At some point in each day we are exposed to something that desensitizes us on some level. There are so many things constantly vying for our attention, our money, and our time. In order to stand apart from all the rest of the competition, the competitors have to really go all out, and most of the time, overboard to be seen and heard by us. What does all this continuous flow of over the top stimulus mean for us? We find ourselves becoming overwhelmed and desensitized.
Desensitization means a slow but steady decline in our ability to process thoughts, visual cues, and behaviors proportionate to their intensity. In other words, it starts taking more and more to catch our attention and interest. This numbness in our brains does not stay contained to only our thoughts; every aspect of our personality and spirit are often affected at the same time. Some people think of it as having a thick skin, or as a natural part of the maturation process. But there are some exceptionally unfortunate consequences for the person who allows themselves to remain at this level of disconnect.
Some level of disassociation, from the negative things or situations that we face in life, is healthy and necessary for self preservation. But when it gets to the point of spilling over into the parts of our lives that are pleasurable and starts to affect our relationships with people who are important to us, it becomes self destructive and isolating.
It may seem impossible to truly escape the barrage of damaging images and polluted information that seems to be thrust upon us during the normal course of everyday life. But just becoming aware that this is taking place, and the how it is affecting the quality of our lives, is the first step towards awakening our senses once again.
One of the first and most important steps that we can take to gain our sense of feeling back is physically, and emotionally blocking all things, that we recognize as being things that we would not have previously seen as common. News broadcasts and television shows that routinely present images that are graphic and disturbing should not be viewed anymore. Viewing disturbing images on a consistent basis sends the message to our brains that these things are not really disturbing and our ability to feel empathy decreases. Regularly exposing ourselves to pornography inhibits our sense of intimacy associated with sex, and if not stopped, can cause us to become unable to find excitement in loving stable relationships.
Getting pleasure out of life everyday is what everybody strives for, but if we allow our brains to become trained to recognize only the extreme, in any situation, as pleasurable, anything less will leave us feeling empty and unsatisfied. Our need for more stimulation will grow as our overall satisfaction with our life will diminish.
The good news is that reprogramming our thoughts is possible if we commit ourselves to doing it. Once we get back in the habit of keeping our attention trained on the things in our life that make us happy, we will start to notice that it takes much less to impress us, and everything else will just become outrageous background noise.
