After reading this article you will learn about Mental Conflict:- 1. Meaning of Mental Conflict 2. Causes of Mental Conflict.
Meaning of Mental Conflict:
Mental conflict is a conflict of incompatible motives which impel a person to incompatible goals. Motives are instinctive impulses, emotions, sentiments, desires, volitions and resolves. In a well-organized and integrated personality conflict of motives is easily resolved; his motives are overcome by well-organized sentiment centring round his ideal.
But in an ill-organized personality conflict of incompatible motives cannot be easily resolved. Failure of adequate adjustment to the social environment is the cause of mental conflict.
When a conflict of motives a faced and resolved it does not produce any mental disorder. But when motives are obscure, unrecognized rationalized, or disguised they are unconsciously repressed and produce mental disorder.
Causes of Mental Conflict:
(i) Family Conflict:
The child depends upon his parents for security and affection. He not depends upon them food clothing and shelter, but also for protection and love. If his parents are cold, indifferent, and severe, and scold, and punish him too often, and do not show affection to him, he feels that he is unwanted and rejected.
If his parents do not love each other and always quarrel with each other, he feels insecure and helpless. If both his parents earn their livelihood and find little time to fondle him and show him love, he feels frustrated.
If the child feels that either parent or both are partial to a more gifted child, he feels rejected. His relations with brothers and sisters should be harmonious. The parents should see that no child is unduly harsh, aggressive and nagging.
If the parents are overprotective, the child becomes extremely dependent and cannot shift for himself. On the other hand, if they are submissive and allow the child to do whatever he wishes and satisfies all his wishes, he may be a spoilt child. The parents should protect him from bad company in the neighbourhood.
(ii) Sex Conflicts:
Adolescence is the period of storm and stress. The sexual impulse appears at this stage due to the secretion of the hormones of the sex glands or gonads and of the hormones of the pituitary gland.
The sense of guilt is attached to the sexual need by the adolescents due to the elders’ treatment of the sexual matters as secret. There are certain expressions of the sexual impulse, which are normal, and which should not unnecessarily create worry or anxiety.
The adolescents should build up their physiques and develop their minds but pursuing their intellectual activities. They should know their abilities and should not setup too high ideals which they cannot realize. The gap between their abilities and achievements is the cause of their frustration and produces mental conflict. They should tell their difficulties to their parents and teachers and act their counsels.
(iii) Cultural Conflict:
The clashes between the employers and the employees, authority and freedom, competition and cooperation, self-assertion and submission, inadequate abilities and status ideals or goals such as becoming engineers, professors, lawyers, business men and the like are the causes of mental conflict.
Clashes between the different classes, the white people and the coloured people, the local inhabitants and the refugees or the immigrants, the different linguistic, religious, and cultural groups, and the political parties are the causes of conflict.