Autoagresja: kryzys czy styl bycia?
Auto-aggression, a Crisis or a Lifestyle?

Summary/Abstract: The “rat race” of contemporary times inflicts an overwhelming speed in which people live out their lives. For some this turns out to be difficult to bear. The promoted model of a man/woman of success who performs well in a competitive atmosphere, who is resistant to stress and has won professional acclaim may be devastating for some people and lead to self-destructive behaviour culminating in suicide. Anna Suchańska analyses this still unexplained phenomenon of taking one’s own life. Undoubtedly, the suicidal person’s self-image and perception of the world is completely distorted: their perspective becomes narrowed to their own suffering, solitude and hopelessness while their self-preservation instinct is painfully suspended. Obviously, help from those who surround such people would remedy these situations, but suicidal symptoms often remain unnoticed and even underestimated. Another form of self-destructive behaviour observed today is the fashion for taking extreme risks concerning one’s own health and even life. The author stresses that the border between the normal and the pathological is becoming dangerously vague. An example of this is forcing one’s body to meet the modern standards of beauty. From the psychologist’s point of view, the source of such attitudes may be found in childhood complexes: lack of self-esteem pushes people to actions which result in attracting the approving glances of others. This leads the author to the question: how can we solve the problem of self-destruction? The answer does not require tremendous insight: the problem could be solved by deep and real bonds with other people.

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