It’s all in the mind… Only it isn’t!

This a useful TED talk by Dr Guy Winch.  He is a psychologist who is worth a listen.  He sensibly posits the thought that despite all the evidence that mental issues affect our physical state and health, we constantly ignore them.  Young children are schooled in the importance of looking after their bodies, but we tend to ignore psychological wounds, simply because we can’t see them. People will happily offer the ‘advice’ (especially here in the UK where we are still great believers in the ‘stiff upper lip’!) “Snap out of it!  It’s all in your head..” even though life is essentially a subjective experience in a unique self-created reality.  Imagine how daft it would seem to offer similar advice to someone who had broken their leg, “Walk it off… it is all in your leg!”

Failure, rejection and loneliness are all subjective judgments and states and they materially affect our quality of life, our health and our performance.  A little time listening to someone, taking them seriously, not trivialising their self judgements might be the best investment you can make as both a human being and a boss or co-worker.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 2nd, 2015 at 08:00 and is filed under Hints, Tips & Techniques, Personal Change. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.