Each of us has many facets or ways of being, even if we only cultivate or develop part of them. At first, the word alter ego refers to those other facets that are hidden and not manifested, but that inhabit our interior in a potential way.
Some people think it’s a good idea to create an alter ego so they can express themselves and develop as fully as possible. Does that make sense?
- Literally.
- The ego is him? And the alter ego is “the other me.
- “We only know the first one.
- This is what we call personality.
- Those traits that define and differentiate us.
The alter ego, on the other hand, would be more present in our unconscious, it is that villain, that hero or that artist who sleeps in us, another identity that, for various reasons, has not yet developed.
For example, when you were a kid you might have a real fascination with animals, but over the years that passion may have been left in the background and you’ve decided to work in the field of accounting. of a great company, a job that you can also like very much.
However, deep down, this curious biologist still exists. You may not pay attention to him, but he’s here. In this example, it would be your alter ego.
“Ego doesn’t rule in your own home. ” -Sigmund Freud-
The first to use the word alter ego was Franz Mesmer, an 18th-century physician who used certain hypnosis practices in his treatments and discovered that some people showed strange parts of themselves during hypnotic trance, as if they were other people. another self who appeared in these alter ego conditions.
The alter ego is a very treated subject in the world of the arts, especially in literature, many writers make this alter ego the protagonist of their stories, they build characters that seem very different to themselves, but of course they are part of it, because they could not create something that was completely strange to them.
Often the characters in the stories have an alter ego, it is a friend, counselor or companion that contrasts with the way you are and the way you act, the character, for example, is a little crazy next to someone who constantly brings you to the sensitive side, or helps you get out of all the problems you find.
In theater, actors use the alter ego to build characters that are different from themselves. In superhero comics, it’s a constant. Clark Kent is a shy journalist who hides his superman side.
Is it worth it for normal people to explore our alter ego?
Building another self is a resource that can have therapeutic purposes, this other self can take care of doing many things that the usual self would not do, it is also possible that this becomes an ideal complement to our lives.
As in the example above, if your biologist can sporadically leave this hidden scientist living in you, you may feel a greater fullness in your life.
In this way, sometimes an alter ego is built so that the person can free himself from the limitations imposed on him by the ego, for example, a person very attached to material goods can pretend to be generous at certain times and experience for himself what it is to give a little of what he has.
Or someone extremely secretive could invent an alter ego to expose themselves to social situations under different conditions. This other self, or character created, can have its own name, its own story. It is a game of imagination that can eventually be profitable. from a psychological point of view.
Alter ego is only a problem factor in the case of dissociative identity disorder, better known as double personality. In this pathology, the other “I”, or the other “I”, are built unconsciously and for unhealthy purposes.
On the contrary, if the alter ego is conscious and for healthy purposes, it can become an excellent resource to evolve and live better. Identity is a concept that sometimes becomes limiting, because in general it corresponds only to a part of us, which end up assuming as a whole.
It is important to understand that individual identity is a dynamic and flexible concept, of course that we all have traits that become dominant, however, this does not mean that what we are is over and that we cannot explore other regions of our being that, perhaps, would also have a beautiful light of our own.