Concepts
Health psychology/Defence mechanisms · Mature
Suppression
What it means
Consciously and deliberately postponing attention to a distressing impulse or feeling.
Worked example
"I will deal with the biopsy result after my exam" — and genuinely setting it aside.
In the exam
A student consciously decides not to dwell on her father’s cancer until her finals finish, and deliberately refocuses on revision.
What settles it
Suppression is CONSCIOUS and deliberate. Repression is UNCONSCIOUS — the material is pushed out of awareness without intent.
Classically confused with
Repression
Source: AMBOSS