Posted on 06/25/2022 07:00
To protect mental health in connection with the obsession with astrology, acknowledging that your horoscope is not (or will continue to be) topic specific is key – (Credit: Montage/Pixabay/Unsplash)
For years, “horoscope” has become part of people’s routine, but opening the newspaper (or Instagram) and checking what the stars reveal for your day can become a problem.
a Mail I spoke to specialist Anna Cristina de Alensar, MA, professor and coordinator of the psychology course at Catholic University, to find out the limits of healthy belief and obsession.
The psychologist explains that the limit indicator is not the same for all people, and the assessment depends a lot on the importance that each person begins to give to the guidance that a horoscope consultation brings to life. “When a person begins to give up their autonomy, their decision-making power about what they are going to do, who they are going to deal with and what their interests are in assigning that decision-making power to their horoscope, this can start to become detrimental to personal development,” he explains.
Anna Christina explains that this dependence – which can be created using horoscope or other “divine” practices – can interfere with an individual’s ability to be independent. Among other negative effects, there is an increase in signs of anxiety in view of the expectations created regarding solutions to problems and difficulties, which will arise from a third party and not from personal ability.
“Dealing with the need to make choices and decisions is not an easy process, as it requires deciding and taking responsibility for the outcome and outcomes. The illusion that your horoscope is able to do this for us may be tempting, because after all, if the choice is not optional, then no responsibility is It will happen from him, too,” he explains.
The specialist also adds that outsourcing this decision-making process can induce symptoms of anxiety, as well as increase the experience of frustration to anticipate “magical and quick” results that have not materialized. Dealing with this frustration can be very challenging, especially because the responsibility for not exercising is no longer the individual’s but rather has become, say, an ‘star connection’, says the expert.
According to a Masters in Psychology, more dependent psychological functioning, difficulty dealing with decision-making processes or difficulty taking responsibility for poor outcomes or behaviors, can justify an excessive search for the deterministic logic of the zodiac.
“It may be easier to justify a particular character trait, such as stubbornness, introspection, ease of association with others, among others, than the mark which has been assigned to the subject since the day of his birth, considering it a condition beyond the individual’s control and ability if it were not for the individual Having control over such characteristics, how is he responsible for the behaviors that result from them? This ends up being a safe place to not think about the possibility or need for personal changes,” he says.
How do you protect mental health?
To protect mental health in connection with an obsession with astrology, the psychologist suggests recognizing that the horoscope is not a determinant of who the subject is (or will continue to be), as an immutable and irreversible personal characteristic. “In addition to reflecting on the importance of developing our independence, our capacity for choice and responsibility, and with this greater clarity, your horoscope will not be enough to determine an individual’s personal characteristics nor to predetermine their choices and decisions,” he adds.
Anna Christina reports that in the office, in some patient reports, it is possible to identify with a certain frequency the attempt to justify the failure of some romantic or personal relationship due to astral predictions. “Ideas that people with different signs cannot really work, or that working under a hierarchical boss with such a sign would be impossible, because such a group cannot be harmonious,” he says.
Such reports can be important indicators of the extent to which this resource can be used for individual protection. It might be much easier to deal with the idea that the relationship didn’t work out because the signs don’t match up or because this wasn’t the ideal time for such a relationship (given the astral conjunctions) than to evaluate this breakup from rejection. from the last. , adds the psychologist.
