The Reality Distortion

In our daily life we ​​all have many distortions of perception. Say it's only natural that a certain music we "transport" to another era, or the smell of perfume put us in "contact" with the beloved, or the taste of food remind us of the food that our grandmothers and so on.

The "distorted perception" as a "flash back" is the direct cause of what happens to us sometimes to people. We can come to one place and without exchanging a word, this or that person we like or wrong. In everyday life this phenomenon we call it chemistry or vibes.

In fact there is never a first meeting, all meetings are in the unconscious. It turns out the way you look that person, his tone of voice, eye color or whatever (current perception), connects us unconsciously, with a significant figure in our life can be that person me because I have the same look that my mother, but another can not stand because it is identical to the gestures of a severe teacher I had in childhood (perception of the past).

The emotional charge of the perception of the past has slipped to the current perception, modify and configure our phobias and our associates and partners.

We are all "sensitive" to certain subjects. If, for example, have had unresolved issues with the first authority (father figure), any stimulus that is perceived as authoritarian, awaken in us a deep anger. Ira will be disproportionate to the present moment.

Well, within psychotherapy, these distortions have come to the category of true disorders of perception, because the burden of disease and suffering that accompany them, is of the highest intensity for patients.

Imagine that we have suffered a few years ago, a very spectacular car crash rollover included and that what we remember of him is the strong smell of gasoline and the panic felt by imagining the possible vehicle fire.

Now trasladémonos the present. Imagine going to a friend in his car and started to notice a strong odor of gasoline. No matter where it circulates at the speed we do, because suddenly, by a disorder of perception, we begin to feel a great sorrow that we can not control.

That happened to us? Well, the trauma that had been hidden and silent (repressed) in the depths of our psyche, has been activated by an actual perception (the smell of gasoline), as an inducement to trigger has "triggered" the repressed affect (anxiety) , leading to symptoms: sweating, chest tightness, fear, etc..

Below I will describe the traumatic experience of a patient, which clearly illustrates the above:

This is a 38 year old man I'll call Andrew. He was very polite and responsive. He worked as a senior executive at a famous multinational. He was an only child and lived with his mother. Her parents separated when he was 11.

In the course of his psychotherapy, he told me a story that had happened on a transatlantic flight and greatly embarrassed him. Thanks to this information and subsequent work, we deepen and resolve their relationship.

He told me that while flying business class way to America, came to ask a flight attendant canapés. The hostess was a woman about 50 years and debonair appearance. This, I say in an extremely friendly and submissive were not sofas. To his amazement, he was demanding in bad taste, which was to ascertain if there was any. The stewardess, visibly nervous and embarrassed, told him again that was exhausted, offering in exchange anything else you could want.

I do not know because - Andrew spoke suddenly irritated me and started up the tone of voice

Submissive behavior and tearful woman, instead of grief, caused me ever more uncontrollable anger. I felt, to my shame, to a certain pleasure in losing his temper and in the end and half hysterical, I demanded a complaint form.

Once in the hotel, remember that Andrew proceeded did not sleep all night. I was so embarrassed and confused by the whole episode. I did not recognize in my conduct, and felt great sorrow for how bad he did happen to that good woman.

What could go through the head of my patient? In fact, as we see in therapy, Andrew suffered a "disorder of perception" in the sense that the submissive behavior of the stewardess (current perception), I hooked up with submissive attitudes and ways he had seen and suffered in front of his own mother (perception of the past). Andrew had a mother, "so good" that could never meet her and all the resentment he had to repress his unconscious.

In the here and now of the aircraft, conduct "maternal" stewardess, acted as a trigger, "pulling" violently repressed all the rage at the mother but the hostess acted upon unconsciously.

That episode cathartic, therapeutic work with interpretation and elaboration of the conflict ambivalent (love / hate) towards the mother, was used to normalize relations with it. Andrew understood and accepted the long-suppressed rage, thereby freeing of psychic conflict that had suffered for many years.

It is possible that to some, this story seems a twisted story about a psychiatrist, but I assure you that reality is always stranger than fiction.

It is likely that from now on, you could begin to understand a little more, phobia and philia we feel for certain people. Some are made of nerves with the children, some revere the elderly, others can not with pedantic and some commit suicide when a group of teenagers.

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