The Heavy Toll of Emotional Trauma on Decision-Making
Deep emotional wounds have a multifaceted effect on both personal development and an individual’s emotional characteristics, directly influencing the ability to make decisions under extreme stress. First, when a person suffers wounds related to a disrupted drive for self-assertion and the loss of cherished inner values, these traumas penetrate the deepest layers of their "self." As noted in the source, traumas stemming from wounded self-esteem, ambition, and pride prove particularly agonizing and hard to heal. This can lead an individual into a chronic regression marked by neuroses and may even contribute to the onset of paranoia or schizophrenia. Such psychological strain and internal conflict can disrupt the integration of life values, thereby affecting the stability of one’s personality when complex decisions must be made.Secondly, when a person is subjected to extreme stress, their body activates instinctive defense reactions – such as dizziness, disgust, or fear – which, on one hand, help to shield them from immediate danger. However, if the stress is too intense and exceeds a manageable level, these defensive mechanisms can lead to a paralysis of physiological processes (for example, slowing of the heart rate, dilation of the pupils, lowering of blood pressure), making it virtually impossible to make an adequate decision. Thus, deep emotional wounds influence not only the internal world of a person but also their biological ability to cope with extreme situations, where every second and the right decision can be crucial.Supporting quotes:"And only in relatively rare cases do we manage to overcome, rather than simply forget, the emotional wounds arising from irreconcilable conflicts between values. For, in the end, all emotional conflicts turn out to be conflicts between one value or another. Particularly deep emotional wounds ('traumas') occur as a result of the suppression of the drive for self-affirmation, aptly termed by Adler as the 'inferiority complex' ('Minderwertigkeitkomplex'). The feeling of our own inadequacy in some aspect important to us is experienced with acute pain. For the drive for self-assertion captures deeper, more intimate layers of our soul than, say, erotic attraction. Emotional wounds stemming from unfulfilled or even wounded self-esteem, unfulfilled ambition, and wounded pride are especially agonizing and the hardest to heal. It is here that one should seek the causes of schizophrenia and paranoia." (source: link txt)"Dizziness, disgust, or fear – all these instinctive reactions protect us from danger and compel us to act prudently. Apparently, nature intended to shield us from ourselves and, for our salvation, instilled us with invincible feelings. The immediate result of trauma is an increase in the energy of the living organism, enabling it to resist an attacking enemy. But if the irritation is too strong and crosses a limit – for instance, if the enemy is overwhelmingly terrifying, against which resistance is impossible – then all systems become paralyzed. The heart, instead of working faster, slows down and may even stop; the pupil dilates; blood pressure drops; breathing halts; chemical processes are reduced to a minimum." (source: link txt)Thus, deep emotional traumas can not only distort emotional perception and internal self-esteem but also lead to physiological and psychological instability. This instability, in turn, complicates the process of decision-making in extreme stressful situations, where both instantaneous and measured responses are required.