We can release our tensions through sublimation, it is an incomparable way to redirect our anxieties to something healthier, in this way we strengthen our well-being.
Sometimes we accumulate anxieties so great that we don’t know how to deal with them, it’s intense suffering, which we gradually let take over from us.
- However.
- There are mechanisms to defend ourselves and put a barrier to this deep feeling.
- Through sublimation.
- We can manage to redirect this suffering.
So, although it is in human nature to go through difficult times that cause us discomfort, we can put a limit on our anxieties, even reorient them, giving them a healthier direction, isn’t it wonderful?
Through sublimation we can give another way to suffering, then we tell you a little more about what exactly we talk about, what its benefits are and some ways of sublimating.
“Our complexes are the source of our weakness. But are they also often the source of our strength?-Sigmund Freud-
Sublimation is one of the defense mechanisms described by Sigmund Freud, a defense mechanism is a way to deal with our anxieties, these occur, for example, when we have a fear that we do not know how to handle.
In the case of sublimation, it seems to redirect our impulses to something socially accepted, Freud suggested that this is a way to develop impulses with the ability to move them.
Thus, we can understand that this is a mechanism by which we are able to reorient our anxieties towards behaviors that do not harm us in the social sphere.
In Freud’s words, “culture relies entirely on the coercion of instincts. “In this sense, we would say that there are accepted problems in the cultural field and, through sublimation, we could reorient what causes us anxiety towards such subjects or levels of [ removed] such as painting, literature, sculpture, etc. ).
However, Freud was not the only one who spoke of this concept: some of his contemporaries and successors also did (and continue to do so).
For example, Nietzsche formulated the concept at the same time as Freud, but placed more emphasis on artistic sublimation, referring to art as a saving God; Jaques Lacan also mentioned the concept, but highlighted sublimation as a substitute for satisfaction.
Even today, this concept continues to be studied. For example, Javier Cuevas del Barrio dedicated, in his doctoral thesis (University of Malaga, Spain), a section to the concept of sublimation, focused on the influence of this concept on avant-garde art and explored its transformation through several authors.
Over time, since the concept of sublimation was formulated, it has been said that one way to reorient suffering is through art, but there are others.
If art is a vehicle to mobilize emotions, which acts like a means to represent our unconscious and conscious aspects, there are other ways to sublimate.
Just as sublimation causes redirection to something that is socially approved, it is possible to do so in different ways, a well-studied way is also work.
We can move our anxieties to something accepted by our culture, which in this case would work, for example, a surgeon who instead of following his instincts performs operations, which is socially accepted, then releases your tensions.
In addition, we can sublimating the practice of sport. It’s about redirecting our anxieties to physical exercise. A unique way to release the energy that our impulses can contain. In addition, when we exercise, we produce endorphins, a neurotransmitter that takes care of our mood.
Another way to sublimate what we cannot identify as such is through new technologies, these are wonderful resources that we use every day to get out of our anxieties, for example, we can see series that include unacceptable events in the real world, such as murders. .
It is difficult to become aware of our defense mechanisms because they act in a space that is difficult for our conscience to access, even with anxieties that we cannot recognize, whether conscious or not, sublimation can bring us great benefits.
Let’s look at some of them
Each form of sublimation is an advantage for our mental health, even if we are not aware of this mechanism, we may be able to figure out how it works in us, self-awareness and psychotherapy are a great option to explore it.
Sublimation is a defense mechanism that serves as a guide to our anxieties, this takes them to another level, in which they are expressed in a healthier way, so it is a way in which our mind protects us.
Instead of following our impulses and doing things outside the law, we began to direct our anxieties toward issues understandable to our society, thus freeing up our tensions.