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December 2006 - Posts
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The limbic system is concerned with attention, emotion, learning and resulting memories. It mediates messages received from the outer environment on their way to the neo-cortex, suffusing these with moods ranging from rose colored anticipation to dark disappointment, as when an anxious mother meeting a train sees her son’s resemblance in every passing boy. Despite many problems in isolating functions within the limbic system there is general agreement upon its homeostatic and equilibrating principles of operation. Investigators have tentatively identified areas mediating between rage fear, fight flight, pleasure pain, expectation actuality, tension relaxation. For example, when the upper limbic ring is stimulated in monkeys, grooming, courtship, sexual and affectionate response occur, while stimulating the lower limbic ring evokes revulsion and antagonism. But the chief concern here is with mounting evidence that the limbic system can ‘oscillate’ or ‘run away’. These terms are borrowed from cybernetics and general systems theory, and refer to a mode of pathological feedback by which the system instead of regulating itself as through a thermostat progressively destabilizes and disintegrates itself instead.
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Fromm starts with the idea of contradiction, man is ‘the freak of the universe’, a veritable sphinx as Oedipus understood when he confronted her. We are part nature and subject top her laws, yet we also transcend nature through culture, language and symbolism. We are set apart from each others, as Adam and Eve realized in their nakedness, yet yearn for the harmony from which we are cast out. We plan and try to empower ourselves, yet we were thrown accidentally into this world and will be pulled inexorably out of it. We have vast potentials, yet in the course of our short span on earth we can hope to realize but a fraction of our endowments. Reason is then our blessing and our curse, enabling us to solve the more superficial issues until we reach the impasse beyond. Our man made contradictions are soluble, he believes, by forms of socialist humanism, but this will leave us still with the ultimate anomalies. The unanswerable questions posed by existence do, however, evoke from us our vitality, the art of loving, creating and producing. Faced by the growing chasms of modernity we continually strive to reunite ourselves with others, if only for a moment. In this endeavor we use our love and reason to replace the biological innocence of the instinctual animal behaviors left behind in Eden.
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Carl Gustav Jung is often described as a mere disciple of Freud. In fact, he had pioneered word association tests, received an honorary degree from Clark University and earned himself an international reputation before he met Freud in 1970. Their intellectual relationship was intense, if short. Jung published his major dissent from Freud’s position just five years after their first meting. Jung borrowed from Freud the conception of conscious and unconscious spheres, of a mind mediated by a defended ego, a source of psychic energy called the libido, and a mission to reclaim territory from the unconscious. Beyond these similarities their differences were profound; while Freud’s model tended to be mechanistic, analytic and reductive to basic cause, Jung’s was more organic, expansive, and unfolding to purposive ends. The son of a clergyman, Jung never subscribed to the supposition of his age, that science and religion were incompatible.
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To handle jealousy appropriately one should learn to understand and face this feeling constructively. In order to change feelings of jealousy one has to work in three different levels: 1. Personal 2. Relationship 3. Situation One can work in on level at a time or in the three of then simultaneously. The person should look for the roots of their jealously in order to evaluate its veracity and establish whether the believe have solid foundations or not. Finally the jealous person’s partner should help her or him understand and overcome the problem; and in the event there is a real reason for the feelings, they should work together to solve the problem.
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Every psychologist will tell you that love is essential to foster healthy emotional growth in children, however a reasonable amount of discipline related to the child’s appropriate conduct is not only desired but required and equally important. Parents that do not teach their kids discipline take the risk of raising children with antisocial conduct. Children that grow up without discipline could become latter on in life aggressive or insecure adults. If parents allow their children to manipulate them are hence contributing to help them become selfish adults. Discipline however shouldn’t be rigid or inflexible. The objective is to is to help with the process of socialization without destroying the relations base in love and trust that should exist in between parents and their offspring.
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Those affected with this disorders are mostly women. Borderline individuals are unstable in what concerns the perception of their own image and also of their emotional states. They are unstable too in their behavior and relationships with others, while the nature of their relations is most often intense and chaotic. The Borderline disorder express itself early in adulthood but it goes away frequently as the person grows and mature. Those that suffer from it did not get enough love, care and attention during their childhood. They usually feel empty and resentful towards others, showing and feeling a great deal of anger. Borderline personalities are usually depressed and look for a solution to their problems through the use of drugs or alcohol. Borderline individuals could be promiscuous and impulsive and at times could suffer from psychotic thoughts, paranoia and even hallucinations.
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Individuals that suffer from this personality disorder most often act in a theatrical manner to make themselves notice. They appear lively in their interactions with others something that helps them establish relationships, however they remain shallow and superficial and are reluctant to deeper and more meaningful relations. Those that suffer from this personality disorder are usually infantile in their conduct and use erotic or sexual behavior to attract attention. Relations with another person even if they are not sexual in nature are frequently handle as if they were so. A person with this kind of disorder is dependent and constantly looking for protection. Those with histrionic disorder are usually hypochondriacs who exaggerated physical problems to be noticed by others.
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These are introverted and lonely individuals; schizoids are emotionally cold and keep at a distant from others something that apparently makes them feel save. They often become withdrawn and keep to themselves. Those that suffer the disorder are afraid of getting close to others and been rejected. Individuals with this type of personality disorder are also afraid of establishing intimacy with another human being; they don’t talk too much and have a tendency to daydream. Instead of acting upon reality’s requirements the schizoid goes into his fantasy world responding to demands or real threats from the environment with magical thoughts. They simulated the world and it’s circumstances in the mind and respond in kind with their own fantasies in a re-enacted reality. Theoretical speculations is also in this cases another way of responding to the world.
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Those that suffer from this kind of disorder are often considered Sociopath or Psychopath. Most individuals with this disorder are men and as part of their conduct they show little regard for the rights of others. Antisocial individuals lack empathy and are often impulsive and irresponsible. They don’t handle well frustration reacting with hostility or even violence when things don’t go their way. In spite of the harms an pain they cause others they don’t feel remorse or guilt for their actions; on the contrary antisocial individuals rationalize cynically their behavior. Sociopath are dishonest and more often than not lie to cover their intentions, this individuals could easily become drug addicts, alcoholics or present different kinds of sexual deviations. Antisocial individuals leave a trail of destruction through their lives, most of those that are unlucky enough and interact with them suffer a great deal of pain or even physical harm. Antisocial individuals improve and get better with age; although a complete recovery is very rare.
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The person that suffers from a narcissistic personality has a sense of superiority and an exaggerated believe in their worth and importance. Persons that suffer from this disorder are usually considered grandiose by others. Narcissistic individuals could be often very afraid to fail or to be defeated or criticized. Such an individual need to constantly get support and praise in order to maintain their self image. Therefore personal adoration or at least positive feedback about their behavior and acts are a necessity to keep themselves going, in the event that they don’t get the adequate support from people around them they could become very angry or even furious about it. Narcissistic individuals often feel others envy them. They usually exploit the weak individuals that surround them. Narcissistic individuals feel superior to others and usually are found offensive, selfish or arrogant by those with whom they interact.
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Those that suffer from this personality disorder project their own conflicts and hostilities onto others. These individuals are most of the times cold and distant in their relationships, they think persons with whom they relate harbor hostile and even evil intentions against them. Positive, trivial and innocent acts coming from those that are part of the patients world are most often interpreted and understood as hostile and aggressive behavior with the intention to harm them. Those that suffer from some physical incapacity could be more prone to suffer from this kind of personality disorder.
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The organism’s goal is to mature through the satisfaction and fulfillment of needs, moving through a process of homeostatic equilibration. This mechanism of growth could be also seeing as a learning process; learning through the experience of fulfilling the needs of the organism. A person can change his behavior in order to attain the satisfaction of the needs he experiences. Creativity could be an important aspect of thought an individual could use in order to move towards the objectives he wants to reach.
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The needs a person experiences are affected by the objects and situations in which he is immerse; and is from this interaction that the psychic life emerges. Every need has a goal to attain, as for instance the need for affection, the need for socially interaction or the need to belong to a group. Every need has a directional aspect as well as an energy aspect that moves the organism.
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