The 3 Differences Between Unconscious And Subconscious

The existence of a sphere of psychic or mental activity that is not accessible to consciousness was already studied by classical philosophers and aroused great interest between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century among psychoanalysts such as Sigmund Freud and Carl Gustav Jung, among others. others, who referred to it with the term known as “unconscious.”

There are some differences between unconscious and subconscious such as the nature of each one, its functionality, the degree of accessibility to human consciousness and also its level of recognition in the field of psychology and psychoanalysis. In this article we will talk in greater detail about the differences between unconscious and subconscious

Learning to distinguish between the unconscious and the subconscious

Before seeing what the differences are between unconscious and subconscious, it is worth explaining what both concepts consist of within the field of psychology and especially in psychoanalysis.

1. The unconscious

The term “unconscious” is usually used to refer to those mental processes or parts that are not accessible to consciousness temporarily or even permanently, this sphere of psychic and mental activity can be in two ways: the first would be as a rational intelligence, which is one that is endowed with its own productive and procedural rules, the understanding of which is usually complex; secondly, as a realm of psychic activity, referring to inherent psychic activities (e.g., automatic responses, short-term memory, etc.).

Freud referred to the unconscious as a series of psychic contents and processes, as well as impulses that were not accessible to people’s consciousness, so that they could not be controlled rationally. He also understood that in the unconscious part there were some psychic contents that had been removed from the concert and these contents could emerge in the mind through dreams in a symbolic way or even through lapses (involuntary errors or mistakes).

For Freud, who included the unconscious part in his first psychoanalytic theory (first topic), in which he divided the mind into three parts (unconscious, preconscious and unconscious), he referred to the unconscious part as a non-logical part, the headquarters of the repressed instincts and desires that, therefore, do not manifest on a conscious level, but that each person must manage to satisfy.

On the other hand, Jung referred to two types of unconscious in his theories: the personal, which was related to the hidden and repressed aspects that had arisen as a result of the interactions between the person and their environment and; On the other hand, the collective, which was what Jung put more emphasis on, referring to this concept as the psychic part that contains the collective and historical elements that are responsible for modulating the way in which people think, feel and act. , so the collective unconscious contains socially constructed and heritable psychological structures (archetypes).

2. The subconscious

It should be noted that The term “subconscious” is practically in total disuse today in the field of Psychology ; However, it is a concept that is heard quite frequently at a colloquial level and has even been used as a synonym for the unconscious, which is another reason why it is important for us to know the differences between the unconscious and the subconscious.

The subconscious concept It was used in the field of psychology at the end of the 19th century by the psychiatrist and neurologist Pierre Janet, a contemporary of Freud, to refer to those phenomena of personality in splitting, based on a hypothesis that there was a second consciousness, more attenuated and less accessible than the conscious part; so that the subconscious would be responsible for the split on a psychic and mental level.

In his theory of the mind, Janet developed several investigations based on the concepts of subconscious and dissociation, associating in his hypotheses the origin of the neurotic symptoms of several of his patients with subconscious contents that they had dissociated. This term also came to be used by Freud in his early research; However, he ended up replacing the term subconscious with the term unconscious, which is the reason why they are in many cases used as synonyms, although today it would be more accurate to use the term unconscious.

The main differences between unconscious and subconscious

Although the terms unconscious and subconscious are sometimes used interchangeably, in reality there are differences between both concepts Of course, some of these differences are quite subtle, so making a contrast between both psychic entities can be somewhat complex. Therefore, we are going to explain below what are the main differences between unconscious and subconscious.

Before detailing all the differences between unconscious and subconscious, it is worth mentioning that, in general, the term “unconscious” is usually used to refer to the most inaccessible and deep area of ​​the mind; while the “subconscious” is used to refer to that most superficial area of ​​the non-conscious mind, being the one that is just below the threshold of consciousness.

1. Recognition in the field of psychology and psychoanalysis

Among the differences between the unconscious and the subconscious, it is worth noting that the idea of ​​the unconscious was quite developed by Freud in his psychoanalytic theories, a field of psychology in which it continues to be studied and used today, while the term subconscious, although it was Initially used by Freud and also by Janet, among others, it is a term that has fallen into disuse and is currently not officially recognized by modern psychology or psychoanalysis.

The subconscious today is a concept that is heard more in colloquial terms, sometimes being used as a synonym for the unconscious; However, this term has been relegated to a more metaphorical realm of the mind or mystical.

2. The degree of accessibility of each one

Another difference between the unconscious and the subconscious is the degree of accessibility of each one, so that the subconscious is more accessible to consciousness if you pay attention ; while the unconscious is the psychic part that is least accessible to consciousness.

In this way, the subconscious would be considered an intermediate part between consciousness and unconsciousness, being a term that could be partly similar to the preconscious, one of the psychic parts that Freud spoke about in his first topic or first psychoanalytic theory.

It is worth mentioning that when we refer to the subconscious part we could be talking about suppression, so that when a painful memory is suppressed, it is forced to be located below the threshold of consciousness. On the other hand, when we talk about the unconscious part, we use the term suppression to refer to an instinctive and involuntary reaction that stores a traumatic event in the unconscious part with which to protect that person, being a psychological defense mechanism.

Therefore, it could be said that the subconscious, according to the theories of classical psychology that referred to this term, It would be a bridge between consciousness and the unconscious so that with effort we could access the memories that are stored in the subconscious, while those that are in the unconscious would be more inaccessible.

3. The functionality of each one

The fourth difference between the unconscious and the subconscious that we are going to mention is its functionality. The subconscious would be that part of the most emotional mind; In other words, it would be what allows people to feel, connect with another person, being a part that relies more on experience and memories

On the other hand, the unconscious would be the most primitive part of the human mind, so that It is guided by the natural evolution of the human species so it is in charge of the most primitive functions such as instincts.