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How Psychological Scotoma Keeps You Trapped in Addiction

How Psychological Scotoma Keeps You Trapped in Addiction

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By Paul G.

In Any Dispute with Reality, We Will Always Lose Eventually

The more our thinking is out of sync with reality, the more we suffer. The reverse is also true. The closer we can get our thoughts to reflect reality, the more inner peace we enjoy. This is why many rehabs now offer mindfulness (click here to find out more about mindfulness) and CBT training тАУ these therapies include tools to help us escape delusional thinking patterns.

Denial of reality is a battle we can never win┬атАУ so why do we do it? Unfortunately, it is usually not something we have decided consciously. It more often happens due to an unconscious effort by our ego to protect itself from parts of reality it finds threatening. One way it does this is through a process known as тАШpsychological scotomaтАЩ.

Head in the Sand (image by Sander van der Wel)

What is Psychological Scotoma?

The word тАШscotomaтАЩ is most commonly associated with vision, and it refers to a blind spot in the eye. A тАШpsychological scotomaтАЩ is another type of┬аblind spot┬аonly this one occurs┬аin the way we view reality. It means there is information in our experience that is inconvenient for our ego, and it responds by turning a тАШblind eyeтАЩ to it.

Psychological scotoma usually┬аarises as a response to cognitive dissonance. This refers to a situation where there is some type of conflict between our beliefs, opinions, and our behaviour. Our ego doesnтАЩt like there to be any obvious inconsistency in our thinking, and it responds to such a situation by using strategies such as psychological scotoma.

Dangers of Psychological Scotoma

How Can Psychological Scotoma Keep You Trapped in Self-Destructive Behaviours?

Those of us who are caught up in┬аaddiction (find out more about the neuroscience of addiction by clicking here)┬аare almost sure to have at least some psychological scotoma around our behaviour. It will be mixed in with other egoic strategies for ignoring reality such as denial, projection, intellectualisation, and repression.┬аIt is just not possible for our thoughts to accurately reflect reality, our ego wonтАЩt allow it, while we are abusing alcohol or drugs.

How to Avoid Psychological Scotoma

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