ABSTRACT
“Mirror of Madness” explores yearning for revenge which paves the way for addictive pattern of malicious behavior. The author uses stories from her own life and from her practice of psychotherapy to identify the “malice fix,” an addictive response to pain which brings about momentary relief, yet, interferes with possibility of genuine healing. The degree of pain from our own wounds determines the frequency and intensity of the fix we need. Our partner becomes the mirror into which we reflect our madness in hopes of ridding our soul of burden. As a society, we teach people to use this mirror as a fix on every level, from dyadic relationships on up to national wars. At some point in the evolution of humanity, it was probably very functional, but the author suggests that, at this juncture in history, its usefulness has been outworn, and it has become more of liability to human relatedness than necessary tool for survival.
