The Prophecy Complex

I have written on this issue in the past, however... until now I had left this mental phenomenon unnamed. From now forward, I will label this is the Prophecy Complex. I find it rather astounding that it is such a common part of the human psyche. One that I have personally witnessed play out on a number of levels with untold numbers of individuals time and time again. I am sure that once I have taken enough time to evaluate this within myself, I will find that I have been victim to this debilitating mind-fuck as well at times. Specifically, this is the part of human nature which urges us to unconsciously act in ways that will undoubtedly bring about the circumstances we fear most. Our subconscious and often irrational behavior, typically during periods of heightened stress or fear only serves to ensure in something of a negative feedback loop that we will bring our fears and worries into reality by seeking to avoid and deny them. This is obviously to our own detriment in each and every such situation. I find it utterly fascinating. As far as defense mechanisms go, this is about the most backwards approach for the brain to use as could be conceived, but I fail to recognize or be aware of a more fitting psychological category to place it in.

I don't how many songs and films have been created on the concept of not trying to hold on to the things you love too tightly, or you will lose them. This, of course, is a more modern form of the general Buddhist principles of attachment. For our purposes here, what I am referring to more specifically is the all-too-common lack of emotional maturity which drives us to act in ways that work directly against us. For example, a man who feels some part of his body is problematic, but instead of seeing a doctor in order to diagnose and correct or mitigate the problem, he ignores it and acts as though nothing is wrong. He does this out of fear, of course. The funny thing about fear is that when you stop to consider the concept deeply, you soon realize that whether we are talking about heights, spiders, snakes, germs, the dark, or even a diagnosis of a serious health condition.... it is not actually the thing itself that we fear, but what that thing may bring or cause, which is ultimately death. Death is the root of all fears at their core. When one understands and accepts this fact along with the reality that total physical failure of the body is inevitable for us all; you realize that there is truly nothing to fear. Death will come, and there is no telling when for any of us. What we can do is learn to face our fears head on and empower ourselves to mitigate problems and risks so that whatever time each of us does have, it can be spent in the best possible health with the least possible amount of mental stress and anguish. Helping your fear of death overcome you and control how you live is the absolute epitome of the self-fulfilling prophecy, hence the name The Prophecy Complex.