I Can Haz Insight

General dictionary definition of insight: the ability to perceive/understand things clearly and/or deeply

Psychological insight: awareness of one's own feelings, attitudes, symptoms, and the motives and reasons behind one's actions

Assessment of insight is a basic part of a standard mental status exam. People diagnosed with mental illnesses can have pretty good insight (for example, many of those with mood or anxiety disorders). They know they have a disorder, and they understand that some of their behaviors are unusual, harmful, or sabotaging. People who have schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders, as well as individuals with severe personality disorders, often have relatively poor insight. They don't necessarily recognize they have a problem at all. Often they believe the problem is other people.

Sometimes, as I sit by the sidelines and watch yet another drama unfold, I think about insight.

Insight isn't an all-or-nothing thing. Many treatments focus on helping a client develop some insight into his/her problems. You can't force insight on someone. It can't be done with logical explanations or rational argument or razor-edged criticism.

Like talking to a brick wall.

The interventions designed to cultivate insight don't focus on explanation or confrontation. They focus on creating a space in which the person has the appropriate information and the sense of safety that allows him/her to recognize what's really going on.

 Lack of insight causes a lot of frustration on all sides. It's difficult to comprehend how someone can't understand something that seems obvious to most other people.

Having insight doesn't necessarily make you feel better. Ever heard of depressive realism? Sometimes reality is kind of a downer. However, if you want to function well in this world, reality is often something you just have to deal with.

Anyway, lack of insight into one's own behavior isn't always the cause of the dramaz on the internets, but sometimes, especially in cases where one person is the clear aggressor/complainant and the rest of the avatars stand around shaking their heads at the outlandishness ... I think it has a lot to do with it.

Do you think lack of insight sometimes contributes to internet blow-ups? Can you think of an example from your electronic or real life?