Awareness Reduction Mechanisms

Caution. This article/definition is in draft form and at this time may constitute no more than rough notes, reminders for required content, or absolutely nothing at all. Content is subject to revision.

Awareness Reduction Mechanisms (ARMs), what psychologists typically call Defense Mechanisms, are strategies that the Bodily Ego can use to reduce awareness of itself, its physical and mental condition, the "room" that it's in, and the condition of its life (Sharp, Book Two). ARMS are typically deployed in order to reduce pain, suffering, guilt, shame, and the disjuncture that arises from internal misalignment or external violence and abuse. Several ARMS exist, the most common being:

Basic Forms

• Compartmentalization. Compartmentalizing various aspects of your life so that disjuncture in one does not bleed into disjuncture in another. For example, you say you are an honest man, but you cheat on your tax returns. Failing to connect the two means you can maintain the self-delusion that you are honest, when in fact you are a lying.

• Rationalization. Coming up with excuses to justify bad behaviour or bad conditions. for example, suggesting exploiting child labour in Bangladesh is a good thing because it brings development.

• Diversion/Distraction. Used to divert critical attention from misaligned behaviors or conditions. You may be acting badly towards your spouse, but you divert attention from your own behaviours by attempting to focus on something they did.

• Projection. Project your own bad behaviours on other persons.

• Reaction formation. Putting on display the opposite behaviours. somebody who mean to their kids at home may be the nicest person in the world to everybody else. many distractions, hobbies, favourite shows, marathon running, "I'm an asshole to my kids most of the time, but look what a good snuggler I am."

• Spiritual Bypassing

• Denial. Denial is the simple refusal to accept reality. Alcoholics deny their alcoholism; pedophiles deny the consequences of their actions; parents deny their abuse; friends deny their exploitation.

• Repression: Sheer force repression of awareness. mature defense mechanism.

• Regression. Regression is reversion to a emotional/psychological stage where an individual was not held responsible for their actions. Regression is typically deployed when the individual feels either a) too weak to confront needs to deny responsibility. One might discern between benign and malignant regression. Benign regression lowers psychological disjunction, hence it is not an ARM. Malignant regression aims at preserving the psychological status quo, therefore it is an ARM.

• Dissociation.

Notes

ARMS emerge as an attempt to reduce pain.

An individual may deploy several ARMs all at the same time.

Compartmentalization the single most common ARM. What allows tyrants to get elected.

Displacement often consider an ARM. more a consequence really. take out anger at being repressed at work on dog. express pain and anguish of toxic childhood by hurting or even torturing and killing another person.

Denial is the most common and easy to deploy ARM. It is used by the vast majority of people on this planet to avoid guilt, shame, and other disjunctive emotions.

See Also

Blocking Emotions

Further Reading

Lightning Path Workbook Two: Healing. Lightning Path Press. https://www.patreon.com/posts/lp-workbooks-and-91290808

Lightning Path Workbook Three: Connection. Lightning Path Press. https://www.patreon.com/posts/lp-workbooks-and-91290808