The fluctuation is not only common to weight, but also to our habits and even the way we look at our projects.
If at any point you’ve gone on a diet or changed your diet in search of weight loss, you must have heard of the accordion effect: the act of losing weight, gaining weight, and losing weight again. Now, you know the accordion effect psychological ? Well, the famous coming and going also has a mental version.
WHAT IS THE PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECT OF THE ACCORDION?
“The psychological effect of the accordion occurs when the person insists for a long time on the issue of changing their habits,” he explains. Vanessa Gebrim psychologist specializing in clinical psychology at the Pontifical Catholic University of San Paolo.
Think of all the times you’ve set goals like “study more”, “exercise more”, “spend less time on social media”, and even “lose weight”. And, for a while, you commit to these goals and complete a few steps, but then you give up and come to the conclusion that you can’t change.
“This effect occurs when a person decides to radically change a habit, but soon after ends up behaving as before,” continues the practitioner.
In other words, the logic is the same with food, which we talked about at the beginning of this text: for a few weeks you commit to a regulated diet, but then you give up because you couldn’t follow the diet on one or two occasions and conclude that you can’t change – and go back to old eating habits.
“Usually people end up giving up the process because they bring these changes in a very radical way and they can’t maintain consistency and motivation,” explains the specialist. “When it comes to a very extreme change, the person ends up discouraged and returns to square one.”
For Vanessa, the person realizes that she is going through this process when she experiences feelings of failure followed by failed attempts at change. Often, this causes an even greater abandonment of projects and life projects.
HOW TO INTERRUPT THE MODEL OF THE PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECT OF THE ACCORDION?
Considered a disorder by the psychologist, the accordion psychological effect (also called ESP), needs professional counseling to be cured – however much it seems something “normal” and through which everyone goes through.
“Treatment should be done with psychotherapy, as the psychologist helps a lot in the process to make the person stay consistent and find a motivation not to give up,” he explains.
Another important point is that people with ESP also maintain polarized thinking, known as “all or nothing thinking”. You know the “8 or 80” thing? So it is. This is a cognitive distortion that ends up harming people, as they have a greater difficulty observing their own victories.
“Either it goes to one end of side 0, or it goes to the end of side 100,” continues Vanessa. “For example, either he stops doing the exercise, or he does it in a very perfect way, but ends up lasting a short time. The ideal, within a psychological follow-up, is to ensure that the person is able to plan and organize, so that evolution occurs in micro-steps. The psychologist will work little by little on the patient’s progress. “
We live in a world very used to immediacy and this, of course, has consequences. One of these is our desire to see immediate results, without considering that a gradual and, above all, constant change has far more results and duration than extreme and perfectly executed changes.
It is important to consider that the perfect is difficult to achieve, even more so when we think about everyday life and its unexpected: things get out of control and often change our plans. To get out of this cycle it is essential to look for changes that start small and are possible within a modern routine.
“That way, it’s much easier for the person not to give up. It’s very different from making them think about the possibility of having quick and surprising things, like changing their habits extremely quickly, which causes them to end up giving up the process.” he concludes.
Source: Terra
Benjamin Smith is a fashion journalist and author at Gossipify, known for his coverage of the latest fashion trends and industry insights. He writes about clothing, shoes, accessories, and runway shows, providing in-depth analysis and unique perspectives. He’s respected for his ability to spot emerging designers and trends, and for providing practical fashion advice to readers.
