Many of us identify with our mind. It can feel as if our conscious mind (the function that processes thought, memory, and imagination) is the center of our being, even our essential self. When we experience ourself this way, our consciousness is restricted and we’re at the mercy … [Read more...] about Are You Passive to Your Mind?
Search Results for: psychological defenses
The Emotional Conflict Behind 50 Mental-Health Symptoms
What’s brewing inside us when we’re frequently feeling wrong or bad? How about if we’re feeling lonely, overwhelmed, jealous, anxious, or bitter? Or if we’re having difficulty getting our life in order and functioning at our best? It's time to stop blaming others or … [Read more...] about The Emotional Conflict Behind 50 Mental-Health Symptoms
A Novelist’s Quest to Unravel His Madness
William Styron’s little book, Darkness Visible: A Memoir of Madness, offers vivid depictions of the suffocating gloom that in 1985 stalked his descent into major depression. He is perhaps remembered as much for this 1990 book describing his meltdown into depression as for his … [Read more...] about A Novelist’s Quest to Unravel His Madness
Can You Be Your Own Therapist?
This is a new version of a blog I posted on this website in 2014. It goes into more detail about the process of freeing ourselves from emotional and behavioral problems. This revised version will appear in the Appendix of my latest book, which I expect to publish by … [Read more...] about Can You Be Your Own Therapist?
The Difference Between Learned Helplessness and Inner Passivity
My readers know how ardently I put the focus on inner passivity. It is, I contend, the primary mischief-maker of the psyche, the largely unconscious part of us that keeps us from being at our best. Inner passivity, a primary component of inner conflict, is the straw house … [Read more...] about The Difference Between Learned Helplessness and Inner Passivity