Fainting (psychology)

Impotence or powerlessness is the feeling of helplessness and a lack of influence in relation to, for example, one's own wishes , subjectively assumed and objective necessities or the will to survive . Feelings of powerlessness can be accompanied by fear , anger, and frustration .

Clinical Psychology

In traumatic situations (e.g. accidents , violent crimes , natural disasters ), people can experience feelings of fear and helplessness or powerlessness. The result of these experiences can post traumatic stress disorder , other mental disorders , developmental disorders , psychosomatic be disturbances or physical disorders which can be treated with various therapeutic measures (see. Psychotherapy , trauma therapy ).

The consequences of feelings of powerlessness or traumatic experiences that are experienced as loss of control and stress can also be the (excessive) need for control (see also obsessive-compulsive disorder ) or power and the development of fantasies of omnipotence. This is the basis for a victim-perpetrator or violence cycle: Victims who experience feelings of fear, powerlessness and powerlessness can tend to desire power and become perpetrators (cf. rampage ).

Social psychology

According to Erich Fromm , the “bourgeois person” tends to compensate for feelings of powerlessness in various ways :

• by taking up an occupation with a position of power (cf. the state's monopoly on force )
• by acquiring a pet over whom power can be exercised
• by exercising power over the (marriage) partner or one's own children
• generally by exercising power over the weaker

Feelings of powerlessness can therefore be a cause of sadism. Not only individuals but also a society can feel powerless (cf. mass unemployment ). This can be a cause of wars or dictatorships (cf. Time of National Socialism → Adolf Hitler as dictator in the role of the Almighty, who promised people solutions to their problems (unemployment, etc.)).

See also

• Self-regulation

Web links

• Dynamism of violence. How feelings of powerlessness can turn into a power frenzy. The case of the Neukölln Rütli School. (Die Zeit, April 6, 2006)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original dated December 13, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
2. ↑ http://www.primaltherapy.ch/vortrag/vortrag_deutsch.htm
3. ↑ http://www.medpsych.uni-freiburg.de/OL/body_01_02.html
4. ↑ http://www.dalank.de/archiv/fromm.html
5. ↑ http://www.dalank.de/archiv/fromm.html

This article is about a health issue. It is not used for self-diagnosis and does not replace a diagnosis by a doctor. Please note the information on health issues !