repetition compulsion

repetition compulsion (noun) : one's unconscious tendency to repeat traumatic events in order to deal with them; one's unconscious tendency to repeat traumatic events in order to deal with them; one's unconscious tendency to repeat traumatic events in order to deal with them; one's unconscious tenden
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This form of resistance apparently can take the form of dreams, storytelling, or hallucinations, and is closely tied up with the scarier concept of what's called, the "death drive" (which calls to mind that Long Island mother's drive going the wrong way on the New York Taconic Parkway in 2009). See http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,536742,00.html
and my earlier promise of a post on denial.

But I digress.

Simply put, this is a coping mechanism where one apparently repeats trauma in the unconscious, and allow the conscious mind to remain ignorant of it. Kind of neat, IMO, but unless you want to keep having those nightmares or keep dating those same losers, it gets in the way.