Postponement of affect

Postponement of affect is a defence mechanism which may be used against a variety of feelings or emotions. Such a 'temporal displacement, resulting simply in a later appearance of the affect reaction and in thus preventing the recognition of the motivating connection, is most frequently used against the affects of rage (or annoyance) and grief'.

In the affect of grief, postponement seems to be an essential component. What happens in mourning is nothing other than a gradual "working-through" of an affect which, if released in its full strength, would overwhelm the ego'.John Bowlby considered the first of the "four phases of mourning" to be a 'Phase of numbness that...may be interrupted by outbursts of extremely intense distress and/or anger'. Thus one can speak of 'a rather typical postponement of grief': '"I feel hurt about something and then automatically this kind of shields things up and then I feel like I can't really touch or feel anything very much"...postponement...[of] the weepiness'.

Conversely, Eric Lindemann, describing 'the symptomatology and management of acute grief following the Coconut Grove night-club fire...showed that people who do not "break down" and express feelings appropriate to a bereavement may suffer from delayed or distorted grief'.

Investigation of 'the reaction of the ego to acute mortal danger...repeatedly found an absence of fear during the period of acute danger, but a subsequent appearance of acute fear when the danger was past'. This may be a contributing factor in post-traumatic stress disorder, where the sufferer may be 'the victim...of a blocked fear tension...he hadn't had the time to feel the fear'.

'The postponement of fright is so well known to movie writers that it is not only frequently used but also designated by a special term: double-take'.

Defence against guilt feelings may involve people using postponement by way of 'an isolation of guilt feeling...they do things without any guilt feeling, and experience an exaggerated feeling of guilt on some other occasion without being aware of the connection'. Such postponement can be linked to Nietzsche's concept of the "pale criminal" or 'neurotic immoralist...the "pale felon" who does not live up to his acts' – retrospective guilt: 'he was equal to his deed when he did it; but he could not bear its image after it was done...now the lead of his guilt lies upon him'.

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