What is the Difference Between Denial and Repression?

The main difference between denial and repression lies in the way they manifest as defense mechanisms.

• Denial involves the outright refusal to accept a given reality. It is a conscious defense mechanism where individuals refuse to acknowledge or accept the reality of a distressing situation, thought, or feeling. For example, a business owner denying that her business is failing despite declining profits.
• Repression, on the other hand, involves completely forgetting an experience. In this case, the mind makes the decision to bury the memory in the subconscious, preventing painful, disturbing, or dangerous thoughts from entering the individual's awareness. Repression is an unconscious defense mechanism, often resulting from traumatic experiences. For example, a soldier repressing a memory of killing a civilian and later having recurrent nightmares about the incident but not consciously remembering it.

In summary:

• Denial is a conscious refusal to accept the truth about something.
• Repression is an unconscious act of restraining or forgetting a painful experience.

Comparative Table: Denial vs Repression

The main difference between denial and repression lies in their respective definitions and the impact they have on an individual's behavior. Here is a table comparing the two:

Denial is a defense mechanism where an individual refused to acknowledge the truth about a situation or event, often due to the fear of facing painful feelings or consequences. Repression, on the other hand, is an unconscious defense mechanism that pushes disturbing or threatening thoughts, emotions, or memories into the unconscious to avoid dealing with them directly. While denial does not typically influence behavior, repression can lead to unconscious influences on an individual's behavior.