Acting Out and Time Bomb

Recently, I'd been counseling a man who has all sorts of behavioral disorders. He curses and shouts at people. He takes drugs, alcohol in an addictive level. Each week, he mood-alters via pornography and short-time paid sex. His marriage is breaking down and his children are severely alienated from him.

This wounded man is like a time bomb. It's obvious how much feelings he's bottling up within himself. When you bottle up feelings, it's the same as starting the timer of a time bomb. In the beginning, the bomb ticks softly. The ticks represent problems and losses that were unsuccessfully processed and healed. Then, as time goes by, the ticks of the bomb progressively gets closer to an explosion.

How can you defuse the ticking time bomb?  The sufferer needs to choose to heal. He or she needs to choose to connect to a safe person and start talking about his feelings that he or she is bottling up. The practice of acting out and isolating must stop by unlearning them in the process of recovery. The greater the out of control, the greater the need for structure. There is no other way.

The longer the time bomb ticks, the closer it comes to an explosion. Act fast, before it's too late.