Monday, July 25, 2011

Amy's Winehouse Part I - A Philosophical Understanding

We mourn the death of Amy Winehouse.

Insodoing, it gives us the opportunity and ideal platform in which to discuss psychology and philosophy. Nowhere better do these fields converge on the concepts of fight or flight, avoidance, hedonism and Buddhism. Seemingly strange bed partners until you grasp the underlying concepts. Let's start with philosophy.

Hedonic happiness occurs when one is primarily seeking pleasant feelings and avoiding unpleasant ones, while eudemonic happiness is conceptualized more in terms of optimal functioning.  Eudemonia can be described as the striving for perfection that represents the realization of one's true potential. These two views of happiness illustrate two traditions whose philosophic roots are significantly divergent.

While in hedonistic philosophy the aim of life is to maximize pleasure (Aristippus, Bentham, DeSade, Hobbes) other philosophers and religious thinkers do not agree with this conception. Atistotle, for example, considers hedonic happiness as vulgar insofar as it condemns man to be a slave of his desires. According to the stoic Epictetus, happiness does not involve enjoying pleasures, but rather occurs when one is free from desires.

The Buddhists use the term sukha to qualify authentic happiness, and this term closely resembles eudemonic happiness. Sukha can be defined as a state of flourishing that arises from mental balance and insight into the nature of reality. Rather than a fleeting thought or emotion, aroused by internal or external triggers, sukha is an enduring trait that arises from a state of mental balance and entails a conceptually unstructured and unfiltered awareness of the true nature of reality.

In terms of Amy Winehouse's descent and self-inflicted demise, we can view her behavioral process through the lens of these two distinct psychological states. By trying to maximize pleasure and avoid displeasure, the hedonic approach induces a fluctuating happiness in which phases of pleasure and displeasure alternate repeatedly.

The experience of pleasure is by nature fleeting and dependent upon circumstances - but I would argue here more specifically, it is dependent upon one's perception of those circumstances. It is unstable and evokes a constant striving to attain pleasure and avoid pain.

Hedonism is based in stimulus-driven pleasures of all kinds and does not allow one to achieve authentic and durable happiness. Clinging to such stimuli as the actual source of one's happiness can easily give rise to at least intermittent, if not chronic anxiety as one faces the possibility, likelihood or certainty that stimuli will not last.

Authentic happiness on the other hand is not dependent upon circumstances, but rather gives a person the inner resources to deal with whatever comes his or her way in life. It is not linked to an activity but reflects a state of being, a profound emotional balance.

It is a state of durable plenitude based on a quality of consciousness that underlies and imbues each experience, thought, emotion and behavior and allows us to embrace all the joys and pain with which we are confronted in the full catastrophe we call Life.

Thank you for reading "Is It Just Me Or...?"

Best,
Rae

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Response versus Reaction

More than 90% of human behavior is reactionary.

Human behavior generally falls into two categories: responding or reacting.
At first glance, these two may seem quite similar, but in fact, there is a great deal of difference.
The difference can make or break us.

To respond is to be in a state of mind which is 
  • thoughtful
  • conscious
  • aware
  • accepting.
It is creative, powerful and full of options.

To react is to be in a state of mind which is
  • impulsive
  • unthoughtful
  • irresponsible
  • unconscious
  • in denial
It is uncreative, wreaks havoc and limits one's behavioral repertoires.

Our thoughts and emotions do not hurt us or others but our behavior can.

It is our perception or interpretation of an external event that triggers a thought, which triggers an emotion  and finally a behavior. Events can come in myriad forms such as a situation, relationship, person, job, task, finances and so forth. It is important to recognize that events are always neutral but the meanings we assign them dictate our relationship to the event.


The goal is to work toward responding versus reacting. And this is where mindfulness comes in. Being mindful helps us to create space and time between an event, thought, emotion and behavior. Mindfulness allows us the opportunity to respond rather than react.

The first step in breaking free from a lifetime of reactivity is to be mindful of what is actually happening while it is happening. At any moment, an individual may be encountering a combination of internal and external stressors that can trigger a cascade of thoughts, emotions and behaviors that can be called the stress reaction. People do not have to go the route of the fight-or-flight reaction nor helplessness every time they are stressed or anxious.

We can actually choose to cultivate moment-to-moment awareness that grants us the power to exert control and to influence the flow of events at those very moments when we are most likely to react automatically and plunge into hyperarousal and maladaptive attempts to cope.

Thank you for reading "Is It Just Me Or..."

Best,
Rae

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Change

All human behavior is purposeful. Behaviors are not diseases. The diagnoses in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, published by the American Psychiatric Association, are more accurately read as a collection of descriptions of behaviors.
People choose, sometimes consciously and other times unwittingly, their behavior and their behavior always serves a purpose. It is much more interesting and helpful to inquire into one’s behavior and patterns to understand how it is goal-oriented. From this perspective, the change process becomes much more powerful and meaningful.
The therapist helps the client to cultivate a sense of curiosity, awareness, acceptance and growth. Behaviors that serve a person well can be maintained while those that are harmful to self or others can be discarded for new more adaptive ones.
This perspective of change has several important implications. First, an individual can only control or change himself.  External control psychology is not only ineffective but manipulative and irresponsible. True change and growth comes from an internally motivated psychology.
Second , this theory of human behavior brings dignity, respect, freedom, responsibility and choice to the individual. Simply put, no matter who you are, where you’ve been and what is happening, you are ultimately responsible for your life including your thoughts, emotions, choices and behaviors.  No more victimization, stigmatization or pathologization.
Thanks for reading this week's post to "Is It Just Me Or...?"
Best,
Rae