'Repression' as a term was applied by Freud to a variety of distinctive conceptions whose separate recognition in our thinking can add a needed clarity to contemporary usage. One can see these in the clearest way by seeing these different underlying repression conceptions in relation to the broader defence concept, which, in Freud's usage, was often synonymous with 'repression'.

'Defence' in its most general sense refers to all forms of ego-protection against the inner impulses of the person when these have a dangerous character to the individual because of his past experiences with the impulse. The defence concept is broader than Freud's own