Patanjali's five kleshas (afflictions) provide a diagnostic framework for understanding the psychological roots driving chronic emotional dysregulation.
Patanjali identifies five kleshas—avidya (ignorance), asmita (ego), raga (attachment), dvesha (aversion), and abhinivesha (fear of death/change)—as fundamental causes of suffering. These map remarkably onto dysregulation drivers: ignorance of emotional origins, ego-attachment to control, grasping for positive states, pushing away negative ones, and existential fear of impermanence. A client with dysregulation often struggles with avidya about their triggers, asmita about being 'weak' for struggling, raga for calm, dvesha against anxiety, and abhinivesha refusing that difficult feelings are temporary. Patanjali's klesha model, integrated with DBT's behavioral chain analysis, illuminates these deeper patterns. Rather than treating dysregulation purely as a skill deficit, recognizing kleshas as root causes invites compassionate investigation: What ignorance am I working from? What am I desperately grasping or pushing away? This deeper diagnostic layer strengthens DBT by addressing not just behavior but the afflictions sustaining dysregulation.
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