When it comes to Ambivalence, it can be a symptom of mental illness but it is also something we experience in our everyday life ( I certainly do, and my wife hates it) . Where would you draw the line between normal ambivalence and pathological ambivalence? Also what is the role of attitudes (if any) towards the object? I wrote an article about attitudes a while ago. The article can be found here: Article The shift from causation to effectuation for international e...
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Dear Henrik G.S. Arvidsson,
The question you ask is quite difficult to answer because it spans from philosophy to empirical science.
Although this paper adressess the issue regarding depression, it may shed some light on you question:
Article Normal Versus Pathological Mood: Implications for Diagnosis
All the best.
Although ambivalence is a broader concept and in my opinion it is quiet normal to feel that way in daily life. Ambivalence is about having a binary concept or concept of duality and acts as in initial step towards change. Trans theoretical model of change can be used for bringing change in behavior. In some cases ambivalent feelings can cause psychological discomfort and can lead to cognitive dissociation, procrastination etc.
I hope this will help.....
Ambivalence is normatively considered "the two faces of intimacy". It is considered normative. If in a long-term relationship these emotions convert to disgust and contempt, the relationship is destroyed. See the attached articles.
Rich
Ambivalence is a kind of protective suit our mind wears to avoid getting down into emotional pitfalls. "Ambivalence can serve as a means of self-protection"- Christian Wheeler. In fact, judgement accuracy can be increased by emotional ambivalence [Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 2013;49(3):360-7].
The line of demarcation is when ambivalence becomes a hindrance like baggage, which cannot be done away with. When our ability to move forward is affected, then possibly ambivalence has gone into the pathological mode. "Chronic ambivalence results in a rigid cycling pattern where we find ourselves constantly moving from one side of the decision fence to the other. When this happens, ambivalence becomes an emotional and psychological barrier to achieving genuine happiness" -Paula Durlofsky
Dear Dr Henrick G.S. Arvidsson.
Too interesting discussion on a conflicting subject in Clinical Psychology. Ambivalence may represent controversial feelings or attitudes towards people or various issues like behavior, food, objects, etc. It occurs when it is difficult to have a clear line of demarcation between positive and negative attitudes and feelings, a state referred to as mixed attitudes or feelings , where there is a lack of certainty.
Dear Sir, Henrik G.S. Arvidsson Before anyone reaches a point where He/She has absurd thoughts of killing their spouses is the time when He/She should draw a line between normal or pathological ambivalence.
Ambivalence is a state of having simultaneous conflicting reactions, beliefs, or feelings towards some object. Stated another way, ambivalence is the experience of having an attitude towards someone or something that contains both positively and negatively valenced components. The term also refers to situations where "mixed feelings" of a more general sort are experienced, or where a person experiences uncertainty or indecisiveness.
The question is an interesting one. We need to take into consideration that the line of pathological/non-pathological is crossed when a considerable amount of distress is caused. It is normal to experience ambivalence in everday life, but it becomes pathological in certain contexts, and it could possibly depend on how the person sways between their states of belief (such as in splitting in the case of Borderline personality disorder). In fact, it is difficult to determine whether ambivalence is pathological if we only look at that criterion, I believe it depends on many factors surrounding the person's condition. In the end, it is all a question of degree.
Ambivalence remains a state no matter how we consider it: a state towards something else (object) that engages the ambivalence. It is not a state that independently evolves and thereby while evident in some cases of mental illness is not causal in that illness but the object of some other cause.
Everything is connected to mental illness, and usually little goes beyond a superficial connection. A love/hate relationship inspired by someone cared for involves other motivations-a desire for independence of the subject or fear of commitment. Such ambivalence might not be activated by another object.
Thats life, not mental illness.
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