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One of the things that help to keep people focused and permit them to feel like they have some control over their life is to think about transition. Imagining what they want to be helps them to break patterns and start adopting new behaviors seen as beneficial. For example, seeing oneself as faster and stronger can help increase or maintain athletic activity or working out.
And breaking patterns doesn’t even need to be something drastic. Subtle changes to image through haircuts, makeup application, or clothing can all lead one to feel that by introducing difference they can break away from the past. Why a person feels the need to change or how happy they are in the present are of course huge topics for psychology, and I’m sure the motivations of those wanting to transition are addressed amply elsewhere.
I sometimes wonder if these natural needs for transition actually hinder some people from seeking therapy. This is perhaps ironic because others would seek therapy precisely because they feel trapped in a life where they are perpetually miserable and desire transition.
Mental illnesses and disorders can have temporal impacts on lucidity and perception. Experiences of psychosis, depression, mania, and anhedonia can impact people for only pockets of time, and then pass. This means that those impacted are transitioning in and out of these states on perhaps a regular basis. In addition, if the experience of their symptomatology is negative, the passing of this mental state might come with relief, and it is the nature of this relief that might feel cherished or even sacred to the person.
The painful and troublesome experiences of negative symptomatology are very personal experiences, and in spite of the pain that comes with them, could be fertile states for ideas and beliefs, especially if the person is trying to mentally battle through the onset. Mental illness can provide a unique perspective and a desire to use it in some form of personal expression. This means that once lucidity has returned, not only does the person feel better by contrast, but they now have memories of their experience that can now be assessed and expressed, used for creative purposes.
Creating is another way to break patterns and introduce difference. It has long been observed that a number of famous artists, including musicians, painters, writers, actors, etc., are likely to have experienced at least aspects of some disorders or illnesses as we know them today. This observation should not be used in an attempt to legitimate willfully shunning therapy, but it does provide another dimension to the neurodiversity discussion of human potential.
Transitioning and the ability to change help to provide renewed purpose and meaning for people living their lives. If transitioning is built into one’s pathology, why would they want to transition out of that?
