Angelina Jolie: An advocate for underwater primal scream therapy?
Angelina Jolie and her family make headlines all the time for their habits, but a recent report in Star magazine suggests her family has adopted…
Does Angelina Jolie practice underwater primal scream therapy?
Angelina Jolie and her family make headlines all the time for their habits, but a recent report in Star magazine suggests her family has adopted a new favorite activity–underwater primal scream therapy.
Though the report of Jolie’s new obsession comes from an insider and has not been confirmed by the actress herself, underwater primal scream therapy isn’t a concept she invented on her own. In fact, a umber of people participate in this form of stress relief, though not everyone opts to raise their voice underwater.
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The basic premise of this therapy is known as primal scream therapy–the water part is just to deaden the noise for yourself and those around you.
“They say that a primal scream is good therapy,” Wayde Mulhern, a member of U.S. Masters Swimming, told The Post-Bulletin. “And nobody’s going to hear you scream if you do it under the water.”
What is primal scream therapy?
Primal scream therapy can be further reduced in theory to just primal therapy, a form of stress relief developed by Dr. Aurthur Janov. According to Janov, repressed pain from an individual’s past is one of the primary causes of health issues in the present, and it is only by acknowledging and releasing that pain that a person can move forward in his or her life.
According to Janov, his discovery regarding the therapuetic capacity of screaming occured during a session with a a twenty-two-year-old college student. He was not psychotic, nor was he what is termed hysteric; he was a poor student, withdrawn, sensitive, and quiet, said Janov.
During the course of his therapy, repressed memories and pain eventually led to the patient having an outburst, which Janov describes as, “Suddenly he was writhing on the floor in agony. His breathing was rapid, spasmodic; “Mommy! Daddy!” came out of his mouth almost involuntarily in loud screeches. He appeared to be in a coma or hypnotic state. The writhing gave way to small convulsions, and finally, he released a piercing, deathlike scream that rattled the walls of my office.”
A similar experience was then had with a second patient who, after an intense therapeutic session, found his frustrations culminating in a scream.
“I have come to regard that scream as the product of central and universal pains which reside in all neurotics,” states Janov. “I call them Primal Pains because they are the original, early hurts upon which all later neurosis is built. It is my contention that these pains exist in every neurotic each minute of his later life, irrespective of the form of his neurosis. These pains often are not consciously felt because they are diffused throughout the entire system where they affect body organs, muscles, the blood and lymph system and, finally, the distorted way we behave.”
Primal scream therapy can be done underwater to dampen the noise. (Shutterstock)
Screaming essentially provides a way for the tension of these “early pains” to be released before they allow any more neurosis to build within an individual’s mind. Screaming itself, though therapeutic in the moment, must be accompanied by deep introspection by the individual.
Do Angelina Jolie and her family need primal scream therapy?
Until reports are confirmed, Angelina Jolie and her use of underwater primal scream therapy are just rumors; however, many people are seeing the value in screaming as a means of release. For some, deep introspection isn’t needed each time a scream is let out. Sometimes just the pressures of a day are enough to warrant a little therapeutic moment.
Is primal scream therapy necessary? The process is a theory only at this point, but experts indicate there is no harm to screaming–especially under water where the sound won’t make the neighbors wonder if they should call the police.
