Coping And Deplay Emotions

Coping Emotions

These are coping mechanisms used when the primary emotions go out of hand (experiencing too many at once or when they are too intense). These strategies shut you off from your emotions for your own safety.

However, this becomes a mood if left unchecked for too long.

  • Apathy: turning off your emotions when there is too much pain. It is unlikely that someone is not feeling anything, they are more likely hurt and choose to shut down to protect themselves.

  • Indifference: selectively turning off emotions for particular things. This allows focus on things that matter, but be careful of it becoming a mood.

  • Cynicism: cynics are first idealists. they are eventually disappointed and they stay resigned. cynics tend to make other people feel resigned as well so that they themselves do not have to try again.

    The skeptic is earnestly trying to grow but is just being cautious. On the other hand, cynics are different from skeptics because they stay in a mood of resignation in the long run.

Deplay Emotions

  • Confusion
  • Lost
  • Bewildered

Confusion in this context is not referring to genuine confusion.

  1. Sometimes a person says they are confused and don’t know what to do, but they have actually already decided on what to do and then choose to consciously not recall that decision. You may also get the feeling that they already know what to do but for whatever reason, they say they’re confused.
  2. This person will not be convinced when receiving advice contrary to what they already decided and will keep going around asking for advice until they receive advice that aligns with what they want to do in the first place.
  3. Therefore, the responsibility of that decision is no longer theirs and is instead pushed to the person which provided that advice.

In other words, confusion happens when someone is not ready to step into an identity.

Thanks Wynn for this great summary.

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