Modern media these days is full of content that encourages us to think about and reflect on our psychological reactions to events in life. Just recently I was watching a television programme focussed on events which had profound effects on the lives and livelihoods of the characters in the story. The programme brought me deeply in touch with feelings of sadness, despair and fear, as I imagined the journeys those portrayed in the programme must have been on.
The destinies of the characters in the story were significantly impacted by the alleged actions of others in the story. Whilst the television programme was a fictional creation, I found myself thinking about the psychological processes that allow individuals to behave in ways that might be contrary to their morals, especially when such behaviour has a detrimental impact on others.
Psychological denial is a process whereby despite being implicitly aware of a feeling, thought or set of ideas, our minds are able to minimise our focus on the phenomena, to the extent that we have very little explicit awareness of its existence. Put simply, it is as if, to our minds, the feelings or thoughts do not exist.
Minimising our awareness of difficult or troubling thoughts and feelings can be helpful to us, we are of course beings that have evolved over millions of years, with behaviours, qualities and attributes that have survived because in some way or at some time they have been helpful to us. And in everyday life, minimising awareness of difficult feelings can still be helpful. If you've ever had an argument with a loved one, one morning before leaving for work, and still been able to focus on the days tasks on arrival because you simply didn't think about it whilst you were there, you will understand what I mean.
Raising our awareness of our innermost experiences however can be equally as helpful. This process forms part of the beginning steps in psychological therapy, where you work with your therapist to understand the difficulties you have come to therapy for help with. After all, you can't move forwards unless you know where you are right now.
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