comfortable and safe world of childhood activates the protective mechanism of the psyche, called “regression” – returning back. This psychological defense, described by Z. Freud, often becomes the last straw for a person to grab.
Psychological defense mechanisms
For the first time, Z. Freud spoke about psychological defenses. He came to the conclusion that forbidden desires, instincts, unpleasant memories and fears, driven by a person to the level of the unconscious, continue to act on him from there.
They are a source of obscure anxiety, phobias, distressing experiences and internal conflicts, and sometimes mental illness. To rid the brain of this destructive effect, defense mechanisms are activated in the mind. They manifest themselves as features of behavior and thinking, often strange, inappropriate situations or obsessively repetitive. For example, a person dumps the blame for his act on another, so as not to feel guilty, or seeks a rational justification for his unseemly act. Or uses childish forms of behavior, as in regression.
Protecting the psyche from overly negative experiences, defense mechanisms at the same time distort reality, create an illusion, prevent you from seeing the problem and finding ways to solve it.
Z. Freud described the first 8 types of protection, the list of which has now increased significantly. But they are all divided into 2 types or levels:
- High-level psychological defense mechanisms transform the energy of unsatisfied desires and negative experiences into some other type of activity, for example, into creativity or a struggle for power.
- The defenses of the lower, primitive level simply distort reality, lead a person away from solving problems, drive conflicts deep into the unconscious. The illusion of normal existence is temporary, and the action of these mechanisms can lead to serious mental problems and behavioral abnormalities.
Regression belongs to the lowest type of psychological defenses. Moreover, it is considered the most primitive form.
How the regression engine works
Human behavior is a reaction to external stimuli: events, people, situations, problems. Response methods can be different – reasonable, rational, adults or children and primitive. As a person develops, he learns more and more reasonable, logical, productive ways of reacting, and the type of his behavior also changes. But we can sometimes go back to more primitive and seemingly forgotten ways of responding. This is regression.
Regression manifestations
Despite its primitiveness, this is a fairly common type of psychological defense, especially in situations where “adult” behavior is ineffective and does not bring relief. So, a sick adult can act like a child in order to gain attention and care. And if he gets what he wants, then his reaction can become habitual, stable. And now, in any difficult, unpleasant situation, he is looking for signs of illness and hopes for the leniency of others. No, he doesn’t consciously pretend, he really feels sick. More precisely, his brain sends appropriate signals to the body, protecting the psyche from unpleasant emotions. I think everyone knows how often children who do not want to go to kindergarten or school get sick.
In a situation of fatigue, increased tension, constant stress, many people want to crawl under a warm blanket, eat something tasty, “hugs” and whimper. That is, to return to childish behavior, which allows them to feel weak for a while and do not owe anything to anyone. Returning to childhood is illusory, but it seems to protect us from the problems of adulthood. Unfortunately, this defense is also illusory.
- Regression often manifests itself in a situation where a person wants to achieve something from people close to him. Then he begins to behave like a child, turning to adults: begs, is capricious, promises good behavior, fawns or demonstratively takes offense. Even the timbre of his voice changes, it becomes “childish”, whining, whimpering, capricious.
- The forms of regressive behavior can also be attributed to a fascination with religious cults, a tendency to mysticism and superstition. It is then that a person looks for the causes of his problems in the punishment of God or family curse. This is a purely childish desire to shift the blame onto another, all the more this “other” cannot be justified.
- Regression also includes many forms of addictive (dependent) behavior. For example, gambling addiction or computer addiction is a person’s attempt to escape from the real world, to hide from it, like a child hiding under a blanket from his fears.
- Smoking, alcoholism and drug addiction are also regression, albeit seemingly not childish forms of behavior. But they are akin to the way a child sucks his finger, picks his nose, or bites his nails. This is an unproductive activity that relieves nervous tension, and besides, it is also destructive for the whole organism.
Z. Freud linked the mechanisms of psychological defense with problems in the sexual sphere, as one of the most significant for a person. Regression in this regard manifests itself in the most primitive forms of sexuality: narcissism, sadomasochism, bisexuality, etc.
Who is prone to regression
To a greater extent, children are prone to regression, whose psyche is still unstable, and childhood is very close. Children react to a lack of attention and the need to do what they don’t want to do not only with whims and tears, but also with frequent illnesses, excessive consumption of sweets and a return to completely primitive forms of behavior, for example, as if they forget to ask for a potty or do not want to dress themselves. This often happens when another child appears in the family, making the elder jealous and more likely to remind his parents of himself.
In adults, the constant use of regression is indicative of their personality weakness and infantilism. Most often, the following categories of people resort to this type of psychological defense:
- weak-willed and emotionally unstable individuals;
- unsure of themselves, with low self-esteem;
- easily suggested, subject to the social influence of stronger personalities and the media;
- poorly adapting in a social environment, lacking developed communication skills;
- people with an increased level of anxiety, prone to panic, hysteria and neuroses.
But regression can also manifest itself in strong, self-confident people if other, less primitive means of psychological defense turned out to be ineffective. When the struggle with difficult life circumstances took away all strength, and the goal is as far away as before, then a severe mental state of frustration sets in, threatening to develop into depression. In this situation, a strong person “hides” for a while in childhood. He can cry, complain, demonstrate resentment, “seize” his problems, make scandals.
But for a strong personality, regression is a temporary manifestation of weakness, necessary to relieve emotional stress. Here emotions splash out, and the person returns to adult forms of behavior.
Regression types
Although regression is considered the most primitive form of psychological defense, it, as already noted, occurs in all people. But it doesn’t always go unnoticed. The effect of regression on the human psyche and his daily behavior depends on its type.
In total, 3 types of this psychological defense can be distinguished:
- Short-term. The most common, common reaction. A manifestation of weakness associated with emotional or physical overload. Short-term regression relieves nervous tension, helps to overcome the consequences of stress, setbacks, life collisions, and passes almost without complications.
- Partial. This type of regression is more prolonged and causes deformation of human behavior, and sometimes the development of mental disorders. But the partial regression concerns only one form of its manifestation. For example, a person who often uses their illness to pressure loved ones and receive “bonuses” from them in the form of extra attention may become a hypochondriac. Hypochondria is expressed in the fact that the individual is constantly looking for (and finds, and how could it be otherwise) signs of various diseases. This phenomenon is already considered a mental disorder.
- Complete regression. It is rare and is usually associated with dementia – senile dementia. Then the elderly man is said to have fallen into childhood. But complete regression also occurs in relatively young people in situations of severe psychological trauma. When the consciousness is unable to accept the tragedy that has happened, as if it escapes into childhood, it closes itself off from the terrible things that it faced in adulthood. Complete regression is already a serious mental illness that requires serious treatment and psychiatric help.
Regression is a natural reaction of our psyche, a kind of safeguard against overload. And the mechanism of its action is at the subconscious level, a person does not control it, even if he is aware of the reasons for his behavior. Therefore, one should not blame someone for the manifestation of “childish” behavior. But if we are not talking about short-term regression, then it is worth consulting with a psychologist, and in advanced cases, with a psychiatrist.
