It is very common for those who have experienced severe childhood trauma to develop emotional problems in adult life and I have already written about that fact, extensively, elsewhere on this site.
Research, in particular that connected to the Human Genome Project, now overwhelmingly supports the idea that our genes have nothing (or very little indeed) to do with whether or not we develop into emotionally healthy as individuals.
This finding, based on the best science, contradicts what ‘the average man on the street’ believes.
The Human Genome Project has compared various groups of individuals with mental health problems to those who are mentally healthy and have found that they differ genetically by, at the very most, 5-10%.
This, of course, means that we must look for an explanation as to why some people become emotionally unhealthy and some do not elsewhere ; this is because it follows from the statistic given in the paragraph above (and you don’t need to be a genius level mathematician to deduce this) that :
90-95% (or more) of the causes of mental illness/emotional unhealthiness, on average, are NOT genetic.
(This is based on an analysis of the contribution of genes to a variety of mental illnesses, including extremely serious ones such as schizophrenia)
EMOTIONAL HEALTH PROFOUNDLY CONNECTED WITH LIFE EXPERIENCES :
We can, therefore, conclude from the above that it is almost entirely our life experiences which determine our emotional health (ie. it is nature, not nurture, which is important. Or, to put it another way, it is our environment, not our genes, that leads to whether or not we develop into emotionally healthy people).
THE FOUR MAIN IMPORTANT LIFE EXPERIENCES WHICH LEAD TO EMOTIONAL HEALTH.
The psychologist James, a leading expert in this area, suggests the 4 vital life experiences (either individually or in combination with one another) that can lead us to develop into an emotionally healthy person are as follows :
1) Being loved, shown affection and properly cared for when we are a baby, toddler and child.
2) Being given strong emotional support during childhood (particularly from parents) at times of difficulty (eg soothed when anxious, made to feel safe when frightened)
3) A dramatic event in adult life which causes the person to re-evaluate what they should do with their life and how they should live it in the most fulfilling and rewarding way as well as causing the person to appreciate and value life in a deeper and more profound way than s/he did prior to the dramatic event having taken place (e.g. surviving a life-threatening illness)
4) A deeply meaningful therapeutic or spiritual experience e.g.mindfulness training, psychoanalysis, converting to Buddhism etc).
MP3 Resources :
To read about an area of psychology called ‘EMOTIONALLY INTELLIGENCE’ and gain access to MP3s relating to this CLICK HERE.
For a MINDFULNESS TRAINING MP3 CLICK HERE.
Other Resources :
Above ebook now available on Amazon for immediate download. $4.99. CLICK HERE. (Other titles also available).
David Hosier BSc Hons; MSc; PGDE(FAHE).
