OT : A psychosocial question
 

Why do people seem to have a need to frequently revisit old emotional scars?

Re: OT : A psychosocial question
 

I have been asking myself THAT particular question quite a bit lately....

Re: OT : A psychosocial question
 

Profound emotional experiences, good or bad, serve as focal points in knowledge of the self. Who we are is, in part, the sum total of everything that has happened to us. It is natural for emphasis to fall on the most prominent experiences.

Re: OT : A psychosocial question
 

A very clinical answer, to say the least...

Re: OT : A psychosocial question
 

I'd say that people need to go thru the 5 stages of grief:

denial
anger
barganing
depression
acceptance

This can take a long time and sometimes people get stuck in a stage and can't move past it. People stuck in a stage will revisit the problem without moving through the problem. Once someone truly reaches acceptance, it isn't so bad to revisit the "scar" since you have passed thru the depression phase already. I'm no "sykologist" but I'd read up on managing change/transition to learn more. Hope this helps.

Re: OT : A psychosocial question
 

Black_Knyght said:
A very clinical answer, to say the least...

I thought it was more philosophical than clinical.

Re: OT : A psychosocial question
 

This brings up another question: Does experience shape an individual's personality more so than genetics?

Re: OT : A psychosocial question
 

yes, as evidenced by studies of twins separated at birth.

Re: OT : A psychosocial question
 

Of course. Genetics plays a roll in instinct, but part of the development of higher animal intelligence is learning to override instinct.

Re: OT : A psychosocial question
 

It is part of being human. Learning to cope with past psychological trauma is important to facing possible future similar trauma.

As a clinician, I can say that both are equally important. I see the same cycle repeated for generations (self-abuse through alchohol, etc.). And then there are those that "end the cycle" - go to college, etc. Life it what you put into it. A three year-old dying of cancer is often wiser than a sixty year-old with lung disease.

Re: OT : A psychosocial question
 

My simple answer is 'Because they hurt!'

Re: OT : A psychosocial question
 

Because the need to pure salt on the old wounds is far greater of an urge than the one to leave them alone. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/frown.gif

Re: OT : A psychosocial question
 

Your assuming however that the genetics have evolved enough to allow for development of higher animal intelligence. I met many poeple, some related to me, that act more on animal instinct with blatent disregard for intelligence. They act more like 13 and 14 year olds with the demonstrated IQ of a 5 or 6 year old. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/frown.gif Genetics does play a part here in that genetically they are low brow morons who are too ill equiped mentally to understand the concept of learning to act based upon intelligence rather than instinct.

Re: OT : A psychosocial question
 

'Old habits are hard to break.' There's a lot to be said about "old sayings." Our habits, over time, become daily routine. Human nature is always to take the easy way out. It's hard to deal with problems, it's easier to let them go and continue to be plagued by them.

Re: OT : A psychosocial question
 

I have read that repeated experiences "optimize" the sections of the brain that deals with them. If you have a lot more negative experiences than positive ones, your brain will get better at processing the negatives.

I often find that my negative memories spring up almost unbidden, but positive memories take more conscious effort to retrieve.

Re: OT : A psychosocial question
 

I suspect we're wired to remenber negative events better. Remebering that "hey, I ate that berry and got sick!" is more 'productive' from a survival standpoint than "Oo, that flower's pretty."

Re: OT : A psychosocial question
 

I think we like bringing forth (old) emotional pain in certain moods and situations. Self-pity can feel very good and comforting, and an experience of pain can push your current problems and situation into the background, thereby making them appear less important or inconsequential.

Re: OT : A psychosocial question
 

Music and lack of sleep, not to mention drugs, alcohol and some foods might bring about an unexpected upsurge of long forgotten, or well hidden emotional pain.

Re: OT : A psychosocial question
 

Stimulants of any kind, remove you from "control" over your own life. Your decisions are no longer based on any set of principles or experiences. You forfiet control of your life when you use drugs, alcohol or any other mind altering substance. You open the door to everything that you had closed it on...

Re: OT : A psychosocial question
 

The second part could also be portrayed as "Oo, that female looks like good breeding stock." or "That ground looks healthy."

It's almost odd that the immediacy of personal injury is a higher priority than long-term gains.

Re: OT : A psychosocial question
 

What long-term gains can be had if you are dead? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...ies/stupid.gif

Re: OT : A psychosocial question
 

Plenty, in my opinion. But I'm not an athiest.

Re: OT : A psychosocial question
 

And that could be a good thing! Think about it. The only way an athiest could exisit (as themself) is if there is a God. If there were no God, you wouldn't have athiest's!!! WOW, is he good or what? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

Re: OT : A psychosocial question
 

I'm assuming that was meant as a joke from the http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif, cause the illogic makes my head hurt. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...ies/stupid.gif

Re: OT : A psychosocial question
 

Of course, it's a circular argument. There's no way to prove or disprove the existence of God. That's why religion is based on faith.

Re: OT : A psychosocial question
 

Technically, there is no way to 'prove' anything.

Re: OT : A psychosocial question
 

Tell that to mathematicians!

Re: OT : A psychosocial question
 

Prove mathematics!

Re: OT : A psychosocial question
 

Philosophers and mathematicians tried. And they did the best that they could with Kurt Gödel, when he proved around 1920 that it is an impossibility to have a system of mathematics that covers all mathematical truths while remaining consistent (non-contradictory).

And it is quite easy to prove things, as long as all parties involved accept the axioms of logic and all the premises used in the proof. The hard part is most people have no understanding of the axioms of logic (hence logical fallacies abound) and there is little agreement to be found regarding several premises.

Re: OT : A psychosocial question
 

This is the kinda stuff that Philosophers and mathematicians are good at!
If you bought:
1. $1000.00 of Nortel stock one year ago, it would now be worth $49.00.

2. Enron, you would have had $16.50 left of the original $1000.00.

3. WorldCom, you would have had less than $5.00 left.

4. But, if you had purchased $1,000.00 worth of beer one year ago, drank all the beer, then turned in the cans for the aluminum recycling REFUND, you would have earned $214.00.

Based on the above, the best current investment advice is to drink heavily and recycle.

See, and you thought all that math was junk? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...es/biggrin.gif

Re: OT : A psychosocial question
 

...Considering my opinion of beer...

Re: OT : A psychosocial question
 

Hmmm...up here, we don't get a 21.4% refund rate for aluminum cans.

Re: OT : A psychosocial question
 

Really? A bunch of empty aluminum cans from $1000 worth of beer 1 year ago is worth $1214 today? That's hard to believe. By "earn" $214 do you mean a gain of $214 above the original $1000, or do you mean it is $214 total?

Re: OT : A psychosocial question
 

Aluminum is up over a year ago, but your right, those numbers are inflated as only a mathmatician could do. See my point? There's only one way I know to prove / disprove this. Anyone up to trying it?

Re: OT : A psychosocial question
 

Xrati phrased that badly. The point is not that you "earn" $214, it's that you have more money left after investing in the beer than in the stocks. The experiences you had while drinking the beer are supposedly a bonus on top of that.

Re: OT : A psychosocial question
 

capnq is right.

...and please don't confuse mathematicians with the advertisers and politicians who distort their statistics.


I think, therefore I am, narf.

Re: OT : A psychosocial question
 

I didn't say 'Prove mathematicians'.