Hyper-competitiveness and a focus on the winning, with contempt for losers, often reflects a defense against underlying feelings of shame and inferiority.
Category: Points of Departure
The basic emotional issues that drive us, and their implications for the most common psychological problems: depression, anxiety, shame, low self-esteem, etc.
Separation and Merger
Each of us can bear differing degrees of separation and distance from our loved ones.
Basic Shame, Toxic Shame
Basic shame is the awareness, often unconscious, that we are emotionally damaged. This article discusses how the excruciating experience of being broken or damaged leads to certain defensive and avoidant behaviors to escape from it.
About Neediness
Neediness is at the core of the human experience. How much can you tolerate?
About the Author
California Clinical Psychologist License No. 12878 Joseph Burgo, Ph.D., has practiced psychotherapy for more than 30 years, holding licenses as a marriage and family therapist and clinical psychologist. He is the author of Why Do I Do That? Psychological Defense Mechanisms and the Hidden Ways They Shape Our Lives and The Narcissist You Know: Defending… Continue reading About the Author