In Greek, catharsis means "cleansing". Initially, this concept meant some kind of emotional shock, which was subjectively experienced as an internal cleansing. Such a state arose among the viewers of the ancient tragedy, experiencing the fate and death of the protagonist. Catharsis - what is it today?
Catharsis as self-improvement
This concept denotes an acute negative experience, reaching an extreme point, where it abruptly changes the pole and turns into a positive one. Catharsis is associated with an explosion, a storm, a flurry of emotions that fall on a person. He seems to be cleared of the yoke of negative experiences. Catharsis, the significance of which was considered primarily in art, is able to give a person a certain impetus for further development. Experiencing not real events, but their symbolic image in works of art, the individual transfers himself to these events and passes through himself the corresponding emotions.
Catharsis in psychology
Usually we do not give vent to our negative experiences - theyare repressed and continue to oppress us in the realm of the unconscious, causing many painful, psychosomatic symptoms. From the point of view of psychoanalysis, liberation from illness depends on passing through these emotions. Psychotherapy consists in resurrecting negative memories that the client plunges into in the process of work and allows himself to experience them. Thus, catharsis - what is it if not an ascent to paradise through wandering in the underworld? A person works through a negative feeling until he releases all the psychic energy that it contains. Such work is associated with a very strong tension, since a person is not always ready to experience long-repressed emotions.
Catharsis - what is it in Freud's theory
Sigmund Freud investigated a case of hysteria and sought to eliminate the symptoms of this nervous disease. In the process of work, he came to the conclusion that the symptoms could be formed as a result of the displacement of strong negative experiences into the unconscious. Instead of working through emotions, psychic energy was directed towards creating painful symptoms as a defense against awareness of deep, forgotten experiences. The patient was put into hypnosis and the depressing memory was "dragged" into the realm of consciousness. The emotional charge associated with the memory was worked out, an affective discharge took place. The negative experience was released, so the neurotic symptoms soon disappeared as they were no longer needed.
Thus, immersion in a traumatic situation allows you to release the associatedwith her emotions and experience catharsis. What kind of state this is can be understood by remembering your feelings after a tense touching film that caused a lot of different emotions. Subjectively, this can be experienced as a feeling of devastation, slight sadness and at the same time bliss. It should be remembered that in order for the condition to improve, sometimes you have to overcome great difficulties and great stress.
