Website owner:  James Miller

Mental balance, mental imbalance



   Q. Mental balance.  What is it?  What things characterize it?  
    What does it consist of? 

   A. Calmness of mind.  A relaxed outlook on life.  Self-
    confidence.  Sureness of oneself.  A good, healthy  
    perspective on life.  Understanding of life and ourselves.  
    Being happy and comfortable with ourselves.  A lack of fear 
    and worry. 

   Q. Mental imbalance.  What is it?  What things characterize it?  
    What causes it?

   A. It is characterized by mental instability, confusion, 
    unhappiness, mental disturbance, frustration, worry, panic, 
    maladjustment, depression, mental hang-ups, obsessive 
    behavior, neurotic tendencies, abnormal feelings and behavior.  
    Some things that can lead into it are: 

        - fear
        - insecurity
        - anger
        - lack of confidence
        - self-doubt
        - worry
        - anxiety
        - hostility
        - frustration
        - unrealistic personal goals, objectives, expectations

   Combinations of the above negative things can work together to 
   create a vicious circle that pulls one down ever deeper and 
   deeper into a mental abyss.  Frustration, fear, anger and panic 
   can create great mental stresses that can cause instability, 
   maladjustment and abnormal feelings and behavior.  Victims 
   develop mental hang-ups by repeatedly, but futilely, trying to 
   analyze their way out of their problems.  They become so 
   preoccupied with their problems that they lose perspective and 
   balance (they become like a fly trying frantically, wildly to 
   get free of a spider's web).  They become caught in negative 
   thought and feeling patterns that pull them down.  They find 
   themselves all mentally confused.

   What kind of thing might the initial cause of such negative 
   things as lack of confidence, self-doubt, insecurity, hostility 
   and anger be?  Well, some mental weakness, inability or 
   handicap (such as "slowness"), if you allow it to bother you 
   and dwell on it, can do it.  It can cause you to become 
   defensive and to doubt yourself.  We live in a competitive 
   world and at an early age we start seeing ourselves in 
   comparison with others.  At an early age we start becoming 
   aware of our defects and deficiencies.  Our school system puts 
   a great emphasis on ability, intelligence, IQ, etc., and people 
   tend to value people according to their "intelligence".  If we 
   perceive that we come out looking poorly and if we accept 
   society's values and outlook we can develop a negative opinion 
   of ourselves.  And if we see ourselves being subject to abuse, 
   bias and discrimination it can easily make us angry and 
   hostile.  And we may feel insecure because we fear it will 
   affect our ability to hold a job and make a living. 


   Mar 2009




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