Cognitive Dissonance and Mental Health

Frantz Fannon, a psychiatrist and philosopher from the island of Martinique regarding cognitive dissonance said, "Sometimes people hold a core belief that is very strong. When they are presented with evidence that works against that belief, the new evidence cannot be accepted.  It would create a feeling that is extremely uncomfortable called cognitive dissonance. And because it is so important to protect the core belief, they will rationalize, ignore and even deny anything that doesn't fit in with the core belief."

In “Suicide note” by Langston Hughes, he writes, “The calm, cool face of the river asked me for a kiss.” Apart from the literary significance of the poet and poem itself, there is a cognitive dissonance implied in the simple statement that strikes at the heart of the young. According to psychologist cognitive dissonance is a theory where there is a tendency for individuals to seek consistency among their beliefs and opinions, their cognition.  Dissonance increases with the importance of the subject to the person, how strongly the dissonant thought conflict and the ability of the individual to rationalize and explain away the conflict. Dissonance is most powerful when it is about self-image. When there is an inconsistency between attitudes or behaviors or dissonance, something must change to eliminate the dissonance.

Mental health disorders begin during youth (12-14 years of age). Poor mental health is strongly related to other health and development concerns in young people. In young people mental health issues leads to mortality in the form of suicide. I belief that young people commit suicide because of the struggle to hold two competing thoughts in the mind at the same time.  They do not know how to find, deal with or even rationalize the conflict that may arise from a belief change due to circumstances that they cannot change. Most of the dissonance that arise in young come from how they see themselves and the world around them.  Do they change their behavior and beliefs to fit the world, or how can the world be changed to fit into their beliefs.  It is how they see themselves. 

I think that if we can understand the dissonance that a young person is going through then we will be able to intervene, however in most cases the young person doesn’t even know or haven’t process the conflicting beliefs or thoughts.  Yes, the calm cool face of the water, but it asked me for my life.  Is the water then calm and cool or is this an illusion.  How do I reconcile this idea that death brings peace with the horror of DEATH itself? Suicide is a person controlling his/her faith, but what are the circumstances in which suicide became an option then was I in control, or acting because of circumstance and a change of belief?  Does a person who has cancer and chose to die excising control or being led because of the pain and the belief that they will not live pass the disease? Cognitive Dissonance…….The Calm Cool Face Of The River Asked Me For A Kiss.