In people with depression, such a strange phenomenon often occurs.
After a careful "enlightenment" by a friend, it seems that I suddenly had an epiphany, and I feel that I have completely walked out of the quagmire of depression and become very positive energy.
But before long, some negative feelings quickly struck, and I became depressed again.
Data indicate that depression, if treated, still has a recurrence rate of up to 50%, and for patients who do not receive treatment, the recurrence rate is as high as 90%.
The repetition of depression has also become an important reason why many people "hate" depressed patients.
Psychotherapist Lori Gottlieb also mentions this phenomenon in her best-selling book Maybe You Should Talk to Someone.
Some clients may suddenly declare that they do not need treatment and counseling, thinking that they have made a full recovery, but it is not long before they are likely to reappear in their counseling room.
This phenomenon, in psychology, is called "false rehabilitation."
Why "false rehabilitation" occurs
Mental illness is different from physical disease, although there will be some changes in physiological state, but usually there will be no obvious organic lesions, or some corresponding physiological pain.
Depression also has a very diverse range of manifestations in terms of symptoms.
Whether it is diagnostic or therapeutic, mental illness can be more complex than physical illness.
The reason why a person enters a state of "false rehabilitation" is usually caused by the following 4 reasons:
Entering a kind of role expectation: in order to meet the expectations of parents, partners, and even counselors, put the expectations of others before their own feelings;
Encountered extremely narcissistic "comforters": due to the lack of self-confidence, depressed people will be easily attracted to some extremely confident people, who may be able to provide temporary comfort, but also bring them greater disappointment;
Back to their own native mode again: the familiarity in the original mode can bring people a temporary "sense of security", but it implies some "invisible damage";
Psychological defense mechanism: After a period of psychological treatment, negative emotions have been released to a certain extent, the intensity of emotions has become lower, the original ineffective psychological defense methods have begun to work again, and it may also be that some new psychological defense skills have been learned.
Regardless of the cause of the "false rehabilitation", it means that a person does not honestly face his true feelings in his heart, but adopts an avoidant way to deal with his inner depression.
Over time, these feelings will continue to superimpose, and finally a new psychological crisis will erupt.
4 manifestations of pseudo-rehabilitation
From the perspective of cognitive behavioral therapy, the recovery of depression is a person who has a deep understanding of some negative cognitive patterns in his heart, and can use some corresponding ways to cope and adjust.
For a person in a state of "false rehabilitation", some negative cognitive patterns still exist, with the following 4 manifestations.
1. Denial
I'm completely well and won't be depressed anymore.
Denial, as a common psychological defense mechanism, also often occurs during the "pseudo-rehabilitation" phase.
No one grows up in a greenhouse, so everyone has a certain sense of trauma in their hearts.
Thinking that you can always have positive energy and maintain a positive and optimistic attitude is, in fact, a denial of negative energy in your own heart.
But denial can't make negative energies disappear, they gather in the subconscious until one day they burst out again.
2. Black and white thinking
I'm not wrong, it's all someone else.
When a person is depressed, they tend to fall into a state of self-blame.
Thinking that they are not good enough, or even entering a state of "learned helplessness", thinking that they are "powerless" for everything.
Once in a state of "false rehabilitation", a person will switch from this state of self-aggression to an attack on others in an instant.
I feel that I am right, and it is others who are wrong, using black and white thinking to define everything, without an objective and rational analysis of myself and the surrounding environment.
3. Idealization
The "savior" who saved me finally appeared.
In the process of psychological counseling, handling the empathy and projection between the patient and the patient is a key to whether the psychotherapy can achieve positive results.
Idealization is also a projection that may appear in depressed patients, in the counseling room, it is manifested in thinking that the counselor is the person who can save himself, as long as he listens to him, he will soon be cured.
In life, many people may project in love, that is, they think that they have met a "soul mate", who is destined to save themselves from suffering.
But that expectation often falls short, because even a counselor can only help the other person regain their inner strength, not someone who can pull others out of the mire.
4. Should think
I should play the role of a daughter and not let my parents down.
Most mental illnesses usually show some abnormal manifestations after emotional overload.
But when we are in a state of "false recovery", because we have not yet reached the brink of collapse, we are often able to "deceive" ourselves through repression and cover-up.
And this kind of deception is likely to be achieved through a kind of "role identification".
Think you should play a good kid, employee, or partner to keep yourself away from that negative self.
In general, the recovery of depression, after the symptoms disappear, also need to be consolidated after a period of psychological counseling.
In fact, wanting to completely get rid of depressed emotions is an impossible thing to achieve.
What we need is to be familiar with our emotions and emotional patterns through self-awareness, and in ordinary life, develop the habit of emotional management, and avoid the psychological crisis caused by emotional overload.
"False rehabilitation" is actually a manifestation of self-alienation, as Lori Gottlieb puts it, a negative "self-consolation" that one adopts when one is unable to face the "dark side" of one's own heart.
Where there is sunshine, there is shadow.
Don't put yourself in the dark because you are afraid of your shadow.