 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Return 
Next |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
RETHINKING STRESS, DEPRESSION AND MID-LIFE CRISIS Katherine Benziger, Ph.D. Recent literature - including a two-part article in The New England Journal of Medicine on "Clinical and Biochemical Manifestations of Depression Relative to the Neurobiology of Stress" by Drs. Philip Gold, Frederick Goodwin and George Chrousos; and Why Zebra's Don't Get Ulcers by Dr. Robert M. Sapolsky - suggests that there is a direct and important connection between stress and depression. In this response, I would like to explore this connection further; propose a model of depression which identifies a Depressive Continuum; and identify and explore the interconnectedness between three key factors which appear to determine whether a person experiences mild, moderate or sever depression (symptoms). The three key factors are: 1. the type, volume and range of stressors to which a person has been exposed; 2. the duration of their exposure to these stressors; and 3. an innate physiological trait, a naturally high level of arousal (see Hans Eysenck's work on Introversion), which in specific situations appears to make a person more vulnerable to depression. Importantly, this discussion seeks to link current psychological and neurophysiological insights with Carl G. Jung's concepts of individuation and falsification of type, an experience which we have been studying for two decades in more than 10,000 people active in various segments of the work force. Individuation can be understood as the inner process of seeking wholeness (valuing, developing and using with a degree of comfort, all four functions, as well as both introverted and extraverted processing) while holding true to one's natural gifts and natural lead function. Falsification of Type, according to Jung, occurs when anyone habitually leads with and identifies with one of his/her auxiliaries or alternatively his/her inferior function. According to Jung, this type of inner confusion concerning the element of the self 1 he called Type typically led to neurotic complications until the person reembraced his/her natural lead (Jung, Psychological Types, pp. 415-416). While a wide range of practicing physicians, psychiatrists and psychologists have contributed to the development and testing of this model, three primary sources have been most helpful: The Psychotherapy of Depression: A Self Confirmation Model by John D. W. Andrews, Ph.D.; Who Gets Sick? By Blair Justice; and Crossing to Avalon by Jean Shinoda Bolen. The three processes identified by these sources as causally related to depression are, in order: 1. ISG or Internal Stable Globalization; 2. Conserve Withdraw; and 3. Identification with the Persona. ISG is an internal psychological process, a highly specific and stable form of self-talk, in which the person predictably responds to stress in the form of resistance or negative feedback to their authentic self or Type from their environment by (1) going inside to blame themselves for what has gone wrong; (2) immediately extending the blame over time by asserting that they always do this particular task wrong; and (3) finally, globalizing from the specific "I always do this wrong" to a broad generalization in which "I always do everything wrong - I can't do anything right" (see Andrews and Justice). Conserve-Withdraw is the second crisis response of the autonomic nervous system. The first being Fight or Flight. Whereas Fight or Flight seems to be used when the crisis/stressor is something the person can successfully respond to given a bit more energy, Conserve-Withdraw is used when the crisis/stressor is seen or experienced as "overwhelming" or "hopeless", such that the only hope for survival is in the person shutting down their system as much as possible to conserve energy, food, water, oxygen and waiting it out, until the cause of the crisis (e.g. a famine, Nazi SS troops) has passed (see Justice). Identification with the Persona is a inner psychological process in which a person identifies increasingly with attributes and competencies which are not part and parcel of their natural self, but which are useful to the ego in that they are validated, accepted or rewarded in the person's environment more than attributes and competencies more tightly tied to the person's true self. Again, to the extent that Type is understood as one element of the self, it can be said that one way in which a person identifies with the persona is to Falsify Type. Bolen emphasizes that over time, identification with one's persona can lead to depersonalization, "a symptom of some severity that is related to feeling unauthentic, to identifying with the persona or mask one wears, or the roles one plays, or the effort to conform to what others expect, while. . .denying what is really personally important" (see Bolen, pp. 171 and 249). Again, the stress here has historically been seen as predominantly emotional; the stressor being the invalidation of some aspect of the person's authentic self. STRESS AND DEPRESSION The suggestion has been made that there is an important connection between stress and depression. Accepting this proposition as axiomatic, I would like to explore two questions its acceptance evokes. These two questions are: 1. Are there experiences which can be categorized as "stressors", not generally identified in the literature on life change units (LCU's), which can be shown to trigger or fuel depression? 2. Given that depression is both diagnosed and experienced along a continuum (mild, moderate, and severe), is volume of stress(ors) over time alone sufficient to determine how depressed a person becomes? Or, are there innate traits that pre-dispose a person to depression or severe depression (e.g. as Type A personality has been shown to pre-dispose a person to cardiac problems )? QUESTION 1 - Are there experiences which can be categorized as "stressors", not generally identified in the literature on life change units (LCU's), which can be shown to trigger or fuel depression? Our observation over a ten year period of working with 10,000 people, many in varied stages of depression, is that there are most definitely additional typical stressors which must be included when linking stress to depression. More specifically, we have noticed that the lack of fit between a person's environment and that element of their self referred to by Jung as Type generates a continuous life experience characterized by seemingly interminable obstacles in the form of chronic resistance and rejection. Here Type was defined primarily by the person's natural dominant or lead function (Jung) and their introversion level (Jung and Eysenck). The validation or invalidation of other aspects of the self such as race and sex may well have a similar connection, but were not studied by our group. Resistance was experienced and reported by those whose Type was not modeled, not rewarded and/or openly punished by key individuals, authority figures and organizations in their life. Rejection was encountered and reported when the person had been abandoned or shamed because their Type did not match a standard, norm or desired pattern, and/or when their inferior function was shamed. Resistance and rejection were found to encourage persons experiencing them to make conscious or unconscious decisions to adapt away from their natural Type by developing and using competencies housed in one or more of their non-dominant functions. Indeed, our observations have shown that given the general pattern in the USA of rewarding Extraverted Thinkers first and foremost, and extraverted Sensation Types next, as much as 70% of those not naturally gifted in these functions adapt to develop and use thinking, extraverted thinking, and/or extraverted sensation in order to fit in, belong and be rewarded. This kind of adaptation is what Jung called The Falsification of Type. We have simply labeled it adaption in The Art of Using Your Whole Brain. Jean Bolen refers to it as Identifying with one's Persona. For the purposes of this dialog on depression-generating contexts and processes, these three concepts may be considered as identical. Significantly, when a person falsifies Type over time, the external resistance they encounter in their environment is not the only resistance, which shapes their state of mind. According to the work of Dr. Richard Haier of USC, San Diego, it is quite probably that those who adapt to use a non-dominant function predominantly, while lessening the level of apparent resistance in their lives in that they experience being accepted and rewarded for their newly developed competencies, are actually continuing to experience resistance internally. Haier's work indicates that the level of resistance between the neurons within and across the synaptic gap is naturally, significantly higher in those areas in which our auxiliary and inferior functions are housed. Indeed, if Haier is correct, using our non-preferred functions/modes may consume 100 times the energy second per second. This high internal resistance is experienced and reported as fatigue and poor concentration. Other work by Dr. Karl Pribram and others as reported and summarized in the Physiological and Psychophysiological Bases for Jungian Concepts: An Annotated Bibliography by the author suggests that each of the four functions have their own screen such that each perceives the environment somewhat differently. This suggests that to nourish our natural Type we need to not only develop and use the skills associated with our Type, we need as well to be in an environment which includes features perceived by our natural lead function. Moreover, environments containing little content readily perceived or valued by our natural lead function would quite naturally be found "meaningless". Significantly, these two concepts can be readily and powerfully connected. We experience an environment as meaningless when it does not match our Type, and is comprised primarily of features not readily perceived by our natural lead function. As well, performing tasks which are "natural" in such an environment (one which does not match our Type) requires us to use our non-dominant functions heavily, which given the internal resistance we experience, creates fatigue, irritability and over time exhaustion. This kind of life experience is what Bolen calls the wasteland. The difference is that Bolen describes her wasteland as predominantly a Thinking-Sensation land, devoid of Feeling-Intuition content and experiences (see Bolen: pp. 169-189, especially pp. 169, 179, 181 and 185). From our observations, Bolen's observations are of the most commonly encountered wasteland in contemporary society, given the adaptive pressures cited above. From a broader theoretical perspective a natural extraverted thinker might encounter a type of meaninglessness/wasteland if asked to spend extended time with a group of spiritually focused healers. Many such individuals who appear to be thinkers are actually persons falsifying Type, whose natural lead function is sensation, intuition or feeling. When this is true, they report a sense of meaninglessness quite naturally because they are not actually owning and using their self's true Type. Some examples from our own work will be helpful. For those not familiar with our neurophysiologically updated version of Jung's model, the following stories are based on: (1) a premise recommended to us by Karl Pribram, M.D., Ph.D., that the thinking function is housed in the Left Frontal Lobe, intuition in the Right Frontal Lobe, sensation in the Left Posterior Cortical Convexity and Feeling (i.e. the feeling function, not the emotions seated in the limbic structures) in the Right Posterior Cortical Convexity; and (2) Hans Eysenck's work linking extraversion and introversion to differing innate arousal levels. We have studied the link between Jung's observations and Eysenck's findings and believe they are describing the same aspect of consciousness. For those not familiar with Eysenck's work, his counter-intuitive findings are that those with very high levels of arousal, who take in more than the average person second per second with mind's akin to a camera with a large aperture, are in certain situations, and over time, forced to shut down to process the huge amount they have brought in. These people naturally evolve into introverts. By contrast, those with lower than average levels of arousal, who take in very little by comparison because they are barely awake, aggressively seek stimulation in order to wake themselves up. Interestingly enough, these roots for the four functions and two "directions" Jung posited suggest and explain why Jung believed that a person's level of extraversion or introversion is primary or more important to their sense of self than using their natural lead function. A person must be awake and attending to their world (sustaining a comfortable, functional level of arousal) before they can engage in any of the functions. The following illustrative examples of Falsification of Type (i.e. Identification with the Persona, which involve falsifying Type) will help the reader. These examples, while presented in a generalized manner, are in fact taken from the author's clinical experience and observations. Example #1: An Extraverted Feeling Type (female) who develops and identifies with a Sensation Persona. Such a woman in early life encounters rewards form parents and teachers when she moves across the corpus callosum to develop and perform in the Sensation function. As the corpus callosum has mylenated in the posterior section of the cortex, this movement or adaptation is relatively easy, it is like an 8 to 10 lane interstate bridge. Also, the fact that the two functions are immediately adjacent to each other, and so well connected, allows her to move iteratively back and forth. So she uses both at first, driven or motivated by her natural lead to harmonize and connect with others, motivate to please as it were, she adapts to grow competencies in the sensation function. Based on the physiological model suggested by Karl Pribram for these functions, this sensation function is understood to not only do well at tasks encountering and manipulating physical objects, but also at: sequential routines in general, spelling, definitions and the denotative aspects of language. As such, she does well in school on matching, memorization and true/false tests, learns to cook and sew, learns to keep the house clean and orderly. As the years pass it often happens that she learns more skills in the auxiliary she has adopted as her persona than she learns in her natural lead function. Example #2: An Extraverted Feeling Type (male) who develops and identifies with a Thinking Persona. Such a man, with natural gifts in socializing and singing in harmony is generally when he is living true to Type is the life of the party. His very high level of extraversion, as well as his natural (feeling-based) ability to read people's non-verbals and thereby their opinions of him, lead him to try to be "what they want me to be", to be a "real man". One such man became an attorney, motivated by his natural lead to help people, he forced himself to study and master law (a thinking-sensation content) and eventually to practice in it as a county prosecutor. The more rewards he got for his achievements, the longer he practiced traditional law, the sicker and more confused he grew. By 40, he was drinking heavily and taking over the counter drugs to keep himself going (overcome the fatigue of using non-preferred modes so much). His childhood vision of being a veterinarian faded into the background, his gifts for helping and coaching children went unnoted. Society, law school and his job all told him he was a success as an attorney who used logic to solve problems. By 42 he had left his wife and family and suffered from constant exhaustion. By 45 he had collapsed in a "mid-life crisis" - depressed. Another example is the Extraverted Feeling man, working in a bank who drives himself to climb the ladder at work. As a feeling male, he may not have completed college, and hence lacks a formal credential and training. He nonetheless strives for success by modeling his behavior on that of those he sees at the top, leveraging his strong natural relating skills, he becomes one of the "in" group of executives. The better his models, the faster and better he learns to mimic true thinking. The better he mimics it, the sooner and more frequently he is rewarded for his logical prowess - in handling a contract, negotiating a deal. Because this success places him increasingly in situations in which the competition feeds his stimulation needs (his extraversion), he often has little awareness that he actually does not "think well". After all, others, winners who have gone before him, winners who appear to be natural thinkers, have told him he "thinks well". They must know what. But the costs of this kind of falsifying Type are high. A common one is alcoholism, as Jung himself mentioned to a friend of AA's founder. Another is progressive depression. Again, a crisis similar to that described by Bolen, a crisis which forces the person to give up the false path, to acknowledge what has true meaning for the individual's true Type, can put the person back on an emotionally healthy course. Example #3: An Introverted Intuitive Type (male) who develops and identifies with a Thinking Persona. If extraverts are vulnerable to the falsification of Type because they are attracted to competitive, winning positions which place them where the action and stimulation are, introverts are at least partially open to developing and depending strongly on their auxiliaries for quite another reason, if Jung's theory concerning introverts is accurate. Jung believed that generally speaking most people used at least one auxiliary to support their natural lead. This given, he observed that extraverts were most likely to extravert their lead function (i.e. use it in relating to the world and those around them) and introvert their auxiliary (use it to process internally), while introverts tended to introvert their lead and extravert their auxiliary. In this event, introverts have a natural tendency to use an auxiliary rather than their lead when relating outwardly to others and the world of things around them. Moreover, if the auxiliary he is using is valued by the environment more than his natural lead function, it is possible that the introvert will be seen by others as naturally gifted in that auxiliary. Such is likely to be the case of the Introverted Intuitive male with a highly developed Thinking auxiliary. He introverts his intuition, using his imagination to envision new options and possibilities within himself, but extraverts his auxiliary Thinking function in relating to the world through logical analysis and problem solving. Because Thinking is connected to Intuition by the same kind of "interstate bridge" that connects the two portions of the posterior cortical convexity, getting to and communicating with the Thinking mode is relatively easy for the Intuitive, even if actually using it is more difficult. If in addition to this, the modeling and training he has received for his thinking function have been excellent (Jesuit boarding school followed by four years at Princeton or Harvard) and his environment currently rewards Thinking first and foremost, it is quite probably that this man will identify more with his developed skills in logic than his natural abilities in drawing, poetry and imaginative story-telling. What's more, over many years-such highly creative men have been found to experience a kind of manic-depression. Thus, they report an inner experience of mild to moderate depression during the periods when they are leading with their auxiliary in the Thinking function; sharply contrasted by an inner experience of joy, hope and productive creative activity when their environment stimulates their imagination to soar (spring time) or when they find themselves positioned to use their imagination to create an important work. . .a painting, a book or a theory. To the outer world, the latter is perceived as manic. My own sense from observing several men in this situation is that if coming home to their natural Type involves some "excessive" energy, it may well be due to the person knowing he is not home to stay, but will when things shift return to his falsified position where his Thinking auxiliary is allowed to dominate and rule his life for months and months. Example #4: An Introverted Intuitive Type (female) who develops and identifies with a Thinking Persona first and later a Feeling persona. Such a woman appears most likely to have an early life experience of herself as a tomboy who likes to run and jump and climb. If her environment disallows this and rewards her Feeling auxiliary as feminine, during her early years she may well develop some Feeling strength. Typically, however, for middle class females, once the corpus callosum has matured in the frontal lobes, she will move across it just as her male counterpart to develop and use the academically and professionally honored Thinking function. Indeed, she is vulnerable in her schooling and early professional years to being so overwhelmed with the honors of achieving (grades, honorary awards of money, scholarships, travel) that she neglects the development of her natural Intuitive lead. Multiple factors contribute to this: the environment feeding her messages that she is bright as far as females go, brighter than many females (e.g. the evaluation of Thinkers viewing females with Feeling leads); the fact that there are few highly developed intuitive females who have remained true to Type and can model this form of functioning for her. Thus, by 30 to 35 she is likely to be experiencing the fatigue and "stress" that comes to those who adapt away from Type. Moreover, in her confusion to find a path that works, the fact that she may well go to a Feeling Type therapist for help, or otherwise find herself nurtured by the feelers in her environment - other women, gay males - she may well mistakenly embrace the Feeling function (her other auxiliary) as her true Type. When this happens, the path home - back to her true Type (natural lead function) is more circuitous. Eventually, however, perhaps in 10 years, she will find that developing and using "so much feeling function" simply is not sufficiently meaningful or interesting to her. At this time she will again look inwards for self-knowledge and outwards for role models who model Introverted Intuition. How long it takes her to find her true Type is largely a function of how many healthy, developed Introverted Intuitive women are near her. Some women find that they are able to get home by initially finding and using male role models for the Introverted Intuitive Type - but ultimately, a same sex role model is most useful in validating and feminizing the form. In all of these cases of individuals falsifying Type the individual is vulnerable to depression, Moreover, depression can be said to be driven by a psychological factor: the self's grief at not having the opportunity to develop and use the individual's natural gifts because the individual has abandoned his or her true Type, and with it its gifts. As the use of one's true Type tends to predictably evoke the experience of inner joy, contentment and delight identified as Flow, one might also argue that the self is grieving the loss of joy. Given the recent insights into the neurochemical bases of our natural lead function, one can also say that the depression experienced by those falsifying Type, an experience which literally involves the experience of lowered, decreased or diminished expressive energy, is driven by the chronic drain of having to metabolize more than a normal amount of energy to use a non-preferred function. Significantly, this idea is both new and important for all of us interested in the physiological aspects of mental health. This fact of brain physiology means that Jung was correct, ultimately the costs of falsification of Type are profound and non-negotiable. Attitude training will not solve the problem. Only returning home to one's true Type will solve the problem. QUESTION 2 - Given that depression is both diagnosed and experienced along a continuum (mild, moderate, severe), are there innate traits that pre-dispose a person to depression or severe depression (e.g. as Type A personality has been shown to pre-dispose a person to cardiac problems)? A review of personal histories and case studies would suggest that both are true. Overtime, the falsification of Type - the development and identification with a persona comprising multiple skills which utilize the person's non-preferred functions more than his or her natural lead function or Type - takes a toll, such that the person who has only been falsifying Type for a few months may show many fewer signs of fatigue than the person who has been falsifying for years or decades. Those who have been falsifying Type for years generally report experiences consistent with mild to moderate depression. Additionally, a person's level of extraversion or introversion shapes their choice of persona. An extravert typically chooses to adopt a persona which includes highly extraverted tasks or situations, while an introvert pressed to adapt is more likely to select the option which allows him or her to not have to extravert. Related to this finding, interviews with clients indicate that highly extraverted persons who adapt to fulfill their extraverted need for stimulation as well as their general personal need for acceptance and rewards, may well be less aware of the cost of falsification being paid energetically, as the energizing effect of all the stimulation masks the draining impact of the falsified Type. Indeed, many highly extraverted person's tested with the BTSA, who appear to have been falsifying Type for two or more decades indicate that they are generally well and happy with life. Only under careful follow-up interviews do such person's notice the "stress" or "lack of inner meaningfulness" which characterizes their life, stress which several in more months or years will cause the person to collapse in burnout or a mid-life crisis. This type of progressive depression which builds slowly over time appears to be more heavily correlated with extraversion than introversion; and with Feeling, Sensation and Thinking more than Intuition. In marked contrast to the progressive mild-to-moderate depression reported by extraverted persons who have been falsifying Type, is the pattern of severe, suicidal depression found in introverts, especially those who are Intuitives and Feelers. Interviews and profiles of these persons suggest that both the source and the course of their depression is quite different. While both kinds of depression can be linked to living and trying to survive in a hostile-to-Type environment, the severe pattern appears to be closely tied to an innate level of introversion which through a series of triggers engages conserve-withdraw with a dysfunctional frequency comparable to the Type A personality's overuse of Fight or Flight. More specifically, the work of Andrews and Justice cited earlier, as well as our own, points to severe depression as being tightly tied to two factors or processes. The first of these, chronic low self-esteem, may be rooted in the person's lead function and introversion level. The second factor, the habitual use of ISG (Internal Global Stabilization), has its roots in the person's introversion level. Theories on the causes underlying chronic low self-esteem are numerous. Certainly, the roots are varied. Having been an "unwanted" child or having been "born the wrong sex"; having been molested sexually, regularly; having been raised in a dysfunctional home (alcoholic, drug-addicted, co-dependent) are all life experiences which many people recognize as contributing. Less recognized is having a natural introversion / extraversion level or lead function which is not modeled, validated or rewarded by one's environment. In the United States, a highly extraverted society, all introverts seem to feel they are misfits 2 -unless and until they identify and move in with a group of introverts - in which case they may be seen as a cluster of misfits - whether they are computer programmers at Apple or IBM, psychiatrists among the AMA, research chemists in the DuPont fold, they are seen by others and themselves as misfits. This life-long experience builds an experiential database of "failures due to insufficient extraversion" - from not enjoying loud noises and crowds (and hence games) as a child, to not being sufficiently social to impress someone of the opposite sex, to not being sufficiently competitive or aggressive to sell a product, idea or oneself. Thus, in a highly extraverted society, when the introvert says: "I can't do a lot of things that those around me do and reward others to do. . .their generalization is based on an accurate reporting of their life. Similarly, in the United States, having a natural preference for Intuition or Feeling can make it more probable that a person will regularly experience themselves as insufficient. Many natural Intuitives have difficulty in school focusing in the slow, quiet classroom; difficulty with spelling, reading and addition due to dyslexia. Until quite recently, the most valued and rewarded functions were the Thinking and Sensation functions. These were valued over Intuition and Feeling by parents, teachers, employers - especially if you were a male. Thus, in the United States and in many "western nations" those seeking recognition or well-paying jobs so they could raise a family and send their children to school, adapted as we have previously discussed. They abandoned their true Type for a false Type, which would enable them to support themselves and their family. Not all of those with natural Intuitive leads Falsify Type. Some, especially those with at least one parent or early life role model, with the same Intuitive or Feeling lead, manage to hold onto their natural lead by developing and using it. Generally, however, because of the overriding social/cultural context, such persons have had to live on the edge financially. Exceptions being when they were affluent from birth, inherited in their twenties or early thirties, married someone who could and would support them. The experience of one introverted intuitive-feeling type was summarized in his observation: "I am an artist. See these photographs of my paintings and sculptures. Yet, I don't have much time for art. My time is filled with a survival job, carpentry. That's how I pay the bills". Thus, it is that many Intuitives build a personal history which proves they are inadequate - hopelessly, perennially inadequate to compete successfully, to thrive. And so, it is that they too build a negative personal story, based on facts, which feeds a negative rather than a positive self-image. This negative self-assessment is made all the more lethal when adopted by an introvert whose natural inner focus makes Internal Stable Globalization something that comes naturally, as it were, when the person is surrounded continually by resistance and rejection. For, according to Justice, this is what can and does trigger conserve-withdraw over and over and over. Such depressed persons aren't walking or expressively talking because their systems have literally shut down, almost off, in an effort to help each of them survive by keeping them in a condition my like "hybernation" until the hostile environment changes. SUMMARY Th preceding presentation and integration of findings and theories on depression suggests that: 1. Introverted Intuitives are most at risk for severe life-long depression; 2. Other Introverts are at risk for periodic severe depression; 3. Extraverted persons with culturally non-recognized natural leads are more at risk for progressive depression linked to the falsification of Type (i.e. adaptation away from Type, or identification with the persona); and 4. As well, there's some evidence that Introverted Intuitives with highly developed competencies in both the Thinking function and Intuition function are most at risk for manic-depression. In this scenario, the manic depressive swing is an oscillation between being true to Type (manic) and identifying with their Thinking Persona (depressive). If and as this theory is shown to be accurate, it suggests natural, non-invasive approaches for controlling manic depression. A chart on The Depression Continuum, summarizing much of the above, follows:
IMPLICATIONS FOR HELPING PEOPLE OVERCOME DEPRESSION If the above model is even partially accurate, then the following ideas are worthy of consideration as non-invasive, potentiating interventions when assisting a person with depression. For persons suffering with mild to moderate depression or a mid-life crisis, a strategy which would: * Determine whether or not they have been falsifying Type * Identify their true Type (i.e. natural dominant function, natural inferior function, and natural level of extraversion:introversion) * Present the information to the person in a highly validating, affirming manner which facilitates his or her valuing and embracing of his or her true Type. Significantly, while much testing and therapy seek to achieve this, the tests (such as the MBTI) as well as therapists mistakenly confirm the false Type as the person's natural Type. In this situation, therapists such as Arlene Taylor, Ph.D. and psychiatrists such as Dr. Bob Henry have found the BTSA profile (a tool developed specifically to identify and explain the falsification of Type) extremely helpful as powerful tools. Taylor has commented that the BTSA "jump starts therapy 6 months". My own observations have been that it helps people remember, value and embrace their Type and subsequently reemerge as enthusiastic, vital human beings contributing to their world. In many cases, persons remember and begin to re-embrace their true Type almost immediately. In others, the process is longer, taking perhaps six months to a year during which they reencounter and reevaluate their Type, as new experiences allow them to monitor their true feelings and reactions to specific types of events/tasks, and as memories from childhood which reveal their true gifts come back. Importantly, this kind of intervention while facilitated by the BTSA and a trained therapist, is controlled by the individual or client. Given the model and the energetic rule of thumb for observing their own reactions to various experiences, the individual will decide for himself what his real gifts are. For persons suffering with severe depression, a strategy which would: * Assist the person to value their Type by: * determine whether or not they have falsified Type, * identify their true Type (i.e. natural dominant function, natural inferior function, and natural level of extraversion:introversion) * present the information to the person in a highly validating, affirming manner which facilitates his or her valuing and embracing of his or her true Type * Teach them how to interrupt (pre-empt) ISG and thereby Conserve-Withdraw (for details of how to do this, see Overcoming Depression by Benziger). * Assist the person to move through (not repress) the anger which surfaces in the coming days, weeks, months, using appropriate therapeutic skills. Again, in the above strategy, the BTSA has proven a useful tool in contradicting the mountains of negative feedback or invalidation the depressed person has experienced simply because he is introverted and/or has a lead function which is not valued or seen as sex-appropriate in his environment. Additionally the simple, straightforward techniques for interrupting the person's ISG-habit can be easily instructed and supported by a therapist. As such, the implications are that depression may well be something that more people can overcome and put behind them - with the help of the improved self-knowledge - especially with respect to Type -- offered by the BTSA and the support and coaching or an informed professional. Exactly how effective these strategies might be, whether or not they will ultimately allow many depressives to heal without powerful drugs is as yet unknown. However, studies in this area are certainly worth doing, given the potential and significant benefits. Appendix: True vs. False Self and Type The 20th Century has been a time of self-examination for humanity. Jung and many other renowned psychologists and psychiatrists developed a special language to denote when a person was living or acting or being true to their inner nature and or when that person was not being true to their inner nature. Significantly, these same professionals working independently concurred in their finding that people have an INNER NATURE which: 1) when honored and affirmed led them to blossom or thrive; but 2) when devalued or denied led them to mental and physical illness. Significantly, in comparing their work, one can see that while most of these professionals retained a broad brush focus on the SELF, Dr. Carl Gustav Jung chose to narrow his focus to one aspect of the SELF, which he identified as one's TYPE. It is this narrower focus which distinguishes Dr. Jung today. Because it is the narrower focus on TYPE which has allowed Jung's observations to be readily confirmed by neuroscience and physiology. Additionally, as physiology provides insights into the secrets of our human immune system, it becomes increasingly clear that Jung's core work on Type is simply one aspect of a broader principle. Namely, the idea that wellness and longevity are linked to and associated with one's nature or self being honored; while disease and aging are linked to and associated with one's nature or self being dishonored, denied or destroyed.
Footnotes 1 In an effort to link the thinking and ideas of Dr. Carl Jung to those of other non-Jungians, the term self in this article is generally used to denote the non-Jungian use of the term. That is, to denote the non-negotiable elements of the person and personality, such as: sex, race, height, and one's Type. Thus for the purposes of this article, Type will be handled as one element or component of the person's self. For more on this, see the chart in the appendix identifying the language used of Jung and others to identify and explore the how people are falsify. 2 For more information on how introverts experience life in the United States, see The Highly Sensitive Person: How to Thrive When the World Overwhelms You, by Elaine N. © 1995, 1998 Katherine Benziger, Ph.D. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Return
Next |
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
