How Does Magical Thinking Affect Us?

Magical thinking refers to when one’s own ideas influence reality by themselves. For example, when you think that a problem you have is going to solve itself without you doing anything. You think that’s how it’s going to be, only because that’s how you think it’s going to happen.

As a general rule, magical thinking usually occurs in childhood and if it occurs in adulthood, it is usually among groups linked to superstition, rituals or any religious area. Magical thinking can be a bit dangerous because reality is not perceived as it is and can create a lot of confusion and other factors that influence mood. Let’s see how it can affect people.

How does magical thinking affect?

Magical thinking can have positive and negative effects on people’s lives. It is usually more negative than positive because it is a cognitive distortion so things don’t look like they really are. As their name suggests, they believe they can fix things like magic.

On the other hand, it has a calming effect, especially on people who suffer from anxiety. Although it is a false feeling, people who have these thoughts believe that they control the situation and that generates optimism and self-confidence, sometimes they even have it in excess.

Then there is the negative part. This overconfidence causes the person to do nothing. For example, when faced with an illness, only by wanting to be cured does she think that the problem is going to be fixed, which places her in a position far from the solution.

These thoughts have a guilt effect since it happened that way only because you thought about it and you believe that it happened because you had thought about it. This leads to a misinterpretation of reality, believing that the solution is only in one direction, hiding other possibilities.

The problem with all this is when the person does not distinguish between magical thinking and real thinking. For example, when a person wears “His lucky shirt” to convince himself that everything will be fine.

Examples of magical thinking

1. Childhood egocentrism

In the childhood stage (between 2 and 7 years old), children think that they can change the things that happen in their minds. This is explained because during this stage they have difficulty understanding abstract concepts, as well as the egocentrism typical of that age that prevents them from seeing other people’s perspective.

Magical thinking is very common in children because it is normal in human nature. As the years go by, cognitive development progresses and, if rational thinking appears, the ideas that were previously in your head evaporate. Otherwise, magical thinking can be passed from generation to generation.

2. Superstition and supernatural thinking

Superstitions are beliefs, without apparent logic or scientific basis. It is difficult to define what is behind superstitions. What has been demonstrated is that They are more common when people go through stressful situations. In this sense and although they do not firmly believe in the existence of gods, they do not rule out their non-existence either and it leads them to desperately want to communicate with them.

3. Obsessive-compulsive disorder

Sometimes the repetitions of people with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder can be considered magical thinking. In many cases, the person is not aware that he has a problem. They just believe that if they don’t do the ritual, something bad will happen to them. People with OCD suffer a lot from this to the point of causing anxiety. so your thinking leads you to believe that a disproportionately serious misfortune will occur if you skip any step of the ritual.

4. Delusions and psychosis

Magical thinking frequently appears in delusions. Sometimes it is related to a schizophrenia disorder that the person suffers from. The delusion that a person with this pathology of irrational beliefs presents has a truly credible structure.

Concluding…

Magical thoughts can incapacitate you and prevent you from living a normal life. They are intrusive thoughts that generate a lot of anxiety due to the supposed lack of control. This can lead to very severe pathologies that can only be resolved with professional help.

A person who has fears, guilt and irrational obsessions has to learn to face them without rituals or symbols that make him believe that they will free him from bad luck.