Upon my decision to become a psychology major, I found that I was constantly being told that I was "analyzing" people. Sound familiar to anyone else? Whether I was actually scrutinizing others or not I'm not sure, but I do recognize in myself a need to further evaluate my emotions and any problems that I may be experiencing. Could this behavior be causing me more harm than good?
This article originates from the blog Wired for Success by Ray B. Williams who has founded and co-founded organizations devoted to leadership, development, personal growth and executive coaching. Williams suggests that when we analyze our feelings in a third person perspective to prevent reliving the experience over and over again. We feel the need to process our emotions in order to cope with and understand their meanings before we are able to move forward. The best way to do this, however, is from a detached perspective that allows you to see the entire picture with no attachment to the situation.
This could be seen as a "no-brainer" concept to many who repeatedly find themselves drifting back to their old ways despite efforts to make a positive change in their lives. They may have made the decision to revert to a more lucrative approach that involves severance between their thoughts and their emotions. On the other hand, the task may not be as easy for some to manage.
A study performed at the University of California put the concept to the test with 141 randomly assigned participants to two groups. In the "immersed-analysis" condition, participants were told to go back to the time and place of the experience and relive it as if it were happening again while trying to understand the feelings they were having at the time and what may have caused them. In the "detached-analysis" condition, participants were also told to go back to the time and place of the experience but to take a step back and move away from the immediate experience to watch it unfold as a bystander and try to learn the lessons of the behaviors they witnessed. Just after the study was performed, the detached-analysis group experienced lower levels of anxiety, depression and sadness than the other group. They felt the same when questioned one week later. This self-distancing perspective can have multiple health benefits as well including reductions in blood pressure.
This research supports the work of Dr. Steven Hayes who has written the book Getting Out of Your Mind and Into Your Life. As a "Third Wave Psychologist," Hayes has been doing what he can to change the focus of psychotherapy from manipulating thoughts to changing the context in which we have them. Find out more about this topic by reading the article above or reading more about Dr. Steven Hayes in The Third Wave of Therapy presented in TIME magazine in 2006. Perhaps you will become more skeptical of the way we think about psychology after reading Hayes' account.
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