The mechanisms of desire
- Mechanism of moodiness. Desire provokes in us a sense of incompleteness, lack, dissatisfaction and uneasiness.
- Impulse mechanism. Desire is expressed as an impulse that leads
us to fulfil it.
- Mechanism of seduction and pressure. Desire, to make us give in to it,
seduces us by taking the form of a pleasant sensation at the moment we imagine
or think of the object of desire. When we resist or try to restrain the impulse
of desire and avoid its fulfilment, then desire, in order to make us give in
and fulfil it, makes us suffer by assuming the form of very unpleasant pressure
which can be also torturing in cases of strong desires and attachment
(addiction). It also happens that the desire assumes (in the twinkling of an
eye) both, once its seductive form and immediately the form of pressure to make
it even more difficult for us and that we cannot resist giving in to it.
- Substitution mechanism. In case we cannot, for some reason,
satisfy a desire (e.g., having sex pleasure), then the desire
directs us to another pleasure to substitute the original one, for example,
instead of sexual pleasure to have pleasure through a bar of chocolate.
- Extension mechanism. It often happens that after
having a pleasure, desire drives us to extend the pleasure by experiencing
another type of pleasure. After having sexual pleasure, for example, we
continue to have pleasure through a drink and then with a meal.
- Anger mechanism. For whatever reason a desire is
obstructed, desire takes the form of anger.
- Mechanism of fear, insecurity and anxiety.
Until the fulfilment of a desire, there is impatience, anxiety, worry,
uneasiness, insecurity, and anguish. The same emotions are expressed about what
we already possess and can lose.
- Mechanism of sadness. When a desire is not satisfied it
eventually takes the form of frustration, sadness, grief, depression, etc.