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.

Situational Awareness, the Mindset, an explanation:

Situational Awareness Mindset is the habit of actively perceiving, understanding, and anticipating what is happening around you so you can respond effectively and safely. It is both a cognitive skill and a mental attitude that keeps a person alert to environmental cues, risks, and opportunities.

This concept is widely used in fields such as military operations, aviation, law enforcement, emergency medicine, and psychology, but it is also valuable in everyday life.

Core Components of Situational Awareness

Three levels:

1. Perception (Noticing)

Recognizing relevant elements in the environment.

Examples:

Noticing unusual behavior in a crowd
Hearing a sudden change in tone of voice
Detecting environmental hazards

This level involves attention, sensory processing, and vigilance.

2. Comprehension (Understanding)

Interpreting what the observed information means.

Example:

A person pacing and clenching fists: possible agitation or aggression
A sudden silence in a conversation: emotional tension

This stage involves pattern recognition and contextual interpretation.

3. Projection (Prediction)

Anticipating what might happen next.

Example:

Predicting a conflict may escalate
Recognizing that a driver may suddenly change lanes

This stage involves risk assessment and forecasting future states.

Psychological Features of the Situational Awareness Mindset

A person with strong situational awareness tends to demonstrate:

Mindful attention (not being cognitively distracted)
Environmental scanning
Emotional regulation
Rapid decision-making
Threat detection

It requires balancing alertness without paranoia.

Practical Example

Imagine walking into a crowded room:

Perception: You notice exits, group dynamics, and body language.
Comprehension: You sense tension between two individuals arguing.
Projection: You anticipate a possible escalation and move to a safer location.

Psychological Factors That Reduce Situational Awareness

Several cognitive states can impair awareness:

Highway Hypnosis
Cognitive overload
Emotional distress
Tunnel vision
Habitual autopilot

Situational Awareness in Psychology

From a psychological perspective, situational awareness intersects with:

Attention regulation
Threat perception
Executive functioning
Stress responses such as the Fight-or-Flight Response.

Everyday Applications

Situational awareness helps in:

Personal safety
Clinical observation (therapists noticing subtle cues)
Conflict prevention
Driving and navigation
Leadership and crisis management

In essence:
A situational awareness mindset means being mentally present, contextually aware, and prepared for possible outcomes.

Shervan K Shahhian

Spiritual & Existential Exploration, explained:

Spiritual & Existential Exploration refers to the process of deeply examining questions about meaning, purpose, identity, consciousness, and the nature of existence. It involves reflecting on both spiritual realities (transcendent or metaphysical dimensions) and existential questions (the human condition and our place in the universe).

1. Existential Exploration (Philosophical Dimension)

This focuses on fundamental questions such as:

Why do we exist?
What is the meaning of life?
What is consciousness?
What happens after death?
Do humans have free will or destiny?

2. Spiritual Exploration (Transcendent Dimension)

Spiritual exploration deals with experiences or beliefs related to:

The soul or higher self
Higher intelligence or cosmic consciousness
Mystical experiences
Life after death
Non-ordinary states of consciousness

This is often studied in fields like:

Transpersonal Psychology
Parapsychology

Practices often include:

Meditation
Mysticism
Near-death experience research
Consciousness exploration
Psi phenomena studies (remote viewing, telepathy, etc.)

3. Psychological Perspective

From a clinical or psychological viewpoint, spiritual existential exploration can involve:

Identity development
Meaning-making
Coping with mortality
Integration of mystical or anomalous experiences

It is closely related to:

Existential therapy
Logotherapy
Spiritual integration in psychotherapy

4. Common Triggers for Spiritual & Existential Exploration

People often begin this journey after:

Near-death experiences
Loss or trauma
Mystical or anomalous experiences
Deep meditation or psychedelic experiences
Scientific or philosophical curiosity about consciousness

5. Core Themes Explored

Typical themes include:

Nature of reality
Consciousness beyond the brain
Human purpose
Connection with universal intelligence
Evolution of consciousness

In advanced exploration, some individuals begin examining possibilities like:

non-local consciousness
survival of consciousness after death
contact with non-human intelligence
expanded perception abilities

These topics often appear in parapsychology and consciousness research.

In simple terms:
Spiritual & Existential Exploration is the search to understand who we really are, why we exist, and what the deeper structure of reality might be.

Shervan K Shahhian

End-of-Life Coaches, what do they do:

End-of-Life Coaches (also called death doulas or death coaches) provide non-medical, emotional, practical, and spiritual support to individuals who are dying and to their families.

They focus on helping people approach death with clarity, dignity, meaning, and reduced fear.

Here’s what they typically do:

1. Emotional & Psychological Support

Help clients process fear, regret, unfinished business, or existential anxiety
Facilitate life review and meaning-making
Support anticipatory grief (for both the dying person and loved ones)
Create space for difficult conversations

This often overlaps with existential and humanistic psychology.

2. Advance Planning & Practical Guidance

They assist with:

Advance directives
Living wills
Healthcare proxies
Funeral or memorial planning
Legacy projects (letters, recordings, ethical wills)

They don’t replace attorneys or medical professionals, they guide and organize.

3. Facilitation of Family Conversations

Mediate unresolved conflicts
Help families talk openly about death
Encourage honest emotional expression
Support reconciliation when possible

4. Vigil Support

Some remain present during the active dying phase:

Creating a calm environment
Guiding family members on what to expect physiologically
Supporting rituals or spiritual practices

5. Spiritual & Existential Exploration

They may explore:

Meaning of life and death
Personal belief systems
Religious or non-religious frameworks
Death anxiety and transcendence

What They Do NOT Do

Provide medical treatment
Give legal advice
Replace hospice or palliative care teams

They complement services like:

Hospice care (entity not allowed)

They focus on helping people approach death with clarity, dignity, meaning, and reduced fear.

Here’s what they typically do:

1. Emotional & Psychological Support

Help clients process fear, regret, unfinished business, or existential anxiety
Facilitate life review and meaning-making
Support anticipatory grief (for both the dying person and loved ones)
Create space for difficult conversations

This often overlaps with existential and humanistic psychology.

2. Advance Planning & Practical Guidance

They assist with:

Advance directives
Living wills
Healthcare proxies
Funeral or memorial planning
Legacy projects (letters, recordings, ethical wills)

They don’t replace attorneys or medical professionals, they help organize, clarify, and emotionally support these processes.

3. Facilitation of Family Conversations

Mediate unresolved conflicts
Help families talk openly about death
Encourage honest emotional expression
Support reconciliation when possible

4. Vigil Support

Some remain present during the active dying phase:

Creating a calm environment
Guiding family members on what to expect physiologically
Supporting rituals or spiritual practices
Offering grounding during intense emotional moments

5. Spiritual & Existential Exploration

They may explore:

Meaning of life and death
Personal belief systems
Religious or non-religious frameworks
Death anxiety and transcendence

What They Do NOT Do

Do NOT Provide medical treatment
Do NOT Prescribe medication
Do NOT Give legal advice
Do NOT Replace hospice or palliative care teams

They complement these services by focusing on presence, meaning-making, and emotional integration rather than clinical intervention.

Shervan K Shahhian

End of Life Doula, what is it:

An End-of-Life Doula (also called a death doula or death midwife) is a non-medical professional who provides emotional, practical, and spiritual support to individuals and families during the dying process.

They serve a role similar to a birth doula, but at the end of life rather than the beginning.

What an End-of-Life Doula Does

1. Emotional Support

Sitting vigil
Holding space for fear, grief, and meaning-making
Facilitating life review conversations
Supporting anticipatory grief in family members

2. Practical Planning

Helping clarify end-of-life wishes
Assisting with advance directives
Creating legacy projects (letters, recordings, ethical wills)
Helping plan personalized rituals

3. Spiritual/Existential Support

Exploring beliefs about death
Supporting reconciliation and forgiveness
Assisting with meaning-centered conversations

4. Family Support

Educating families about the dying process
Helping with communication
Providing grounding presence during active dying

What They Do “NOT” Do

Do “NOT” Provide medical care
Do “NOT” Administer medication
Do “NOT” Replace hospice or palliative professionals

They often work alongside hospice teams.

Relationship to Hospice & Palliative Care

Hospice care: focuses on comfort when curative treatment stops.
Palliative care: focuses on symptom relief at any stage of serious illness.

An end-of-life doula complements these services by focusing on presence, continuity, and psychosocial-spiritual aspects.

Psychological Perspective

End-of-life doulas often work with:

Existential anxiety
Identity dissolution
Attachment dynamics resurfacing
Meaning reconstruction
Narrative integration

In many ways, it’s applied existential psychology at the threshold of mortality.

Training usually includes:

Active listening skills
Vigil planning
Cultural competence
Ethics and boundaries
Grief theory

Why the Role Is Growing

Modern Western culture often medicalizes and isolates death. Doulas help:

Humanize dying
Reduce fear
Restore ritual and relational presence
Support autonomy
Shervan K Shahhian

Mentalization-Based Therapy (MBT), explained:

Mentalization-Based Therapy (MBT) is a form of psychodynamic psychotherapy that helps people better understand their own mental states and the mental states of others, such as thoughts, feelings, intentions, and motivations. This ability is called Mentalization.

Core Idea

Mentalization means being able to ask questions like:

“Why did I react that way?”
“What might the other person have been thinking or feeling?”
“Could I be misinterpreting their intention?”

MBT helps people pause and reflect on internal experiences rather than reacting impulsively.

Research later showed it might also help with:

trauma-related disorders
depression
attachment difficulties
emotional dysregulation

Key Principles of MBT

1. Improving Awareness of Mental States

Patients learn to recognize:

their own emotions and thoughts
how those affect behavior
how others may experience situations differently

2. Reducing Misinterpretations

People under emotional stress often lose the ability to mentalize, leading to:

jumping to conclusions
assuming hostile intentions
relationship conflict

MBT helps restore reflective thinking during emotional situations.

3. Attachment Focus

MBT is strongly linked to Attachment Theory.

The therapy examines how early attachment relationships affect emotional regulation and understanding of others.

What Therapy Looks Like

MBT usually involves:

Individual therapy

exploring emotions and relationship events
examining misunderstandings in interactions

Group therapy

practicing mentalizing in real-time social interactions

Therapists often ask questions like:

“What do you think was going through their mind?”
“What were you feeling at that moment?”
“Could there be another explanation?”

Goal of MBT

The main goals are to:

improve emotional regulation
strengthen self-awareness
improve relationships
reduce impulsive behavior and conflict

Why It’s Powerful

Studies show MBT might reduce:

self-harm
suicide attempts: (SEEK IMMIDIATE EMERGENCY CARE)
emotional instability
interpersonal chaos

especially in individuals with Borderline Personality Disorder.

In simple terms:
MBT might train the mind to slow down and understand minds, both your own and other people’s.

Shervan K Shahhian

Stress-Induced Dissociated Behavior, an explanation:

Stress-Induced Dissociated Behavior refers to dissociative symptoms or behaviors that emerge when a person is overwhelmed by acute or chronic stress.

What Is Dissociation?

Dissociation is a disruption in the normal integration of:

Awareness
Memory
Identity
Emotion
Perception
Body sensation

It exists on a spectrum, from mild spacing out to more severe fragmentation.

How Stress Triggers Dissociation

When stress becomes overwhelming, especially if it feels inescapable, unpredictable, or threatening, the nervous system may shift from:

“PLEASE CONSULT A NEUROLOGIST“

Fight-or-flight: sympathetic activation
to
Freeze / shutdown: parasympathetic dorsal vagal dominance

This shutdown response can produce dissociative phenomena.

From a trauma framework, dissociation is understood as a survival adaptation when active defense fails.

Common Stress-Induced Dissociative Behaviors

1. Depersonalization

Feeling detached from oneself

“I feel like I’m watching myself.”
Emotional numbness
Robotic functioning

2. Derealization

Feeling detached from surroundings

World feels unreal, foggy, dreamlike
Sensory distortions

3. Dissociative Amnesia

Memory gaps during stressful events
“I don’t remember parts of what happened.”

4. Behavioral Auto-Pilot

Functioning competently but with reduced awareness
Emotional disconnection while performing tasks

5. Identity Shifts Under Stress

Sudden personality changes
Childlike states under overwhelm
Regression patterns

Neurobiological View

“PLEASE CONSULT A NEUROLOGIST“

Under extreme stress:

Amygdala: hyperactivation
Prefrontal cortex: reduced regulation
Hippocampus: memory fragmentation
Opioid system: emotional numbing

This creates a protective analgesic state, emotional and sometimes physical. “PLEASE CONSULT A NEUROLOGIST“

Acute vs. Chronic Patterns

Acute stress dissociation

During accidents
During conflict
During panic episodes

Chronic stress dissociation

Trauma history
Attachment disruptions
Prolonged relational threat
Complex trauma patterns

Chronic forms may evolve into clinical conditions such as:

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Dissociative Identity Disorder
Depersonalization/Derealization Disorder

Why the System Does This

Dissociation is adaptive when:

The threat cannot be escaped
The person cannot fight
Emotional pain is overwhelming

It reduces subjective suffering, but long term it impairs integration and embodied presence.

Clinical Markers to Watch For

Flat affect during intense material
Sudden cognitive fog
Rapid shifts in eye focus
Voice tone change
Time distortion reports
Memory inconsistencies

Treatment Considerations

Nervous system regulation (bottom-up)
Somatic grounding
Trauma processing (carefully titrated)
Attachment repair
Strengthening executive functioning before deep trauma work

Premature trauma exposure without stabilization often increases dissociation.

Shervan K Shahhian

White Line Fever, what is it:

White Line Fever, more formally known as highway hypnosis, is a psychological driving phenomenon in which a person drives a vehicle for long distances and enters a trance-like mental state. During this state, the driver may continue driving safely but has little or no conscious memory of the last few miles traveled.

Key Characteristics

Automatic Driving
- The driver operates the car automatically (steering, braking, staying in lane).
- Actions occur with minimal conscious awareness.
Reduced Awareness
- The driver may not remember passing exits, road signs, or landmarks.
Trance-Like State
- Similar to mild dissociation or automatic behavior.
- The brain shifts from active attention to a more automatic processing mode.
Monotonous Stimulus
- Long straight roads, repetitive scenery, and the rhythmic passing of white lane lines can induce the effect.

Why It Happens (Psychological Mechanism)

Highway hypnosis occurs because of:

Monotony and sensory repetition
Fatigue or reduced alertness
Overlearned behavior (driving becomes automatic)
Low cognitive stimulation

The brain moves control from conscious attention to procedural memory systems in the basal ganglia, allowing driving skills to run on “autopilot.”

Is It Dangerous?

It can be potentially dangerous because:

Reaction time may slow.
Situational awareness decreases.
The driver may fail to notice sudden hazards.

However, it is not exactly sleep. The driver is still awake but operating with reduced conscious monitoring.

Relationship to Psychological States

Highway hypnosis is often compared to:

Dissociation
Automatic behavior
Mind wandering
Absorptive trance states

Common Signs

Missing an exit without realizing it
Not remembering the last several minutes of driving
Staring blankly at the road
Feeling like you suddenly “wake up” while driving

Prevention

Take frequent breaks (every 2 hours)
Engage in conversation or listen to stimulating audio
Avoid driving when fatigued
Change posture or adjust ventilation

In psychology, highway hypnosis is considered a form of temporary dissociative attention state, not a pathological disorder.

Shervan K Shahhian

Highway Hypnosis, what is it:

Highway hypnosis (also called “white line fever”) is a state of automatic driving in which a person operates a vehicle for a long stretch, often on a highway, and later realizes they don’t clearly remember part of the trip.

It’s not literal hypnosis. It’s a form of dissociation and automatic processing.

What Happens Neurologically?

“PLEASE CONSULT A NEUROLOGIST“

When driving becomes highly familiar and repetitive:

The brain shifts control from conscious, effortful attention (prefrontal cortex) “PLEASE CONSULT A NEUROLOGIST”
To more automatic procedural systems “PLEASE CONSULT A NEUROLOGIST“

This is similar to how we:

Type without looking at the keyboard
Walk without thinking about each step

Your brain is functioning, just on “autopilot.”

Common Signs

Missing exits or road signs
Not remembering the last several miles
Feeling “zoned out”
Arriving at your destination with little recall of the drive
Mild time distortion

Importantly:
You are still reacting to traffic cues, just with reduced conscious awareness.

Is It Dangerous?

Maybe.

While reaction time may still be intact, situational awareness decreases, especially if combined with:

Fatigue
Sleep deprivation
Monotonous scenery
Long, straight highways
Emotional preoccupation
Chronic stress

Highway hypnosis differs from microsleep, which is brief actual sleep and far more dangerous.

Psychological Perspective

From a clinical lens, highway hypnosis resembles:

Mild dissociation
Attentional narrowing
Default Mode Network dominance
Habit-loop automation

It’s essentially low-arousal cognitive drift.

In people prone to dissociation, trauma, or chronic hyperarousal, it may occur more easily.

How to Prevent It

Get adequate sleep
Change sensory input (music, podcast, open window)
Move your body (shift posture)
Take breaks every 1–2 hours
Hydrate
Engage in mild cognitive activation (e.g., narrate surroundings)

Deeper Angle

There’s an interesting overlap with:

Trance states
Meditation
Flow states
Dissociative coping mechanisms

The key difference:
Highway hypnosis is passive and low-awareness, whereas flow is active and high-awareness.

Shervan K Shahhian

Auditory Verbal Hallucinations (AVH), an explanation:

“PLEASE CONSULT a NEUROLOGIST, and/or a PSYCHIATRIST“

Auditory Verbal Hallucinations (AVH) are experiences of hearing voices or speech without an external sound source. The voices are perceived as real and distinct from one’s own internal thoughts.

They might be more common than many people assume and occur across multiple clinical and non-clinical populations.

What They Typically Involve

AVH can vary widely in form:

A single voice or multiple voices
Male, female, familiar, or unfamiliar voices
Speaking in second person (“You are worthless”)
Third person commentary (“He is failing”)
Command voices (“Do this”)
Conversational voices arguing or discussing the person

The key distinction is that the voice is experienced as external or not self-generated, even though no one is speaking.

Conditions Commonly Associated With AVH

AVH are most classically linked to:

Schizophrenia
Schizoaffective disorder
Bipolar disorder (with psychotic features)
Major depressive disorder (with psychotic features)

However, they are also found in:

Trauma-related disorders (especially complex trauma)
Dissociative disorders
Severe stress or sleep deprivation
Neurological conditions, CONSULT A NEUROLOGIST, PLEASE
Substance use or withdrawal

Importantly, some people experience voices without meeting criteria for a psychiatric disorder.

How AVH Differ From Normal Inner Speech

Inner Speech	Auditory Verbal Hallucination
Recognized as your own thoughts	Experienced as not self-generated
Under voluntary control	Often intrusive and uncontrollable
Occurs “inside” your mind	Often perceived as external or spatially located

CONSULT A NEUROLOGIST, PLEASE

Neurocognitively, one leading model suggests AVH may involve misattributed inner speech, where self-generated verbal thought is experienced as coming from outside the self.

Neurobiological Findings

CONSULT A NEUROLOGIST, PLEASE

Research shows involvement of:

Auditory cortex activation (as if real sound is present)
Language production areas
Reduced connectivity between speech production and self-monitoring systems

In other words, the brain may be producing speech internally but failing to label it as self-generated.

Trauma and Dissociation Connection

In trauma populations, voices often:

Reflect internalized abusers
Represent dissociated self-states
Contain shame-based or protective content

From a structural dissociation perspective, some voices may function as parts of the personality, rather than psychotic phenomena per se.

Clinical Questions That Matter

Frequency and duration
Emotional tone (hostile, neutral, supportive)
Command content (especially harmful commands)
Level of distress
Insight (does the person question the reality of the voice?)
Functional impairment

Distress and loss of control are often more clinically significant than the mere presence of voices.

Treatment Approaches

Depending on etiology:

medication: CONSULT A PSYCHIATRIST
Trauma-focused therapy
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Psychosis (CBTp)
Voice dialogue approaches
Grounding and self-monitoring training

Increasingly, treatment focuses not on “eliminating” voices, but on changing the person’s relationship to them.

Shervan K Shahhian

Self-Defeating Prophecy vs Self-Sabotage:

Is a self-defeating prophecy same as self-sabotage?

They are related but not exactly the same. A self-defeating prophecy is a specific psychological mechanism that can lead to self-sabotage, but self-sabotage is the broader concept.

1. Self-Defeating Prophecy

A self-defeating prophecy happens when a belief or expectation about failure causes behaviors that make the failure actually occur.

Process:

A person believes something negative will happen.
That belief changes their behavior (often unconsciously).
The behavior contributes to the negative outcome.
The outcome seems to “confirm” the belief.

Example

A student believes: “I’m going to fail this exam.”
Because of that belief, they avoid studying or feel too anxious to focus.
They perform poorly.
The failure reinforces the belief.

It’s similar to the idea of a Self‑Fulfilling Prophecy, except the outcome is negative for the person.

2. Self-Sabotage

Self-sabotage is any behavior that undermines one’s own goals, success, or well-being.

It can include:

procrastination
addiction behaviors
avoidance
destructive relationships
quitting before success

The behavior may come from:

fear of success
fear of failure
low self-worth
unresolved trauma
internal conflict

Key Difference

Concept	Core Mechanism	Scope
Self-defeating prophecy	A belief or expectation leads to behaviors that cause failure	Specific psychological process
Self-sabotage	Any behavior that undermines oneself	Broad category

So:

Self-defeating prophecy: might cause self-sabotage

But self-sabotage does not always come from a prophecy.

Psychological Insight

In clinical psychology, these patterns often link to core beliefs like:

“I’m not good enough”
“Success isn’t safe”
“Things never work out for me”

These beliefs (could be) unconsciously that might shape a certain behavior.

Shervan K Shahhian