by michaelson/bigstockphoto
You can't touch it, see it, or smell it. But it's there all the time, the hidden instigator of numerous human ailments and miseries including obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Experts attribute obsessive-compulsive disorder to various
sources such as genetic factors and dysfunctional brain processes, as well as allergies
and other sensory problems that produce anxiety and stress. Yet a common cause
of OCD--inner passivity in the human psyche--is hardly ever mentioned. The
fingerprint of inner passivity can be found on all the common expressions of
OCD.
Readers of the posts at my website are familiar with
my descriptions of inner passivity. This inner condition was first identified
in classical psychoanalysis as an extension of the subordinate or unconscious
ego. I have shown how inner passivity is an emotional weakness that is linked
to many painful and self-defeating experiences and behaviors such as anxiety,
depression, procrastination, shame, guilt, panic attacks, and addictions. In
this post, I provide explanations that show how inner passivity is the common
link among the primary types and symptoms of OCD.
Inner passivity is a hidden glitch in human nature, and
it can plague us even when in daily life we're capable of being assertive and
effective. As one of its most striking features, inner passivity, when
experienced acutely, causes us to become emotionally entangled in a sense of
helplessness and to feel overwhelmed by the everyday challenges of life. (Read,
Lost
in the Fog of Inner Passivity .)
One of the most common forms of OCD is called
"checking." People become anxious that they've failed to lock a door, switch
off lights, or turn off the stove or toaster. Some OCD sufferers have persistent
fears of hitting pedestrians while driving. After hitting a bump on the road,
they might stop the car, and check under the car or along the road to see if
they hit someone. In such cases, people are feeling profound self-doubt (a
primary symptom of inner passivity). They can't trust themselves to know what's
real and true. A nagging inner voice of self-doubt keeps saying, "What if . . .
what if . . ." OCD sufferers are failing to access their sense of inner
authority, that confident part of us, our authentic self, that can take charge
and can tolerate uncertainty (one of life's inevitable challenges) without
feeling overwhelmed by it.
The nagging voice of self-doubt is also the voice of
inner passivity. Unresolved inner passivity, like our inner critic, is
determined to make itself felt and heard, if only unconsciously. The weaker we
are emotionally, the more we can let inner voices that are expressions of inner
chaos and conflict, determine the manner in which we perceive reality. (Read, The
Futile Dialogue in Our Head .) As well, OCD sufferers are frequently
haunted by persistent, intense thoughts, feelings, impulses, and images, and
find themselves unable to moderate such inner experiences. They feel
overwhelmed by these intense thoughts and impulses, which is another painful
way in which their inner passivity is experienced.
People with OCD sometimes live in acute fear of the
self-condemnation they'll experience should they do something wrong or "bad." Their
fear is that, in leaving the stove on, the house could burn down. If they leave
the door unlocked, an intruder could enter their home and cause damage or harm
others. Their fear is largely irrational because, for one thing, they take such
exhaustive precautions. Yet through their emotional imagination they experience
a sense of the inner condemnation they would absorb from their inner critic if
they were to be even marginally at fault for a consequence of such magnitude.
Unconsciously, they're unresolved with inner condemnation. Throughout each day
they absorb harsh criticism from their inner critic (superego) for minor
transgressions or alleged shortcomings. Their inner passivity allows the inner
critic to punish them in this way. Inner passivity blocks them from assuming
inner authority (being more decisive and confident), and consequently their
inner critic fills the vacuum.
The odds are remote that an OCD sufferer's alleged negligence
would cause a house fire, so their fears are irrational. Nonetheless, through
their emotional imagination they can feel
a sense of self-condemnation even though the catastrophe of a house fire,
conjured up in their imagination, has only a flimsy semblance of reality. This
prospect of self-condemnation, along with the inability to protect oneself
against it, produces acute anxiety which is a primary ingredient in
obsessive-compulsive behaviors.
Why do OCD sufferers produce these unreal worst-case
scenarios? We're all compelled to experience whatever is unresolved in our
psyche, even as we also experience forms of suffering such as anxiety and fear
in the process. Through inner passivity we absorb self-aggression and
self-condemnation. Any one of us would feel some degree of self-condemnation
for hitting a pedestrian while driving our car. OCD sufferers, in comparison, acutely
feel self-condemnation (at either a conscious or unconscious level) just
thinking about (or imagining the possibility of) hitting and killing someone.
Their obsession and fearfulness about doing so is a defense that covers up
their emotional attachment to the inner aggression of self-condemnation. The
unconscious defense reads: "I'm not looking for or anticipating
self-aggression. I don't want to feel condemned for hitting a pedestrian. Look
at how fearful I am that it could happen."
OCD sufferers are also unconsciously entangled in feelings
of being at the mercy of life. One misstep, they're prepared to feel, and life
will crush them. Through inner passivity, they're emotionally attached to this
negative impression. As a consequence, they're often attracted to the sense or
illusion of having power. They frequently believe that their ideas, thoughts,
feelings, impulses, or images have power to influence events, and that their
aggressive or horrific impulses can do harm to others. They fear, for instance,
that they will impulsively hurt others, especially children, just because they
can do so. Even though they typically don't act on these thoughts, the thoughts
become obsessive and are appraised as dangerous. These individuals now feel helpless
and powerless as they try to suppress the thoughts. They swing back and forth
between feeling power and feeling passive, mimicking the conflict in their
psyche between inner passivity and the aggression of the inner critic
(superego). Because these individuals are so entangled in inner passivity and lack
real power, they tend to produce these counterfeit impressions of power and
aggression.
People with OCD can also act aggressively against their
own body, cutting their skin or picking at it and pulling out their hair. In
these cases, they become instruments of their condemning inner critic,
attacking themselves physically in the manner in which their inner critic attacks
them emotionally, while passively mimicking the inner critic's primitive impulse
toward self-aggression.
Sufferers who wash their hands compulsively and avoid
hand contact with objects obsess about contamination. Unconsciously, they're
entertaining feelings of being overwhelmed by germs and rendered helpless
against some imagined contagion. Others experience intrusive sexual images and
fear of becoming a pedophile or rapist. Their inner passivity is tempting them
to embrace out-of control feelings and a lack of self-regulation. Hoarders are also
experiencing inner passivity, in their situation through indecisiveness about
discarding objects. They also experience acute inner emptiness (a symptom of
inner passivity), and use clutter to give them a sense of value or completeness.
