My question I suppose is can you recover from mental trauma if you compare it to physical trauma and realise how some physical trauma is irreversible.
A problem is defining what a normal functioning healthy human is. — Andrew4Handel
Some people live for a long time whilst never feeling good. For example the previous worlds oldest lady said she had never been happy and thought life was a curse from God. — Andrew4Handel
It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society. — J. Krishnamurti
to be able to live with oneself is the happiness goal, and that I would say is more or less achievable in most cases, with the caveat that one cannot maintain a separation between the person and the trauma, so that to be healed is to become someone else, or in old-fashioned language to be 'born again', which is first to die - psychologically. — unenlightened
. One might get closest to a definition of mental health in terms of being (appropriately) responsive to the environment, at which point, you can infer that current society is on this measure profoundly sick, and deep personal unhappiness and alienation is a sign of mental health. — unenlightened
Being yourself can lead to being rejected. — Andrew4Handel
If there is a vase or another fragile object on a table and you kick the table over then the vase is likely to break.
So from this we can say that certain actions lead to harm or disorder.
Compare this to the treatment of humans who can suffer years of various abuses.
We could say humans are more resilient than vases but on what grounds?
I feel that the effects of abuse, neglect and difficulties are underestimated and therefore the ideas about how to help people or enact change are weak.
At the same time I can accept that different materials have different levels of resilience but I don't see which material scenario can be considered analogous to the human situation.
Overall I think we need to be more careful of treating people as resilient over treating them as fragile. — Andrew4Handel
Do you see abuse as inevitable that you must ask about fragility and resilience to abuse? — TheMadFool
Pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional.
Suffering is a story, to believe in, about not coping with the pain.
Everybody abuses themselves in one way or another. So abuse is inevitable. — Invisibilis
I mean isn't abuse itself preventable? Why create a problem (abuse) and look for a cure (based on resilience and fragility)? — TheMadFool
Do you see abuse as inevitable that you must ask about fragility and resilience to abuse? — TheMadFool
Pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional.
Suffering is a story, to believe in, about not coping with the pain.
Everybody abuses themselves in one way or another. So abuse is inevitable. — Invisibilis
What is the difference between pain and suffering? What do you mean by abuse? Does abuse cause pain or does it cause suffering? — TheMadFool
Pain is a sensation.
Suffering is a story of not coping with the sensation.
Abuse is a misuse.
Abuse can be pain and/or suffering, or neither. It depends on the type of misuse. — Invisibilis
I think the problem is that failing to treat past abuse properly can lead to more abuse. So to prevent abuse we need tackle current abuse and it's aftermath.
I think you can become mentally resilient by being cared for properly. I do agree with the concept of prevention over cure.
But because there are people who have been abused or are being abused I think that we need too assess the damage as accurately as possible. — Andrew4Handel
It strikes me as a good world we live in that takes people to the ER or hospital when facing death or at risk of it.
I had a brief stint trying to end myself and spent some time in a psychiatric unit. The single question I formulated in my mind, that I wanted to ask everyone follows like this...
If B follows from A, and C follows from B, and we only address C being a suicide or other ills, then why aren't we addressing the confounding factors starting from A->B->C? — Wallows
There is a deal of material, and some links in the thread I linked earlier. Bruce Perry has a useful analogy to aid a general understanding. One develops muscles by stressing them, and actually causing little tiny tears, and they grow stronger. The trick is to start with the small weights, and increase as the muscles increase. To start with the heavy weights will not develop muscles but damage and so weaken them. Likewise, one offers small challenges to a child, and as they become more resilient they can face larger challenges.
"Resilience" has become a buzz-word these days, and is much used by people who have little understanding. But it has a particular meaning in this context and is developed through caring relationship (not government program). Here's a simple example.
When an infant becomes mobile, and starts to crawl, stairs become a danger, because climbing up is easy, and falling down is even easier. So perhaps one uses a stair gate. This protects the child from trauma - falling, but does not develop resilience - teaching them to navigate the stairs safely. To develop resilience, one spends time with the child, allowing them to climb, catching them if they fall, and showing them how to come down safely by crawling backwards. And so the danger becomes an adventure and a liberation. — unenlightened
As mentioned, suffering is a story about not coping. So change the story to something else, such as "It's only pain". Then the mind searches another meaning for pain than the one about not coping....So, while pain is a natural part of life, we have the option of how we face/deal with it that may prevent suffering. What would these coping strategies look like in your opinion?
Off the top of my head, religion seems to be one. Which religion, in your opinion, provides the best coping strategy for pain?
Also what do you mean by abuse can be neither? — TheMadFool
As mentioned, suffering is a story about not coping. So change the story to something else, such as "It's only pain". Then the mind searches another meaning for pain than the one about not coping.
You might even come to a point of okayness, where it is okay to not be okay. This is not about accepting the abuse, but accepting the pain, because it already exists.
I don't know about religions providing the best coping strategy. I am simply looking at the truth of the matter.
Abuse can be neither painful nor suffering. Certain self abuses, such as malnutrition (which includes obesity), may seem painless and without suffering. — Invisibilis
What have you discovered about the truth of the matter so far? — TheMadFool
Last night I saw upon the stair,
A little man who wasn't there,
He wasn't there again today
Oh, how I wish he'd go away...
Hughes Mearns. — unenlightened
All sorts of physical trauma, even extremely severe can be fully recovered from. — Coben
Though since adhd medications are generally uppers, I am not sure we have solved a problem, but perhaps shifted it down the line.For example chronic constipation can lead to mental health problems (due a build up of toxins) and some depression is caused by conditions like ADHD and the person recovers by being given ADHD medication. — Andrew4Handel
Diet, contact with nature, meaningful work, friends, physical activity, as some examples, have all made incredible changes in the emotional experience of people and not using medication. A great book on the subject is....There have been some strange solutions to mental health problems where the cause was unexpected. — Andrew4Handel
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