The psychosomatic element is illustrated by the case of Lucy R., a patient whose inability to acknowledge her romantic desire for her employer or to consciously accept his rejection was repressed into her unconscious mind, subsequently manifesting itself in unexplainable physical symptoms.
The Secret Psychological Core of Individuals
"Everyone is a moon and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody."
-- Mark Twain
Freudian psychological concepts portray human beings as manifesting one set of emotions and actions externally that, to a great degree, belie the true nature of the individual. In Freudian terms, almost all external human behavior is a manifestation of unconscious desires and impulses that are entirely unseen by others; in most cases, they remain equally unseen to the individual who has no conscious awareness of why he or she experiences certain impulses, desires, anger, or fear. In that regard, the average individual lives out externalized manifestations of frustrations and rage that were experienced in infancy and during other foundational periods of psychological development.
More specifically,...
For example, traumatic sexual exploitation early in life can lead (seemingly arbitrarily) either to the pathological apparent absence of sexual desires and celibacy or, alternatively, to the pathological apparent promiscuity and sexual recklessness and responsibility. Both polar extremes are externalized behavioral manifestations are sublimations of the unexpressed emotional responses to the earlier
trauma.
Finally, Freud describes how lifelong passions and ambitions, even those that are productive and beneficial from the perspective of
society, are often sublimated impulses generated by unresolved inner conflicts related to unconscious thoughts, desires, fears, and reactions. A typical example would be the powerful business mogul whose real motivation derives from deep shame and a sense of inadequacy instilled during formative developmental periods. His true self and his real motivations remain hidden from others, and more often than not, also from himself.
