Emotional paralysis: Meaning, Causes, Impact and Coping

trapped emojis

You may already be familiar with the ‘freeze response’ to stress. Usually, the normal stress response is the fight-or-flight response. If you can fight with the source of your threat/stress, you’ll fight. If you can’t, you’ll try to escape (flight). These are basic survival responses present in all animals.  The freeze response occurs when you

Psychological masochism: Where does it come from?

mental masochist crying

Masochism means enjoying physical pain. We often hear about masochism in the context of deviant sexual behavior. A sexual masochist is someone who gets sexually aroused by pain. There’s also a term for someone who enjoys non-physical, non-sexual pain- a psychological masochist. Psychological/mental/emotional masochism is when a person derives pleasure, satisfaction, or enjoyment from psychological

Emotional punching bag: Meaning, effects & how to cope

punching bag

Human relationships are built on the principle of reciprocity- a balance of give and take. That also includes emotional reciprocity, which is a mutual sharing and co-regulation of emotions. When you become someone’s Emotional Punching

7 Stages of emotional affairs

woman getting distant

People naturally expect the highest levels of intimacy in their romantic relationships. There are different types of intimacies, the primary ones being physical and emotional. When we hear of affairs and cheating, the violation of physical intimacy immediately comes to mind. That is, the cheating partner had a physical relationship with someone other than their

Psychological effects of not having a child

no kidding pun

Having children is a social norm. Not only are you genetically programmed to reproduce, but society also pushes you to do it. People who can’t have kids because of infertility or situational reasons feel great distress because they wanted kids but couldn’t have them. They’re breaking a social norm, but not intentionally. Society doesn’t judge

Repressed anger test

man burying anger

Repression and anger When experiencing an emotional state, you have, broadly speaking, three choices. You can express, suppress, or repress it. Suppression occurs when you consciously choose not to express your emotional state. In contrast, while it can be conscious, repression is essentially an unconscious inhibition of emotional expression. Some people are prone to repressing

How to heal an avoidant attachment style

avoidant in his space

Attachment theory is one of the most established theories in psychology. It states that our early childhood interactions with primary caregivers shape how we relate to others in adulthood, especially in romantic relationships. These modes of relating to others are referred to as attachment styles. Attachment styles are of two main types: 1. Secure2. Insecure

What happens when you ignore a bipolar person?

protect your peace written on laptop

Bipolar Disorder is a mental health condition in which the sufferer experiences episodes of mania or hypomania and depression. Mania is a high-energy state in which a bipolar person experiences elevated mood, inflated self-esteem, agitation, and impulsivity. Hypomania is a less severe state than mania. During a depressive phase, a bipolar person experiences the typical

Understanding bipolar anger towards spouse

bipolar rage

Bipolar disorder is a mental health condition in which the individual suffering from it experiences episodes of intense mood swings. During mania or a manic episode, the person experiences: In this state, they’re likely to engage in aggressive and risky behaviors. Their emotions and invincibility consume them so thoroughly that they fail to consider the

Cold mother syndrome test

cold mother

Definition Cold mother syndrome is a pervasive pattern of maternal emotional detachment. It’s a style of parenting, specifically mothering, in which the mother is emotionally disconnected from her child. An emotionally cold mother fails to provide or provides inconsistent emotional: Emotional connection The child not only seeks to meet its physical needs from the parents,