Mentatul

Category: Psychology

Analysis on psychology topics.

  • Ignorance as Mental Defense

    Ignorance as Mental Defense

    It is said that „ignorance is bliss”. It’s a well-known and controversial saying. Ignorance, by most current definitions, is a bad thing. The dictionary definition is “the condition of being uneducated, unaware, or uninformed.” But this definition covers a very wide range of conditions. Being uneducated is, admittedly, not a good thing. However, the state of being uninformed or unaware may, in some cases, be helpful towards one’s life. How so? Read on.

    In one of my favorite articles, I explained how “just like the body is what it eats, the mind is what it experiences^”. Very importantly, experience is created by more than just new external events (those coming from the surrounding world). Experience is also built up by new thoughts and internal images. So, the mind is also what it thinks.

    New information can seriously disturb the balance and tranquility of the internal world. It can simmer inside, creating unrest and, thus, decrease the quality of life.

    A few examples

    Let’s analyze some cognitive processes, with the purpose of showing how ignorance can be used as mental defense. To set the stage, consider the following two examples. To be clear, these are slightly exaggerated with the purpose of highlighting a middle way.

    1. There’s always some political figure that does things that one doesn’t agree with. The more one learns about that person’s statements, the more information about their political direction (or rather misdirection) one gets. This is the opposite of ignorance. Often, new statements and information surrounding that person shows up on a daily basis. Indulging in this torrent of information reinforces the mental image of that politician in one’s mind.
    2. There are still wars on Earth. Sometimes, we follow a conflict’s events on a daily basis. We live under a constant bombardment of terrible news. We are informed and aware. Again, we are not ignorant.

    The rest of the article will focus on highlighting a middle way that finds itself between a state of increased awareness and a state of ignorance. Clarification: this article does not promote ignorance, but the mastery of wielding it.

    Inner storm to inner peace

    For about 16 years straight, I’ve been reading mass-media coverage of various geo-political events. I became over-saturated with information. This took an enormous amount of memory space. Countries and politicians became as intimate as family, sapping my emotional budget.

    This January, I decided to not read my favorite news aggregator for 1 year. This doesn’t mean I went and buried my head in the sand. I continued to listen to local news, for no longer than 10 minutes per weekday (whereas before I would spend more than 60 minutes reading news, 7 days a week). Important events continued to reach me through friends and I manually searched for any other topic that interested me.

    Almost 11 months later, I find myself in a state of clarity and tranquility unlike anything I’ve ever experienced in my adult life. Even better, if news about some politician I disliked reaches me, I interpret it without any negative feelings. I can even respect good things said by the worst leaders in the history of mankind, alive or dead. When I hear bad things, I take them in a much less personal way. And, of course, I realized just how horribly controlled and polarized by over-information our society is.

    Over-information

    The deluge of information eventually leads to reinforcing cognitive biases^. The effect is compounded by the increasing popularity of “AI” algorithms^ used by news aggregators and social networks, which specialize in feeding people exactly what they way to hear (because it makes them happy (ab)users). Why do you think flat Earth’ers have conventions^ now-a-days?

    We are experiencing dangerous and ever-increasing levels of social polarization. Social groups (be it political, religious, cultural or economic) focus more and more negative energy on other social groups which they see as enemies. And each moment, the mass-media and entertainment industry is busy creating more enemies. To not generalize: there are some good publications out there, but in the age of the sensational and “AI”-curated content, quality and truth are not having an easy ride.

    It has become difficult to separate the important from the meaningless, the true from the sensational, click-bait and outright lie. All this makes it very hard to take the vital decisions that a society runs on (such as voting).

    Selective exposure to information

    As I detailed, I expose myself selectively to information. I carefully listen to local news and receive other important news from friends. I pick my own information menu based on my current direction in life. This is not hard to do at all.

    The benefits are immense: an instant increase in time and a prolonged release of mental pressure. 10 months after my self-imposed “(excess) news embargo”, I feel lighter with every passing month. It looks like a second year of fasting will follow.

    Eventually, I shall desire to be more helpful towards the world through some other role that requires me to expose myself to more information again. I shall then tune in to sources that should be as diverse and contradictory as possible. Not because I hunger for gossip and bad news, but because I see the beauty of diversity and the fact that everybody’s right.

    I’ve accepted the progresses we’ve made and understand that many of the crises we’re going through are part of an intelligent species’ evolution. I wish we will be able to continue on this journey. And, if a certain theory is right, the very reason why we exist is because at some point down the line, our grandchildren’s grandchildren have done something amazing. It will be well. The show will go on.

    Pardon the surge of positivity, but this is precisely the result of clearing a massive amount of brain-space by cutting useless information, toxic news and toxic people.

    I am still well informed about the topics I care for (trade wars, semiconductor technology, AI and the environment, to name a few). But I do this with a fraction of the time I was spending last year.

    And I have the society I live in to thank for all this. In most countries, it would have been pretty damn difficult to handle selective isolation with such surgical precision (I live in Sweden).

    Selective memory

    I’m going to give a third example.

    1. I recently saw a (horror) movie trailer that seriously disturbed me. It went straight for some inner sanctuaries, risking to dirty them. Not only was I careful to reinforce the areas it attacked, I also decided to avoid that movie and am currently in the process of deleting this event from memory, save for a BOLD RED WARNING to not see anything related to that movie ever again.

    My inner world is quite solid, but some of the offensive methods used against the intellect are incredibly well crafted. I’m actually thankful for having seen that movie trailer. It presented a new sort of attack. It made me stronger and showed me how dangerous some of the “entertainment” out there can be.

    So did I just say that I am deleting, at will, something from my memory? Yes, it’s somewhat possible^. It’s not easy and sometimes “complete” deletion is difficult to achieve. For example, writing this article has re-invigorated my memory about that trailer. But it was definitely an already wrinkled memory. After just 6 months I felt it like 6 years ago. Well, now it’s stronger again but hey, I did it for science!

    Try this exercise: never, ever, from now on, think about a pink elephant. You will soon get the hang of it. Memories are deleted by forgetting them. Forgetting means not thinking about a certain thing for a long period of time. And it can be done. After all, the brain does this automatically when it blocks memories.

    Not-thinking about something is a skill that involves focusing on everything else in one’s life except that thing one wants to forget. And, like any skill, the more often one uses this process, the better one becomes at it. Sure, stray thoughts will come haunting for a while, but the will of silence is strong.

    Brain pilots

    A calm and happy existence doesn’t mean controlling life or the environment. It’s mastering how one deals with that environment and the challenges it brings. Are we to be piloted by our brains, or are we to be brain pilots?

    Our mind is only partially known to us. It’s full of hidden universes and unexpected surprises. Mysterious processes are often at play. Time spent understanding all this is the best investment one can make.

    I use ignorance to free up space and protect my core. I use ignorance to delete useless references and, with the space so created, fill my brain with diverse knowledge from the weirdest of sources. I use ignorance to destroy rules and patterns that harm me. Ignorance is my mental defense. My delete button. My “please move away from here” spaceship.

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  • 22 x 22 for PTSD

    22 x 22 for PTSD

    22 days ago, I embarked on a challenge to raise awareness about post-traumatic stress disorder. The challenge is one of those things that sometimes flare up through social media. It’s easy to generalize such happenings and to dismiss them as nothing but annoying fads. Luckily, not everybody is prone to generalization. I decided to undertake this challenge not only because PTSD is a mental condition that is familiar to me, but also because a good friend inspired me (he posted a video every time after doing his 22 daily pushups).

    For the past 22 days, aside from the 22 pushups that are the subject of the challenge, I also did daily reading about PTSD. During this process, I compiled a rather long list of notes and now, I’ll use that list to bring forth my own effort for raising awareness about PTSD.

    Some PTSD history

    There is a lot of information about PTSD out there, so I’m not going to repeat it. Instead, I’ll highlight what I consider to be of greater importance. Throughout the years, I’ve learned a bit about PTSD from various online sources. Now, I built upon that knowledge by reading the Wikipedia entry about PTSD^ as well as several other online sources.

    In my understanding, PTSD is just a name for a condition that has been around for ages. That condition is an excessive behavioral adaptation of the brain in an attempt to make sure that a traumatic event does not occur ever again (emphasis intended). Seen in this light, PTSD shows itself as a natural protection mechanism. The problem is with shutting down this system when it’s no longer necessary.

    PTSD research and treatment really took off after the Vietnam War. There was some study in this area during the World Wars but this particular name (post-traumatic stress disorder) became official in the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (the DSM IV).

    It is more common in women. Childhood trauma increases the chances of a person developing PTSD during subsequent traumatic events in adulthood. It has a serious impact on the physical health of people who suffer from it (for example it worsens outcome in chronic diseases such as cancer and diabetes).

    Therapy over medication

    One of the main take-aways from all of the reading I’ve done is that therapy is a better solution than medication. Not only does it offer better results (statistically speaking), but it also spares the human body from going through the nasty side effects that are caused by most drugs that are popular today. These drugs are messing around with neurotransmitters, often causing havoc in other areas of the organism.

    Traumatic events trigger PTSD due to an over-reactive adrenaline response that creates deep neurological patterns in the brain. The generation of painful memories will make an individual hyper-responsive to future situations that share some similarities with the original traumatic event. Because information is tightly intertwined in our memory, a lot of unexpected situations can trigger flashbacks and other symptoms of PTSD. In other words, the traumatic event alters the neural pathways in the brain through the use of neurotransmitters. That is why tampering with these neurotransmitters could help in the process of curing PTSD (some form of therapy is probably still necessary).

    Even though the trauma (or, in the case of Complex PTSD, repeated traumas over a long period of time) does change the victim’s physiology, this doesn’t mean that engaging in long-term chemical interference in the brain is a good idea. If medication is indeed the last resort, there are other options than getting patients hooked on antidepressants, including proven methods such as short-term treatment with MDMA combined with therapy sessions^.

    Medication might still provide benefits but since we know so little about the inner workings of the brain, it’s difficult to decide which patients will be helped and which will be harmed by it (yes, long-term medication can cause lasting side effects). For now, what the studies show is that therapy works best.

    The two main types of therapy used to cure PTSD are cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR). Due to a lack of differential studies, it is unclear if the eye-movement component of EMDR is really beneficial, but what is certain is that the therapy aspect of it does help patients. The main difference between CBT and EMDR is that in EMDR the patient usually thinks about the traumatic event rather than talking about it.

    Awareness helps cure & prevention

    Being aware of what PTSD is and how it manifests itself is imperative for both victims and their friends & families. Knowing that somebody has been through a serious trauma, proper measures can be taken. Early access to therapy has been shown to be of some benefit. Knowledge is empowering.

    What is most important however is that those that are close to the victim provide social support, are good listeners, rebuild trust and safety, anticipate and manage triggers (probably sounds easier than it is), deal with volatility and anger (ouch) and take care of themselves (this is very important since helping a person weather the effects of PTSD can be quite taxing).

    What could we do if a person hides a traumatic event and suffers quietly? Many of the symptoms of PTSD are easy to spot from the outside: intense distress or irritability, avoidance, bouts of anger, developing a destructive addiction, insomnia, and hyper-vigilance, to name a few. Victims of PTSD should be encouraged to seek professional help, but in a way that does not interfere with their feeling of being in control, which more often than not has been seriously affected by trauma.

    The US military has developed certain programs to educate soldiers about PTSD and be able to deal with it on the battlefield. It’s a two-edged sword though, as the same knowledge can prevent a soldier to properly adapt back to life at home. It’s still probably better than the alternative, because veterans suffering from PTSD tend to have serious trouble with social integration^.

    An explanation that really stuck with me was the fact that upon return, soldiers may feel that they have little in common with their civilian peers. The daily struggles that concern friends and family seem trivial after having experiencing the horrors of war. I can totally see how war can completely redefine one’s scale of suffering. It does not mean that the soldiers lose empathy, but rather that mundane concerns simply fail to register on their emotional radar.

    It’s up to us after all

    More often than not, PTSD in humans is caused by humans (natural disasters are one of the few stressors that are not human-related). Be it war, rape, child abuse or social abuse, unfortunately, PTSD is mostly a product of our own society. Therefore, the first line of defense against PTSD is improving our society through education and other means, towards a more peaceful approach regarding our peers and the ecosystem we are part of (respecting and acknowledging our surroundings will lead to less damage from natural disasters).

    Sports and physical exercise have also been shown to speed up recovery. Not only does physical stimulate the production of euphoria-generating & pain-releving endorphines^, it also builds self-esteem and increases the feeling of being in control. However, the person suffering the effects of PTSD has to be willing to participate in such activities and that can be difficult while in a hurtful state of mind.

    Friends, family and healthcare professionals are the ones that have to encourage the desire to get better within those that suffer from PTSD. The wish to get better is there, what is imperative is that the wish is reinforced from the outside.

    Even if some sick parts of our society cause PTSD in our friends and family, the healthy part is fortunately there to clean up the mess. I wish that PTSD will slowly but surely become a very seldom occurrence, just like the savage behaviors that often cause it.

    Thank you Markus!

    The list of notes I made in the past 22 days is located here: www.mentatul.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/22.txt^

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