Complex (psychology)

Complex (psychology) . It is used in general in psychology to indicate the integration of individual experiences or experiences in an overall or totalizing experience. The concept is used mainly in psychological schools and dynamic or analytical approaches and to a lesser extent in behavioral approaches.

Summary

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• 1 Points of view
• 2 Most common complexes
• 3 Tips to minimize or eliminate a complex
• 4 Sources

Points of view

From the point of view of cognitive psychology , the complex concept is used for associative groupings of ideas, cognitions, traces or products of mnemic processes that have been structured as foundations for processes of integration of thought and learning . In the classical field of memory psychology, the term complex was also used in a similar sense. In particular, approaches from Gestalt psychologyused the concept of «complex of ideas» (Vorstellungskomplex) in their initial definitions, regarding the psychic processes of remembering and forgetting, enunciating a working principle called «tendency to initial reproduction» according to which each fragmentary part of a complex ideas that access consciousness again (which is remembered) has the tendency to reproduce the entire complex of ideas or thoughts, completely, and to follow the ideational thread from the beginning.

In analytical psychology the concept has a much broader development and a much more specific explanatory importance. Renowned authors from the most diverse psychological schools and, as noted above, Freud himself , attribute the introduction of this concept to Carl Gustav Jung . Psychoanalysis designates the structured set of representations and impulses partially or totally unconscious and loaded with affectivity. The complexes are formed in childhood and if they are not adequately overcome they can produce disorders in the life of the subject. For psychoanalysis, the most important are the complex Edipoy the Electra complex. The term complex comes from psychoanalysis and represents a form of conduct, of behaving. For Freud, each person would have their complexes to some degree. Jung defined them as a set of ideas with a very high emotional charge that guides us in a way of being.

Definition substantially expanded in 1920 with the inclusion of the nucleus and finally completed in 1934 with the differentiation between an aspect in which the emotional predominated and another in which the meaning predominated. In his General Considerations on the Theory of Complexes (1934) he introduces the consideration that everyone knows today that one “has complexes” but is less well known than complexes have one. Every constellation of complexes leaves an altered state of consciousness palpable, a rupture of the unity of consciousness, making both will and memory difficult.. Consequently, the complex is a psychic factor whose energetic valence temporarily exceeds that of consciousness. An active complex momentarily reduces us to a state of lack of freedom, obsessive thoughts and actions .

Freud describes the classic Oedipus and Electra complex, which occurs in men and women who cannot live without their father or mother, respectively. Superiority or inferiority complexes are very popular. Usually it is indicated: “so and so has a superiority complex” or “that is a self-conscious person”.

Most common complexes

• Oedipus complex: The possession of maternal affection by the male child, this produces a situation of competition with the father.
• Electra Complex: The total award of the father’s affection by the daughter.
• Castration complex: As a consequence of the competition for the exclusiveness of the mother, the child lives the fantasy of being castrated by the father.
• Inferiority complex: Feeling of helplessness due to childhood experiences caused by a feeling of abandonment.
• Superiority complex: Compensation reaction against the inferiority complex, through a masking of its insecurity with a false envelope of superiority and hypervaluation of it.
• Target complex: some women are envious of the man’s penis and in their longings to have it they take masculine behaviors:
• Don Juan Complex: it is the man who has no satisfaction with orgasm and remains in search of new sexual experiences that can be of any kind.
• Phaeton complex: when the natural child is not accepted in his family and social circle, he has an attitude of not accepting himself, which creates an internal conflict that leads him to suffer from this complex.
• Lolita complex: when older or mature men look at young girls because women their age do not attract their attention.
• Orestes complex: when mothers are possessive with their son, he feels filial love towards his mother but at the same time is filled with hatred against his mother for the lack of independence and freedom.
• Brunhilda complex: strong and independent women in search of even a stronger or tougher man than them (it should be specified that it can be in many aspects as well as in the physical as the psychological)
• Cain complex: when one of the children feels displaced and without affection since his brother is the center of attention.
• Complex of polycrates: in situations in which an individual reaches happiness the individual feels guilty and for this reason he punishes himself by becoming ill.
• Cyrano complex: people who repress their sexual instincts and participate in the ecstasy of someone else’s sexual act
• Yocasta complex: sometimes the mother unconsciously falls in love with her child
• Zeus complex: it is the feeling of inferiority of the man in front of the woman who received the gift of gestating and giving birth to children, but at the same time the feeling of superiority for having a penis .
• Abandonment complex: when the man or woman suffer from fear of being abandoned.
• Cloister complex: the irreproachable and involuntary desire to return to the mother’s protective lap, as well as the desire to remain in isolated, safe and comfortable closed places.
• Disadvantage complexes: it is experienced by the subject who thinks he is a person who brings bad luck.
• Exhibition complex: it is the need to physically show oneself or reveal sexual secrets to others.

According to the contribution of the American psychological group, there is the Cinderella complex, Peter Pan complex, Little Red Riding Hood Complex, Ugly Duckling Complex, and Beauty and the Beast complex.

• Cinderella complex: given by the desire to be a Cinderella, with a prince who takes care of her, who gives her security and who is the economic support of the house. Look for relationships with men, who show signs that this bond will be “until death do them part”; and sometimes she is frustrated.
• Peter Pan Complex: it manifests itself when the degree of maturity of a man does not correspond to the biological age; he continues to go to quasi-adolescent nightlife and tries contacts with young people who have been with him for more than a decade, because when he meets someone his age who tries to establish certain responsibilities in the relationship he runs away immediately.
• LittleRed Riding Hood Complex : it manifests itself in women who feel an intense fear of losing affections and not being loved, so they try to constantly seek approval from their family, friends, co-workers and do so by trying too hard to serve others, assume the tasks of others.
• Ugly Duckling complex: the person who feels inferior within a family nucleus, complex of the weakest, or less intelligent, or uglier or less capable.
• Beauty and the Beast complex: the person who clings to having a relationship with someone difficult (a person who has possessive and vague jealousy) pretending that one day that person may change. She understands that love always involves sacrifice and, terrified of being abandoned, she continues to endure a relationship that enslaves her.

Tips to minimize or eliminate a complex

1. Admit the complex. This is the first step to reduce it to its minimum expression or eliminate it. No, you are not “less” than others; is that you have a complex that makes you feel inferior. Now you understand that this feeling of handicap is not a concrete reality nor does it exist outside of tusted; It’s just a thought in your head Understanding where it came from can help you. Perhaps you were criticized at a very sensitive age or you feel hurt in the past.
2. Recognize your “red flags”. He is used to that feeling of shame or inferiority, which he no longer pays attention to. But the next time you feel it, notice how it manifests itself: do you feel an emptiness in your chest, a tingling in your stomach, your face flushes, or do you just feel bad about yourself? These sensations are your “red flags” that warn you that you are thinking wrongly. The next time you experience these symptoms, stop. Take a few minutes to breathe slowly and deeply and focus. Now, more calmly, remember that you are reacting to an intangible and fleeting thought that you yourself have put in your head. Practice seeing your ideas as a huge blue sky and that thought as a small cloud that floats across and disappears. Repeat as many times as necessary.
3. Put it in perspective. If you feel self-conscious about your physical appearance, remember that it is you who gives importance to that trait or characteristic that you do not like. Don’t let yourself be reduced as a person by a superficial characteristic; a human being is much more than its “parts”. Your weight , your height , the mark or the scar are superficial characteristics that perhaps only you take into account. Make a list of all your “strengths”, and not just your physical ones. Write down the most important things: your sense of humor, your intelligence, your kindness, your compassion, your imagination … Anyway, everything that makes you a valuable and unique person. Dedicate yourself to nurturing, developing, celebrating and sharing those qualities.

• Seek the best in everyone. If you demand perfection from others in any area, you will feel “less” when you are not up to par. You know the other person beyond their physical appearance or material possessions; These are superficial and perishable. Focus on the words of Antoine De Saint Exúpery :

“Only with the heart we really see; the essential is invisible to our eyes ”.

1. Focus. Develop interests and skills. When you are interested and absorbed in doing what you love, your brain and ideas are focused on what is really important, which is to live and enjoy life to the full.
2. Surround yourself with positive people. If there are people around you who constantly make fun of you or criticize you, you have two options, ignore them or, if possible, dilute the contact as much as possible. Cultivate people who appreciate you and value you as you are; they are the ones that deserve your attention. Ignore the rest.
3. Seek help. If complexes, low self-esteem or the feeling of feeling “less” than others depress you, or make you suffer, prevent you from having satisfactory relationships or fulfilling yourself in the social or professional field, consult a psychologist or counselor. These feelings are very common and have a solution. The psychologist or counselor will help you understand the origin of your complexes so that you can put them in perspective and will help you overcome them to raise your self-esteem. With confidence and self-assurance you can enjoy the full and happy life you deserve