Bateson's "double bind theory of schizophrenia" 1984 psychology of torture, narcisstic abuse

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• published: 07 Apr 2012
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requirements of a Bateson "Double Bind" (or "how to drive someone crazy in 4 steps") 1. two people, one of whom is in position of authority : parent, torturer, employer -- this is an "intense" relationship in which it is "vitally important" that the victim perceive the nature of the communicaiton accurately. 2. repetition; this is not a single traumatic experience it must be "on going" 3. Primary injunction enforced with pain : "do it or I will hurt you" 4. Secondary injunction expressed verbally or via meta communication which conflicts with the first injunction directly. 5. There can be no escape, nor can the victim "call out" the victimiser for what is occurring as both escape and calling out will lead to pain. This leaves the victim torn between two conflicting commands both leading to pain... the end result is despondency and anguish. "Damned if I do, damned if I dont" Learning to misinterpret reality : a child hears "I love you" but the parents actions /demeanour (metacommunication) dont match the communicatory content. However the child cannot live without the parents love and so learns to misinterpret reality or to live in an imagined world. This creates a gap in the childs mind between reality and perceptions, depending how large a gap and how long this goes on for this can lead to mental illness in the adult. An inability to understand can alternately be diagnosed as autism or shizophrenia, sometimes both. Why/ how is this useful? 1. it challenges the mainstream medical reality tunnel of psychological disorders as being "kind of bio chemical and therefore kind of needing a bio chemical solution in the form of psychiatric drugs" and shows us very clearly that some mental illness can definitely be learned from the environment and therefore unlearned 2. its useful for clients to get an understanding of how some of their relationships have "driven them crazy" - its not your fault, you arent crazy, this is how it happens -- especially for victims of narcissists or toxic personality disorder 3. it encourages the perception of mental illness as "context specific" rather than (again) the mainstream medical reality tunnel "YOU are sick" - no, the environment is sick (see Zimbardo "lucifer effect, the cause of evil") 4. it shows the power of communication/meta communication 5. it encourages the exploration of systems thinking, concepts from zen bhuddism and Ericsons hypnotic language patterns -- the postive side of double bind 6. helps us to understand/ be wary of the enforcement of psychological techniques to fulfil political agendas and to be wary of them. If you know what is being done to you you have a better chance of avoiding its ill effects. 7. its where psychology meets politics dude: this is psychological self protection against advertising and propogandal