Regression is a notion that refers to the act of returning or going back . Originating from the Latin word regressio , the term has various uses according to the context .
According to psychology , regression is a regression towards a previous state or level of development . It is a defense mechanism that arises when there is a conflict that the subject cannot resolve.
Psychoanalysis usually refers to regression as a return to a stage that had already been overcome . In this sense, it often implies re-adopting modes of behavior, relationships and forms of thought that are inferior in terms of their structure and complexity.
To understand what regression consists of, we must take psychic processes as phenomena that have a trajectory . Regression supposes that, from a certain point, one returns in the opposite direction to another stage that had been left behind.
Let's think about a material analogy : if an individual is safe in a cave but upon leaving he notices a danger that he believes he cannot face, he is likely to go back in. While this may respond to our survival instinct, it also condemns us to a state from which we cannot evolve mentally and emotionally. The figure of the hero is characterized by his reckless nature, and in a case like this he would face danger despite not having much chance of defeating it.
According to the research work of Sigmund Freud , regression takes place in the face of impulses or thoughts that the individual cannot adapt to accept. Furthermore, this defense mechanism can be both transient and chronic. Freud also pointed out that during psychosexual development people can become psychologically trapped in one of the stages, to the point of not being able to continue moving forward. This phenomenon is called fixation .
The intensity of the fixation defined by Freud is directly and proportionally related to the risk of responding with regression to psychosocial stress. Although originally the appearance of this mechanism in adulthood was associated with neurosis, today it is considered something that can be positive in certain difficult stages, with potential benefits for creativity and problem solving.
At this point it is necessary to remember that this is a topic with more than one point of view and with theories that still continue to evolve today. According to the celebrated psychoanalyst Michael Balint , for example, there are two kinds of regression: the benign (in childhood and artistic development) and the malignant (associated with the Oedipus complex).
Parapsychology , for its part, speaks of regression to name images that can appear in the mind of an individual about a supposed past that would have lived in a different existence . To achieve regression, various resources are used that alter consciousness, such as hypnosis .
This pseudoscience maintains that human beings are capable of remembering past lives. With regression, each subject could know who they were hundreds or thousands of years ago and, in this way, resolve current disorders or traumas . It is important to keep in mind that these statements are not supported by the scientific community since there is no empirical evidence to demonstrate their validity.
In the same way, there are many people who claim to be able to use regression to find out about their past lives , and thanks to this they set up businesses of different types that give them a lot of money but also call into question their reputation and veracity for mixing such a supposedly deep with materialism. As with astrologers and psychics, proof of their powers has never been recorded on video in history.