Living with Mental Conflicts
Full Definition of conflict
- 1 : fight, battle, war <an armed conflict>
- 2 a : competitive or opposing action of incompatibles : antagonistic state or action (as of divergent ideas, interests, or persons) b : mental struggle resulting from incompatible or opposing needs, drives, wishes, or external or internal demands.
It would be
reasonable to assume that living with a mental conflict within yourself would
be an undesirable trait to possess. Some would argue that it at its worst, a
form of being pathologically disturbed in nature or manner. Others insist that
having such conflicts inside the mind leads to episodes of repression of the
realities we either deal with or the occasions where we have dealt with it.
As far as theories go, it is the Freudian theory that is going
with the repression and purposeful denial aspect with dealing in the realities
of life. Some would go as far as saying that those qualities are epitomized in
the mental illness diagnosis of schizophrenia understood to be a “split
personality” caused by “double binds” resulting from conflicting or differing
types of communications, the jarring of a person’s cognitive skills or the
experience of having contradictory or mixed emotions.
Under the pretense of understanding this concept that “conventionally
speaking, having a mental conflict has been regarded as at best, a precious
possession of human emotions.” The root of this kind of thinking was the
assumption that the mind—and indeed the integral parts of our brain —functions,
or ought to function, as an integrated system without internal contradictions
or disharmony. This is where the main differences lie in both theories.
The conscious-self, in particular, was
assumed to be a single, simple entity, with any deviation from its intrinsic
harmony and cohesiveness being self-evidently pathological. Putting this in
content of context of everyday life, we generally agree that as a human being,
we experience togetherness, harmonic relationships, and some level of
self-integrity which are important and sometimes conflicting or confusing to
other people’s perceptions and confidence in you and how you rationalize and
behave most of the time.
Certainly, we can see how this perception can
change how people trust your judgment and character as your ‘image’ when seen
by others, should ideally be consistent, credible and certain one which
possesses self-confidence. In other words, it is all about the image you
project that makes people feel good or bad about you.
Your own personal consciousness is important
and therefore, there are efforts to keep your private part of your life not be
part of your professional life. This separation of deliberate consciousness awareness
leads to an interesting point that you might want your professional life be ignorant
of your personal life to avoid dealing with integrity or wrong-doings in your
life. Some may call it denial while others just plainly call it being ignorant.
What it really amounts to is a shielding of a personal side of your life
compared to your professional side.
According to Robert Trivers, such “concerns
with personal public relations throw an interesting evolutionary light on consciousness.”
Trivers “argues consciousness evolved to fool itself all the better to fool
others.” He concludes: “The mind must be structured in a very complex fashion,
repeatedly split into public and private portions, with complicated interactions
between the subsections.” I am sure you can see how this facilitates the
art of deception.
I am also certain how this changes the
perception of being straightforward or honest with others as this kind of
behavior is anything but an integrated manner of thinking or acting as a
genuine and sincere person. What it does is illustrate the importance of how
you are self-seen in a social setting and comparing yourself to others.
Contrary to a Freudian theory, the difference
seen is that this kind of behavior is used as a repressive tool as well as a
defensive mode that is motivated to ward off inner-conflicts, confusion and
stress or anxiety. Contrary to Triver’s theory that this is a primary function
of the self-seen deception mode which is offensive in nature and evolved as a
meant to resist stress and used for survival purposes.
Looking at this as a means to camouflage your
real emotions, what you are really dealing with is an act or purpose to deceive
others or distract them from the real persona inside you. Whatever the imagined
reason, purpose or motivation may be, the result is the same for both Freud and
Trivers: compromised consciousness and a divided self, with serious, deleterious
consequences for the individual and for their peace of mind.
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