Meaning isn’t something we often find. It is something we create. Even if we do that unconsciously. I wonder sometimes if we do it unconsciously more so than consciously. This is a continuation from my post Chronic Pain and Meaning we Create.
What if we have no sense of meaning and purpose? This can often be the case. Well, the fact is our brains are constantly making meaning, even if we are not consciously doing it. We are meaning-making machines.
I know my personality type is obsessed with meanings. What everything means. Wrapping everything in a theory that makes sense. Even when it can’t make sense, I still think about meaning and purpose in our lives. But the fact remains is that we all do this consciously or unconsciously, for every experience we have. I just think about it consciously a lot. No idea why. Introspection, I suppose. I think a lot about how we create meaning and fundamentally how we can change it that meaning to the betterment of our mental and emotional well-being.
Unconscious meaning-making
Cognitive science and psychology have the idea our brains are constantly interpreting and organizing our experiences stories that make sense to us. Helping is make sense of the world. Helping us make sense of our place in the world. Even when we don’t actively search for meaning and purpose, our mind will naturally construct stories- it will assign values to events and things, assign purpose from our actions.
- Survival Instincts: In extreme/dire situations, the brain may focus on immediate goals (staying alive, protecting loved ones) as a source of meaning.
- Retroactive Meaning: We often assign meaning to past events in hindsight, creating a story that helps us understand our path and our growth along that path. I think we are all familiar with this activity in concept if not consciously.
Not Seeking Meaning
When we stop actively searching for meaning, it often emerges organically. This is seen in practices like mindfulness or flow states, where focusing on the present moment can lead to a deep sense of fulfillment. When we engage in altruistic acts or creative pursuits we can have a sense of purpose manifest, even if we weren’t actually seeking it.
Chronic pain and meaning making unconsciously
I wonder if the meaning we might create unconsciously might hinder our emotional or mental growth in some ways. Like if we suffer, as with chronic pain, consciously we may think that has no meaning and can have no meaning or purpose. But unconsciously, we we’re meaning-making machines, we might develop this concept that life is suffering and that we can’t end the pain, so there is no point in trying new modes of treatment. In that way, the meaning we create impedes our growth and management of a condition we have. This is just one example of how unconscious meaning making can work against us. I use that as an example, personally, from past experience when I was depressed.
The creation of negative patterns or beliefs
When we unconsciously create meaning, it can sometimes reinforce negative patterns or beliefs. I made this post now after my post on Self-Limiting Beliefs and Chronic pain because this process can sometimes create those beliefs in us.
- Chronic Pain and Learned Helplessness: If someone unconsciously develops the belief that “life is suffering” or “there’s no point in trying to change my pain,” they may fall into a state of learned helplessness. This mindset can lead to resignation, avoidance of new treatments, or a lack of engagement in activities that could improve their quality of life.
- Self-Fulfilling Prophecies: Unconscious meanings can become self-reinforcing. For instance, if someone believes they are “broken” or “incurable,” they may unconsciously avoid opportunities for growth or healing, perpetuating the very condition they wish to escape.
- Limiting Beliefs: These unconscious meanings can become rigid beliefs that limit exploration, curiosity, and openness to change. A person might think, “I’ve tried everything, and nothing works,” closing themselves off to new possibilities. This is one I was stuck in during my depression, but obviously there are quite a few others.
I think when we first learn to cope with chronic pain we do unconsciously create meaning. This can, unfortunately, create a lot of patterns that we have to take years to break down.
How Unconscious Meaning Hinders Growth
The meanings we create unconsciously often stem from our brain’s attempt to make sense of difficult or painful experiences. However, these meanings can become maladaptive if they:
- Oversimplify Complexity: Chronic pain, for instance, is multifaceted, involving physical, emotional, and psychological factors. An unconscious narrative like “life is suffering” reduces this complexity to a single, unhelpful idea. One I was fond of for some time. But it is quite the oversimplification of a complex problem.
- Focus on Permanence: Unconscious meanings often emphasize permanence (“This will never change”) rather than possibility (“This is hard, but I can adapt and find ways to cope”). When I was depressed I fell into this one. Again easy to feel like things will never change even though we can adapt, find new coping strategies and new medications.
- Reinforce Helplessness: If the unconscious meaning centers on helplessness, it can erode our agency and motivation, making it harder to take proactive steps toward healing or growth. This is not a term I like but the research into this is unavoidable to think about. This idea that with this becomes the avoidance of activities, treatments and a sort of resignation to what is happening. Lack of motivation and emotional numbness. The research, by the way, initially into this? Was horrific. Anyway, if you want to look further into this theory and its critics here is a basic information site on it.
Reframing Meaning
Thankfully, unconscious meanings can be powerful, they are not solid. We can change them and do change them when we become aware of them all the time. With awareness and effort, we can reframe or reinterpret these stories.
- Making them Consciousness: First step is becoming aware of the meanings we make. Through therapy, journaling, or mindfulness practices, we can uncover the meanings we’ve attached to our experiences. Simply becoming aware of these narratives is the first step toward challenging them and changing them.
- Reframe the Story: Cognitive-behavioral techniques (CBT) can help reframe limiting beliefs. For example, shifting from “I can’t escape this pain” to “I can learn to live well despite the pain” can open up new possibilities. And CBT does a great job at reframing thoughts we have about pain, depression and limiting-beliefs overall.
- Focus on Agency: Emphasizing small, actionable steps can counteract feelings of helplessness. Like trying a new treatment or engaging in a supportive community can reinforce a sense of control and hope. Focusing on steps we can take instead of things we cannot do is important. We want to focus on things we can do and things we have control over in our lives. “Higher self-efficacy can improve function and prolong physical well-being in people who have chronic pain.” Study
- Seek Other Perspectives: Talking to others—whether friends, support groups, or therapists—can sometimes help us see our situation in a new light and challenge the meanings we’ve unconsciously created. Or help us see them in the first place.
- Embrace Uncertainty: Chronic pain or suffering often defies easy explanations and resists it as well. Accepting that some experiences may not have a clear meaning. Not everything can be explained—or that their meaning may evolve over time—this can reduce the pressure to “figure it all out” and open the door to growth. I know my sense of meaning about chronic illness and pain have evolved over time, and this is normal, as I have grown and coping differently over time.
Suffering and Growth
“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” Viktor Frankl
Viktor Frankl argued that suffering can provide opportunities for transformation, but only if we consciously engage with it rather than passively accepting limiting stories. So even with something like pain we can can experience transformation and growth. While no one wants chronic pain (I rather do not recommend it), it is something we endure, and we can and do experience growth. With chronic pain we might discover resilience, empathy, or new ways of relating to others—but this often requires actively challenging some of the limiting beliefs that are holding us back. I think through the coping process over time, we often do explore our limiting beliefs, often without realizing it. And we often do change the meanings we have around pain and our pain story, again, often without realizing it. But we can also very consciously do it if we feel our strategies are working against us in any way. Which sometimes I feel some are, at one time or another in my path to coping. And I need to re-assess what is really going on there.
But of course, meaning and purpose is well beyond chronic pain and illness. We do it for our entire lives. So it is something that is vital for all aspects of our lives and not limited to just the scope of our pain story.
Read more on Substack: Reflecting on unconscious meaning in life
Reprint from brainlessblogger.net
Chronically Nikki 