Mind Player Psychology

 

Before I start, I wish to share with you that I, personally, sense that Mind Players are "selves" with personalities - not "personalities" in and of themselves.  They appear to me to be completely separate entities - while at the same time part of a "whole" – ordered/arranged associatively rather than hierarchically.  I see the communication between Mind Players and the Spirit Being as non-audible "voices".  Sometimes these communications can be stressful and may not be particularly rational.

There's a video on YouTube that appears to support the theory that Mind Players are protective elements that assist one to survive this realm in which we find ourselves – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0zZmh-JFyM

In this 1990 video Oprah Winfrey is interviewing a woman who, with the assistance of Dr. Robert Phillips, Jr., Ph.D. had previously identified 92 Personalities (which could possibly be referred to as Mind Players).  Even though Dr. Phillips had apparently diagnosed her with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), he told her: ”You are ‘normal' within your frame of reference.”  I was intrigued that an individual could be “diagnosed” with an alleged “disorder”, and at the same time the individual could be told that they were “normal” – of course within his or her own personal frame of reference.

At one point Dr. Phillips makes the proposition that these Personalities are the mind’s protective measures – very similar to a statement made by Allen David Reed in my 2020 Update.  Dr. Phillips’s statement was as follows:

“It seems to be something about the brain, something about the human mind, which allows this very creative process to come in and to help defend a person – it usually is someone who is abused very, very young – so before personality is formed, and it goes on for a pretty long time.”

 

Many people who think of psychology may first have an image of Sigmund Freud.  Here is a little something about Sigmund Freud that may have something to do with Mind Players:

“Freud described the human personality as being: ‘…basically a battlefield. He is a dark-cellar in which a well-bred spinster lady (the superego) and a sex-crazed monkey (the id) are forever engaged in mortal combat, the struggle being refereed by a rather nervous bank clerk (the ego).’”
https://www.meaningfullife.com/vayeishev-psychology-today/

It appears that Freud has somewhat serendipitously named three of his basic or overreaching Mind Players!  If so, wasn’t he actually being quite rash to assume that we all have these same Mind Players?

A number of people have asked me if Mind Players had anything to do with "multiple personality disorder".  I found that most psychologists these days mainly refer to this condition as ‘Dissociation Identity Disorder” - or DID.  I’ll now respond.

Using psychology texts, I’ll first explain the meaning of "dissociation" and then "altered state of consciousness"; my own comments will be in [brackets].

“In psychology, ‘dissociation’ is any of a wide array of experiences from mild detachment from immediate surroundings to more severe detachment from physical and emotional experience. The major characteristic of all dissociative phenomena involves a detachment from reality, rather than a loss of reality as in psychosis.

[My Problem Solver instantly saw that this does not apply to Mind Players - since Mind Players, or their Spirit Being (or their vessel) are not detached from reality at all.]

“Dissociation is commonly displayed on a continuum.  In mild cases, dissociation can be regarded as a coping mechanism or defense mechanisms in seeking to master, minimize or tolerate stress – including boredom or conflict.  At the nonpathological end of the continuum, dissociation describes common events such as daydreaming while driving a vehicle. Further along the continuum are non-pathological altered states of consciousness.

[It added] “However, in the normal population, dissociative experiences that are not clinically significant are highly prevalent with 60% to 65% of the respondents indicating that they have had some dissociative experiences.”  
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dissociation_(psychology)

“The term ‘altered state of consciousness’ was introduced and defined by Ludwig in 1966.  An altered state of consciousness is any mental state induced by physiological, psychological, or pharmacological maneuvers or agents, which deviates from the normal waking state of consciousness.

“Some observable abnormal and sluggish behaviors meet the criteria for altered state of consciousness.  Altered states of consciousness can also be associated with artistic creativity or different focus levels. They also can be shared interpersonally and studied as a subject of sociological research.

“Altered states of consciousness can be assessed by observations and imaging of the brain such as computed tomography scan (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), or electroencephalography (EEG) which records the electrical brain wave activity. Imaging is most important to make a diagnosis when [a] patient’s history is unobtainable and the physical examination is not dependable.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altered_state_of_consciousness

[This is clearly a Newtonian approach since it’s looking to photograph a fixed mechanism of the brain within a limited area of a skull (assuming there is nothing to the brain except its physical mass alone) - rather than a holistic and unlimited "Quantum" approach.  Within the Quantum realm, however, my Devil’s Advocate wonders if such imaging might reveal activations of transmitters/receivers that may have connections outside the physical mass of the brain.

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Just before concluding, I'd like to add a quote from a psychologist, Tony Verner, with whom I have recently corresponded:

 

"It’s an interesting notion to reflect on isn’t it: various aspects of ourselves – ‘identities’, your mind-players, ‘selves’, ‘voices’, personalities/temperaments, ‘personae’, masks, moods, the stories we tell ourselves etc being in many ways protective.

 

"Human personality traits, it is hypothesised by psychologists, have been evolutionarily adaptive from our primate days, then modulated and elaborated by our earlier and later experiences, shaped by social and cultural influences.

 

"The DSM and its mental disorders seem predicated on the notion that sometimes our ‘players’ (in your terms) can be well-functioning and helpful to the person or not. Some people are not served well, unfortunately, by the genetic lottery, or from trauma, or extreme chronic stresses.

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"Freud developed the notions of repression and regression etc. to explain some of the related manifestations of his clients. Some of the players, he surmised, are unconscious and rule from the depths. I guess it’s helpful for someone who has DID to work with a psychiatrist or psychoanalyst to bring most of the identities to the surface. This has to be done very carefully (avoiding ‘implanting’ inappropriately from the psychiatrist’s side). Winnicott hypothesized that we have false selves (formed for protective purposes), and one of the goals of psychotherapy was to get more in touch with our real or core selves. This is about the noble life-aim of coherence or integration of our various ‘parts’….spirituality if you will?

 

"No doubt similar sorts of processes operate in us all, even the so-called ‘normals’? We are forever seeking ways to harmonise optimally our inner and outer worlds. Some people to ‘survive’ as they see it in the external world, accommodate their inner worlds too much? It’s about getting the balances right as we proceed through the various stages of our life and its vicissitudes."

I (Spirit Being speaking) think it’s safe enough to say that one’s connection to his or her Mind Players may fall within the benign or ‘not clinically significant’ category concerning the "dissociation" part of the DID definition; however, it does not meet the main criteria: “The major characteristic of all dissociative phenomena involves a detachment from reality”.  My Problem Solver, with concurrence from my Judge, concluded that: "Reality" may simply be a matter of one’s or others’ perceptions.  A diagnosis of pathology requires that the perception of "reality" is harmful to one’s self or others. I, my Spirit Being, agree with this conclusion.  The Spirit Being, and all of his or her Mind Players are in my view all very much within a benign reality at all times.   Being aware of, and working with, one’s Mind Players expands self awareness - it certainly does not reduce it.  Therefore, Mind Players do not fall within any part of the pathological aspects of the definition and have nothing to do with DID or multiple personality disorder. I’m confident that Mind Players will not be mentioned in the DSM-V as a "disorder" - but may some day be mentioned in conjunction with certain benign altered states of consciousness such as "daydreaming", "artistic creativity" or even "emotions" in general.  Disclaimer:  People engaging with the Mind Player concept who are less integrated or more disturbed could have a dissociative experience that’s connected with either a diagnosed or undiagnosed pathology.  I’m not offering medical advice; I’m simply stating my ideas that stem from my review of professional psychology writings and comments.]