Author Archives: Shervan K Shahhian, LIBERTY PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION, The Most Comprehensive Online Library Regarding Mental Health, Psychology and Parapsychology in the World.

Doctored Degree in Clinical Psychology (PSYD) (ABD) All But Dissertation, a Masters (M.A.) in Clinical Psychology, a Bachelor's Degree (B.A.) in Psychology, a Associate Degree (AA) in Liberal Arts with an emphases in Psychology, Certification in Anger Management, Certification in MRT-Moral Reconation Therapy®, Certification in Clinical Hypnotherapy, and Certification in Advanced Hypnotherapy.

Internalized Ageism could be when a person absorbs negative stereotypes:

Internalized Ageism could be when a person absorbs negative stereotypes, assumptions, or prejudices about aging and older people and then applies those beliefs to themselves.

In simple terms: society’s negative messages about aging become part of your own self-image.

Common examples

A person may think:

“I’m too old to learn something new.”
“People won’t value me because I’m older.”
“I shouldn’t try to change my appearance anymore.”
“My best years are behind me.”
“I’m becoming useless.”
“Older people aren’t attractive.”
“I shouldn’t need help, I should be able to keep up with younger people.”
“It’s normal for me to be ignored or treated as less important because of my age.”

How it can develop

Internalized ageism may be developed through repeated exposure to:

Media portraying youth as more desirable or valuable
Workplace discrimination
Family or social attitudes toward aging
Cultural emphasis on youth and physical appearance
Repeated jokes or derogatory comments about older people
Experiences of being dismissed or stereotyped because of age

Over time, these external messages may become internal beliefs and self-judgments.

Psychological effects

Internalized ageism may contribute to:

Lower self-esteem and self-worth
Shame about getting older
Anxiety about aging
Body dissatisfaction
Social withdrawal
Reduced confidence and self-efficacy
Feeling less competent or relevant
Avoiding activities because of assumptions about what is “appropriate” for one’s age
Greater vulnerability to depressive thinking

One particularly important mechanism is self-fulfilling prophecy:

if someone believes aging necessarily means cognitive or physical decline, they may stop challenging themselves, become less active, or withdraw socially, potentially reinforcing the very decline they fear.

Internalized ageism vs. ordinary awareness of aging

Being aware that aging may involve genuine physical or cognitive changes isn’t automatically ageism.

The distinction is whether someone turns a realistic limitation into a global negative judgment about their worth or potential.

“I may need more time to learn this than I used to.”, Realistic self-awareness.

“I’m too old to learn this.”, Potential internalized ageism.

A healthier alternative

The goal may not be to deny aging. It’s to develop age affirming beliefs:

“I am aging, but aging does not determine my worth, intelligence, usefulness, attractiveness, or capacity for growth.”

This may connect closely with self-compassion, self-efficacy, age acceptance, and healthy identity development across the lifespan.

Shervan K Shahhian

Brain Clarity: thinking feels clear, organized, and focused:

Brain Clarity may not be a common, nontechnical term for a state in which your thinking feels clear, organized, focused, and mentally efficient.

It may generally involve:

Clear thinking: ideas feel easier to understand and organize.
Attention and focus: you could concentrate without being easily distracted.
Good working memory: you may hold and manipulate information mentally.
Mental processing speed: information seems to be processed efficiently.
Executive functioning: planning, decision making, prioritizing, and problem solving work well.
Verbal fluency: words and thoughts come relatively easily.
Reduced mental noise: fewer intrusive, repetitive, or distracting thoughts.

Brain clarity vs. “brain fog”

They are essentially opposite experiences:

Brain clarity	Brain fog
Focused	Easily distracted
Mentally organized	Confused or disorganized
Alert	Drowsy or sluggish
Good recall	Forgetful
Efficient decision making	Difficulty making decisions
Thoughts flow easily	Thoughts feel slow or “stuck”

What may influence brain clarity?

“Please, consult with a Medical Doctor.”

Brain clarity may not be a single brain function. It emerges from several interacting systems and conditions, including sleep quality, stress regulation, attention, mood, hydration, nutrition, physical activity, medications/substances, and overall cognitive health.

Psychologically, reduced stress and emotional regulation may also make it easier for the prefrontal systems:(Please, consult with a Psychiatrist), involved in attention, working memory, and executive control to operate effectively.

A useful way to conceptualize it is:

Brain clarity: adequate alertness, sustained attention, working memory, executive control, relatively low cognitive interference.

It is important to distinguish this everyday concept from a formal clinical construct:

“Brain Clarity” may not be a DSM diagnosis? or standardized psychological symptom by itself. Research it for yourself.

Shervan K Shahhian

Relaxed Vigilance is a state in which you remain aware, without being tense:

Relaxed vigilance is a state in which you remain aware, attentive, and capable of detecting potential problems without being tense, fearful, or constantly on guard.

A useful way to think about it is:

“I am paying attention, but I don’t have to be alarmed.”

Recent mental health and clinical discussions distinguish relaxed vigilance from hypervigilance, describing it as maintaining vigilance while preserving cognitive flexibility and the ability to interact effectively.

Relaxed vigilance vs. hypervigilance

Relaxed vigilance	Hypervigilance
Calm awareness	Constant alertness
Notices what is happening	Scans continuously for danger
Flexible attention	Narrowed attention
Can relax when nothing is wrong	Has difficulty “switching off”
Responds to actual signals	May react to ambiguous signals
“I’ll deal with it if necessary.”	“Something might happen.”
Body relatively settled	Muscle tension/startle/arousal may remain elevated

The important distinction

Relaxed vigilance may not be the same as being unaware or careless.

You may be sitting in a room, for example, and remain aware of who is present, what is happening, and whether something requires your attention, without continuously monitoring everything for danger.

This is particularly relevant to anxiety and trauma related hypervigilance. Instead of trying to eliminate vigilance altogether, the goal may be to develop the ability to move between alertness and relaxation appropriately.

Interestingly, mindfulness research also uses the phrase “relaxed vigilance” to describe maintaining open, moment to moment attention while remaining relatively relaxed.

In one sentence

Relaxed vigilance: “alert without alarm.”

It is a particularly useful concept for understanding the Difference between healthy situational awareness and chronic hypervigilance.

Shervan K Shahhian

Personal Self-Rejection is the tendency to reject, disapprove of, or distance oneself from one’s own identity:

Personal Self-rejection may be the tendency to reject, disapprove of, or distance oneself from one’s own identity, needs, feelings, qualities, or imperfections.

It may be essentially an internal message of: “There is something about me that is unacceptable.”

Common forms of personal self-rejection

Rejecting your emotions: “I shouldn’t feel this way.”
Rejecting your needs: “My needs don’t matter.”
Rejecting your personality: “I don’t like the way I am.”
Rejecting your appearance: “My body isn’t acceptable.”
Rejecting your abilities: “I’m not capable enough.”
Rejecting your past: “I can’t forgive myself for what I did.”
Rejecting positive qualities: Difficulty accepting compliments or acknowledging strengths.
Rejecting vulnerability: Feeling ashamed for needing help, affection, reassurance, or support.
Conditional self-acceptance: “I’ll accept myself only when I’m successful, attractive, productive, or respected.”

Personal self-rejection vs. self-criticism

They overlap but aren’t identical:

Self-criticism:

“I made a mistake.”

Self-rejection:

“Because I made a mistake, there is something wrong with me.”

Self-criticism focuses primarily on behavior or performance. Self-rejection may become a judgment of the whole self.

Where it may come from

Personal self-rejection may develop through repeated experiences such as:

chronic criticism or humiliation
bullying or rejection
conditional love or approval
unrealistic standards
childhood invalidation
discrimination or stigma
traumatic experiences
persistent comparison with others
internalized forms of oppression
repeated experiences of failure or perceived inadequacy

Over time, external rejection may become internalized: the person begins to treat themselves the way others once treated them.

Psychological consequences

Persistent self-rejection may contribute to:

shame and self-loathing
low self-worth
excessive self-criticism
perfectionism
difficulty accepting compliments
people-pleasing
difficulty setting boundaries
social withdrawal
hopelessness
difficulty receiving love or care
an unstable or negative self-concept

A particularly important concept is self-acceptance: learning that “I can recognize my limitations, mistakes, and areas for growth without concluding that I am fundamentally unacceptable.”

In that sense, the opposite of personal self-rejection it may not be believing “Everything about me is perfect.” It is closer to “I am allowed to be a flawed human being and still have inherent worth.”

Shervan K Shahhian

Internalized Oppression (IO) is a Psychological and Social Process:

Internalized Oppression may be a psychological and social process in which a person absorbs negative stereotypes, beliefs, or attitudes about a group they belong to and begins to apply those beliefs to themselves or others in the same group.

In simple terms:

“The negative message I have heard about people like me becomes a belief I hold about myself.”

How it develops

Internalized oppression may develop when a person is repeatedly exposed to messages through family, culture, institutions, media, peers, or discrimination, that their group is inferior, defective, undesirable, or less worthy.

Over time, those messages may become part of the person’s own self-concept.

Examples

Internalized sexism: A woman believes women are naturally less capable of leadership.
Internalized racism: A person adopts negative stereotypes about their own racial or ethnic group.
Internalized ageism: An older person begins believing, “I’m too old to learn new things.”
Internalized homophobia: A person experiences shame or self-rejection because of negative societal messages about homosexuality.
Internalized classism: Someone from a disadvantaged socioeconomic background believes, “People like me aren’t meant to succeed.”

Psychological effects

Internalized oppression may contribute to:

Self-rejection
Self-loathing
Low self-esteem
Shame and guilt
Negative self-talk
Body dissatisfaction
Depressive or anxious feelings
Imposter syndrome
Perfectionism
Rejecting or distancing oneself from members of one’s own group
Feeling that one’s identity must be hidden or changed to be acceptable

Internalized oppression vs. self-loathing

They overlap, but they aren’t identical.

Self-loathing: “I dislike or hate myself.”

Internalized oppression: “I have absorbed a negative belief about my group, and I now apply that belief to myself.”

For example:

“People from my background aren’t intelligent, so there must be something wrong with me because I’m from that background.”

That illustrates how social prejudice may become personal self-rejection.

An important distinction

Internalized oppression may not be simply having low self-esteem. It specifically involves socially or culturally transmitted devaluation becoming internalized.

A useful psychological sequence is:

External prejudice, repeated exposure, internalization, negative self-belief,

self-rejection/shame:

Possible behavioral consequences

It may also be understood as one pathway through which social oppression becomes psychologically embedded within an individual’s self-concept.

Shervan K Shahhian

Internalized Sexism (IS) from the outside becomes a belief on the inside:

Internalized Sexism is when a person absorbs sexist beliefs, stereotypes, or expectations from society and begins to apply them to themselves or other people of their own gender.

In simple terms:

Sexism from the outside becomes a belief on the inside.

Unfortunate Examples

A woman believing that men are naturally better leaders than women.
A woman feeling that she must be exceptionally attractive to be worthy or valued.
A woman criticizing another woman for being “too ambitious,” or “too independent.”
A man believing that showing sadness or vulnerability makes him “weak” or “less masculine.”
Someone feeling ashamed for not conforming to traditional gender roles.
Automatically assuming that certain careers, behaviors, or personality traits are “for men” or “for women.”

How it may develop

Internalized sexism may develop through repeated exposure to:

Family and cultural expectations
Gender stereotypes
Media and advertising
Peer pressure
Workplace discrimination
Religious or social teachings
Repeated experiences of unequal treatment

Over time, these messages may become automatic assumptions about one’s own worth, abilities, appearance, or appropriate behavior.

Psychological effects

Internalized sexism may contribute to:

Low self-esteem
Self-criticism and self-rejection
Body dissatisfaction
Shame and guilt
Imposter syndrome
Restricting one’s own opportunities
Competition or hostility toward one’s own gender
Difficulty asserting boundaries
Anxiety or distress surrounding gender expectations

Internalized sexism vs. external sexism

External sexism:

“Women aren’t capable of being good leaders.”

Internalized sexism:

“Maybe I’m not capable of being a good leader because I’m a woman.”

The second statement illustrates how a social stereotype may become part of an individual’s self-concept.

Importantly, internalized sexism may not simply be a person’s “bad attitude.” It may reflect learned beliefs and social conditioning, it may be operating outside conscious awareness. Recognizing those beliefs may be an important step toward developing a more autonomous and compassionate self-concept.

Shervan K Shahhian

Enoughness is the quality or feeling of being enough:

Enoughness is the quality or feeling of being enough, that what you have, what you’ve done, or who you are is sufficient without needing to constantly prove, achieve, or accumulate more.

The word may be used more often in psychology, coaching, mindfulness, and self-development than in formal academic writing. It may refer to ideas such as:

Personal enoughness: Believing you have inherent worth, even without external validation.

Material enoughness: Feeling that you have enough possessions, money, or resources to meet your needs.

Emotional enoughness: Accepting that your efforts or contributions are sufficient, even if they’re not perfect.

For example:

She spent years chasing promotions before realizing she wanted a sense of enoughness rather than endless success.

Practicing gratitude helped him develop a feeling of enoughness with what he already had.

The concept is closely related to:

Contentment

Sufficiency

Self-acceptance

Satisfaction

It’s worth noting that “enoughness” is a real word, but it’s relatively uncommon and is considered more informal or philosophical than standard terms like sufficiency or adequacy. It has become increasingly popular in discussions about well-being, minimalism, and resilience.

Shervan K Shahhian

The Psychological Mindset (PM) Behind Minimalism:

The mental belief in minimalism may be the psychological mindset behind minimalism, it is essentially the belief that having less may create more mental space, freedom, and meaning.

The core mental beliefs of minimalism

“Less is enough.” You don’t need excessive possessions, activities, or commitments to have a fulfilling life.
Intentionality over accumulation. Choose what genuinely serves your values rather than automatically acquiring more.
External simplicity may support internal clarity. Reducing clutter and unnecessary demands may decrease distraction and cognitive overload.
Value experiences and relationships over possessions. Meaning is found more in connection, growth, purpose, and experiences than in material accumulation.
Freedom over attachment. Owning fewer things may reduce the feeling that you have to maintain, protect, organize, or work for those things.
Conscious consumption. Before acquiring something, ask: Do I really need this? Does it add meaningful value to my life?
Enoughness. Minimalism often challenges the belief that “I will be happier if I just have more.”

Psychologically, it may be viewed as a shift

From:

“More will make me happier.”

Toward:

“What I already have may be enough, and I can deliberately choose what deserves my attention.”

Minimalism is therefore not necessarily about having very few possessions. At its psychological core, it could be about reducing what is unnecessary so that attention may be directed toward what matters most.

There is also an important distinction between healthy minimalism and rigid minimalism. If minimalism becomes driven by anxiety, perfectionism, deprivation, fear of possessions, or compulsive control, it may become psychologically unhealthy rather than liberating.

Shervan K Shahhian

Psychological Defenses (PD), or Defense Mechanisms, Are Largely Automatic Mental Processes:

Psychological Defenses (PD), or defense mechanisms could be largely automatic mental processes that help a person manage anxiety, emotional pain, inner conflict, shame, or threatening thoughts and feelings.

They may not be necessarily pathological. Everyone uses them. The important question is how often?, how rigidly?, and how effectively they are used?

Possible psychological defenses

Denial: refusing to accept a painful or threatening reality.
Projection: attributing one’s own unacceptable feelings or impulses to someone else.
Rationalization: creating a seemingly logical explanation for behavior that has another underlying motivation.
Repression: keeping distressing thoughts or feelings outside conscious awareness.
Displacement: redirecting an emotion from its original target to a safer target.
Reaction formation: expressing the opposite of an unacceptable feeling or impulse.
Intellectualization: focusing on facts and analysis to distance oneself from difficult emotions.
Dissociation: experiencing a sense of detachment from one’s thoughts, feelings, memories, identity, or surroundings.
Regression: reverting to earlier patterns of behavior when overwhelmed.
Acting out: expressing emotional distress through behavior rather than words.
Splitting: seeing people or situations in extremes, such as entirely good or entirely bad.
Compensation: emphasizing strengths in one area to offset perceived weaknesses in another.

Healthy vs. less adaptive defenses

Defenses exist on a continuum.

Some may be relatively mature and adaptive:

Mature: Humor • Sublimation • Altruism • Suppression • Anticipation

Less adaptive: Rationalization • Projection • Displacement • Intellectualization

More potentially problematic when persistent:

Denial • Splitting • Acting out • Severe dissociation

For example: sublimation may transform an uncomfortable impulse into something constructive, while chronic denial may prevent someone from recognizing a serious problem.

An important distinction

A psychological defense is not necessarily conscious deception. A person may genuinely experience their interpretation as true because the defense is helping protect them from something emotionally threatening.

In clinical psychology, it may be useful to ask:

“What emotion, conflict, or vulnerability might this defense be protecting the person from?”

That question may provide more insight than simply labeling the defense.

Shervan K Shahhian

The Internal Critic (IC) is the part of your inner dialogue:

The internal critic is the part of your inner dialogue that judges, evaluates, or criticizes you, often focusing on perceived mistakes, weaknesses, failures, or shortcomings.

What does the internal critic sound like?

It may produce thoughts such as:

“I’m not good enough.”
“I should have done better.”
“Everyone else is more successful than I am.”
“I always mess things up.”
“What will people think of me?”
“I don’t deserve this.”

The internal critic may be subtle or extremely harsh.

Where does it come from?

The internal critic may develop through a combination of:

Childhood experiences: criticism, unrealistic expectations, rejection, or conditional approval
Internalized voices: absorbing critical messages from parents, teachers, peers, or authority figures

Social comparison: comparing oneself with others
Perfectionism: believing mistakes are unacceptable
Traumatic or emotionally painful experiences
Cultural and societal expectations
Repeated experiences of shame or failure

Over time, these external messages may become an internalized pattern of self-evaluation.

The internal critic isn’t always “bad”

An important distinction is between a healthy inner evaluator and a punitive inner critic.

Healthy self-correction:

“That didn’t go well. What can I learn from it?”

Punitive self-criticism:

“I failed because there’s something wrong with me.”

The first encourages learning and growth. The second may contribute to shame, low self-esteem, anxiety, depression, perfectionism, and self-rejection.

A useful psychological concept

The goal generally may not eliminate the internal critic, but to develop the ability to recognize it without automatically believing it.

For example:

Critic: “I’m a failure.” Awareness: “I’m noticing my mind is criticizing me. ”Balanced response: “I made a mistake, but that doesn’t define my worth.”

This shift, from “I am a failure” to “I’m having the thought that I am a failure”, creates psychological distance from the critical thought.

In approaches such as CBT, ACT, compassion focused therapy, and IFS, one may learn to recognize and respond differently to the internal critic may be an important part of psychological work.

Shervan K Shahhian