Displacement

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Displacement in the work place......

Can anyone please share their experiences of the above.
I'm currently awaiting to be assessed for Aspergers, 6 month wait I've been told before this happens. In the meantime my son's CPN has kindly offered to listen and try help me understand some of my problems I've experienced through life, when I explained how I felt/my actions etc in the work place he said I was experiencing Displacement.

Any feedback really would be appreciated.
Just_Me

Hmm.. displacement: "an unconscious defense mechanism whereby the mind redirects affect from an object felt to be dangerous to an object felt to be safe. For instance, some people punch cushions when angry at friends.

In a linguistic analogue of the Freudian definition, the term displacement may be used to refer to a figure of speech, a type of trope, that exhibits a similar mechanism, displacing meanings instead of affects.

Displacement operates unconsciously, in which emotions, ideas, or wishes are transferred from their original object to a more acceptable substitute. It is most often used to allay anxiety."

Not sure what you mean.. its a pretty ordinary psychological phenominon but then again it is a favorite fallback of psychologists because of its broad and vague implications.

I found this at
http://tinyurl.com/9t8yb

"Displacement - separation of emotion from its real object and redirection of the intense emotion toward someone or something that is less offensive or threatening in order to avoid dealing directly with what is frightening or threatening."

What a lot of words. I think (not sure) it means something like yanking your hatred off the boss and putting it onto the gofer. Oh, now I get it - it's like being mad at the boss and taking it out on the kids.

I'm sorry I really didn't explain myself properly...

When I am at work unless I am doing the same thing every day I tend to get confused and end up vocally stating this. On days when there isn't so much to do I feel like a spare part and have to ask my boss is she wants anything done. I'm only in at work for an hour at a time and while I am there unless I am kept busy for that whole hour I feel like I'm slacking.

When I described this to my sons CPN he said it was displacement.

That's rather strange... I don't see much displacement in there. It seems to me you are just anxious about being a useful member of the staff where you work. That's normal enough, because nobody likes to feel as though they're useless or incompetent... So you're subconsciously checking all the time to make sure you're being useful, I guess.

Not that your actions are bad; you're right to ask for work when you're out of stuff to do--why else do they pay you?

I still don't connect that with "displacement" though. Maybe she means you are anxious about something unrelated to work, and are transferring the anxiety onto your performance at work?

I'm angry at myself for feeling the way I do, I've been told countless times that I am a good worker, when my boss thanks me before I leave after my hour has passed I don't like being thanked for something I'm getting paid to do.

Its a kitchen I work in, one day I asked my boss if she needed anything doing she asked me to slice some tray bake, the tray bake that was infront on me I sliced as I had been asked(I focussed only what was in front of me) but I did not see the another one that was right beside it, so I went onto do something that was needing to be done at the moment that was in my normal routinue. A few mins later I looked and saw my boss slicing up the other tray bake I was meant to also do. I then said to her that I was sorry as I didn't see it and that she should have told me there was 2 tray bakes to be sliced. Unless I have clear instructions I get really angry at myself for failing to do such a little task.

If I clean something I don't normally do I'm not sure if I'm to clean it till its spotless ie the cooker or just give it a wipe over. Unless I ask I'd stand there and clean till it was spotless. There is other jobs to do so I get anxious that I'm not going to have enough time to do them in.

Its like anything I do I feel that if I don't do it properly why am I doing it at all.

Sounds like normal aspie need for clear instructions and perfectionism to me.

Im still not seeing the displacement shes talking about.

I wouldnt worry about it since it doesnt seem she understands those behaviors are normal for people like us.

I agree with Fraya....I think your "counselor" is projecting NT motives on Aspie behavior that has a different function and motive....ie...An NT may feel some "anxiety" in their personal life and try and "fix it" by fixing something else to "perfect" standards.(like an anorexic who controls their weight when they feel other things in their life are out of control).....but this is a misinterpretation for what an aspie is doing(IMO)They have a narrow focus on detail and will need a very specific definition of "clean" as their own internal message is that only "spotless" is clean...I am surprised that a AS "specialist" would come up with the concept of displacement to describe your behavior....I would be questioning their understanding of AS.On the up side....It sounds like your boss is very understanding(even if they dont know why you do things a certain way,they seem to like your over all work well enough to except these little misunderstandings....)

I've experienced the same trouble: Where's the balance between working quickly, and working well?

You can't do every job perfectly; because if you did, you would have to spend too much time on it. But you also shouldn't work as fast as possible, because you'd make mistakes and overlook necessary work.

That's the problem: Where's the line in between those two extremes? Just how good is "good enough"? Just how fast is "fast enough"?

The trick (one I haven't quite mastered myself) is to find the point on the spectrum of "Perfection --> Speed" that your employer wants from you.

Rather than wasting energy on anxiety (I know, it's easy to say and hard to do), treat this as a puzzle to solve; if you're anywhere near typical Aspie, you are probably pretty good at solving puzzles, once you completely understand them.

Callista....krex....Fraya
Thank you so much for your postings, next time I see my sons CPN (Community Psychiatric Nurse) I'm going to put him straight that he has no idea what he is talking about. Now I am thinking that it's not a good idea to discuss such matters with him. I'm quite sure he thinks I'm NT.

I am so happy I found this site, I feel so at ease being able to share my thoughts with others that know exactly what I am on about.

Just_Me