Chapter 10 10. Neuropathy—a tool to deal with reality

Until now, the general treatment was carried out for the disease.Individual Psychology is utterly opposed to this attitude, both in medicine and in education. It is utterly useless if we only pay attention to a child who is not as good as others in mathematics, or who is always doing poorly in schoolwork, and tries to improve on those particular performances. Perhaps he was trying to bother the teacher, or even get himself expelled from school.If we correct him on this point, he will find new ways to achieve his goals.This is exactly the same as adult neurosis. For example, if he suffers from migraine.The headaches were very useful to him, they came when he needed them.He is spared many social problems due to his headaches, which strike whenever he has to meet strangers or make new decisions.At the same time, the headache can also help him to lose his temper with his subordinates or his wife and family members.

How can we expect him to give up such a useful tool?From his present point of view, the pain he inflicted upon himself was nothing more than an ingenious invention, capable of bringing about every advantage he could wish for. No doubt we can "frighten" this disease away with explanations that shock him, just as we occasionally "scare away" a disease of battlefield neurosis by electric shocks or fake operations.Perhaps medical treatment would also set him free, and keep him from continuing his particular ailment of choice. However, even if one disease is abandoned, he will choose another as long as his goal remains the same. "Cure" his headaches, and he'll suffer from insomnia or other new ailments.As long as his goal remains the same, he must continue to find new problems.

There is a neurotic who can shed his symptoms with astonishing speed and adopt a new one without hesitation.They become collectors of neuroses, constantly expanding their catalogs.Reading books on psychotherapy is just offering them a lot of neurotic troubles that they haven't had a chance to try.What we must seek, therefore, is the purpose for which they have chosen a disease, and the relation of this purpose to the general goal of superiority. If I have a ladder in the classroom, climb it and sit on top of the blackboard.Everyone who sees me doing this probably thinks, "Dr. Adler is crazy." They don't know what a ladder is for, why I'm climbing it, or why I'm sitting in such an unsightly position .

But if they know, "He wants to sit on top of the blackboard because he feels inferior unless he's physically higher than everyone else. He only feels safe when he can look down on his students." You'd think I was that crazy. I used a very sensible approach to achieve my specific goals.The ladder seemed like a reasonable tool, and my climbing up the ladder went according to plan. The only thing I'm crazy about is my interpretation of superiority.I only change my behavior if someone convinces me that my specific goals are really poorly chosen. But if my goal stays the same and my ladder is taken away, I'll use the chair to keep going up.If the chair is taken too, I'll jump or use my muscles to climb.

Every neurotic is like this: the methods they choose are correct—they are all justifiable.What they need to improve is their specific goals.As the goal changes, the habits and attitudes of the mind change with it.He no longer has to use his old habits and attitudes, and the ones suited to his new purpose take their place.