A central task throughout our lives is, first, recognizing our helpless feelings in order to reject their influence over us and, second, taking charge of our lives with new and better approaches. Otherwise, we remain at constant risk of being overwhelmed with helplessness or its manifestations in the form of guilt, shame,anxiety, anger, and numbness.
When we act helpless, we broadcast that we are in desperate need of a response from other human beings. This can lead to drastic interventions,including forced psychiatric hospitalization and treatment. when adults persistently act helpless, they are at high risk of being hospitalized against their will, heavily drugged, or electroshocked.
Nothing is more self-defeating in an adult than subjective helplessness. In dealing with the challenges of living, the most serious obstacle to successful living is this self-destructive belief, unconsciously imported from childhood, that nothing we think or do will matter and that our minds and lives are not under our control.
Culled from Guilt, Anxiety and Shame by Peter R. Breggin
Abdulkareem,Taoheedah Kehinde
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