Magic And Psychology. Magical Thinking. Types And Types Of Magical Thinking

2024 Author: Harry Day | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 15:43

Magical thinking can occupy both an insignificant and a large part of the character of a person who is inherent in "omnipotent control." What beliefs can magical thinking be built on?

Belief in universal connectedness and conditioning. The clearest example of this belief is karma. Why do some people zealously believe that something bad has come to them because of their actions? The thing is that a person cannot come to terms with an irrefutable fact - bad things can happen just like that. That is why they always try to find causal relationships, and if nothing is visible in the physical world, they weave something invented and invisible (“Due to the fact that someone counted / calculated, these troubles“flew”to me ! Nothing just happens! Besides, I must definitely control this world, otherwise I will not know how to behave in order to avoid such situations. How I want not to face such problems! "). A person is pursued by a total attempt to control everything, and in his life they constantly "interfere" with forces that he does not see, and in general it is not known whether they exist …

Belief in the objectivity of the subjective world. A striking example is people suffering from anorexia (looking at themselves in the mirror, they see themselves as "full", but they themselves are like matches). Relatively speaking - if I saw an alien, I sincerely believe in it, I will convince others of this, defending the fact that aliens really exist (“You don’t understand anything! Aliens really exist!”). It is much easier for a person to believe in what he seemed to see, and not in a manifestation of psychosis. That is why psychosis is so dangerous - I saw something, I believe in it, I will continue to believe, because I want to continue to control myself (“I cannot believe that control over myself has been lost!”).

The belief that our thoughts are material and capable of "controlling" the world. In other words, I will now think about it, apply the visualization technique, draw pictures and cover all the walls in the apartment with them, and I will definitely have a penthouse in the center of New York or Miami, and indeed my life will turn into a fairy tale. The most extreme version of the manifestation of such magical thinking is a Voodoo doll (meaning a bad person's toy, they pierce it with needles, sincerely believing that misfortune will fall on this person). Surprisingly, people always find confirmation of their actions. Sooner or later, a person experiences misfortune, because everything cannot always be smooth and cloudless. However, in the eyes of a true connoisseur of magical thinking, troubles are always associated with his belief in magic ("Oh, it worked!"). Another example - in wartime it was customary to indicate your last name and first name in strictly designated places, otherwise something will happen to a person! The surviving soldiers have always tried to explain accidents with this stereotype, but remember that for many who did not use the "magic principle", this did not work.

Belief in the presence of secret knowledge - someone knows for sure, but I do not know! In general, all knowledge that you do not know yet is secret. Sooner or later, you will learn some knowledge that you did not know before. However, the most interesting thing is that people sincerely believe that there is a “miraculous magician-savior”. Often, having got into psychotherapy, people burn with the hope that a psychologist will tell them a certain phrase and thereby greatly change their life, sufferings will disappear from the soul, and life will become a fairy tale, as in childhood (conditionally - gardens will bloom, the sun will come out, and everything will be wonderful). What are all these beliefs related to? People who are characterized by such magical thinking, show some infantilism and throw off responsibility, continuing to believe that there is a great "Mom" who will appear in their lives and will do everything. Why mom? It was deposited in the minds of everyone and us that my mother really had secret knowledge - as soon as she said a word or kissed, and the pain in the knee always went away. Similarly, the principle worked with the mother - as soon as I want something, she will do everything right away (here we mean the maternal function, when the mother determines what her child wants by her behavior, face, eyes, time). However, the baby perceives everything a little differently - “Wow! Mom guessed it was time for me to eat! " Many people do not remember the feeling that the mother always knows what to do, whether it is cold or hot for the child. How did she know all this? Unclear! Probably our thoughts are transmitted into space, and therefore she does like this.

So, the roots of magical thinking are hidden in early childhood (from one year, sometimes even from the moment of birth). This is the strong control that a toddler experiences during infancy. As soon as he moves, the world around him responds warmly - mom has already picked up and feeds. It is worth crying - everything was done the way he wanted. Until 3-5 years old, the world revolves around a child, and then a period of frustration slowly sets in - they won't buy me everything I want to have; not every candy can be eaten; you can not always do what you want. Directly magical thinking is fixed in the child in the event that he was surrounded by overprotection (the baby does not even have time to say anything about his desire, as the mother's figure already embodies it). If the mother did faster than the child's desire itself appeared, he accordingly formed magical thinking and a lack of responsibility. Such people do not quite clearly understand what they want, and even in therapy, their thoughts sound unclear and confused, and the request is often difficult to formulate. This problem is directly related to childhood experiences, when the baby has not yet understood what exactly he wants to eat, but he has already been fed so much (vegetables, fruits, cereals, borscht, soups, etc.), having put all kinds of dishes on the table that he accordingly does not will understand his desires and will not be able to formulate a request (“I want this!”). Another example is "I want it to stop hurting!" Often in this case, a person is constantly "circling" around some events, experiences and people, but he cannot directly say what happened and why he is in pain. The request is fuzzy and illogical - "I want you not to tell me that!".

A mentally healthy person can periodically rely on faith. And in general, it is the belief in something higher and mystical that sometimes helps us move on. But here it is important not so much to believe in punishment and punishment, as in the possible help of higher powers. Why does a person need magical thinking? This makes it easier for us to deal with anxiety, adapt, and cope with stress. The more stressful the situation, the stronger the feelings (especially grief), the more often a person begins to turn to God. Why? Each of us at a certain moment in life needs to grab hold of and hold on to something (at least mentally), to know that we are not falling into the abyss of despair and nothingness. What is the difference between a healthy psyche with magical thinking from a borderline and unhealthy one? A person with a healthy psyche understands that he is responsible for everything that happens in his life. Undoubtedly, he could not have prevented a catastrophe or trauma (although people with a neurotic type still begin to take the blame - they could not have appeared in that place and at that time).

How can you know in advance which will be better? Sometimes what happens is what happens, and here you need to clearly understand your area of responsibility - what could be monitored and done? Only in this case you can plan your own future. So, if I want something, first you need to understand your desires, formulate them, and then plan and systematically move towards their realization. This does not mean that a healthy person cannot draw a map of desires or visualize by sticking pictures on all the walls in the apartment. A person who is characterized by pathological magical thinking will stop at this, and a mentally healthy person will strive to understand in which direction he is moving, for him such techniques are additional self-actualization, help in realizing internal capabilities and potential (to force himself to rise and motivate to move on). Movement is the most important thing for this person (he might not have done visualization, but he will move).

Quite often, many (including healthy people) in especially disturbing periods of life may have the impression that their frightening and scary thoughts really affect life processes (that's it, now it will definitely come true!). However, it is worth remembering that this is solely a matter of your anxiety - as it grows inside your consciousness, it scares, fueled by external fears.

A scary fantasy is like an avalanche or a snowball, but fears do not necessarily come true! Thoughts cannot be compared with actions, putting them on the same level! On the contrary, only actions will lead you to the desired result. It's only about what exactly you are striving for. The question is a little different here. What scares us, and attracts us - and we will go where something happens!