A feeling of disgust towards certain objects and phenomena is a natural mechanism necessary for human survival. Thanks to him, people felt on a subconscious level which things they should avoid contact with so as not to put themselves in danger. However, with the development of civilization, which formed a cult of purity, for many people, disgust began to take on a pathological character. Even a mental disorder has appeared - mysophobia, which manifests itself as an obsessive fear of infection or pollution. We tell you what excessive disgust is, where it comes from and how to deal with it.
Why do we become too squeamish?
Disgust is a feeling of hostility and disgust that arises in relation to certain objects. A disgusted person tries to avoid objects or people whose contact causes him disgust. Obvious manifestations of disgust include the desire to constantly wash your hands with soap, use antiseptics, treat surfaces and carry out thorough general cleaning every day.
Psychotherapists agree that a fastidious person who surrounds himself with individual things, on a subconscious level, strives to protect himself not so much from bacteria and microbes, but from the world around him as a whole.
Pathological fear of bacteria and disgust can arise due to many factors. The most common among them:
- childhood traumatic circumstances;
- imitative behavior;
- pressing information about infectious diseases in the media;
- obsessive popularization of antibacterial agents by marketing companies;
- a wide selection of hygiene products and cleaning products on the market today.
Cleanliness or obsessive passion for cleanliness?
Representatives of the anal vector sometimes explain their passion for cleanliness by disgust. The division into “clean and dirty” is embedded in their psyche so deeply that it manifests itself in all areas of activity. For example, judgments in the style of “my blood is my children” or the bride must be a virgin - “a pure woman” are a manifestation of exclusively anal properties.
This same property of the psyche helps real critics, experts or analysts to detect and remove that “fly in the ointment” that spoils the entire result of the work, to find an oversight by performers, an error in a large-scale project, an incorrectly inserted cog in a huge mechanism and correct it, which makes such highly qualified specialists in their field are the most valuable and sought-after employees.
In the case when a person with an anal vector loses the opportunity to realize existing properties in society (quits his job, retires, etc.), he may try to realize his psychological needs in a different way, which sometimes turns into a real passion for cleanliness.
Explaining his behavior to everyone around him and to himself by increased cleanliness, a person begins to fill all his time with cleaning, scrubbing, washing, laundry and other similar activities, polishing everything around him until it shines and forcing all household members to participate in maintaining the most severe regime of sterility.
The manifestation of such hyper-cleanliness, which affects the quality of life of both the lover of cleanliness and his family members, is evidence of growing shortages, frustrations, and a lack of implementation of the innate psychological properties of the anal vector. All this can be successfully corrected by implementing socially useful activities, while receiving much more pleasure and satisfaction than from the hundredth time rubbing the toilet or washing the curtains.
In any case, understanding the nature of your desires, conscious or not, makes it possible to receive the most complete pleasure from life - from satisfying existing psychological needs.
What kind of disgust is there?
The feeling of uncontrollable disgust can extend to a variety of objects, phenomena and even human behavior. There are two main types of disgust: physical and moral.
Physical disgust
Physical disgust can be expressed in aversion to a certain dish, drink or product. A dislike for cocoa, for example, may be associated with memories of the school cafeteria, where the smell of the drink mixed with the aromas of fried fish or onion soup.
This type of disgust can also be expressed in the fear of getting sick. Often squeamish people are characterized by mysophobia - fear of germs and dirt. This leads to panic horror not only of unsanitary, dirty premises, but also of hospitals and clinics, public transport and even shops.
Moral disgust
In this case, disgust can be caused both by dirty products and premises, and by people whose behavior does not meet cultural norms. Modern researchers consider moral disgust to be the fruit of the development of civilization and moral principles - it is precisely this that can become a weapon in the fight against illiteracy, pseudoculture and base instincts.
Disgust in sex, on the one hand, can be caused by stable moral norms: from childhood we are taught what is possible and what is not, but the unconscious enters into a struggle with ethics in an attempt to get what it wants. On the other hand, a disgusted attitude towards someone else’s body, smells and secretions can be caused by the instinct of self-preservation: experiences associated with possible microbes and pathogenic microflora are completely justified.
Disgust to the point of horror, or fear of dirt
If disgust is associated with the fear of touching something or someone dirty or foul-smelling, which is associated with the danger of contracting some disease, these are most likely manifestations of visual fears.
Disgust as fear has its psychological roots in the ancient fear of death, inherent specifically in representatives of the visual vector. If something is disgusting, has an unpleasant smell or appearance, it means that it may be a source of bacteria or toxins, it may contain parasites, which means a danger to health and life, especially considering the weak immunity of the owners of the visual vector.
The properties of the visual vector find their fulfillment in emotions, a visual person always feels the need for an emotional connection with others, he receives pleasure from communication, from the exchange of emotions, but the direction of these feelings and emotions - either to receive or to give - already depends on the level development of the visual vector.
Fear of death, fear for one's life is the most primitive emotion, directed inward, to receive. It was able to fill the properties of the visual vector only at the very beginning of the development of mankind, during the time of early people, the ancestors of modern man. Then visual observation, curiosity, special vision capable of distinguishing a predator or enemies hidden in ambush, multiplied by a strong fear of death from the teeth of these same predators, gave the viewer a unique ability to quickly and strongly become frightened, thereby warning the entire human flock in time about the threat of danger. It was this ability to be scared that saved the early viewer his life.
Time passed, humanity developed, the ability to be afraid for one’s life no longer gave the fulfillment that it had before. Temperament, or the strength of desire in the vector, increased with each new generation, the properties of the vector found their realization in art and culture, in raising children and instilling moral values, in medicine and charity.
The primitive early fear of death, fears for one’s life grew into the ability to fear for others, to have compassion, to empathize with one’s neighbor, to fear for his life and health, and therefore made the viewer able to feel a much stronger and more complete feeling than fear. This is a feeling of love and, as its highest manifestation, a feeling of sacrificial love for all people, for all of humanity, when fear FOR OTHERS becomes stronger than fear FOR YOURSELF. At such a high level of development, a representative of the visual vector does not feel the desire to fill himself with a feeling of fear in any of its manifestations; fear for him is no longer an emotion that can satisfy him.
Feelings of love and compassion satisfy the need of the visual vector for emotions many times more fully and intensely, which means that the pleasure from such satisfaction is many times greater than the weak and temporary pleasure from experiencing fear.
An emotional connection with a person, which implies GIVING, that is, sincere pity, compassion, love for those people who need help, is a kind of aerobatics, filling vector properties at the highest level, which corresponds to the temperament of a modern person and gives the highest pleasure from activities based on such feelings.
Often, as a result of erroneous upbringing, the development of the visual vector stops at the level of fear, or more precisely, at the level of receiving pleasure from the experience of fear. A break in the emotional connection with the mother, domestic scarecrows, scary books, fairy tales, films, cruel computer games and the like fix the child in a state of fear, gradually he learns to enjoy self-frightening and continues to seek the fulfillment of visual properties in a similar way. This manifests itself in an addiction to horror films, in emo or goth movements, various kinds of superstitions, signs, up to the formation of persistent phobias or attacks of panic attacks.
Disgust, as one of the variants of manifestation of the primitive feeling of fear of death, is an attempt to realize the existing visual properties at the most elementary level, and the formation of various phobias against the background of increased disgust indicates a low level of development of the visual vector.
How to get rid of disgust
To begin with, stop being ashamed of your disgust. Since childhood, you may be faced with people’s rejection of your reluctance to drink from the same bottle with them and hug on a hot summer day. However, remember that you have the right to personal space, which no one should violate, and the right to be heard. But if disgust interferes with everyday life and is caused by phantom fears, you need to start fighting the constant feeling of disgust. Here's how to do it.
Change your attitude towards the stimulus
So, if the feeling of disgust towards a person is not associated with the bad odor of his body or unkemptness, but with personal qualities, try to reconsider your attitude towards him. Analyze your relationship, highlight the advantages, remember the best traits of his character. Try to focus on the positives of your communication and the positive qualities of the person.
Face your fears
Research by foreign experts proves the theory that periodic contact with an object that causes disgust and disgust can drown out these sensations over time. Scientists recommend overcoming fears and touching and examining irritating objects. Perhaps over time the feeling of rejection will subside.
Bottom line
Disgust is inherent in all people. You just need to understand that it is not a negative quality, but simply a defense mechanism of the psyche, in which lies the conviction that a certain object or person can cause harm to an individual.
Disgust is not always bad. For example, there is no need to pick up food that has fallen on the floor, even if you are not squeamish, since in this case you can become infected with some kind of bacteria. You should also not live in a room where everything is covered with centuries-old dust or where there is old furniture. To some extent, disgust protects a person from what can worsen his health and even cause moral harm. Therefore, there is no need to get rid of it in these cases.
