I mean, I guess it's nice that so many people haven't experienced what "harmful coping mechanisms" are. And I don't wish it on anyone either of course, but like, it's is very VERY normal to think about your previous coping mechanism when you're in a high stress situation. And it's never an ACTIVE thinking, it gets triggered. And and there are a ton of harmful coping mechanisms, cheating is one, so is self harm, suicidal ideation, etc. Your brain is USED to that coping strategy even when you are ACTIVELY trying to recover from it. As someone who struggles with the same thing- different coping mechanism though, I'm 27 and I still get surprised by how casually it slips into my normal thoughts, even before I consciously realise that I'm stressed or overstimulated. If he acts on it I'll definitely think he's a piece of shit, buuuut him thinking about it and then having a immediate surprise reaction is proof enough that this wasn't a conscious thought. It kinda sucks how it catches you by surprise tbh, buuut we cope.
I mean, I guess it's nice that so many people haven't experienced what "harmful coping mechanisms" are. And I don't wish it on anyone either of course, but like, it's is very VERY normal to think about your previous coping mechanism when you're in a high stress situation. And it's never an ACTIVE thinking, it gets triggered. And and there are a ton of harmful coping mechanisms, cheating is one, so is self harm, suicidal ideation, etc. Your brain is USED to that coping strategy even when you are ACTIVELY trying to recover from it. As someone who struggles with the same thing- different coping mechanism though, I'm 27 and I still get surprised by how casually it slips into my normal thoughts, even before I consciously realise that I'm stressed or overstimulated.
If he acts on it I'll definitely think he's a piece of shit, buuuut him thinking about it and then having a immediate surprise reaction is proof enough that this wasn't a conscious thought. It kinda sucks how it catches you by surprise tbh, buuut we cope.