Origin

The science of psychology itself is relatively new, being 100 years old at most, but the study of how colours affect our lives has been a topic of discussion since long before. Aristotle developed the first theory related to colour, believing it was sent from God through heavenly rays of light. He said that all colours known to us came from the colours white or black. He related colours to the four elements – earth, water, fire and air. Describing how fire had the colour red and yellow in it while air stood for the colour white. This was followed by Sir Isaac Newton’s theory of colours in his book Opticks: or, A Treatise of the Reflexions, Refractions, Inflexions and Colours of Light published in 1704. This book analyzes the basic nature and behaviour of light by using refraction through prisms and lenses, the diffraction of light by closely spaced sheets of glass, and the behaviour of color mixtures with spectral lights or pigment powders. In 1810 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe published a book called Theory of Colours (German: Zur Farbenlehre) about his views on the nature of colours and how these are perceived by humans. It was published in English in 1840. The book contains detailed descriptions of phenomena such as coloured shadows, refraction, and chromatic aberration. So Goethe’s work was the first of its kind to start considering the physiological aspect of colours.

Colour is light, it’s all around us at all times. The first thing we consciously or subconsciously notice about any object is its colour so it most certainly plays an important role in how we view things. Some researchers believe this is part of our primitive instincts, the ones we needed to survive in the wild but which we have now adapted to more sophisticated uses. We are very easily swayed when choosing which brands to shop with, just by their brand colours. Even blind or colour blind people are sensitive to colour Psychology. Although, it still also works alongside our survival instincts. For example, if a housefly was to enter your house, you wouldn’t be very surprised to see a blob of black flying around, but if this same insect happened to be yellow and black in colour, you would immediately become very wary of it.

Colour Theories

Micco Groenholm talking about colour affects talks about the difference between colour Psychology and colour symbolism. While colour Psychology talks about unconscious colour preferences that show us a person’s personality, colour symbolism is the result of cultural or religious biases which have caused certain colours to be associated with certain things. Colour symbolism is ingrained in our brains and does not happen subconsciously. A few examples of colour symbolism are how the western world views green as the colour for jealousy, while in Ireland it is seen as a representative of good luck. The religion Islam uses the colour green to represent peace. A lot of times the symbolism may contradict itself for certain people in certain areas. Such as green, while being seen as the colour representing jealousy in America, due to the influence of Shakespeare who first used the term ‘green-eyed monster’, also represents wealth and social status because of the green dollars. Most Americans know both these meanings for the colour, but the meaning that they choose to believe in is based entirely on them and their personal experiences. This difficulty of differentiating between colour Psychology and colour symbolism may be the biggest discouragement to more research on these topics.

Another limitations that researchers face when studying colour Psychology are the shades and tones in colours. There are 11 basic colours recognised by everyone but colours exist on a spectrum, even a slight shift in tone or shade may result in a completely new colour. It isn’t sure how much this would affect how people feel about the particular colour but it is known that people respond differently to warm-toned colours and cool-toned colours and the same colour can exist in both warm and cool-toned forms. 

Colour Preferences

Unlike usual assumptions, no colour has only negative or only positive connotations. How you see each colour depends entirely on you and the environment that you have been surrounded with. Almost every research that has been done about the preferred colour in adults worldwide, has resulted in the same answer, blue, yet blue is also associated with negative emotions such as sadness, coldness, etc. This is why, which colour a person prefers, after taking into account the culture they were brought up in, may tell us a lot about their personality. For example, while someone may see red as the colour for passion, others may see it as the colour for aggression. What is interesting is to note that everyone all around the world does seem to agree on the fact that red represents a strong emotion. Colour preference varies, not just by region, religion and culture but also age and gender. It was found that while adults did have a colour that the majority of them preferred, children’s answers varied more. This may be due to the lack of learned colour symbolism in children or a lack of a properly cultivated personality.

Most of the research done in colours is about the colour preferences of a group or of an individual and how these reveal their personality. An important part of colour preference is usually forgotten and that is when other people associate a particular colour with a person. As is generally agreed upon, different people see different aspects of our personality and this affects how they think of us in general. People sharing the same culture tend to relate the same meanings to a colour. 

Conclusion

A very telling way of understanding personality as seen by other people is to ask them to choose which colour they associate with you. While some of these associations are unconsciously made with a colour they see the person wearing a lot or talking about a lot, more often than not, they come from the subconscious. Since Colour Psychology is backed by such little research, it has a lot of disbelievers and appropriately so. Most of what is known about Colour Psychology is not usually backed by facts but it is always a topic of interest and does have some much more believable aspects but even then the infinite possibilities of Colour Psychology have only been scratched on the surface by the research conducted on it. 

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Hearing Kitty’s cries for help, a neighbor, Robert Mozer, yelled out of his window, “Leave that girl alone!”, causing the attacker to flee. Kitty Genovese, gravely injured, staggered to her apartment out of sight of any witness. Ten minutes later, the assailant returned, only to rape, murder and rob her. Kitty’s mutilated body was found by a neighbor, Sophia Farrar, who called the police. The entire macabre lasted for 30 minutes and Kitty Genovese lost her life en route to the hospital.

This incident left a mark in history forever. Investigators revealed that the entire abhorrent spectacle was witnessed by 37 onlookers and none of them came out to help. They saw the drama unfold before their eyes from the precincts of their home. Some stared from the window, some phoned each other while others pulled out a chair to sit and enjoy the scene.

The murder of Kitty Genovese sparked widespread interest among psychologists to investigate why people do not help in case of an emergency. They came with a concept which we term as Bystander Effect.

What is Bystander Effect?

According to psychologists, bystander effect is the inhibiting influence of the presence of others on a person’s willingness to help someone in need. The greater the number of bystanders, the less likely are the chances that the person in distress will get help.

John Darley and Bibb Latane, eminent social psychologists conducted classic studies to understand this phenomenon. In one of their experiments, subjects were seated in three different treatment conditions:

alone in a room, with two other participants, or with two confederates who pretended to be normal participants. The participants were asked to a fill out a questionnaire. As they worked, smoke began to fill the room.

The researchers found that when participants were alone, 75% reported the smoke to the experimenters. In a room with two other people, just 38% of participants reported the smoke. In the final group, the two confederates in the experiment noted the smoke and then ignored it, which resulted in only 10% of the participants reporting the smoke.

This study illustrated that, as the number of participants increased, the reporting of smoke in the room decreased. Thus contrary to the popular belief, the presence of more people can turn out to be detrimental in case of an emergency situation.

What are the causes of Bystander Effect?

Researchers have pin-pointed a number of factors behind this phenomenon such as:

1. Diffusion of Responsibility

Diffusion of responsibility is a psychological phenomenon in which people are less likely to take action when in the presence of a large group of people. This is primarily because, in the presence of a large group, people experience a sense of de-individuation, the responsibility to help gets diffused or distributed and as a result no one singularly feels pressurised or guilty for the same.

According to Latane and Darley, when a person comes across a stressful situation, he/she makes a series of decisions to decipher whether help is required:

• The first step involves actually noticing a problem.
• Second, the individual must decide if what they are witnessing is actually an emergency.
• Third, perhaps the most critical decision in this process: Deciding to take personal responsibility to act.
• The individual decides what has to be done.
• Finally, the bystander actually takes action.

It is after going through this decision-making process that a person makes a decision whether help is required in the situation.

2. Norm Of The Social Setting

The situations of emergency are often chaotic and stressful and often to make a decision to intervene, people look at others to decipher the acceptable norms of conduct. If others do not help people, think that perhaps help is not needed.

3. Ambiguous Nature Of The Situation

Many times bystanders hesitate to intervene because the situation is unclear. They shy away from making a decision to help if the need and cause of the situation are unclear.

For instance, in the case of Kitty Genovese, many witnesses reported that they believed that they were witnessing a “lover’s quarrel,” and did not realize that the young woman was being murdered.

4. Feelings of inadequacy in terms of required strength and traits to be able to help and thinking that others are better equipped to aid.

5. Fearing a cumbersome interrogation by the police as an eyewitness.

Incidences Of Bystander Effect In India

Perhaps the very first incidence of bystander effect in our country took place in the courtroom of Hastinapur where Draupadi was insulted and warriors meekly passed the onus of responsibility from one to another.

In one recent case, 35-year-old Narender Kumar recalls the harrowing experience when he was lying on road bleeding for 12 hours and none of the passers-by heeded to his calls for help. Worse, some of them stopped only to rob him of his money and phone.

What we see in India and in other parts of the world as well as the case of sheer public apathy. Incidents like these are no longer a novelty. Moreover, these silent perpetrators further aggravate a victim’s pain by video-recording the scene for their fruitless WhatsApp and Instagram feeds.

Dealing with Bystander Apathy

Psychologists believe that bystander paralysis can be best reduced by awareness among the masses. Simply knowing the causes that hold a person back from intervening in an emergency situation can make a person take conscious decisions to overcome it.

Secondly, a major factor which hinders public intervention is the fear of getting entangled with police and court formalities for case interrogation. SaveLife Foundation, a non-profit committed to improving road safety and emergency medical care across India, explains that 74% of bystanders during road accidents do not help the victim.

But as many people might be unaware, The Good Samaritan Law enacted by the Supreme court of India in March 2016 allows a person to come forward voluntarily to administer immediate assistance or emergency care to a person injured in an accident, or crash, or emergency medical condition. The law protects Good Samaritans from harassment on the actions being taken by them to save the life of the road accident victims. Thus the need of the hour is to spread awareness among the masses.

Dr. Harish Shetty, a psychiatrist, says that, “We are taught from a very young age not to meddle in others’ affairs. It’s easy to sit in your drawing room and have conversations on standing up for what is right. But when it comes to helping someone who is not a part of your family or friends’ circle, people

tend not to intervene. Taking a stand and rocking the boat is not a part of our psyche.”

Thus, to address the situation in a holistic sense, a mass awareness programme is required. Perhaps, our principle of ‘Vasudheva Kutumbakam’ meaning ‘World is a family’ can be taught in schools so that our upcoming generation is morally educated to extend a hand of help in case of emergency. A sense of empathy must be ingrained at a larger scale so that people do not apathetically witness a situation but rather take a conscious decision to help and those coming out to help must be publicly lauded.

Lastly, one must learn to take the lead. If others do not act, one must step forward and actively ask others to assist the person in need.

So let’s all come together as the baton bearers of change and take the lead to raise an ode to humanity!

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“Believe me, every heart has its secret sorrows, which the world knows not, and oftentimes we call a man cold, when he is only sad.”

— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Hyperion

Although emotions have a biological base, the meanings of emotions and the appropriateness of emotional expression are products of socialisation. One critically important moderator of what children learn about emotions and the appropriateness of emotional displays is gender (Parkins R, 2012). Gender differences in experiencing and expressing emotions is largely a result of the gender-stereotypic socialisation which is usually instilled in the members of culture from early childhood (Fischer A, et.al. 2004). Thus, emotions which are fundamentally neutral and are experienced by all, come to be perceived as gender-specific stereotypes.  Consequently, these stereotypes provide a basis for society to determine what is and is not socially acceptable for males and females in displaying emotions.

IDENTIFYING THE STEREOTYPES

Phrases like “boys don’t cry”, “emotional women”, “man up” and the like are all examples of stereotypes associated with gender-based appropriateness of emotional expression. We are all wired into believing that women are more emotional than men, or at least are more emotionally expressive. This occurrence of women being more emotionally expressive than men is majorly a result of the early shaping of our views on emotional expressivity. 

According to Denham et al. (2007), children learn about emotions through three primary modes of direct and indirect socialization: 

1. Witnessing others’ feelings and emotions, 
2. Having their emotional displays responded to and 
3. The ways they are taught about their feelings and emotions. 

Indirect socialisation happens when children observe other family members display specific emotions. Accordingly, they gather information and internalise the level of appropriateness for specific emotions. Direct socialisation takes place through discussions on emotions parents have with their children or via parental reactions to emotions. Emotional expressions which are reinforced with warm, sensitive responses from parents and caregivers are instilled and repeated whereas emotional expressions which are accompanied by non-supportive responses are suppressed or avoided.

As a result, several studies have found that men learn to express powerful, externalizing emotions that display one’s assertiveness and power, such as anger, contempt and pride and suppress the “non-masculine” expression of sadness (Siegel & Alloy, 1990) whereas women express the powerless, internalising emotions such as happiness, embarrassment, surprise, sadness, fear, shame, and guilt which serve to imply vulnerability and maintain harmony in social relations with a minimum of overt hostility.

Even the highly applauded Pixar movie “Inside Out” which beautifully taught us the importance of balancing the complex emotions, portrayed certain stereotypes. Anger was shown as a man with a deep, gravelly voice, Disgust was guised as a “spoiled bratty girl”, sending strong messages about emotions in female adolescence and Sadness and Joy were personified as two distinct types of women, capturing the idea that sensitive empathy and unswerving optimism are synonymous with the female emotional condition. 

These gender stereotypes associated with expression of emotions is not only restricted to face to face communication, but also social media interactions. In a study by Róisín Parkins (2012), posts, tweets and comments were analysed to examine the emotional expressivity of men and women in the realm of social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. It was interesting to observe that despite the relative anonymity that comes with online communication, the gender stereotypes associated with expression of emotions is still prevalent and women are the more emotionally expressive gender.

However, a study by Fabes and Martin (1991) has shown that women are perceived to express emotions more than men but that there is little difference in the perception of men and women’s emotional experience. This means that one has to consciously understand the difference between “expressing emotions” and “experiencing emotions.” This distinction is meaningful because it endorses the notion that gender stereotypes shape emotional expression. 

UNDERSTANDING THE NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES

Times and situations have changed and we now live in a world where gender roles have become overlapping and the very concept of “gender” has become more fluid. In these times inability to foster emotional diversity in children may have long-term problematic consequences. 

Both men and women are subjected to norms of appropriate expression of emotions in the workplace, but women experience greater scrutiny compared to men when it comes to emotional expressions at work. While men who get angry at work are perceived as decisive and strong, women who loses their cool and act in anger are regarded unprofessional and incompetent. At the same time, when women express the stereotypical “feminine” emotions, they are judged as lacking emotional control, which again undermines their competence. Such perceptions leave women in a bind – being passive prevents them from being heard and expressing anger raises questions on their professional legitimacy. This leads to women diverting or suppressing their anger. While the former may hamper their relationships with friends, family and loved ones, the latter can make them more resentful and cause anxiety or depression. 

Men, however, suffer beneath the gravity of conventional masculinity and experience greater depressive symptoms than women. Boys grow up in a world inhabited by a narrower range of emotions and the cultural pressures to act masculine may further prevent them from expressing their emotions in healthy ways. Men are taught to refrain from expressing any emotional vulnerability and are expected to show only a limited range of emotions. This process of limiting the range of men’s allowable emotional expression helps set the path towards anger and aggression. Denying emotional vulnerability makes them prone to engaging in health risk behaviours and substance abuse. While women may experience depression more than men, many men may restrict emotions and avoid the feelings associated with depression by embracing anger and resorting to physical violence. Inability to express emotions extends to the home as well where men find it difficult to share their own vulnerable emotions with partners and are less open to these experiences in their partners. Thus, emotion suppression can have detrimental effects on their physical, psychological and relational health and men may be at greater risk for stress-related cardiovascular problems in the long run.

CONCLUSION

Letting the guards down and expressing emotional vulnerability is easier said than done, but bottling up or avoiding emotions has never had a positive outcome. Thus, acknowledging and embracing the emotions, expressing them in appropriate ways and creating a safe space for others to open too are necessary for the psychological health of the individual and for the society at large.  

“Life without emotions would be as calm as death, like a world without weather. Accept feelings as they are; pleasant or painful, they are natural and don’t need fixing. Let them rise and pass without allowing changeable emotions to run your life.”

— Dan Millman

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Symptoms

Conditions such as anxiety, depression, panic attacks, lucid dreams, phobia, insomnia affect our mental health. Overthinking plays a very huge part when we talk about mental health. Many people tend to think too much about the situations which will probably never happen. People don’t have control over how much they overthink. There are many solutions to overthinking if you search it up on the internet but, in reality, it’s not very elementary. You can experience these conditions at any point of your life, no matter the age, sex or ethnicity. Some people can be more prone to depression than others because of well, life situations, peer pressure, sexual identity and whatnot.

According to a study by WHO, half of all mental health conditions start by 14 years of age. Adolescents are at greater risk of mental health conditions due to their stigma, discrimination or exclusion, or lack of support from their parents/friends. As per the same study by WHO, suicide is the third leading cause of death in older adolescents because of mental illness and lack of access to help/therapy. There is a growing consensus that healthy development during childhood contributes to good mental health.

Lancet’s Study

Lancet has found the efficacy of “brief lay counsellor delivered, problem-solving intervention’’ for mental health problems in adolescents from government schools in Delhi. This is for adolescents who can’t afford to pay for therapy sessions. The premium for Adolescents (PRIDE) is a six-year research programme dedicated to making psychosocial interventions for improving the mental health of adolescents in India. “The study established that with limited resources and counselling intervention, we can give practical tools to adolescents to manage and deal with their mental health issues. This also makes mental health treatment accessible to those from underprivileged sections of society,” says Dr Kanika Malik, a clinical psychologist. The programme is going really well and is pretty successful. More than 250 adolescents were enrolled for the programme between August and December in 2018. For the treatment, they made a problem-solving booklet in a comic format to keep up with the interest of the adolescents. The book has many chapters which teach the kids to deal with domestic problems. This is very important because domestic life can be a major source of stress for the students and they don’t have the resources to tackle these situations but the comic book gives them tools to work through them. Not only did they distribute the booklets but also hired and trained the members of the community to counsel students.

According to a study by the lancet, more than 99% of adolescents and children with mental health problems remain undiagnosed in India. If these students receive proper treatment right now, they are less likely to suffer from serious mental health conditions in the later stage of their life. The initiative that lancet took for these adolescents is exceptional. 

Vulnerable Teens 

Another problem that students face while growing up is whether or not they should tell their parents about what they are going through. Adolescence is a very crucial period in our lives. Your decision-making power is not the best at this age. Parents are also requested to listen to their kids, to understand them, to tell them that it’s normal to feel this way. Many kids have abusive parents which makes it even more difficult for them to go through the illness. 

Look out for yourself and other people

 Mental illness is a very serious condition and it should not be neglected. Your brain is just as important as your heart and other body parts. It can only handle so much. Also, we should not forget the fact that we are in the middle of a pandemic right now and this COVID situation is not helping. This is for all the parents, if your kid is struggling, love him/her. This is for all the people who have friends with mental illness, support your friends.

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This article is about ‘Bella Clifton’ and her fight with BPD.

Bella Clifton was a 9-year-old girl when she saw her parents fighting every day and night. Little as she was, in that environment of hostile and distressful, her child-like mind started believing that people leave when we need them the most. Although her parents reconciled after years of arguments and fights but her subconscious mind was still lost in those years of her childhood. 

During her teenager days, she lost some of her closest friends and became more & more depressed. She had a feeling of insecurity & fear of rejection. So, she never made very close relationships. She was emotionally imbalanced, full of sadness and the cloud of self-worthlessness thoughts started following her. She even started questioning her existence. Those events made her lonelier. She was feeling empty inside her own. 

Borderline personality disorder or BPD is a serious Psychological Disorder, often confused with bipolar disorder. According to the most recent DSM-4-TR lists nine categorical criteria for BPD, five of which must be present for diagnosis. 

The nine Psychological criteria are as follows:-

1. Frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment.
2. Unstable and intense interpersonal relationships.
3. Lack of a clear sense of identity.
4. Impulsiveness in potentially self-damaging behaviours, such as substance abuse, sex, shoplifting, reckless driving, binge eating, etc.
5. Recurrent suicidal threats or gestures, or self-mutilating behaviours.
6. Severe mood shifts and extreme reactivity to situational stress.
7. Chronic feelings of emptiness.
8. Frequent and inappropriate displays of anger.
9. Transient, stress-related feelings of unreality or paranoia.

Discussion

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is one of the group B-type of personality disorder. It is common in a psychiatric environment with a recorded prevalence of 20%. In BPD comorbid depression, anxiety spectrum disorders & bipolar illness occur more frequently & the lifetime risk of having at least one comorbid mental disorder approaches 100%. It is more common in women, higher in the urban population. It was originally used in psychodramatic circles to describe people with a marked instability. (source)

People suffering from borderline personality usually have a traumatic childhood experience such as separation of parents, sexual assault, or physical violence. The world of a borderline, like that of a child, is split into black and white. At any particular moment, one is either “good” or “evil”; there is no grey area. Splitting is an escaping mechanism from anxiety. A person suffering from BPD desperately seeks out new relationships; for solitude, even temporary aloneness is intolerable than mistreatment. 

BPD is often accompanied by- anxiety, anger, depression, panic attacks, sleep disturbance, episodes of frequent mood swings.

In Bella’s case, it was her traumatic childhood which made her a patient of BPD. At first, she wasn’t ready to go to a psychiatrist but after lots of convincing and arguments with her childhood best friend, she gave in. Bella was prescribed with some mood stabilizer, anti-depressant and sleep-improver. Her psychiatrist recommended her a clinical psychologist and the journey of her DBT session (therapy for BPD) begins.

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