In this article we will talk about "normal people". Can each of you consider yourself normal? Who is this normal person?
It is believed that normal people most of the time have positive emotions. If they are sad, they don’t do it without a good reason - maybe a close person has died, or a big trouble has happened.
"Normal person" is not subject to irrational anxiety, does not feel inexplicable fear. His whole mental activity is rational and balanced. He is always full of energy, clearly knows what he wants from life, rarely doubts and always has a ready-made solution for everything.
Most of us want to be "normal." And in our thoughts we often compare ourselves with some abstract "healthy", "normal" person.
Often we hear:
- "Such thoughts can not occur to a normal person"
- "Since I feel sadness for no reason, it means something is wrong with me."
In this article I will prove that there is nothing normal in the so-called "normal person". That, probably, there are no normal people at all!
Where does this come from?
The image of a "normal" person was formed due to the development of mass culture with its idealized, glossy characters, as well as due to the influence of certain views in psychology.
Most schools of psychology are based on a mechanistic philosophy. This philosophy views man as a mechanism with different, separated parts. She believes that some parts of our psyche are “wrong”, “pathological”. From her point of view, there are memories, emotions, thoughts, states of consciousness that are “problematic”, “abnormal” and therefore must be corrected or removed.
Penetrating into the public consciousness, this way of thinking gives rise to ideas about "undesirable" emotions, "bad" thoughts, forms the image of "normal" and "abnormal" people.
Another possible reason for this perception of "normality" is the activity of the multi-billion dollar pharmaceutical industry. It is beneficial for drug manufacturers to maintain the belief that some manifestations of our psyche are pathological. Coupled with the lack of available information on natural methods of dealing with anxiety, insomnia, bad mood, this faith is greatly reinforced.
But can many of our thoughts and feelings really be considered painful deviations from the norm that predominate only in units? Let's try to figure it out.
"Bad thoughts" come to mind only abnormal
Canadian psychologist Stanley Ratman conducted a study on students who were considered “healthy” by all measures. It turned out that from time to time, practically every subject had thoughts of sexual violence, perversions, as well as blasphemous ideas, pictures of violence against old people or animals.
Other studies have shown that 50% of all people at least once in their lives are seriously considering suicide (Kessler, 2005)
Where are all these "normal people"? After all, it is believed that negative thoughts - this is not normal! But everyone has them.
Anxiety is something abnormal!
Anxiety is a natural evolutionary mechanism. Anxious expectation of danger (even where there is none), panic, manifested in involuntary moments, more than once rescued a man in the jungles and deserts of antiquity, full of threats and dangers.
Why, then, does a part of people tend to be overly anxious, but a part of people does not? American psychotherapist David Carbonell, again, refers us to evolutionary psychology, arguing that in every tribe in the interests of universal survival both people who have an increased risk appetite and people who are excessively disturbing should be present. The first type of people supported the tribe in hunting and wars, where uncompromising bravery was required. The second type helped the tribe to survive, anticipating the threat, preventing unnecessary risk.
Of course, not always excessive anxiety leads to anxiety disorders, although it may be one of the prerequisites for the occurrence of this problem. But this is not something "abnormal" and rare.
According to statistics, up to 30% of people face anxiety disorders in an arbitrary period of life! 12 percent of humanity suffers with specific phobias, and 10 percent suffer from social anxiety. And in the USA and Europe these figures are even higher!
Depression and other ailments
Statistics on depression in different countries is different. For example, in Japan, the percentage of people who experience chronic despondency is 7%. And in France - 21% (!). Approximately 8% of people experience eating disorders - anorexia and bulimia.
4 percent of adults are vulnerable to attention. But I believe that, due to the very vague criteria for diagnosis and disputes over this diagnosis, these figures may be underestimated. It seems to me that if we take into account the modern pace of life, then with poor concentration of attention, uncontrolled motor activity, impulsivity, and constant haste, many more people meet.
Permanent happiness - "the normal state of man"
A normal person, allegedly, always feels positive emotions.
But if we look at the data I quoted above, it turns out that about a third of all people (but most likely more) have ever suffered from what is called "mental illness"!
If we talk about deviations not in a clinical, but in a domestic context, it can be emphasized that almost all people are visited from time to time by uncontrolled, irrational thoughts, “unreasonable” changes in mood, fears and doubts.
It is a myth that a "normal" person never doubts! Do you know what people never doubt anything? These are those who are wrapped with explosives and blow themselves up in crowded places! Here they are always confident in everything and do not experience great agony of choice.
Who, then, is considered "normal"? It turns out that either all are normal or all abnormal!
As psychologist Joseph Tsiarochchi said: "Mentally ill, abnormal - these are just words from human language. No one should be considered sick or healthy. We are all in the same human boat."
Life is generally a difficult thing, as British psychotherapist Russ Harris says: "hardly anyone will ever say to me:" I live too easily, there are not enough difficulties in my life! "
And the Buddha generally said that "the whole existence is permeated with suffering."
Life is full of ordeals, tragic events, stress, anguish, pain, aging, death. And these things accompany all people, regardless of their status, material well-being, health.
Mental suffering is an indispensable part of our life, not a shameful exception to the rule, not a shameful deviation.
Pain, sadness, despondency - this is normal!
And a person learns how to cope with this suffering only when he is no longer ashamed of himself, hard to hide, silence and suppress.
We were taught to look at this as the "thing that should not be" in our "normal world." We do not recognize that it does not correspond to the image of a “normal person,” we are trying in every way to force it out of our ordinary existence.
Therefore, according to statistics, half or most people with mental problems do not seek timely help: they are embarrassed by this, are afraid or do not recognize at all, or believe that this is not for them ("only psychos resort to psychological assistance!").
Therefore, when unpleasant emotions or thoughts come, people persist in trying to suppress them. Stop feeling. Stop thinking. Surely each of us was repeatedly advised: "Do not be afraid!", "Just do not think about it!" Rave! It has been proven that attempts to suppress emotions or throw thoughts out of the head lead, paradoxically, to the opposite result: unwanted emotions and thoughts become even greater.
Therefore, for many people it has become normal to take pills for every occasion: anxiety, sadness, irritation is not normal! This should not be! But for some reason, the number of people suffering from mental disorders is growing at the same pace as the development of the pharmaceutical industry!
And I want to give another quote from Joseph Tsiarochchi:
“In Western culture, it is customary to suppress bad emotions and focus on good ones. Many books on self-development and popular psychology claim that if you have a positive attitude to the world, you can do everything: earn millions of dollars, defeat cancer and eliminate stress from your life.
Parents often tell boys that they should not “feel” fear, but girls that they should not “feel” anger. Adults pretend that everything in their lives is perfect. Although, we know that in fact, many people have a surprisingly high level of depression, anxiety and anger.
Perhaps the words of Henry Toro are true: "most people eke out their lives in quiet despair." We are faced with a paradox: We, as a society, have been trying to be happier for decades, but there is still no evidence that we are actually becoming happier. ”
~ My translation of a quote from the CBT Practitioner's Guide to ACT
Quote only at first glance gloomy. It is not at all that happiness is impossible. She simply states the fact that the practice of avoiding (or even tabooing) negative emotions, accepted in Western culture, and attempts to “think positively” do not justify themselves. It seems that the more we try to live without unpleasant emotions, stress, negative experiences, the more unhappy we become.
And, perhaps, it is time to change tactics, since it does not work? Maybe it's time to move towards the recognition of unpleasant emotions, as a fair part of life? Make friends with your sadness, anxiety, anger! No, not at all to indulge them, but just give them attention, stop denying them, convincing ourselves that we “should not test them”. Just learn to accept them as natural properties of human nature, as temporary phenomena, as natural phenomena of the inner world, an essential attribute of life, which passes through joy, success, and through sorrow and suffering. Take and let go.
In conclusion, I want to give a curious note about the so-called "shamanic disease". This is an example of how the concept of "norm" differs in different cultures.
Obsessive nonsense or shamanic disease?
This example is taken from the book by Е.А. Torchinova "Religions of the world and the experience of the beyond."
In cultures where shamanism is developed, there is such a thing as "shamanic disease". What it is? This is a whole set of different symptoms: persistent headaches, anxiety, nightmares, auditory and visual hallucinations, which are encountered by some members of the tribe.
What would we have done with such a person? He would be immediately treated, trying to eliminate any symptoms of this disease, would isolate the “sick” person from society. But for shamanic cultures, this is not a problem requiring immediate resolution, not a disease that is “treated”. This is a pledge of man’s chosenness, evidence of his future destination.
It is the one who is faced with the "shaman's disease" and will become the future shaman. The most interesting thing is that all these unpleasant symptoms disappear after shamanic initiation. But at the time of the initiation, they, on the contrary, are greatly exacerbated.
Indeed, during the initiation, the future shaman sinks into a trance with the help of rhythmic chants, ceremonies and psychoactive substances. He is experiencing a deep transpersonal experience, which can sometimes be very frightening. Many survivors talk about unknown, terrible entities that tear the body of the shaman to pieces, then to collect it back.
But after the ceremony, the future shaman, entering into his role, gets rid of frightening symptoms. He feels an incredible relief, a kind of spiritual renewal. And this is where his torment ends.
The interesting thing is that, unlike Western culture, hallucinations do not try to suppress, drown out the "inhibiting" drugs. They, on the contrary, are trying to maximally strengthen, to take to the extreme during the ceremony. In an effort to immerse a person in the very pool of his hidden fears and delusions.
I'm not trying to say that the approach to treating schizophrenia, adopted in our culture, is certainly bad and wrong, and that the shamans are in fact right. I just wanted to demonstrate how conditional and relative can be the concept of "norm" and "deviations."
Although, let me highlight here my own assumption about the shamanic disease. If we discard all mysticism, then the meaning of all these ceremonies may be as follows.
It is possible that the shaman does not have any magical abilities (I do not deny them, but simply put them behind the brackets of these arguments). Simply, it is, as a rule, quite a sensitive person who has a very close connection with his unconscious. And in it all archaic images, pictures of demonic and divine battles, concepts about spirits and ancestors that a person, having become a spell caster, already translates to tribesmen through his shame, rest.
And it is very likely that such a person in the adolescent period may have certain problems, incomprehensible symptoms (mental illnesses often occur just in “delicate” people). And when he is selected for initiation, he is subjected, it may be said, to exposure (a practice that is used in many psychotherapeutic methods and is that a person is exposed to the subject of his phobias) within these rituals. And through cathartic experiences, through a meeting with his own fears, the shaman is freed from these hallucinations.
And even if the symptoms persist, it is much easier for a person to accept them, because he is not told that he is “sick” and “abnormal”.
What do you think about the phenomenon of shamanic disease? I would be glad if you share it in the comments. I am very interested to discuss this issue.
