Denial
Every day I seem to encounter this rather sad phenomenon that human beings have developed. Sad because, living in denial is probably one of the most debilitating things a person can do. Denial is an escape of the mind in refusing to deal with or acknowledge certain realities. It is one of our most primitive forms of self defense. It can cripple you both physically and psychologically coz whatever we may wish to believe, the truth will always prevail.
Some of us live in denial of the state of our health, where we pretend we are fine knowing we are not (I know someone whose cancer spread and eventually killed that person as a result, another person let his diabetes spiral out of control and eventually died coz he denied he had it). Most of us like to deny our feelings. We claim we are “not emotional” and say we don’t care when actually humans are emotional beings and we do care deep within. Whether we choose to accept it or not, we feel. We hurt. We love and we care. It’s in our most inherent nature to be that. But denial blocks that acceptance coz we have got hurt or we fear the consequences of the truth.
These things stem from childhood. Where we build defences to not deal with certain realities. Where we have learned to fear and run away from the truth. And as adults it manifests itself in different ways. Often we need psychological intervention to help us remove those defences and live fruitful and content lives. Living a lie is only going to get you thus far and no further. Sadly many seem to think they can overrule nature and thus the truth comes out in subconscious ways, sometimes leading to illness and mental agony.
Perhaps we should start encouraging those living in denial to seek the help they need. Sometimes these things are subconscious and unless someone points it out to us, we don’t realise it. The mind is a rather complex mechanism of chemicals, synapses, thoughts, feelings and memories. It’s time start giving it its due place and attention.
