What Is the Subconscious? The Unconscious in Psychology and Common Myths

What is the subconscious, and is it the same as the unconscious? From Freud to cognitive psychology, a plain guide to the mind that works outside awareness.

On the morning of a religious holiday you walk into a relative's home, and the scent of the lemon cologne offered to you at the door suddenly takes you back to a table in your childhood, to the voice of your grandfather who is no longer alive. Your eyes fill with tears; but why now, why so intensely, you cannot explain. This experience is one of the everyday examples showing that a large part of our mind works outside our awareness. The question "what is the subconscious?" often arises from exactly this kind of moment. Yet the concept is used in so many different senses in the self-help world that what it really describes has become blurred. In this article we will try to explain where the concepts of the subconscious and the unconscious come from in psychology, what scientists think about them today and why common myths are misleading.

What Is the Subconscious? A Brief History of the Concept

In its most general definition, the subconscious is the totality of processes in our mind that we are not aware of at a given moment but that influence our thoughts, feelings and behaviour. The idea that people cannot access the whole of their own mind has interested philosophers since ancient times; but in the history of psychology, it is most closely associated with the name of Sigmund Freud.

In the late 19th century, Freud described the mind as a three-layered structure:

• The conscious: The thoughts, feelings and perceptions we are aware of right now. Like the words you see as you read this article.
• The preconscious: Information that is not on our mind at the moment but can easily be recalled. Like your mother's phone number or what you ate last night.
• The unconscious: The area we cannot access directly, which holds desires, memories and feelings that are often hard to accept. According to Freud, these contents show themselves indirectly, for example through dreams, slips of the tongue and symptoms.

Freud later expanded this model with the concepts of the id, the ego and the superego. After him, Carl Jung added, alongside the personal unconscious, the concept of the "collective unconscious", which he believed carried the shared images of humanity.

Subconscious or unconscious?

In everyday Turkish, the word "bilinçaltı" (subconscious) is more commonly used. In academic psychology and the psychoanalytic literature, however, the term "bilinçdışı" (the unconscious) is preferred. Freud himself noted that the expression "subconscious" could be misleading because it makes us think of the mind as layers stacked from top to bottom. The unconscious carries more of a sense of "lying outside awareness". In this article we use both terms together, in the way readers are familiar with; but from a psychological point of view, what is being described is the same.

What Does Psychology Say About the Unconscious Today?

Although some of Freud's ideas are considered controversial today, the idea that a significant part of the mind works outside awareness is supported, in a different language, by modern cognitive psychology and neuroscience. Today researchers describe the following with concepts such as the "cognitive unconscious" or "automatic processes":

Implicit memory: Learning that we do not consciously remember but that influences our behaviour. Someone who cannot say where the letters are on a keyboard when asked, yet can type quickly, is an example. Riding a bicycle, driving a car or adding salt "by eye" when cooking are also this kind of knowledge.

Automatic processing: Someone who takes the same route to work every day sometimes cannot remember how they got home once they arrive. The mind carries out repeated tasks without needing awareness; this allows attention to be devoted to other things.

Emotional conditioning: The pairing of a particular stimulus with a particular emotion. Someone who grew up in a home where there was frequent shouting may, in adulthood, feel a knot in their stomach every time someone raises their voice, even though they know there is no danger.

Rapid evaluations: When we walk into a room or meet someone for the first time, impressions form within seconds: safe or dangerous, warm or distant. Afterwards, we cannot list most of the cues these impressions were based on.

Schemas and core beliefs: Deep assumptions about ourselves and the world, formed through repeated experiences in childhood. Beliefs such as "People can't be trusted" or "I have to be successful to be loved" are usually not held in consciousness as sentences; yet they are constantly at work in our relationships and decisions.

In short, the answer psychology gives today to the question "what is the subconscious?" is both simpler and broader than in Freud's time. Simpler, because the unconscious is no longer seen only as a place where repressed desires are hidden. Broader, because it is now known that many of the mind's functions, from language to our movements, from our first impressions to our choice of partners, run outside awareness.

The unconscious is not a dark cellar but a web of habits we use every day without noticing.

What the Subconscious Is and Isn't: Common Myths

As the concept has become popular, many claims with no scientific basis have spread along with it. Let us take a closer look at some of them.

"We only use a small part of our brain; the rest is in the subconscious"

This is a very common myth. Brain imaging studies show that over the course of the day almost all regions of the brain are active in different tasks. Unconscious processes are not a hidden, unused capacity, but part of the brain's ordinary functioning, at work every moment.

"The subconscious records everything; nothing is ever forgotten"

Memory does not work like a video camera. Memories are reconstructed each time they are recalled and can change over time. This is why some suggestive practices claiming to "uncover repressed memories in the subconscious" can lead people to remember events that never happened as if they were real.

"The subconscious can be programmed"

The claim that the subconscious can be "reprogrammed" with recordings played during sleep, repeated affirmations or messages that go unnoticed is not supported by robust scientific findings. You can find a detailed assessment of these claims in our article on subconscious cleansing.

"Advertising messages we don't notice control us"

The claim that in the 1950s the words "Eat popcorn" were inserted between the frames of a film in a cinema and sales soared was repeated for years. It later emerged that the data from this study were not reliable, and the person who made the claim himself largely admitted as much. Although very brief and small effects of stimuli that go unnoticed can be shown under laboratory conditions, there is no evidence that they lead people to buy something they do not want or to change their personality.

"The source of all problems is the subconscious"

Unconscious processes influence our behaviour; but they are not the only determinant. Our current living conditions, relationships, physical health, financial situation and conscious choices matter at least as much. Attributing everything to the subconscious sometimes causes concrete, solvable problems to be overlooked.

How Does the Unconscious Show Itself in Daily Life?

Even if we cannot see unconscious processes directly, we can find their traces in many areas of our lives.

• Slips of the tongue: Accidentally calling your spouse by an ex-partner's name, or saying "I declare this meeting closed" instead of "open" at a meeting. Freud believed that such slips gave away a hidden wish. Today it is known that many of these errors can also be explained by distracted attention or the mixing up of frequently used words; still, they can sometimes carry meaningful clues.
• Dreams: It is often observed that worries suppressed during the day and unresolved matters appear in dreams in different forms. However, the idea that every detail of a dream has a fixed symbolic meaning has no scientific basis beyond "dream interpretation" books.
• Recurring relationship patterns: Living through similar cycles with different people, for example always choosing inattentive partners or clashing with a similar manager in every workplace.
• Unexplained bodily reactions: Tension, palpitations or sadness that arise in a particular place, or with a particular sound or smell.
• Disproportionate emotions: An unexpectedly strong reaction to a small event may suggest that the event is linked in the mind to an older experience.
• Defence mechanisms: Ways the mind uses without awareness to protect itself from difficult emotions, such as denial, projection and displacement.

Imagine a man in his thirties who notices that whenever he speaks to an older male manager at work, his voice trembles and he forgets what he wanted to say. He does not experience this with people his own age or with female managers. It is clear that he did not consciously choose this reaction. Perhaps he grew up with a harsh and critical father; or perhaps this connection does not come to mind at all at first glance. Curiosity about unconscious processes becomes meaningful precisely in patterns like this.

What Can You Do to Notice Unconscious Processes?

By definition, we cannot access the unconscious directly; but by following its traces, we can get to know ourselves better.

1. Observe repetitions: Note the situations, relationships and feelings that recur frequently in your life. Recurring themes, more than one-off events, shed light on unconscious processes.
2. Be curious about disproportionate reactions: When you react to a situation much more strongly than expected, ask, "Since when has this feeling been familiar to me?"
3. Listen to your body: Bodily signals such as tension, a tightening stomach or sudden tiredness may point to something the mind has not yet put into words.
4. Be curious about your dreams rather than interpreting them: Instead of looking up your dreams in a dictionary of symbols, think about which experience during the day the feeling you had in the dream might be connected to.
5. Be open to the observations of people you trust: Others sometimes see patterns more clearly than we can.

In children, unconscious processes become most visible in play. A child who cannot yet put their feelings into words may express the absence of a grandmother lying in hospital by having their dolls play "doctors", or a bullying incident at school through a fight scene between toy animals. The child does not do this as a conscious account; but play becomes a window onto their inner world. Child-centred play therapy also makes use of this natural means of expression.

This work is not a kind of "excavation" but observation carried out with curiosity. The aim is not to dig out a hidden truth, but to understand yourself a little more fully.

When Should You Seek Professional Support?

Everyone has processes that work in their mind without their awareness, and most of these cause no problems. However, it may be helpful to speak to a professional in the following situations:

• If you keep living through the same difficult pattern in your relationships or working life and cannot break it
• If you go through periods of intense anxiety, sadness or anger whose cause you cannot understand
• If recurring nightmares or disturbing memories from the past are affecting your sleep and your day
• If you experience strong bodily reactions you cannot explain in particular places, or with particular sounds or people
• If you are experiencing confusion or distress after practices of the "subconscious programming" kind

How Are Unconscious Processes Worked With in Therapy?

Different therapeutic approaches approach processes that run outside awareness in different ways. Psychoanalysis and psychodynamic therapies try to understand unconscious conflicts through free association, dreams and the feelings that arise in the therapeutic relationship. In these approaches, the client describing whatever comes to mind without censoring it, and the therapist drawing attention to recurring themes, play an important part.

Cognitive behavioural therapy, although it rarely uses the word "unconscious", touches on a similar area through automatic thoughts, intermediate beliefs and core beliefs. The person learns to catch the interpretations that appear within seconds and to question them. Schema therapy works with patterns that arise from unmet needs in childhood and repeat without awareness in adulthood; with techniques such as imagery and chair work, it aims to reach the emotional roots of these patterns.

Whichever method is used, change in therapy usually comes not from "a secret being revealed" but from recurring patterns gradually becoming visible and loosening through new experiences. If you would like to understand yourself better and work on your recurring patterns, individual therapy can make room for that process.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are the subconscious and the unconscious the same thing?

In everyday use they are often used to mean the same thing. In academic psychology the term "unconscious" is preferred, because "subconscious" gives the impression that the mind has layers, with a hidden section below. What both words are meant to describe are mental processes that work outside awareness.

Can what is in the subconscious be changed?

Habits and beliefs that work without our awareness can change; but this change happens not through a deletion but through repeated new experiences. Noticing the pattern, understanding how it continues today and trying different behaviours many times are the basic steps of this process.

Is it possible to reach the subconscious through hypnosis?

Hypnosis is a state of focused attention and heightened openness to suggestion; in some situations it can be used as a supportive technique by trained professionals. However, there is no solid evidence that hypnosis reliably uncovers hidden memories; on the contrary, it is known that "memories" formed during this process can be misleading.

I don't remember my childhood; does that mean there's something in my subconscious?

Usually not. Not remembering memories from early childhood is an ordinary experience that everyone has, known as childhood amnesia. Not remembering a long period from later years, especially when accompanied by other difficulties, may however be worth talking about with a professional.

• #subconscious
• #the unconscious
• #psychoanalysis
• #implicit memory

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Eda Erkan Alapala

Klinik Psikolog. İstanbul Kent Üniversitesi Klinik Psikoloji Tezli Yüksek Lisans mezunu; bilişsel davranışçı terapi, çocuk merkezli oyun terapisi ve çocuk-ergen psikoterapisi alanlarında eğitimlerini tamamlamıştır.

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