So often you hear about people with Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD).
This is a psychiatric disorder where people are obsessed with their real or perceived body flaws.
Often their notions of a physical flaw is widely exaggerated like someone who has a barely noticeable mole, but they see it as a major blotch on their skin that everyone must be staring at and repulsed by.
People with this disorder may often stand in front of the mirror starring at themselves obsessing over these minor imperfections.
But there is something major that is missing here.
And it is the polar opposite of BDD.
I would call it the Body Morphic Disorder (BMD).
My notion of BMD is where people are similarly obsessed with their bodies, but rather than real or perceived flaws, they are focused on real or perceived notions of their body's beauty and perfection!
Instead of looking in the mirror and perceiving problems and feeling self-loathsome, these people are excessively vain and see themselves as a (near) perfect specimen of a human being.
"Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the fairest of them all?"
Or the equivalent of ain't I just grand!
It's funny-weird that we perceive criticism and self-contempt (BDD) as a psychiatric disorder, but we don't generally see narcissistic self-worship as a personality disorder!
Yet any extreme is a bad thing.
Excessive loving or hating of your physical self--is the kiss of death when it comes to seeing things the way they really are and being a genuine human being. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Showing posts with label Alternate Reality. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alternate Reality. Show all posts
November 15, 2017
November 11, 2017
The Fine Line Between Fantasy and Reality
So I've started to realize that there are at times a (very) thin line between fantasy and reality.
In some cases, people hear some facts or some truth, and then in their mind, they concoct entire stories of fantasy or full-fledged conspiracy around it.
But more than that, the fantasy in their minds, because it starts with a real fact or two then becomes entirely perceived as reality itself.
We saw plenty of this in the last election cycle and even today, with one political side or the other purchasing phony dossiers or making up stories about the opposition--and they may even have some underlying facts associated with it.
But around these facts, entire scripts and stories are concocted through inductive reasoning or highly imaginative thinking, whether for example, of deep Russian conspiracies reminiscent of the era of McCarthyism or the Salem Witch Trails of yesteryear.
Again, I'm not saying that nothing is there, but the question is whether there is real truth then to the whole conspiracy that has been drawn from fantastical minds of opposition agents, reporters, and others gainfully benefiting and perhaps running amuck with these grandiose versions of alternate reality?
What I am coming to believe is that it's not so much that people are willfully making up these stories (although there can certainly be plenty of biases, exaggerations, and agendas at work as well), but that in their mind, they create these bombastic versions of what seems like truth to them and then they pawn it off and sell it to others who are only to happy to latch unto some juicy new gossip or theory of "what's really going on."
Similarly, some people who get very mad may actually take albeit a genuine fight with another person and pour layer upon layer of evil doings and manipulations on them until by the time their mind is done, the other person has become the devil themselves--and the fantasy for a short time seems like it is the reality--until such time that cooler heads prevail and reality replaces the mind's fantasy or it's ultimate fears.
In short, there is a very fine line between fantasy and reality--our minds can get carried away with facts or notions of the moment and build those into full-fledged conspiracy theories of "who done it" and "why didn't we see it all along."
Certainly, this doesn't mean that there aren't some very good pretenders out there who truly are doing very bad things and covering their tracks, and it's for the gifted and detective minds out there to perceive those and prove them as being the greater reality.
But we have to be careful in accusing people--until such time that the facts are all there and the perception or fantasy of our mind's eye is shown to be the reality indeed.
We need good investigative journalism, excellent law enforcement and intelligence, and clarity of mind to know what's real and what's fake in life and in our fantastical minds. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
In some cases, people hear some facts or some truth, and then in their mind, they concoct entire stories of fantasy or full-fledged conspiracy around it.
But more than that, the fantasy in their minds, because it starts with a real fact or two then becomes entirely perceived as reality itself.
We saw plenty of this in the last election cycle and even today, with one political side or the other purchasing phony dossiers or making up stories about the opposition--and they may even have some underlying facts associated with it.
But around these facts, entire scripts and stories are concocted through inductive reasoning or highly imaginative thinking, whether for example, of deep Russian conspiracies reminiscent of the era of McCarthyism or the Salem Witch Trails of yesteryear.
Again, I'm not saying that nothing is there, but the question is whether there is real truth then to the whole conspiracy that has been drawn from fantastical minds of opposition agents, reporters, and others gainfully benefiting and perhaps running amuck with these grandiose versions of alternate reality?
What I am coming to believe is that it's not so much that people are willfully making up these stories (although there can certainly be plenty of biases, exaggerations, and agendas at work as well), but that in their mind, they create these bombastic versions of what seems like truth to them and then they pawn it off and sell it to others who are only to happy to latch unto some juicy new gossip or theory of "what's really going on."
Similarly, some people who get very mad may actually take albeit a genuine fight with another person and pour layer upon layer of evil doings and manipulations on them until by the time their mind is done, the other person has become the devil themselves--and the fantasy for a short time seems like it is the reality--until such time that cooler heads prevail and reality replaces the mind's fantasy or it's ultimate fears.
In short, there is a very fine line between fantasy and reality--our minds can get carried away with facts or notions of the moment and build those into full-fledged conspiracy theories of "who done it" and "why didn't we see it all along."
Certainly, this doesn't mean that there aren't some very good pretenders out there who truly are doing very bad things and covering their tracks, and it's for the gifted and detective minds out there to perceive those and prove them as being the greater reality.
But we have to be careful in accusing people--until such time that the facts are all there and the perception or fantasy of our mind's eye is shown to be the reality indeed.
We need good investigative journalism, excellent law enforcement and intelligence, and clarity of mind to know what's real and what's fake in life and in our fantastical minds. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
The Fine Line Between Fantasy and Reality
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