Editing Psychoanalytic theory (section)

==The unconscious==
In psychoanalytic theory, the unconscious mind consists of ideas and drives that have been subject to the mechanism of [[Repression (psychoanalysis)|Repression]]: anxiety-producing impulses in childhood are barred from consciousness, but do not cease to exist, and exert a constant pressure in the direction of consciousness. However, the content of the unconscious is only knowable to consciousness through its representation in a disguised or distorted form, by way of [[dream]]s and neurotic symptoms, as well as in [[Freudian slip|slips of the tongue]] and [[joke]]s. The psychoanalyst seeks to interpret these conscious manifestations in order to understand the nature of the repressed. In psychoanalytic terms, [[the unconscious]] does not include all that is not conscious, but rather that which is actively repressed from conscious thought. Freud viewed the unconscious as a repository for socially unacceptable ideas, anxiety-producing wishes or desires, traumatic memories, and painful emotions put out of consciousness by the mechanism of repression. Such unconscious mental processes can only be recognized through analysis of their effects in consciousness. Unconscious thoughts are not directly accessible to ordinary introspection, but they are capable of partially evading the censorship mechanism of repression in a disguised form, manifesting, for example, as dream elements or neurotic [[symptom]]s. Dreams and symptoms are supposed to be capable of being "interpreted" during psychoanalysis, with the help of methods such as [[free association (psychology)|free association]], dream analysis, and analysis of verbal slips.<ref>Freud, S (1915). The Unconscious. XIV (2nd ed.). Hogarth Press, 1955.</ref>