Posted by Dinah on December 20, 2005, at 16:17:15
In reply to emotional encapsulation, posted by alexandra_k2 on December 20, 2005, at 0:46:59
Maybe the spider thing is partly that the choice of which thought to challenge isn't correct. Maybe the internal thought isn't "It's dangerous" but rather "It's a spider" so all the thinking in the world that it's not dangerous doesn't alter the very true fact that it's a spider. Probably a fair number of people who are afraid of spiders aren't afraid of danger at all.
So then all you can do is change your associations with spiders, and then only if it's worth it to you.
Like my vomit obsession. I know vomit can't hurt me. But it's *vomit*. I know vomit can be cleaned up. But *vomit* contamination can't. I'm not afraid of getting dirty. It's just that vomit is something to be avoided at all costs and I know that if I'm near vomit all these things will happen to *me*. And indeed they do.
But the definition of *vomit* can be narrowed. Dog vomit is no longer vomit. I can take the barfing dog and lower him off the bed and say "Please don't vomit on the bed" and it's just annoying. Because that's no longer considered *vomit*. Not the sort of vomit that causes things to happen to me or the sort that forever contaminates an area.
Vomit is as distinct a concept as danger is to me, but the one concept doesn't necessarily rely on the other.
Sort of like "What do I care if it can't hurt me. It's still *vomit*."
poster:Dinah
thread:590579
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20051216/msgs/590726.html