An Inhibition Can Appear in Various Forms.
In addition to the well-known "writer's block," a person can hold back from speaking up in a meeting, defer to others unnecessarily, delay beginning or finishing a project, or find oneself at a loss for words or ideas. Sometimes, we know why we are holding back in some way: we may be afraid of looking foolish, or of challenging an authority. We may dread a project because it is difficult or uninteresting. But when we hold back from something without having an inkling as to why, the cause is an inhibition.
What Causes Inhibition?
Freud postulated that it represents a compromise between an unconscious wish and a prohibition of that wish. For instance, if excelling at something would unconsciously represent an unacceptable aggressive act against a competitor, it would be blocked from full expression. Your unconscious might allow you to do well enough, but not to excel: a compromise.
Another way of understanding inhibition: because an unconscious unacceptable wish is disturbing, the mind can't handle that degree of disturbance, even though it is out of our awareness. It can't allow the full expression of a forbidden wish, so it provides a partial expression: doing well enough without excelling.
And if an idea or an action is sufficiently exciting, for instance the solution to a major problem,
it can be so overstimulating that we can't tolerate knowing it in its entirety all at once. It comes into our awareness gradually, during which time we are inhibited from acting on it.
How Can We Deal with Inhibition?
If it is due to an overstimulating idea, we must wait for its novelty to wane before it can enter our awareness. However, if it is due to an unacceptable wish, my complimentary Tool can help. In Step 3, wish for a new mental pathway that will be dedicated to understanding the origin of the inhibition and working to delink it from the current situation.
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