ABSTRACT
Sigmund Freud's seminal monograph on the unconscious has been a wellspring of ideas which, almost a century later, continue to inspire us to elaborate upon his insights. In this chapter, the author extends his ideas on the role of the unconscious upon a specific aspect of perception. In psychoanalytic theorising, constant attention is paid to how the ego's perceptual capacities are affected, compromised, and altered by influences from the unconscious. Both what is perceived and what is not perceived come under the purview of such consideration. And, the perception of both external and internal realities is seen to be coloured by covert antecedents. The influence of the unconscious forces on self-perception, however, may be re-examined in those patients who employ defensive altered states of consciousness and the preponderance of periodic irruptions of dissociated, unconscious aspects of the self.
