Cognitive Bypassing
“Bypass” cognitivo--por Russel Wilson
Soy médico, neurocientífico y experto en ansiedad. Muchas personas con las que hablo tienen ansiedad porque están atrapadas en sus cabezas. Me gustaría introducir aquí un término que no he escuchado antes (al menos no en mi campo de la medicina y la psicología).
Yo lo llamo el "Bypass Cognitivo".
Veo a muchas personas instruir a otras para que reestructuren sus pensamientos. Se ve como una forma de evitar emociones dolorosas e incluso curar viejos traumas y ansiedades. Vivimos en una sociedad de la mente; evitamos estar en nuestros cuerpos a menos que nuestros cuerpos se sientan bien. Las emociones incómodas se explican compulsivamente o se distraen de nuestras mentes.
No hay escasez de gurús y entrenadores de autoayuda para ayudarte a "procesar" tus traumas creando nuevos procesos de pensamiento a su alrededor (el movimiento de psicología positiva es un buen ejemplo). “Simplemente piénsalo mejor y te sentirás mejor”, dicen. Si bien esto puede ayudar a corto plazo, puede ser contraproducente a largo plazo.
¿Alguna vez has tratado de pensar de manera diferente a cómo se siente tu cuerpo? Puedes hacerlo por un tiempo, pero en general, es como Sísifo empujando una roca cuesta arriba constantemente.
No hay nada de malo en usar estrategias cognitivas como parte de tu bienestar emocional. Sin embargo, cuando veo [que la gente siente] que cada emoción negativa debe reestructurarse o explicarse cognitivamente, me estremezco. Agregar compulsivamente la cognición a la emoción asegura que sus traumas nunca puedan sanar por completo. La incómoda verdad es que hay un componente de las emociones dolorosas que simplemente debe sentirse, por difícil que sea escucharlo.
Sé que esto sonará extraño de parte de un médico, pero curar un trauma tiene más que ver con abrazar el sentimiento en el cuerpo que aferrarse a los pensamientos de la mente. Los seres humanos están siendo conducidos a sus cabezas como una forma de evitar la emoción, especialmente el dolor.
El duelo es constantemente dejado de lado en nuestra sociedad. Gran parte de nuestra psicopatología se debe al dolor no resuelto por las pérdidas que hemos sufrido, especialmente en la infancia. No es tanto el dolor por la muerte de seres queridos (aunque ciertamente es una causa importante) como el dolor por el divorcio de los padres, el abuso infantil, el abandono u otras grandes pérdidas.
Hay muchos terapeutas que te ayudarán con esas pérdidas, pero ¿Cuántos te dejan sentarte sin la necesidad de agregar compulsivamente una explicación? ¿Qué pasa si no explicar compulsivamente las emociones dolorosas es un componente crítico para permitir que el espacio metabolice esa emoción? Tal vez entonces el trauma subyacente pueda resolverse y finalmente sanar.
“Eludir espiritualmente” fue un término acuñado en la década de 1980 por el maestro budista y psicoterapeuta John Welwood. Él lo explica como una "Tendencia a usar ideas y prácticas espirituales para eludir o evitar enfrentar problemas emocionales no resueltos, heridas psicológicas y tareas de desarrollo sin terminar".
La derivación cognitiva es la práctica de evitar los sentimientos desviándose hacia ideas o creencias cognitivas. El bypass cognitivo opera bajo la suposición de que cada trauma y emoción se puede arreglar cognitivamente o reestructurar la forma en que piensas. Nuevamente, no tengo ningún problema con la reestructuración cognitiva, pero ciertamente tengo un problema si cada vez que se siente una emoción, debe ser "trabajada" o manipulada cognitivamente.
Hay muchas personas (no capacitadas en trauma) que creen que pueden ayudar a otros a sanar cambiando la cognición. Y creo que esto está sucediendo cada vez más con la gran cantidad de entrenadores de vida (“coaches”) que se presentan cada año. Los entrenadores (especialmente aquellos que no están familiarizados con el trauma emocional) pueden hacer más daño que bien. “Entrenar” a las personas para que superen sus traumas y emociones incómodas es un juego peligroso.
Algunas emociones deben dejarse tranquilas y sentirse.
Claro, comprender la fuente de tu dolor y trauma es importante, pero debe haber algún tiempo para simplemente sentarte con él y sentirlo sin agregarle pensamientos de forma automática y compulsiva.
Preguntas semilla para la reflexión: ¿Cómo te relacionas con la noción de derivación cognitiva? ¿Puedes compartir una historia personal de un momento en que te sentaste con el dolor y lo metabolizaste? ¿Qué te ayuda a evitar la tentación de manipular cognitivamente la emoción?
Excerpt from here.
SEED QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION: How do you relate to the notion of cognitive bypassing? Can you share a personal story of a time you sat with grief and metabolized it? What helps you avoid the temptation of cognitively manipulating emotion?
Add Your Reflection
19 Past Reflections
On Sep 10, 2024 Harry Somaraju wrote :
This idea is very similar to what the The Buddha said. True transformation cannot happen by intellectual understanding of the concept of universality of suffering or impermanence. The knowledge has to permeate through to every single cell of the body. Similarly, experiencing raw emotions by coming to face to face with them, and even embracing them just as another emotion is the best, if not, the only way to heal trauma.
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On Apr 28, 2023 river jordan beaty wrote :
I have definitely come a long way in processing unwanted emotions and come through it stronger and more friendly with added dimension that would certainly gobsmack a life coach or psychiatrist who ask mundane questions and need to get out of theory .
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On Feb 25, 2022 Sharon-Drew Morgen wrote :
I've been developing brain change models for decades. I actually discovered the route to consciously re prioritizing current Beliefs hierarchies and developing brand new neural pathways/circuits from different entry points - so, instead of 'I need a new diet because I'm a fat cow', plug in new beliefs, new hierarchies, etc. and create wholly new circuits or lead your brain to find a different one than the one ending with a failed diet.
As a severe trauma victim myself, I am acutely aware of the necessity to 'be' with, experience feelings to integrate them! But to change a behavior (not possible to change a behavior by trying to change a behavior) wholly new circuits are needed to provide a wholly new outcome. And because a behavior is an output, and merely a belief in action, you cannot start at the (output/behavior) end if you want to make a change....but must start at the input - at the beginning, with new beliefs, new messaging, and new circuits. until i spent quite a bit of time ... [View Full Comment]
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On Feb 24, 2022 Gururaj wrote :
Let us be careful to distinguish shallow negative emotions (arising , for example, from hurt to the ego) from deep grief, trauma or a perplexity and depression arising from getting a hold on the meaning of life itself.
For the former i have found having an orientation to getting on with life and staying focussed on whatever needs to be attended - even using any bypassing approaches - is helpful.
For the latter, many of the deeper sadnesses , it seems to me, can only gradually get processed - by body , mind and emotion - usually with the help of some great truths enunciated well by adepts (not necessarily spiritual) and the company of fellow travellers.... Patience and perseverance is needed . Hopefully we shall be graced not to breakdown badly meanwhile
For the former i have found having an orientation to getting on with life and staying focussed on whatever needs to be attended - even using any bypassing approaches - is helpful.
For the latter, many of the deeper sadnesses , it seems to me, can only gradually get processed - by body , mind and emotion - usually with the help of some great truths enunciated well by adepts (not necessarily spiritual) and the company of fellow travellers.... Patience and perseverance is needed . Hopefully we shall be graced not to breakdown badly meanwhile
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On Feb 23, 2022 Will wrote :
I am a trauma informed psychologist and I totally agree with everything you said. Unfortunately many of my colleagues are cognitive therapists who don't understand the problem they create with trauma victims in recovery who are already oriented to wanting not to feel their emotions. Emotions are still viewed by many professionals as signs of mental weakness and even illness.
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On Feb 22, 2022 SamatÄ wrote :
Wow...powerful reminder here for me. I have spent some time practicing but recently the simplicity of just being ok with feeling what was present became a huge factor of remembrance to me. As if, and likely so, I had forgotten yet again and tried to make my practice needlessly complicated. Thank you for this.
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On Feb 22, 2022 Stefanie E wrote :
The way I understand this is that bypassing happens when we use some parts of our experience - the one we are more comfortable with or more familiar with - to disregard or not deal with the parts that are hard. We do get lost in our minds, and thinking that this is the only truth, can run away from the discomfort. I think "Cognitive bypass" is an important term and observation, and I think it should be discussed together with emotional bypassing or spiritual bypassing - and maybe even physical bypassing (by exercising to make ourselves feel better). Every one of these facets of our wholeness can be used to divert attention from facing life fully - from experiencing life fully. Many people get lost entirely in overwhelming emotions, losing the ability to engage and make cognitive sense. Others will never rest for long enough to feel or notice their thinking. So where is the approach that will include all of it, and refrain from excluding? We even exclude 'the head' from 'the body' while... [View Full Comment]
1 reply: Me | Post Your Reply
On Feb 22, 2022 Patrick wrote :
When we discover the truth that the fullness of life in this world is holding great suffering in and with Greater LOVE, we are on our way to abundance and healing of ourselves, and others too. }:- a.m.
anonemoose monk— a “wounded healer†to quote Henri Nouwen
anonemoose monk— a “wounded healer†to quote Henri Nouwen
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On Feb 22, 2022 Sanjana Raghunath wrote :
Cognitive bypassing is normalized culture sadly. We have even picked up the dangerous habit of medicating to make the pain go away. And I have been guilty of compulsively making up explanations to avoid the most difficult of the pain so that I may be functional. But that has changed with the practice of tantra/yoga for me. Where there was a wish for escape, now is a welcoming. And I sit with the emotions and show myself love/support while the body processes the emotion.
I have a traumatic response to anger so it has been a force that has been ignored in my life. When I felt anger, I felt like a vile person and it never got to express itself productively. As you can imagine, this leads to dis-ease in the body and disastrous outbursts. More recently, I have been allowing anger an avenue to express itself (in conversation and bodily movement) while I learn to listen with a loving centeredness to its message without judging myself for it. And suddenly, one day, a magical thing happened. ... [View Full Comment]
2 replies: Me, Maria | Post Your Reply
On Feb 22, 2022 Suzanne wrote :
As a retired somatic psychotherapist, I agree wholeheartedly with Dr. Wilson. The entrance to befriending our body's experience is learning to pause with a breath that gives us space to notice what is there. It's akin to hearing a knock on the door and taking the time to open it. We need to learn to greet the feeling with some friendliness and that is an important skill along the path of healing. We need guides along the way to help us recognize what's at the door and how to greet and feel fully so that what visits us also passes through. Thanks Dr. Wilson.
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On Feb 22, 2022 stream wrote :
Experiencing grief has been the door for me toward every day being the best day of my life after years of depression. It took a long time for me to discover that anger, frustration, addictions to sex and constant activity were ways to avoid grief. I always felt better once I allowed myself to have a real good crying, sobbing session and take time to be stilling on the earth, sand, water and fully breathe.
I have incorporated Reichian/ bio-energetic exercises into my work as a wholistic physical therapist. Stillness, shaking( chaotic or dynamic meditation as taught by Rajneesh), or fetal position holding as a parent unconditionally loving a child have become pathways for many of my clients to end long term "chronic" pain.
Breath work is amazingly powerful.
I have benefitted from what is called "radical forgiveness" which may appear to be a form of "cognitive bypass" with the concept of re-framing any event in my life as perfect and transforming events such as abuse, violence, suici... [View Full Comment]
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On Feb 19, 2022 David Doane wrote :
I agree with Russell Wilson that helpers (and all of us) do way too much cognitive bypassing. We do too much living in and trying to heal from our head. We need less cognition to bypass feelings, and more bypassing of cognition. Get out of your head and into your body was a message of the 60's. I've sat with grief and metabolized it, often not enough. We always metabolize grief -- the issue is whether we metabolize it healthily or not. Do I chew the grief thoroughly before swallowing, gulp it down, or avoid it? Do I ingest and metabolize grief mindfully or do it inattentively while doing other activities? What helps me avoid cognitively manipulating emotion is believing cognition makes a valuable servant and a terrible master, believing much more healing lies in feeling my feelings than in cognitive shuffling (let cognition follow feeling feelings, not precede or substitute for feeling feelings), and years of practicing paying attention to my feelings.
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On Feb 19, 2022 Jagdish P Dave wrote :
As humans we all go through painful emotions like fear, worry, anxietty, grief, anger, and sadness. Sometimes we divert our mind, avoid facing and going through painful emotins. We use a variety of strategies such as avoidnace, rationalization, suppresion, repression or denail. This may help us for a while but it will bounce back with more vigor and force. Instead of facing and working through difficult emotion we may Cognitively Bypass by detouring into cognitive ideas or beliefs.
When my wife passed away it was difficult for me to face my grief and go throuh it. It was too much for me to bear the burden of the loss of my dear one. Instead of denying my grief I embraced my grief mindfully.
It took some time for me to heal my emotional pain.
I have been practicing Mindfulness Meditation for quite some time. It has helped me to act wisely. There are four interrealated four components if Mindfulness: Focused attention, Loving Awareness, Acknoledgement and Compasssion and loving... [View Full Comment]