Breaking point (psychology)

In human psychology, the breaking point is a moment of stress in which a person breaks down or a situation becomes critical.[1] The intensity of environmental stress necessary to bring this about varies from individual to individual.[2]

Interrogation

Getting someone to confess to a crime during an interrogation – whether innocent or guilty – means the suspect has been broken. The key to breaking points in interrogation has been linked to changes in the victim's concept of self[3] – changes which may be precipitated by a sense of helplessness,[4] by lack of preparedness or an underlying sense of guilt,[5] as well (paradoxically) as by an inability to acknowledge one's own vulnerabilities.[6]

Life

Psychoanalysts like Ronald Fairbairn and Neville Symington considered that everybody has a potential breaking point in life, with vulnerability particularly intense at early developmental stages.[7]

Some psychoanalysts say that rigid personalities may be able to endure great stress before suddenly cracking open.[8]

See also

Bibliography
  • Berne, Eric (1976). A Layman's Guide to Psychiatry and Psychoanalysis.
  • Fenichel, Otto (1946). The Psychoanalytic Theory of Neurosis.
  • Goleman, D. (1996). Emotional Intelligence.
  • Gudjonsson, G. H. (2003). The Psychology of Interrogation and Confession.
  • Kimble, G. A. (1996). Psychology.
  • Skynner, R.; Cleese, J. (1994). Families and how to survive them.
  • Symington, Neville (2000). Narcissism: A New Theory.

References
  1. "breaking point = work = Wordnet.Princeton.edu".
  2. Kimble 1996, p. 100.
  3. Gudjonsson 2003, p. 192.
  4. Goleman 1996, p. 204.
  5. Fenichel 1946, pp. 122–125.
  6. Skynner & Cleese 1994, pp. 116–117.
  7. Symington 2000, p. 79.
  8. Berne 1976, p. 51.
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