Critical Thinking: Is A Lack Of Individuation One Of The Biggest Problems In Today's World?

Over the years, a lot has been said about the number of people who are suffering from mental and emotional problems. This is something that the mainstream media regularly cover.

After the inner part of people’s beings was largely overlooked by mainstream society for so long, this can be seen as an important breakthrough. It has helped to remove a lot of the stigma that was attached to this part of someone’s being; the part that can’t be seen but has a massive effect on their whole life.

The First Stage

When it comes to the solutions that are often put forward for these kinds of problems, they are not always adequate. To take one step back, though, it can be normal for someone to have to wait months until they receive assistance.

This is, of course, if they look towards the system to assist them and don’t take matters into their hands and look for answers online. As unfortunate as this is, it could be said that it is not much of a surprise.

Part of Life

Ultimately, change takes time, and a society that has largely ignored mental and emotional problems is not going to suddenly become a society that provides excellent support. The trouble is that if someone is not in a good way, they simply won’t be able to wait.

Another part of this is that it is usually people that are seen as having problems, as opposed to the society that they live in. This then stops the big questions from being asked and greater change from taking place.

No Further

When it comes to the psychological realm, this is about as far as it goes; the mainstream media, or the government, is unlikely to talk about the mental and emotional development of the citizenry. Now, it could be said that is not something that is going to be widely spoken about anytime soon because there is the need to keep as many people as possible in an undeveloped state.

Why would this be? Well, when someone is mentally and emotionally undeveloped, they can lack the ability to think for themselves and be dependent on the system. Someone like this is then going to be more likely to go along to get along and less likely to assert themselves.

The Priority

They will look like an adult on the outside, but on the inside, they will be more like a dependent child. Their primary need will be to experience safety, security and to be looked after.

Having the freedom to express themselves and their views is going to be the last thing on their mind. It is then a two-way process: the system arguably wants a dependent, and fearful, population, and people like this will want a big and strong government to take care of them.

Part of the Problem

It will be in the government best’s interest to do what it can to justify its own existence; the last thing it would want is for the majority of people to see how destructive the government is. So, whether it relates to creating problems or keeping current problems alive, it allows the government to maintain and strengthen its own existence.

If the citizenry as a whole was to reach a certain level of development, it would probably only be necessary to have a very small government, as most people would be mature enough to govern themselves. However, even if someone isn’t mentally and emotionally undeveloped, as there are so many pressures and distractions in the modern-day world, they can be far too caught up in their own life to challenge the system.

An Important course of action

In order for someone to act as an individual and not to just act as though they are an extension of others, they will have needed to have started the individuation process. This may have been something that began during their early years and it will carry on until their last breath.

Therefore, it is not something that is done and that’s the end of it. If this is something that began when they were very small, now that they are an adult, they are likely to have a strong sense of self and to have reached a certain level of mental and emotional maturity.

The Benefits

They will have the ability to stand with others and they will have the ability to stand by themselves. Further, they will be in touch with their own worth, and they will be able to source a sense of power, connection and love from within themselves.

And, as they have started the individuation process, they will be more likely to see others as individuals and to respect their boundaries as a result. Thinking for themselves and forming their own conclusions is also likely to be normal.

A Different Path

When someone hasn’t started the individuation process, it doesn’t mean that they will realise this. Instead, how they experience life can just be what is normal and deep down, they can see themselves as just an extension of others.

They will be developmentally stunted, and this can show that they were not given the care that they needed whilst they were a child and that their father was either emotionally unavailable or absent. A father plays a vital role in this process and is needed to break the child away from the mother.

The Fall Out

They would have had a physical birth but they won’t have had an emotional birth, which will have stopped them from developing a strong sense of self. Through not receiving what they needed, they can have a strong need to blend with and to lose themselves in others.

As they are essentially empty on the inside, they won’t have a self of their own worth or be able to source a sense of power, connection and love from the inside. This can cause them to join a movement (structure, identity) and to crave a strong and powerful leader (power, guidance).

A Strong Need

They will be an adult, but their life will be run by their childhood needs that were not met. Standing by themselves will be more or less impossible, whilst standing with others will be what feels comfortable.

As they won’t see themselves as an individual, they probably won’t see others as individuals; they can just see them as being a representation of someone or something else. Thinking for themselves and coming to their own conclusions is unlikely to interest them; they can just accept what the people in their group/movement believe.

The Main Point

It doesn’t take long to see how much damage has recently been done, and is currently being done, by people who haven’t started or got very far with the individuation process. Many, many people have come together and have ended up acting as though they are one being.

They believe the same thing, say the same thing and behave in the same way. By coming together in this way, they are re-experiencing the symbiotic connection that they had with their own mother and are renouncing their personal responsibility in the process.

Final Thoughts

Although people like this end up becoming one, most of these people are not coming from a position of love and personal power. No, they are coming from a position of being deeply wounded and have the need to punish the people that don’t support their ideology.
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With what has been going, it is clear to see how much damage can be done by those who have not been able to develop a sense of self and to embrace their own inner capacities.  Considering this, the individuation process is not just an important part of an individual’s ability to lead a fulfilling existence; it is also an important part of what will lead to a more peaceful and harmonious world.

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Oliver JR Cooper
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