thought suppression
Deliberate cognitive avoidance
Thought suppression is the deliberate attempt to push unwanted thoughts from consciousness.
Paradoxically, trying not to think about something often makes it more persistent—the white bear effect, from experiments showing that instructed not to think of a white bear, subjects think of little else.
The more I tried thought suppression, the more the memory intruded.
- repressionUnconscious blocking of thoughts
- intrusiveInvading others' privacy
- avoidanceDeliberate keeping away
- unwantedNot wished for
- reboundReturn after deflection
pushing down · obsession · control · mind control · denial · white bear · pink elephant · anxiety · mental · blocking · mental block · distraction · compulsion · forbidden · resistance · unconscious · flashback · trauma
- suppressionrepression, inhibition, restraint, silencing, muzzling
thought suppressionrumination
Prolonged, repetitive thinking
brooding · perseveration · overthinking · dwelling · worry
thought suppressionstream of consciousness
Narrative mimicking uninterrupted thought
thought suppressionradical acceptance
Fully embracing unchangeable circumstances
cognitive processing · emotional processing · mindfulness · exposure therapy · working through
thought, suppression, thoughts, thoughtful, thoughtfully, thoughtfulness, thoughtless, thoughtlessly, thoughtlessness