What is HUMILIATION and how to heal it

Humiliation is an experience of disappointment that attacks the bodily self, humiliates it, takes away consistency and energy. In itself, humiliation is a hidden but active presence, since a humiliated person is deeply wounded on an emotional level.

Even so, anyone who has found himself/herself experiencing, at least once in her life, a feeling of humiliation, can undoubtedly declare from his own personal experience that it is not a pleasant situation, on the contrary, he can affirm that it has a high negative impact on the subject. In this Psychology-Online article we will then see what is humiliation and how to heal it. In addition, we will reveal what kind of humiliations exist and examples of them.

Index

1. what is a humiliation
2. types of humiliation
3. How to heal a humiliation

Humiliation is a social emotion that exerts a significant negative influence on the person and on her social dynamics such as family, school or work. That emotion that is triggered when

What is humiliating a person? The etymology of the word derives from "humus", the earth, so it refers to feeling lowered to the ground. According to Klein's (1991) thesis, there are at least three performers in the dynamics of humiliation:

1. The one who humiliates: a person willing to take advantage of the humiliation of others.
2. The humiliated: the one who is unable to become independent from others for acceptance and self-respect.
3. The witness: a person who, faced with humiliation, can flee for fear of also being a victim.

Between the humiliated and the humiliating there is a social difference that reaffirms who is the strongest, but degrades, confuses, makes vulnerable and attacks the humiliated, who feels powerless and stripped of their identity.

Humiliation can manifest itself in different ways. Let's see how they do it with different examples:

direct humiliation

By direct humiliation is meant all those acts or words that directly hurt to others. Here are some examples of direct humiliation:

• The explicit attack: the subject is spoken to with words that hurt and humiliate him deeply.
• The implicit attack: the person is asked to give information on a subject that makes them uncomfortable and ashamed.
• the cunning attack: the ironic devalued joke made at a time when the subject is unwilling or unable to react.
• devaluation: the subject is treated with arrogance, that is, out of nowhere he is spoken ill of and belittled. In the couple it can happen that during a fight she is humiliated by criticizing her sexual performance or her lack of masculinity or femininity.
• indifference: for example, the health professional who does not sufficiently protect our privacy and intimacy (a man after the visit of the urologist stands with his pants down in front of a door opened by the doctor, who comes without caring that the patient is still dressing.

indirect humiliation

The indirect humiliation modalities refer to the attitudes and those not called that hurt the dignity of the person. Some examples are the following:

• The person who takes care of the other quickly and impersonally, verbalizing the need to be quick and professional. It makes him feel "like a sack of potatoes." Especially when the other has difficulty reacting, either due to age, mental deficiencies or character problems.
• All those pious or spare glances.

What to do in the face of humiliation? When one feels attacked, there are several paths to take to try to get out of what seems like a tunnel of negativity. Next, we will show you how to defend yourself from humiliation:

• If it's an innocent misunderstanding between friends, dust off the book of kind words and speak privately with the interested party or with one or two testimonials maximum.
• If we are faced with a true violation of our rights, we may have to turn to third parties that they can lucidly rectify the impasse.

Humiliation comes in various forms ranging from rejection, to exposure to the shame public for the mistakes made. Still, understanding the link between it and the brain's reactions may be the best way to respond efficiently and probably prevent or cope with the intense pain that this emotion can cause.

So what is the best way to heal a humiliation? Here are some simple and effective suggestions:

• Avoid harmful situations.
• Be humble: List your strengths and weaknesses.
• Increase your self-esteem: avoid comparing yourself with others.
• Seek expert help. In this sense, in this article, we show you how to know when to go to the psychologist.

This article is merely informative, in Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.

If you want to read more articles similar to What is humiliation and how to heal it, we recommend that you enter our category of Emotions.

• Collazioni, A. (2016). When the other flew away. A review on the topic of umiliazione. Recovered from: http://www.psicoterapeutiinformazione.it/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/1-collazzoni-1.pdf
• Fresh, a. (2016). Umiliazione: Quali effetti sul Cervello? Recovered from: https://www.psicologo-milano.org/quellemozione-che-fa-davvero-male-al-cervello-la-chiamano-umiliazione/
• Klein, D. c. (1991). The humiliation dynamic: An overview. Journal of Primary Prevention, 12(2), 93-121.
• Pedrinelli Carrara, L. (2019). When did I feel umiliati? Recovered from: https://www.laurapedrinellicarrara.it/argomenti-di-psicologia/psicologia-delle-emozioni/quando-e-perche-ci-sentiamo-umiliati/