Konjekturales Denken

Child - Ego, Diffusion I

"Whatever"
"It looks like Germany might leave the Eurozone!" "Whatever", comes the reply from the eyeballs glued to the video screen, dressed in black, and gripping a controller. "I'll have to stay a little later at work today, so you will have to make your own supper." "Whatever", comes the monotone response.

Why the lack of interest in events both monumental and mundane? Transactional Analysis would say the individual is experiencing a state of diffusion. In the growth towards consolidation of an Adult Ego structure and the development of a sense of self, adolescents and teenagers will often experience identity diffusion. This occurs when an identity or sense of self has not been established, nor is being actively sought.

The source of such ambivalence may come from a sense that the task of identity development is too daunting. Diffusion is characterized by lack of commitment to larger life issues of values, ideology, relationships, and character, and a corresponding lack of concern for such issues. Those in a state of identity diffusion have difficulty making decisions in major life categories like work, career, education, relationships, and major. Often they display little interest in these significant life issues.

A prolonged state of identity diffusion can inhibit or contaminate the healthy development of an Adult Ego structure. Contamination of the Adult Ego state occurs when the messages or responses of either the Parent Ego or Child Ego state become a source of impurification or disturbance for the Adult Ego.

For example, a child may have grown up with a parent who had an irrational fear of water. The child was constantly warned in fearful and anxious tones about getting too close to the edge of the pond of the swimming pool. The parent fretted to the point of obsession about wearing a life jacket when on a boat, and the availability of lifeguards and lifeboats.

(continued)

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