Splitting
Splitting is a term I first heard while in Dialectic Behavioral Therapy, a therapy method that was created for Borderline Personality Disorder. Borderline Personality Disorder is an extremely difficult set of psychological symptoms which carry an individual through intense, visceral-emotional pain, mood swings, internal emptiness, insecurity, fear and internal splitting. Many people who suffer from addiction and trauma have it and it is extremely challenging to cope with. I have personally experienced this mental torment and have recovered from BPD with the help of the Spirit & Recovery in the 12 steps.
Splitting is a phenomenon that occurs in the mind which perpetuates fear, doubt, division, and disharmony within your being. It is the splitting of a unified consciousness into duality or double mindedness. Splitting often comes from trauma but is also found in the majority of humans.
I will provide an example of trauma to illustrate the intensity of its manifestation. “In the face of confusing or frightening caregivers, these children had been confronted with the irresolvable conflict of striving to flee from the source of fear, yet having to flee to the source of fear--the caregiver” (Sroufe 2005, as cited in Schwartz and Southern, 2017). When these events occur in childhood and continue through adulthood, a particularly challenging split begins in the psyche which distorts the development of the personality, neurobiological & psychological development, socialization, affect regulation, attachment and sexual behavior. Disordered attachments to caregivers, creates an internal splitting of how they view the caregiver between good & bad, and creates a disassociation or divide.
Splitting is a term found within the field of psychology and mental health in which the mind views something, someone, or events as all good or all bad. To split is to divide and with a divided mind we cannot have a unified heart. Looking at life through the lens of duality we categorize, polarize, label, and split ourselves, people & groups. This perpetuates mental disorders, judgments, argument, confusion, and low frequencies causing our internal state to rupture. Living in peace, health, and harmony requires that we live with a unified & whole heart, which means we must rise above duality and see the totality of life & events as all somehow working together. Good, bad, right, wrong are all judgments that come from an inability to see the big picture. I believe spirit is asking us to step back in faith and see how each part of the puzzle, however dark or different it may seem, is part of a larger masterpiece. One that takes faith, patience and unity of mind & body to see.
May you ask yourself what areas you are splitting & dividing, categorizing as right or better, and work to bring your mind & beliefs into a unified field. Notice how you feel when you begin to split and ask yourself what feels better? Having a unified heart & mind or splitting into confusion, doubt, duality, and judgement? We must realize that we can influence people by being our-self, but trying to desperately change people is a violation of their being and who they were created to be. We cannot see the big picture but if we step back into a unified field, with a higher minded perspective that each part has its role, we can allow life to unfold with grace, ease and acceptance, and with patient faith, all things will connect and become clear.
Much Love & Blessings
May the Light always Guide & Protect you
References
Schwartz, M. F., & Southern, S. (2017). Recovery from Sexual Compulsivity. Sexual Addiction & Compulsivity, 24(3), 224-240. doi:10.1080/10720162.2017.1350229