Primal scream

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Grammarist

The term primal scream comes from a psychotherapy method popular in the 1970s. We will examine the definition of the term primal scream, where it came from and some examples of its use in sentences.

A primal scream is a violent verbal release of emotion, incorporating one’s anger, pain, frustration, etc. The expression primal scream originated in a psychotherapy method designed by Arthur Janov that involves reliving childhood trauma in order to bring repressed emotions to the light. In primal therapy, the patient reenacts distressing past experiences from his childhood with violence, pain and the primal scream. Primal therapy was popular in the 1970s, but has for the most part fallen out of favor. Primal scream became a common term in the English language when Janov published his book The Primal Scream. Primal Therapy: The Cure for Neurosis in 1970. The word primal means belongs to the earliest age, and is derived from the Latin word primus which means first.

Examples

He followed that with a combination of a stomp of his left foot, primal scream and stink face before the Bucks went into halftime with a 58-35 lead. (The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

As for the rest of us, we can only hope that his lack of a viable track record (no swamp drained, no system fixed) coupled with the inability to run as a “change” candidate will render Trump an unfortunate blip on the radar, a reaction, a momentary primal scream — a placeholder president. (The Daily Trojan)

The badge point after a breathless debut goal against West Ham, cupping his ear in celebration after silencing his former supporters at Everton, the primal scream at St Mary’s…there was no stopping Romelu Lukaku as summer faded into autumn. (The Manchester Evening News)