- The Baader - Meinhof Phenomenon -
&
How it correlates with Mental Health.
Today's post is dedicated to my dearest friend Beth Sargent. When it comes to me starting things, once I have a strong directive I am very good about getting it going. But when I have so many options I need a little direction. When my indecision comes in I always say here comes my inner Libra, which I have named Lydia. Today was no different when I was trying to agonize over what today's topic would be about. As is tradition I typically message Beth, she mused a bit and said, perhaps I ought to play around with, "positivity greeting positivity. Focusing on only the good to watch it manifest around you. Frequency illusion", was her direct quote. So here is to my Beth, let us dive into looking at the Frequency illusion, known as the Baader - Meinhof Phenomenon and how it correlates and weaves into mental heath.
I think looking at a particular modality used in clinical counseling would be a great start. Using IFS therapy as a bridge. In IFS therapy we use parts to describe various aspects of ourselves. We look at how past experiences have affected and damaged certain parts of ourselves that interfere with our healing journey and our perspective on life. IFS promotes healing by accessing these damaged/mutated inner parts and bringing them the tools and interventions needed to heal and rewire themselves. Below is a beautiful animated video about IFS that is broken down simply.
There are no bad parts of ourselves, I want us to keep that in mind as we continue on today.
The Baader - Meinhof Phenomenon also known as Frequency Illusion is the cognitive bias that when you start to notice something, or you begin to have awareness of something you notice an increase of it. It is not due to the fact that it is indeed increasing but the brain begins utilizing selective attention and confirmation bias. Selective attention is where our attention limits our brain to what it notices. Choosing only what it feels is useful.
There are studies out there that have proven we do not comprehend the total universe around us. We are limited to what our eyes allow us to see (and even that is different from individual to individual. If you ever run into my Beth, she can talk hours about the eyes). But our senses are always picking up different communications from our surroundings. Which gets stored in our subconscious. This is why I focus a lot on subconscious work in my practice. Working with what is buried in our subconscious to help rewire these parts of self. Here is our first tie with mental health. Where I want to reiterate, there are no bad parts.
So as selective attention works thus comes in confirmation bias, our brains look to support the preconceived idea/thought/experience more and more often. This reminds me of our social media algorithms. I am sure you notice that your social media is very tailored to you and your interests. I bet there are even freaky times where you haven't even spoken it outload, just was thinking about something and all of sudden on your feed something related to that thought pops up! That is exactly what is happening in the Baader - Meinhof Phenomenon. Watch the video below for a quick explanation if you are interested more.
So how can we tie mental health and the Baader - Meinhof Phenomenon together. In therapy we do so much work with helping heal and change our perspectives to various parts, experiences, of ourselves and our environment. IFS was the example I used because for me as a therapist this modality makes so much sense. I am sure with other providers they have their niche modalities that they too can correlate what we are talking about today. So our beliefs and where we put our attention feeds what we notice, what and where we put our energy too. Having this wisdom means that we gain more control over our healing, over how we heal. I love Bruce Lipton and his work, he is a biologist and has decades worth of research. Below is a video about working with the subconscious. So, if we make a conscious choice to see more positive moments, to see the positivity in tragedy, to see the opportunities that arise from chaos and pain, we begin to broaden our abundance in areas of our life.
So, are we a good witch? Or a bad witch? Those parts of ourselves that we feel are wicked, perhaps they are misunderstood? Perhaps the Wicked Witch was just trying to protect her sister, to protect her heart from anymore pain in her life. That her wickedness was the only part of her she felt kept her safe and powerful. Where as Glinda the Good Witch the opposite. Perhaps we are both witches? We can find our healing water to throw on our wicked witch, so she may rise anew. When we decide to switch our path of thinking and heal those parts of ourselves we begin seeing more of that around us in our surrounding. Thus we can in a sense control our frequency illusion. In doing so we send out that frequency and it returns to us increased.
Another aspect to consider is how this ties into the other areas of the body. When we work on healing and shifting perspectives of our mind this helps heal the body, especially the heart. In keeping our heart strong we increase what we truly love and desire. So when we have an open compassionate heart, that is ultimately what pumps and transpires outward. Our vibe always comes back to us. Have you ever noticed how a thought or feeling wants to keep beating, wants to increase, whether it is a lower vibe or a higher vibe? Let us be reminded that we do indeed have the awareness and ability to have more control over what we put out and receive.
May I invite you to reflect on your own self. Now knowing the Baader - Meinhof Phenomenon and how it can relate to our mental health practices, how do you feel you can apply this information to your own life?
Call to action:
Aristole states, "Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all", so may we in the age of Aquarius feel driven to share our truths and the wisdoms we offer. We are all Sages.
If you feel ever there is any post or information shared you resonate with, please feel free to share my content on your social media platforms. I hope to be able to share light, understanding, and new perspectives to all communities.
