What is a mental block?
Mental block is the disruption of one or more cognitive processes. This interruption prevents the adequate response to any situation. The person who suffers a blockage, is unable to act or perform a specific activity.
Also, uncontrollable suppression or repression of painful and unwanted thoughts or memories can occur, as well as manifesting in the inability to continue or finish an idea.
On the other hand, blocking is the transient inability of an individual to react to a certain situation or stimulus.
It generates frustration , anxiety, guilt, and shame from the inability to react proactively. The person feels powerless, for not having been able to react as he would have wanted or as others expected.
Causes of mental block
In this changing and fast-paced world, where everything flows quickly, there are many reasons why mental blocks arise. Here we mention the most common:
psychological alterations
Some pathologies, such as anxiety, panic disorder, depression , phobias and post-traumatic stress disorder, can cause a more or less intense mental block, because in these conditions emotions take control and prevent rational thinking.
For example, the mental block due to anxiety is a type of defense mechanism, which is automatically activated when our mind detects certain stimuli that disturb us, and the consciousness keeps them away.
In other words, when a person suffers a mental block due to this psychological disorder, the mind experiences some resistance to a thought or emotion that prevents them from acting, thinking and making decisions.
Repressed Emotions
Emotions affect our entire body and are trying to keep us safe at all times. By suppressing emotions (joy or sadness, for example), we confuse and hurt our body and ourPsyche in a profound way.
When we repress emotions, they affect the cognitive process and we stop thinking clearly and even, on some occasions, we are unable to respond physically, we simply become paralyzed.
In fact, we must bear in mind that paralysis is a valid response to extreme fear when it is not possible to escape from the situation.
Traumatic situations
People who manifest mental blockage may have gone through traumatic situations such as Abandonment, the unexpected loss of a loved one, physical or psychological abuse at home. In this way, traumatic events can trigger mental block states.
Although the sensations generated by a mental block are usually very unpleasant, in fact, on some occasions emotional blocks act as a defense mechanism against feelings, thoughts or emotions that we are not prepared to face, since we do not have sufficient resources to allow us to handle it.
In other cases, this blockage may be indicating to us that the way in which we are handling some aspects of our life is not the most appropriate, so it can also become an opportunity to reflect, change and improve.
Remember that it is not about hiding worries and separating emotions, but about facing them and gaining experience from it.
In this sense, some studies indicate that mental blockage “can lead to inhibition of behavior, aggressive behavior, avoidance of future situations that are similar, momentary blocks or hyperactivity, depending on whether it is an individual or another” .
Personal Insecurity
The perspective that a person has of himself is fundamental when it comes to believing himself capable of performing tasks, both daily and those that require greater performance.
The person who since childhood has felt mediocre, unresolved, inferior to others, will be more vulnerable to suffering from mental blocks. Low self-esteem , in this case, begins in the family.
The lack of appreciation of their achievements, the understanding of their mistakes and the motivation to achieve their goals by learning that they can be wrong, are fundamental aspects that, if they are absent, will contribute to manifesting mental blocks. For example,studies indicate that fear causes a mental block.
stress and frustration
In these cases, it can happen that a person’s expectations are not met and there is no proper emotional management, generating stress or frustration. This will not allow the individual to follow a line of thought, resulting in blockage.
The response to stimuli considered stressful requires a high and intense brain activity. When these situations are repeated repeatedly and intensely, the brain is literally exhausted, and the person cannot think clearly or face certain situations.
Some studies conclude that stress “is a response from the body to various situations that affect the individual and sometimes cause a mental block when developing effective solutions to a particular problem.”
high self-demand
The demand of oneself or of others, can become an enemy when the individual resolution capacity is exceeded. This demand can be specific to the person and come from the environment, be it social, work or academic.
The fear of not meeting one’s own or external expectations can cause a mental block. It is very important to know how much and when to demand from each person, so as not to cause the opposite effect of what is sought.
In the child’s learning process, it is important to take this into account, since if we demand things that exceed their capacities, we may be generating low self-esteem and a mental block in the future.
Culpability
Guilt is a feeling that causes harm. It keeps us tied to the past, to a mistake we made but still can’t get over.
In the literature, there are authors who agree in defining guilt as a painful affection that arises from the belief or sensation of having transgressed personal or social ethical norms, especially if someone has been harmed.
That is why, on many occasions, the blocks originate from a mistake that continues to determine our behavior through beliefs of the type:“I deserve nothing.”
The feeling of guilt is considered a negative emotion that is necessary for the correct adaptation to our environment. Guilt, for not allowing us to make mistakes, can feed our mental block.
Effects of mental block
Undoubtedly, the mental block has its very unpleasant effects. Here we give you the information of what they are:
Anxiety
Anxiety is a feeling of fear, dread, and restlessness. It can cause the individual to sweat, feel restless, tense, and have palpitations. It is a normal reaction to stress.
That is, when a person suffers a mental block due to anxiety, their mind experiences some resistance to a thought or emotion that prevents them from acting, thinking and developing constantly. Fear and mental block go hand in hand.
Depression
Depression is a mental disorder that is characterized by deep sadness, low mood, low self-esteem, loss of interestin everything and decreased mental functions. As there is a decrease in cognitive functions, we are on the lookout for a mental block.
In this sense, the mental block generates frustration and in turn shame for the situation of impossibility in which the person is left. He falls into a state of impotence (blockage), for not having been able to react as he would have liked.
It is a very uncomfortable sensation, in which ideas cannot be coordinated, either because they do not flow or many flow without any coordination.
Isolation
Isolation is a mechanism by which memories are divorced from feelings, as a way of tolerating facts and reality with the least possible damage. It is the result of a traumatic event for the individual.
An intolerable idea for the “I”is separated from the emotions it produces, thus it remains in the consciousness in a weakened way. For example, recounting a traumatic event experienced by the individual, with total normality, just as if talking about the weather or any other trivial matter.
In this context, the conditions for a blockage of the mind are created, through the annulment of cognitive processes such as perception. In this state, the individual creates the reality that he needs to feel good, and not the one that requires him to take action.
procrastination
Procrastination (from the Latin procrastinare : pro, forward, and crastinus , tomorrow), is the postponement or postponement, is the action or habit of delaying activities or situations that must be addressed, substituting them for other more irrelevant or pleasant situations due to fear or laziness. to face them.
This is another way in which the mind can block itself, avoiding situations of which it is afraid, due to a bad experience, or that it is not sure of the results, or of how they will evaluate it.
Low self-esteem
In this case, we are referring to a perception of ourselves that prevents us from perceiving ourselves as a valuable, talented person or simply from having a positive objective judgment regarding who we are.
This generates fear, fear, shyness prevents us in one way or another from acting in a timely manner due to the mental block that this situation generates. Literally the person is paralyzed.
When help is not sought, or we do not have the necessary tools to face this blockage, and this blockage is maintained for a long time, it can cause damage to self-esteem, since normally this situation considerably affects intellectual performance.
As the person finds it difficult to concentrate, he may have problems in different environments and in the most extreme cases may even appear difficulties reading or maintaining the thread of a speech.
In this situation, the mental block causes learning problems, since it is difficult for the person to retain new information and when it comes to someone who must develop a creative activity, the mental block becomes overwhelming, limiting the flow of ideas. and diminishes creativity.
Types of mental block
The literature indicates three types of mental block, of which we give you information below:
Emotional
Emotional blockage has, as the word indicates, an emotional origin. They happen as a cause of the burden of anxiety, a traumatic past, certain types ofpersonality characterized by inhibition, shyness, anguish, among others.
Problems at work, with the family or because of low self-esteem also lead to blockages. Emotions that are not managed correctly affect the individual’s ability to act, both physically and mentally, giving rise to mental blockages.
People whose main concern is the present emotion, the ability to think, reason and make decisions is inhibited in them. Let’s remember that the main characteristic of the mental block is the inability to act physically and mentally.
Cognitive
This type of blockade decreases confidence to find solutions to obstacles in the school or work environment, it can generate disinterest in studies.
In this case, we have the typical case of that block suffered in the academic or even work environment. These are moments when we go blank, when we don’t know what to do or how to react.
For example, when we are afraid of an oral presentation, when we introduce ourselves almost automatically we forget the speech, and we have to resort to reading the cards to support ourselves.
Environmental
This type of blockage is perhaps the least known and the culture or society to which we belong rejects us.
The lack of coexistence and integration in certain socio-cultural groups are one of the signs of this type of blockage, generating loneliness and distance with other individuals. Something similar to isolation occurs.
Likewise, it can be the non-adaptation or acceptance within a group of people. It happens a lot on sports teams. It can manifest itself in bullying. These situations generate a state of mental block in those who suffer from them, perhaps because they feel inferior to others.
How to overcome a mental block?
Fortunately, the mental block is a temporary state, and it lasts as long as we ourselves make the decision to address it, either on our own initiative or with external help. Here we present some of them:
Avoid Blame
You have to focus on the solution and not on the problem. This is a maxim for personal growth. If at any time we consider that we have not acted in good faith, and that our actions have generated consequences for third parties, the proper thing is to correct them.
It is sensible to face guilt from a proactive perspective. The improper thing would be to sit down and take care of what you did or failed to do. If the solution is to come clean, do it. That will help you jump over the wall of the mental block.
Perform relaxation exercises
When the mental block arises from a state of depression or anxiety, one of the recommendations isrelaxationand meditation. This will help you calm down and have an objective perspective of the situation that caused you that psychological disorder.
You can also ask for help from people with experience in these therapies.
Learning to control emotions
A very important achievement in the shaping of the personality of the individual, is to learn to manage emotions, whether positive or negative.
For this, there are strategies that you can learn from people and institutions specialized in the matter.
Perform the visualization technique
The visualization technique consists of creating images of appropriate situations that you want to experience and projecting them into the future. It is about creating in your mind, images in a clear and sharp way, watching you experience those desired situations and sensations.
This helps you focus your psychic energies on “what I want to do” and not on “what I don’t do”.Apply the positive language strategy , which will help you internalize your actions, to make your future with objectives.
Practice physical exercise
In the face of a mental block, one of the best strategies is to carry out an activity that allows you to divert attention from the cause that generated your block.
Many of the solutions and actions have arisen in the context of activities unrelated to the problem. Many have unexpectedly said “I already have the solution to my problem”tag. Congratulations, you have just overcome your mental block!
Do distracting activities
Watching a football game, going to the movies, watching movies at home, going camping, are activities that will momentarily take you away from your problems and your mental block. It is advisable to carry out this type of activity in a group and with positive people.
Listen to Nice Music
Music can play an important role in caring for us, not only as a distraction, but also as a therapeutic tool in stress management.
All the rhythms are not advisable to relax due to the tempo, that is, the speed with which a piece of music is played. For relaxation, music with a tempo of 60-80 beats per minute (60-80 BPM) is ideal.
This will help you calm down and encourage your mind to enter other levels of relaxation, in which you can rationally attack your limitations.
Try other methods to get things done
There are people who have a one-way vision to solve problems and if they don’t find it that way, they automatically get blocked. We must have a broad mind to give way to creativity and handle various options to solve the same problem.
Allowing ourselves to be broad in this sense, puts us at an advantage, in a favorable situation, of having other alternatives with which to address the same situation.
Make a task list
Focusing on real and measurable objectives is the direction we must take to know what we want and what we must do to achieve it.
A list of objectives is the ideal to forge our future.
See a specialist if necessary
Faced with this situation, in certain cases it is necessary to go to a specialist, in this case a therapist, not only to deal with situations that we cannot handle, but also to receive guidance on this issue.
University Professional in the area of Human Resources, Postgraduate in Occupational Health and Hygiene of the Work Environment, 14 years of experience in the area of health. Interested in topics of Psychology, Occupational Health, and General Medicine.