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Deleted member 66305
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When I was a child, I would sometimes have disturbing visions; I would be playing with, or talking to, a friend, and would suddenly see a "mental movie" of me punching them, or I'd be near a long drop, and picture myself jumping off. These visions were NOT accompanied by any desire to follow through -- quite the opposite, I found them very unwelcome and disturbing, and would actively take steps to avoid what I saw in them -- I'd step back from the edge, or put more space between me and the other person, or take a break from playing with them altogether.
I found these images so upsetting, my parents took me to see a child psychologist. he questioned me about them, specifically, whether I had any intent to DO what I saw in the images (no), and how they made me feel (disgusted), and what I did when I saw them (avoid the situation). He said that since I already did not want to follow through, and I did find them unwelcome and disturbing, that I would only give them power over me by allowing them to influence my behavior in any way. I remember the words he used clearly; he said that by avoiding the situation, I was giving it a "will of its own". e.g. -- By stepping back from a drop, I was giving it an assumed will to pull me over. By putting down a pair of scissors I was using because I had a vision of stabbing somebody with them, I was giving them an assumed will to compel me to do it. By giving these inanimate objects an "assumed will of their own" to make me hurt myself or others, I could end up fearful of many things I shouldn't be.
He had a name for these kinds of visions, but I can't remember what it was. He said it was not uncommon, and it was the brain's way of playing through scenarios and telling me to be cautious. Anyway, I followed his advice, and refused to allow the vision to affect my behavior in any way. The visions became rarer and rarer. I still see them every once in a while, but it no longer troubles me; I just brush them off and proceed as normal, unless it DID indeed reveal a real risk I hadn't consciously considered.
One thing I have noticed in many conversations with anti-gun types, which they sometimes admit themselves, but more often I infer from other things they say, is that they fear the gun has a will of its own, and merely having one will make them do bad things. I often wonder if they, also, experienced visions like I did, but rather than ignoring them, consistently avoided the situation, causing them to grow the belief that the situation had a will of its own.
I found these images so upsetting, my parents took me to see a child psychologist. he questioned me about them, specifically, whether I had any intent to DO what I saw in the images (no), and how they made me feel (disgusted), and what I did when I saw them (avoid the situation). He said that since I already did not want to follow through, and I did find them unwelcome and disturbing, that I would only give them power over me by allowing them to influence my behavior in any way. I remember the words he used clearly; he said that by avoiding the situation, I was giving it a "will of its own". e.g. -- By stepping back from a drop, I was giving it an assumed will to pull me over. By putting down a pair of scissors I was using because I had a vision of stabbing somebody with them, I was giving them an assumed will to compel me to do it. By giving these inanimate objects an "assumed will of their own" to make me hurt myself or others, I could end up fearful of many things I shouldn't be.
He had a name for these kinds of visions, but I can't remember what it was. He said it was not uncommon, and it was the brain's way of playing through scenarios and telling me to be cautious. Anyway, I followed his advice, and refused to allow the vision to affect my behavior in any way. The visions became rarer and rarer. I still see them every once in a while, but it no longer troubles me; I just brush them off and proceed as normal, unless it DID indeed reveal a real risk I hadn't consciously considered.
One thing I have noticed in many conversations with anti-gun types, which they sometimes admit themselves, but more often I infer from other things they say, is that they fear the gun has a will of its own, and merely having one will make them do bad things. I often wonder if they, also, experienced visions like I did, but rather than ignoring them, consistently avoided the situation, causing them to grow the belief that the situation had a will of its own.