Dr. Robert
Weissfeld
Chiropractic
Acupuncture
Neural Therapy
Nutrition
QRA
Denver
Holistic
Chiropractic
Acupuncture
Kinesiology
2557 S. Broadway
@ yale
Englewood, CO
1/2 block outside of Denver
Inseparable from emotional maladaptation is mental maladaptation. When emotions are strong, the mind generally becomes very active attempting to escape the discomfort of the strong emotions. This may take the form of development of mental activity to directly escape the emotional state (e.g. throwing oneself and one’s work or hobby). It may take the form of development of mental activities like like strategizing, worry, self judgment or self talk as an attempt to compensate for the situation assumed to be causing the emotional discomfort. While true creativity and useful mental activity may arise within this state, as well,
most mental activity is by its nature adaptation.
It is part of the purpose of the brain to generalize and categorize experience. Without this adaptive capacity we would not be able to survive. Yet, this very essential capacity can have a side effect of removing us from direct connection to our experiences. When this capacity overrides our creativity by creating fixed mental reactions to new situations it becomes maladaptation.
Our brains have an interesting tendency known as confabulation, creating plausible
explanations for that which we do not understand. To be able to obtain a sense of
security by predicting and thus potentially controlling our environment, we have
a built-
Example: When Sue was young, her mother, struggling to deal with a job and 3 children, would often be distracted and not listen to what Sue had to say. This was made worse by the fact her brothers were active and unruly thus demanding much more Of mother’s attention. To explain this to herself, Sue concludes that she is uninteresting, and that girls are just not as important as boys, a conclusion which finds support in general culture.
Now an adult, Sue wonders why she is just has the tendency to disappear when she is in a group of people, particularly when there are men around. She also notices that she spends an inordinate amount of mental energy strategizing about doing things that will be noticed.
Anything which we believe about ourselves or the world around us, whether negative or positive, can become problematic when it gets in the way of a deeper and truer expression of ourselves. Believing oneself to be a ‘good’ person, for example, may seem like a good thing. But what do we mean by good? Does it mean we don’t defend ourselves or get angry when someone is taking unfair advantage of us? Do we feel guilty when other people are in pain because that is what ‘good’ people do?
The idea of being a ‘good’ person, with all of its implications, gleaned from parents, teachers, religious training or anywhere else only serves to separate us from direct connection to our actual realness and goodness.
Mental maladaptation takes form in confusion, worry, fixed rigid ideas about oneself
and the world, self-
Part of stress and trauma also lies in the judgment or meaning that we place on an
event. A notable observation is that after the elimination of emotion around an
issue, individuals will often report that the idea that something has happened -
- Cognitive, emotional and motor skills
- Postural/muscular
- Mental (thoughts and beliefs)
- Emotional
- Energetic
- Instinctual
- Physiological
- Spiritual
Mental function (thoughts and beliefs) and maladaptation