I have a friend who seems bent on self-destruction, on taking his body apart piece by piece. He is a young man in his 20s and loves excitement. He rides motorcycles up mountainsides and occasionally, on the way down, goes a bit too fast and crashes. Things like that. Not too long ago he was involved in a 4-wheeler accident that did serious, probably permanent, damage to his shoulder. He underwent surgery on the shoulder, and the day he was released from the hospital seriously injured his knee and turned right around and went back to the hospital. He now lives in constant pain, and I expect this will persist during his lifetime.
Here is what the Psychiatric Dictionary says, in part, about this sort of thing.
Accident Proneness – “Liability or tendency toward involvement in mishaps that cause some pain or injury to the subject. It has long been recognized in industrial psychiatry that the majority of accidents occur within a comparatively small percentage of the total work force, and that that same percentage tends to be involved in multiple accidents. In many [instances] a tendency to repeated accidents appears to be an expression of deep-seated personality traits and unconscious conflicts.
The typical accident-prone person is a young male who is decisive or even impulsive; he concentrates upon immediate pleasures and satisfactions and acts on the spur of the moment. He likes excitement and adventure, eschewing planning and preparation. Often he will be found to have been reared strictly and harbors an unusual amount of resentment against authority; he is a rebel who cannot tolerate even self-discipline. At the same time he feels guilty about his rebellion, but in the unconsciously provoked accident he is able to express his resentment and to atone for his rebellion through the injury.”
28 March 1985; 0400; Flagstaff, Arizona 35N12, 111W39
I read this passage from the dictionary to him and two friends who know him well. We all had a good laugh.
Here is what the Psychiatric Dictionary says, in part, about this sort of thing.
Accident Proneness – “Liability or tendency toward involvement in mishaps that cause some pain or injury to the subject. It has long been recognized in industrial psychiatry that the majority of accidents occur within a comparatively small percentage of the total work force, and that that same percentage tends to be involved in multiple accidents. In many [instances] a tendency to repeated accidents appears to be an expression of deep-seated personality traits and unconscious conflicts.
The typical accident-prone person is a young male who is decisive or even impulsive; he concentrates upon immediate pleasures and satisfactions and acts on the spur of the moment. He likes excitement and adventure, eschewing planning and preparation. Often he will be found to have been reared strictly and harbors an unusual amount of resentment against authority; he is a rebel who cannot tolerate even self-discipline. At the same time he feels guilty about his rebellion, but in the unconsciously provoked accident he is able to express his resentment and to atone for his rebellion through the injury.”
28 March 1985; 0400; Flagstaff, Arizona 35N12, 111W39
I read this passage from the dictionary to him and two friends who know him well. We all had a good laugh.
Attachments
Last edited: