The human body is characterized by capabilities to stretch one’s limits, strengths of the mind and the resilience to handle various challenges and situations. Bodies behave differently under different situations and circumstances. Beyond a certain limit the body can reach a breaking point especially if there is an imbalance in the manner each part of the body is involved in responding to the daily life’s occurrences. In Martha Stout’s When I Woke Up Tuesday Morning, It Was Friday, dissociation is a common aspect in the mind of an individual trying to establish a sense of identity in a highly dynamic world. Dissociation occurs if their perceptions and mental capabilities of an individual are in disharmony with the capabilities of the rest of the body.
Stout explores self-consciousness of an individual with respect to leading a fulfilling life. A fulfilling life is highly relative: various individuals have their standards, which sometimes explains why individuals who appear successful based on basic parameters suffer from dissociation while people with sometimes nothing lead healthy lives. Fundamentally, dissociation can be attributed to the sense of contentment of an individual, which is linked to an infinite set of human insatiable needs. In addition to the failed desires and needs, people experience losses and have to deal with new realities in their lives. Additionally, traumatic experiences can occur in people’s lives, upon which they are expected to embrace positivity by attaining new normal.
Normally, when the mind is unwilling to deal with the new reality, yet the body must undertake normal bodily requirements a dissociation is bound to occur. Conceptually, the body operates under the instructions of the mind, which implies that the mind develops perceptions and initiates critical responses upon which the body makes tactical responses with respect to the immediate environment. Unfortunately, during the phase of dissociation an individual fails to understand the root cause of their predicament (Jacobs 106). Occasionally, the mind records memories of traumatic experiences and places it in the subconscious such that the detriments of such effects weigh in on individual without their realization of such causes.
Certain traumatic experiences occur in attempts by the body to initiate a self-protection response against similar occurrences in the future. For instance, certain individuals are normally too afraid to engage in certain actions because the brain is still under huge traumatic experiences. Certain individuals are hesitant about engaging in friendships or personal relationships due to their personal experiences. While their bodies may be willing, their brain exhibits a predetermined condition against initiating a similar process due to the fear of ending in a similar outcome of circumstance.
Mainly, bodies are designed to respond to situations in certain ways based on the capacity of the brain to initiate a corrective mechanism toward certain situations. For instance, the body reacts favorably to certain situations and circumstances the mind considers normal. Recovering is normally easy should the individual suffer these circumstances. Subsequently, acclimatizing to harsh or difficult circumstances can contribute towards the recovery process (Turco 696). Furthermore, it can be routed in the capacity of the brain to accept situations within which the body exists and thrives. Thriving is relative depending on the circumstances the reflexes of an individual considers normal. It is also routed to the familiarity of an individual to a series of incidents that the body considers normal.
Dissociation is also common in the process or attempts of the body to belong to a particular context. Stout observes that the disruption of identity is characterized by the variation in personality states, such that there is a discontinuity in one’s sense of self. The body can sometimes initiate unconventional behavior, which is not intended to cause a stir but due to the failure by the thoughts, consciousness, and actions to coordinate. Coordination is paramount in the determination of the personality of an individual. It determines the process within which the body embraces self and undertakes a series of critical developments in a process that is naturally suited towards enhancing the welfare of an individual.
The body is designed as a highly complex system of emotions, expectations and sense of self-consciousness. It has to battle a series of complexities associated with self as well as the process within which the body is conditioned to operate efficiently. A critical assessment of the manner in which the body operates indicates that the body is sensitive to changes in the external conditions that disturb ones expectations or their sense of identity. Practically, the body has the capability to withstand most of the conditioned challenges or difficulties; however, sometimes an individual must come to the realization and acceptance of the highly dynamic circumstances that define their wellbeing.
Understandably, the transformation of the process within which an individual operates is largely
determined by the process within which they exist within their respective society. In essence, the
identity of an individual is determined by the expectations of their immediate society and extends a
great deal to the manner in which they want the society to perceive them. Sometimes the society can
misunderstand them, especially when they live below their expectations. Additionally, the society
may fail to condone their quest for their individual desires, which triggers resentments against
that society. While survival for the fittest remains the primary rule even in the very existence of
humans, certain expectations are inevitable especially when placed upon loved ones or the people
expected to reciprocate certain emotions.
Understanding the effect of traumatic events is paramount in determining the wellbeing of an
individual even after the occurrence of certain unfavorable occurrences. Some gaps regarding the
cause for the trauma may occur. Resolution of such gaps or unanswered questions provides reprieve
regarding the underlying causes. Severally, individuals suffering certain traumatic experiences
mention the prevalence of certain unanswered questions. Mainly, these may refer to the incidents
that the mind has failed to comprehend based on the underlying traumatic events. Acceptance can only
occur once these questions have been resolved unless a professional psychiatrist or a person of
interest makes an effective intervention.
Considering that the normal human life is characterized by certain disturbances, the body is also equipped with the capacity to process and acclimatize to such disturbances. Occasionally, the body can fail to adapt depending on the state of mind or the process within which an individual identifies with the issues that affect their lives. For instance, the body tends to respond in certain ways to overwhelming experiences. However, different individuals perceive these overwhelming circumstances differently such that similar incidents does not affect all people in a similar way (Solomon 513). The loss of a loved one could lead to traumatic experiences for one individual while they may be normal for another depending on the willingness to move on or the circumstances that led to the loss.
Of all the most detrimental causes of trauma, abuse during childhood has been observed to cause traumatic events to the majority of the population. Normally, the brain registers most of these events and as the individual age, they tend to forget. Most of these traumatic events are registered and stored in the subconscious and have a way of interfering with the normal performance of the brain with respect to traumatic events even at old age. Social dysfunctions are common among them, which cause more harm to the individual since the individual tends to blame themselves for their failed integrations within the particular society.
Mr. Solomon addressing various traumatic events describing the incidents and issues suffered by various groups of people across the vast society. Fundamentally, although individuals experience various difficulties, the tendency to undergo these difficulties without suffering a mental damage depends on the exposure of an individual and their adaptability. Strout on the other hand explores various premises within which individuals suffer from psychiatric problems due to the traumatic experiences that they society may have perpetrated against them. Inherently, these problems become intense when an individual believes they have forgotten them but are still registered in their memories. Childhood memories are more damaging since they alter the manner in which the body processes stressful events and for the remaining part of the live of an individual.
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Works Cited Ali, Robbie. "In search of miracles: A physician volunteer at Ground Zero." Annals of emergency medicine 39.1 (2002): 5-8. Jacobs, Marcia. "My daughters and myself: What happens when our understanding of identity begins to crumble?." Meanjin 75.1 (2016): 106. Painter, Rachel. When I Woke Up Tuesday Morning, It was Friday.” Solomon, Andew. Total Stranger, Unconditional Love: ‘Far From the Tree,’ Solomon, Andrew. "Depression, too, is a thing with feathers." Contemporary Psychoanalysis 44.4 (2008): 509-530. Turco, Ronald, N. "Far from the Tree—Parents, Children and the Search for Identity, by Andrew Solomon, Scribner, New York, 2012, 962 pp., $37.50." Psychodynamic Psychiatry 42.4 (2014): 695-700.