SUPERSTITIOUS BELIEF:an irrational fear!
The everyday magic of superstition
Sarah speaks to experts in an attempt to understand the widespread and persistent nature of apparently irrational beliefs.
Superstitions fascinate me.There is something beguiling,folkloric and fantastical about them,mundanely
magical. They seem to whisper or speak of a time we usually hear about in everyday,India.
Yet they steadfastly remain in our culture. English poet John Clare saw superstition as a long standing tradition, left behind by ancient civilizations.
ASK THE EXPERTS,
"People start feeling that not following these superstitions may bring bad luck to them and they would get punished by some means".
- Lakshmi Iyer, psychologist.
INTERVIEW
In an interview with Trina Banerjee,
a well-known psychologist.
1.General view on superstitious beliefs:
A: Superstitious beliefs is been there forever practically in a country like India.I think there are some inherent superstitions that stay with us & are viewed as something negative because its like a rigid mindset where people are stuck to a particular way of thinking & they prefer not to change & as a psychologist I feel superstition happens because it is to protect one's insecurities about certain things.If people are less logical less practical then they,might want to rely on superstition.For ex: If someone goes to astrologer to wear certain stones thinking that no bad will happen to them,so to control fear people tend to be superstitious.
2.How does it effect our mind:
A: Superstitions can be useful because it can prevent us from having extreme anxiety about certain things like death because lets say in India there are practices like people who are called Manglik they get married to trees or animals so that the belief is if they get married to them then their future spouse will not die.
3.Encountered any patient with such beliefs:
A: Yes,a lot of individuals.They tend to undergo Obsessive Compulsive disorder.It is very difficult to treat them because belief is so strong and; its hard to challenge the thought.