Monday 18 December 2017

Mission white bear

White bear, is a term used to describe a problem in which the person deliberately tries to forget and repress certain kind of thoughts but instead results in those thoughts appearing in the mind more and more. The efforts put in suppressing the thoughts all go in vein as the thoughts occupy more prominent place in the mind.

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The reason why this problem is termed as white bear is; in the initial days of the discovery of the problem, it was a very difficult task to not think of white bear when asked to not think about it.
For example, when I say to you to not think about a pink elephant; okay please don't think about a pink elephant. Does your mind listens to you? or does it start to think about a pink elephant even after saying that it shouldn't. This problem is also termed as ironic process theory.

This problem is widely used by psychologists in the treatment of Anxiety and Depression. How? Think of it this way that, when a person is under stress and is distressed then he would keep thinking and trying to suppress his anxiety and depression but, he would actually be increasing it many times by doing this, it may even result in the person doing things completely out of his character and what is expected out of him.

This problem can also be related to memorization, and the level of control a person has on his mental power and abilities. If someone can intentionally control his thought process and make his mind think and work according to his desires and not against it, then the person has a control over the white bear syndrome.

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Here are some ways to overcome white bear, these have been tried and test in various experiments by psychologists.
Try focus on other things; in order to distract the mind from things that are not to be thought of, the person can start to think of other things. Example- Instead of thinking of white bear start thinking of a pink lion.
Meditation; this is a very effective way to have a control over your body and mind. During the work of the whole day, we tend to not breathe properly in the way required by the body; simple deep breathing can bring in a lot change as well.
Relaxation; by simply relaxing and letting the body come out of stress and depression is another way to overcome the white bear.

I hope you good relate to the post.

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