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The Mystery of Psychological Defense: What is Split Thinking? Do you understand it?
Schizoid thinking, also known as black and white thinking, all-or-nothing thinking, is a common psychological defense mechanism. This way of thinking prevents individuals from integrating perceived positive and negative qualities into a whole, and instead tends to divide things into two extremes: all good or all bad. In psychology, schizothink is seen as a way to protect an individual's self-image, but long-term use may lead to inner conflict and instability in interpersonal relationships.
Schizoid thinking is characterized by a lack of middle ground. This extreme way of thinking prevents individuals from viewing complex interpersonal relationships rationally.
This thought pattern is common in certain personality disorders, such as borderline personality disorder and narcissistic personality disorder. Characteristics of these patients include an inability to integrate "good" and "bad" images of themselves and others, and their understanding of interpersonal relationships is often extreme, resulting in constant fluctuations in close relationships.
The mechanism of split thinking
During the process of psychological growth, children usually have split thinking, but this phenomenon should gradually decrease as their understanding ability increases. When individuals perceive things that conflict with their self-image, they may feel rejected or isolated, further reinforcing schismatic thinking. This thinking pattern is especially obvious for individuals with low self-esteem, who find it difficult to accept their own or others' shortcomings and often externalize their conflicting feelings and blame others.
Schizoid thinking may cause patients to have deviations in coping with emotions and lead to misunderstandings and tensions in interpersonal relationships.
Often, people who use split thinking selectively interpret the behavior of others, attributing the good behavior of people they like to personality traits while blaming the bad behavior of people they dislike on situational factors. Such prejudice exacerbates their emotional depression and uneasiness.
Influence on interpersonal relationships
Schizothink can create instability in relationships, especially for those interacting with someone with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). Patients' intimate relationships often fall into extreme cycles of evaluation. One day they rely on them for support, but tomorrow they may view the other person as an enemy for trivial matters. This pattern of behavior makes the relationship fraught with stress and discomfort, followed by unmanageable emotional conflict.
Such conflicts not only affect their self-identity, but also their relationships with others, often leading to mutual harm and misunderstanding.
Psychologists have proposed a variety of management methods for this unstable behavior, including dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT), psychotherapy (MBT), and transfer-focused therapy. Among these methods, DBT particularly emphasizes the improvement of emotional regulation and coping skills, helping people with BPD to manage emotions and interpersonal relationships more effectively.
Treatment and Management
For relatives and friends of people with borderline personality disorder, they often need to strike a balance between respecting their privacy and seeking outside help. It’s also about how to legitimately acknowledge their feelings without reinforcing their behavior. Some studies have pointed out that providing the right support rather than indirectly promoting dissociative behavior can effectively reduce the negative impact of such psychological defenses.
Providing the right help and appropriate emotional support can promote positive change instead of causing the individual to fall into more self-doubt and insecurity.
In addition to professional therapy, there are many self-help books and materials that can help break free from the troubles of split thinking. Individuals can develop healthier thinking patterns through methods such as emotional regulation and mindfulness. With the advancement of cognitive behavioral therapy and the application of more psychotherapy techniques, many patients have received effective support and improvement.
About the history of the split
The concept of schizophrenia was first proposed by psychologist Pierre Janet in 1889 and was further developed by many psychologists. Freud once observed that this phenomenon is a manifestation of self-defense in the face of inner conflicts. By understanding the psychological dynamics behind this, we can gain a deeper appreciation for the complexity of human behavior and emotion.
We may all feel emotional extremes at some point in our lives, but is this kind of thinking just our self-defense mechanism at work? By connecting the effects of schizophrenia to our lives, can we find healthier ways to cope?
