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Joseph Burgo’s Followers (2)
Joseph Burgo
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“You can also see splitting used by the extremely angry environmentalist who I described in the last chapter, the hostile animal rights activist who fights to protect innocent creatures or the environment with intense hatred, directed at ruthless corporate polluters or evil laboratory scientists. They may feel and often are justified in their anger; but when splitting is excessive, their worldview becomes simplistic: cartoon-like bad guys versus the pure and innocent victim. They have split off their aggressive feelings and chosen an outlet they find more acceptable, but the price they pay is a lack of genuine intimacy in their friendships, as well as in their family and romantic relationships. Sudden, unexpected surges of powerful emotion, especially when it’s hard to explain the intensity of those feelings in the moment, often indicate the breakdown of splitting as a defense mechanism.”
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“If you develop many strong enthusiasms that never seem to last – about a new hobby or career, the possibility of living in a different city or country, buying the latest iPhone – idealization may be at work, especially if the ensuing degree of disappointment is equally intense. If you often find yourself thinking something like Everything could be great if only such-and-such would happen, then you have idealized that future event.”
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“So if people would describe you as an exceptionally nice person who never gets upset or angry, that description would likely tell us something about your characteristic defense mechanisms. If you’re an assertive person who tends to dominate a situation, shouting down other people or badgering them until they agree with you – that would suggest an entirely different set of defenses. Your habitual ways of interacting with the important people in your life tell us a great deal about the defense mechanisms you typically use.”
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