New Ideas in Psychology

[ Souring the Mind ] [ Assimilation ] [ Role of Narcissism ]

[ Backlash ] [ Stages of Resolution ]

In order to fully assimilate a problem there are two separate approaches that the person needs to follow. These approaches can be labelled form and content. The form is the kind of problem that one is facing, and the content is the particular occurrences of that kind of problem.

For example, the form may be ‘victimisation’: this sets the framework in which personal experiences may be interpreted. The content is all the times that the person has actually been victimised.

Content approach
In order to deal with the content of a problem there are often several different levels of acceptance to work through, so that acceptance can be full or partial.

It requires a spirit of optimism to create the conditions for a full acceptance. When the person is an optimist, then he / she can joyfully accept whatever disasters have happened to them in life ; the disasters were merely a challenge.

The partial forms of acceptance occur when the person delves deeper still into the subconscious mind, and goes through the stages of pessimism. Now acceptance becomes negative, because it is accompanied either by fear or by hate. The partial levels of pessimistic acceptance may generate a backlash. There are three main levels.

• Indifference
  The lowest level of partial acceptance becomes based on over-riding fear, and turns into indifference. Indifference is the rationalisation of defeat. Now the person can accept their place in life (which curtails the possibilities of fame), accept the necessity for rules (which curtail freedom), and accept even the concept of duty (which curtails the possibilities of power). This generates a pessimism that is typified by an attitude of ‘I don’t care’ to the world and one’s place in it. Heroism has departed for other pastures.

• Stoicism
  An intermediate form of partial acceptance occurs when fear is reduced and sadness becomes the dominant background mood. This is resignation or Stoicism. The sadness arises as the pain of existence for everyone (not just for oneself) is fully realised and not denied. The basis of making moral judgements evaporates: no one is to blame for their badness. Rationality replaces emotion as the basis of decision-making.

• Detachment
  The highest level of partial acceptance is detachment. This centres on pride in the mode of hatred. Often the detachment will stimulate a desire for solitude, as the person feels world-weary. Detachment is attained after he / she has worked at forgiveness. Mindfulness is the technique for learning detachment: ‘in the seeing, only the seen’, etc.

Finally, perhaps, at a later period, acceptance returns to the optimistic mode as joy comes back ; however, this time the naiveté has been reduced from the person’s view of life. The reduction of naiveté is the function of pessimism.

As an ascending sequence of attainment, these steps are :

5. Full acceptance

4. Detachment

3. Forgiveness

2. Resignation

1. Indifference

Form approach
This approach needs to go hand-in-hand with the content approach. In the content approach, all that forgiveness and acceptance do is to annul the past content. However, future content is always possible.

For example, I may have resolved all the content of past victimisation. But if tomorrow I am subject to new victimisation, all the anxieties associated with this form will re-awaken and arouse me once more. To prevent future arousal over victimisation I need to neutralise the form as well as the content. The form is handled by learning detachment to it, similar to practising mindfulness on content, but now emphasising the attitude that any unpleasant experience is ‘just another experience’.

The purpose of detachment is to remove any kind of valuation from
experience, whether of content or of form. When an experience has
no value for us, then it cannot affect us.

This article completes the theory that is presented in this book.

For more new ideas about psychology,
visit my websites listed on the Links page.

[ E1 [ ] E2 ] [ E3 ] . [ Table of Contents ] . [ A1 ] [ A2 ] [ A3 ] [ A4 ] [ A5 ]

[ Glossary ] [ Links ] [ References 1 & 2. ] [ Appendix 1 & 2. ]

[ Profile ] [ Acknowledgements ] [ Index ] [ Home ]

Copyright © 2002 Ian Heath
All Rights Reserved

The copyright is mine, and this book is free to use. It can be reproduced anywhere, so long as the source is acknowledged.

If you want to write to me, go to the Table of Contents page
and use the address at the bottom.

www.emotion.discover-your-mind.co.uk/index.htm.

.