Chapter 4a of Meeting the Voices in My Head and Searching for an Inner Adult When we closed the last post, we left me screaming, alone in my crib. Eventually, I learned to accept transitional objects I call security blankets to help me pretend I wasn’t alone. At this stage of my life, they wereContinue reading “The Bot I Call My Parent”
Tag Archives: Psychology
The Security Blanket
Chapter 3b of Meeting the Voices in My Head and Searching for an Inner Adult In the last installment, I began to talk about how babies learn to cope with being left alone in their crib and the long-term outcome of this universal experience. The baby finds itself in an abyss, utterly helpless and confusedContinue reading “The Security Blanket”
The Face of the Other
Chapter 2 of Meeting the Voices in My Head and Searching for an Inner Adult It’s the first day of school and I’m late. As I step into the classroom, I feel everyone’s eyes. They’re judging me. I look down and realize something I should have noticed before. I’m naked. This common nightmare is yourContinue reading “The Face of the Other”
The Innermost Child
Chapter 1a of Meeting the Voices in My Head and Searching for an Inner Adult I don’t remember, but I’m sure I didn’t begin with so many voices in my head. When I was a newborn, I possessed only one point of view, but was unable to articulate it. When I had a need, IContinue reading “The Innermost Child”
Meeting the Voices in My Head
And Searching for an Inner Adult Introduction I don’t know about you, but voices are constantly chattering in my head. I don’t mean audible voices. I’m not having hallucinations. I call them thoughts, feelings, memories, cravings, impulses, self-consciousness, and self-criticism. There seems to be more than one person in there because sometimes they talk toContinue reading “Meeting the Voices in My Head”
How Feelings Are Made
Science often tells us that things are not what they seem. Why should feelings be any different? Continue reading →
A Guide to Pain and Suffering
Your feelings tell you about the state of your body. If you’re putting on a roof, carrying shingles up a ladder, swinging a hammer until your hand falls off, sweating it out at a hundred and ten degrees, your body will have a lot to say. You may not want to listen to it. You’veContinue reading “A Guide to Pain and Suffering”
Dissatisfaction and Craving
Sharpening your point until you miss it There are two ways of wanting something; you can be broad, or you can be precise. It’s possible to be too broad or too precise. There are many other words in the vast family of wanting: annoyance, anxiety, boredom, complaint, discomfort, dismay, displeasure, disquiet, distaste, exasperation, frustration, discouraged,Continue reading “Dissatisfaction and Craving”
Driving to Death
Taking the long way through trauma Why do trauma victims re-experience their trauma in flashbacks and nightmares? We need some help from Freud to explain. In Beyond the Pleasure Principle. Freud noted that, in their dreams, flashbacks, and patterns of behavior, trauma victims compulsively repeated their horrible experiences as if they were happening in theContinue reading “Driving to Death”
How Normal is Abnormal?
Just how common are mental health problems? According to researchers following more than a thousand New Zealanders for 35 years, they’re extremely common. By age 38, they say, 83% have had a diagnosable mental health condition at some point in their lives; in most cases, a mild depression, anxiety, or a substance use disorder. Also,Continue reading “How Normal is Abnormal?”