Having a complex?

What psychological complexes really are

Author: Morgan K Taylor

A psychological complex is an organized group of present or past THOUGHTS – FEELINGS – MEMORIES – WISHES – EXPERIENCES – PERCEPTIONS that were developed consciously or subconsciously and subsequently resulted in a NEWLY FORMED PATTERN OF BEHAVIOURS AND EMOTIONS. The intensity and truthfulness of these newly formed behaviors and emotions usually result in believing that the force that brought them into existence is also real, although it is just a product of your internal environment.

The set of processes taking place in our brains are presented in diagram 1:

Diagram 1: Definition of psychological complex

 

HOW PSYCHOLOGICAL COMPLEXES WORK

The following example should help in further comprehending the definition of a complex. Let\'s examine the ‘nose complex\' and assume that John suffers from the belief that he has a big nose. Some possible causes of that complex are that:

-        In elementary school (past) a classmate of John made fun of him that he had a big nose (conscious EXPERIENCE).

-        Although John does not recall of this experience today (present), it has been planted in his mind (subconscious MEMORY).

-        John feels bad (present and past) when people make fun of him (conscious FEELING).

-        John read a magazine article (present) which concluded that small noses are more attracting (conscious PERCEPTION).

-        John used to have dreams (past) where he looked different and people kept complimenting him on his well formed nose (conscious and subconscious WISH).

-        John often observes (past and present) other people\'s noses and tries to think which type of nose he would prefer to have (conscious THOUGHT).

John\'s brain has been processing all the above over the last years resulting in the development and growth of a psychological complex which consists of:

-        NEWLY FORMED behaviors:

• When someone is taking a photo of him, he avoids showing his profile to hide his big nose
• He doesn\'t go out very often because whenever he sees people giggling, he thinks they are commenting on his nose

-        NEWLY FORMED emotions:

• He sometimes acts more aggressive against people with small noses because of jealousy
• He does not feel self confident with his appearance

For further information, refer to the this comprehensive list of popular psychological complexes.

REMEMBER: A complex is nothing more than an IDEA arising and developing from an observation, experience or a series of events. Now is the right time to make the decision and set yourself free from all the negative thoughts that have been poisoning the prosperity of your mind. Start by firstly understanding the mechanism behind a psychological complex, identify the type of psychological complexthat you have and realize where your psychological complex comes from.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/self-help-articles/what-psychological-complexes-really-are-6443467.html

About the Author

Morgan K. Taylor is a researcher, writer and coach who was born and raised by a traditional Greek family with strong bonds. The biggest passion of his life is travelling. As his father is a pilot, he had the luck to travel around the world and appreciate the distinctive features of each culture from an early age. He has now travelled in more than 40 countries and he is the owner of 32 ‘hard rock café\' t-shirts, each one from a different country. He has also developed a well-rounded approach to learning through his exposure to the educational systems of 4 different countries – Greece, Sweden, Czech Republic, Cyprus – both as a student and a teacher. These experiences helped him to become adaptable to various environments, remove certain existing mental blocks, develop a ‘thinking outside the box\' mentality and adopt a positive attitude towards possibilities.