Stepping Stones
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When Challenges Happen
Bingeing
Compulsive Temptation
Being 'in Control'
We like to imagine (in our Planning Layer of mind) that we are able to be in control of our own mind and even able to control our environment through our actions. Of course, this is a limited ability as our thinking is often faulty and subject to many unchecked beliefs and prejudices. However, it remains a core part of our human existence that we 'try' to control.
If we believe that we have found ourselves in a situation where we are dependent on something other than ourselves we may experience any of a range of uncomfortable emotions (irritation, frustration, boredom, anger, resentment, sadness, etc..) and our Non-Conscious Layer will then respond with a 'solution' in the form of various urges and temptations to indulge in our 'Unwanted Temptation', attempting to escape the discomfort through repeating a previous experience of true or imagined pleasure.
Our Non-Conscious Layer has an apparent solution to our discomfort that appeals to our Planning Layer as a means to at least control the discomfort even if we are not handling the original source of our reactive discomfort. This is the temptation, and we may well act on it without much thought.
However, we may catch it and work out that the proposed solution has future problems such as ill-health, reduced mental capacity, cost, etc. In this case we have the beginnings of a battle between the honest but simple urgings of the Non-Conscious Layer and the logical resistance of the Planning Layer.
The Role of Anticipation
Another way to think about this is that the automatic temptation taps into our anticipation process creating emotions that grow more intense over time.
Anticipation can start with the recognition of a possibility or opportunity, followed by a raising of curiosity and interest. Once our curiosity and interest are roused then more directed emotion starts to be generated and anticipation can turn into thirst (anticipated exhiliration), intense curiosity (lust/avarice/compulsion), apprehension (fear/terror/dread), aversion (boredom/disgust), or foreboding (doom). The feelings of anticipation become strong and range from enticing excitement (where we anticipate a reward) through to fear (we anticipate loss/pain).
With temptations, we are likely to get both types of anticipatory emotion in different situations: we want the reward promised by the temptation and fear the loss/pain/regret that we predict will come if we don't follow through with the temptation. Sneaky temptation can, I suspect, directly use the unpleasant emotions associated with anticipatory-fear (boredom/depression/anxiety) to trick our Planning Layer into seeking the reward promised as part of our old habit.
The Battle
In this situation the Planning Layer is being distracted by the temptation coming from the Non-Conscious Layer (which is trying to do its job). This makes the situation even more uncomfortable and also leads to the Non-Conscious Layer building up the power of the temptation. In addition, the Non-Conscious Layer is sufficiently subtle to be able to add thoughts of rebellion, fun, party, the right for us to break our own rules. Justifications to be tempted.
The battle between our Non-Conscious Layer (often supported by our social-seeking Cultural Layer) our and our Planning Layer grows in intensity. Our Non-Conscious Layer has just one job: to save us from discomfort through offering temptations to indulge in a potential source of pleasure. If our Non-Conscious Layer is ignored then it will try harder and increase the level of urging. Our Planning layer has to work hard to resist the temptations so that we can 'do the right thing'.
Capitulation
Our Planning Layer can be very strong in many ways but it is limited by our attention-span. In order to fight our temptations our Planning Layer must use determination and willpower. These can override the temptation but don't actually communicate with the Non-Conscious Layer that the temptation is unwanted. The Non-Conscious Layer just carries on generating the temptation because it does not understand why the Planning Layer is fighting it. Our Non-Conscious Layer is just doing its job to the best of its ability but apparently our Planning Layer is just not listening. Our Planning Layer is trying to fight against the temptation but has limited attention-span and dislikes emotional discomfort.
The common result is that our Planning Layer just gives up and we indulge in our temptation. This is capitulation that leads to our Non-Conscious Layer learning that if it just keeps on offering its solution to our discomfort then eventually it will be heard. This capitulation also trains our Planning Layer to realise that resistance of temptation is useless; might as well just give in immediately and avoid a lot of discomfort.
A Nasty Habit is Born
This repeating (and fundamentally dysfunctional) behaviour pattern leads to our unintentional building up of unhealthy habits. The habits are driven by our automatic temptations and an escalation of urges followed by our repeated choice to give in to temptation.
We might think of the stage-one temptation as a thought: "It would be good to have xxxx".
Stage-two temptation includes a promise of relief: "An xxxx will bring relief". Maybe a little dopamine will be released in the brain to make this into a positive urge.
Stage-three might be: "You deserve xxxx". This seems like a justification and is combined with another increase in urgency.
Finally we end up experiencing states of mind that we may describe as craving, obssession, compulsion, hunger, urges, and so on.
And so our habit is repeated, potentially leading to over-dosing, bingeing, over-indulgence, and general compulsion-based experiences. Our Non-Conscious Layer gets even more active and tries to reduce our discomfort to nil. Our conscious controls fail and, without external distractions, we only get 'relief' when we pass out or over-indulge.
Compulsive Bingeing
Our Non-Conscious Layer, working automatically and attempting to work for our benefit, actually produces a self-destructive compulsive bingeing.
I conjecture that this process may also be related to some degree to other compulsive disorders such as self-harming, stimming, OCD, eating disorders, and hoarding.
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