23: Regression

Regression is another form of escape, by which a person escapes into the past rather than an alternative reality created by reason (intellectualization) or fantasy (daydreaming) - though this is not to say that the "past" into which the person escapes is not idealized or fantasized to some degree by blending selected memories with fictional ones or inserting fictional details.

The author briefly mentions unconsciousness as a kind of escape, in which a person may faint, fall asleep, or even enter into an extended coma for no physical reason but merely as a means to remove themselves from an unpleasant reality.

There's another digression into the notion of libido (Latin for "I desire"), which Freud considered in a strictly sexual context, but which also applies to non-sexual desires. It apparent relation to regression is when a person escapes to the past to "achieve" some desire that has already been fulfilled, or to re-attempt to satisfy a past desire that was not fulfilled.

Regression is sometimes complete - a "tempus fugit" in which a person acts as if they have lost the memories of a number of years and behaves as if it were a previous time.

More commonly, regression is not all-encompassing and only involves certain behaviors. A common example is the "mid-life crisis" that many men suffer in which they remain mentally in the present, but exhibit adolescent behaviors - a fascination with sports cars and casual sexual encounters. In such an instance the man remains in touch with the present time, but his libido has regressed.

Regression "is not invariably a bad thing" in that I can help adults relate to those who are younger, and enjoy participating in activities that are not harmful, though they may be considered to be inappropriate for their age. So long as they realize that they are doing something unusual, for a short amount of time, and for pleasure, then they are not engaged in self-deception ... but merely taking a vacation.