Pain and Empathy

An overload of psychological trauma can numb a person to pain in themselves and others, leading them to abandon empathy and dissociate...

We numb ourselves to psychological traumas, including emotional isolation, but in disconnecting from others, we’re also disconnecting from ourselves.  Dissociative personality disorders and psychosis where the unconscious internal voice wants something different than the conscious mind are symptomatic of societies where this self-against-self divide is strongest. As professor Will Hooker from North Carolina State University states, “Ethics in the past cared more for the community. Our ethics today care more for the individual.” Societal solutions to ending this addictive pattern of separateness and improving the mental environment could include simple acts that promote empathy and compassion (traits that would be valued and encouraged by a healthy society), such as helping ourselves through helping others, or observing how similar a stranger’s needs are to our own.

Read more: http://www.utne.com/mind-body/youth-suicide-prevention-zm0z13jfzwil.aspx?page=2#ixzz2GIfwUlEE