Perceiving patterns where none exist, a psychological phenomenon called pattern perception, is a mental coping mechanism used by many people to combat uncertainty when events spin their lives out of control (see our June 10 post). It’s a phenomenon that’s on the rise in these times of economic uncertainty where rising unemployment, catastrophic investment losses, mortgage foreclosures, and a host of other worrisome factors have shattered people’s faith in their ability to control their future.
That loss of control generates an extreme anxiety that can impel people to create and act on connections and associations between innocuous, unrelated events, according to research published in the journal Science. In a series of experiments conducted by Jennifer Whitson of the University of Texas-Austin McCombs School of Business and Adam Galinsky of Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, researchers found that people can trick themselves into seeing nefarious conspiracies behind government pronouncements or business announcements.
Structure and order have a calming effect on our psyches while chaos generates anxiety that can lead to panic or depression. The desire for order can become so overwhelming that people fantasize connections between events to bring order to a world that they feel has become dangerously chaotic.
“Feelings of control are so important to people that a lack of control is inherently threatening,” Galinsky explained. “While some misperceptions can be bad or lead one astray, they’re extremely common and most likely satisfy a deep and enduring psychological need.”
The danger comes when people believe in or act on the imaginary patterns they have created. Illusory stock market trends can lead to poor investment decisions and increased financial anxiety. Imagined conspiracies between co-workers can increase job stress to intolerable levels. Delusional thinking can cause marital stress and jeopardize personal relationships. Fantasized government agendas can lead to paranoia and panic.
Exerting phantom control over chaotic events in our lives through pattern perception can hide a very real need for psychiatric help in coping with anxiety, panic disorders or depression. The combination of cognitive-behavioral therapy and psychodynamic therapy practiced by Atlanta psychiatrist Dr. Tracey Marks is effective in helping people find healthy ways to cope with and mitigate the uncertainties that pervade life today without resorting to harmful pattern perception.
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