Sublimation is a way of socializing a person

The meaning of the word "sublimation" is the shifting of instinctual goals into socially acceptable activity. The more a person became a cultural being, the less he could sincerely and in full force realize his instinctual desires. Anna Freud believed that sublimation is a psychological defense, which does not belong to the personality neurosis, but reflects its normal development.

The term "sublimation" appeared initially in the theory of psychoanalysis, but gradually began to be used in everyday life of different people. This word also indicates the increased capacity for work of a person, and his striving for high results in sports, and enthusiastic studies . Sublimation carries a sexual implication: it is believed that a person achieves these results by abandoning sexual life. In fact, this is not entirely true, because sublimation is a defense against sexual desire, which seeks to be realized in spite of cultural prohibitions, ie. With the help of sublimation, a person limits himself only to an excess of energy, which he successfully directs into socially acceptable activity.

The use of sublimation in the upbringing of children

Sublimation is a way of using for social purposes not only surplus sexual, but also aggressive energy. Aggressive and sexual drives have the same stages in their development, to limit them, they use similar protective mechanisms. So, for children with increased aggressiveness, sublimation is recommended, not sitting on a stool, but doing active work in the form of work, sports, active games. Children in adolescence experience increased libido, attraction to the opposite sex. Sigmund Freud, one of the most important tasks of education, saw in taming, limiting and subordinating sexual attraction. With its breakthrough, the end of the influence of upbringing. He recommended the energy of attraction to be directed to work, which is a vital necessity for the preservation of society. At each age, the transfer of sexual energy occurs through activities appropriate to the child's age. Young children are given the opportunity to draw, sculpt, design, and older - to show their success in the form of achievements in education, sports, creativity. This is how sublimation manifests itself. This should happen through the independent choice of the child, and not be imposed from the adult.

Sublimation as the highest protective mechanism

Psychological defenses are not realized by man, but they can be determined through an analysis of his actions. Most often this is done by an outside observer. Sublimation is a defense that not only can be realized independently, but also be designed by a person who chooses one or another occupation as a way to escape from strong anger, the desire to destroy a valuable object, and also to refuse forbidden sexual contact. We can assume that sublimation is the ability to control oneself, one's instincts and inclinations, to choose an acceptable and socially approved way of satisfying the need. Managing his desires, a man suppresses his manic or incestuous desires, realizing them in creating a picture, a work. When sublimation works poorly, a person realizes his aggressive and sexual fantasies in a dream, scares his instincts and unconsciously uses additional types of psychological defense: displacement, isolation, negation, intellectualization and others.

Almost all of our culture, works of art, scientific achievements have appeared due to sublimation, tk. Man has learned not only to restrain his animal instincts, but also to direct unspent energy to the development of society.