Is there such a thing as a healthy desire to retaliate when wronged or is it in psychology always considered?

Question

negative and or pathological? Why and how so. If it can be healthy then where is the line?

Answer 1

There is no healthy retaliation, at least in psychology.

Retaliation can come in two general ways

REVENGE: Where retaliation comes in the form of an emotionally driven, verbal and/or physical onslaught that is easily identified by a flustered look on the face and an obviously basic retaliation against the other person.

CALCULATED RE-CONFRONTATION: Where retaliation takes the form of a well thought out and planned confrontation that is typically verbal and very rarely physical. It is identifiable by a calm and collected mood and well thought out and carefully picked words.

While neither of these forms of retaliation are healthy, due to the fact that it requires an unnecessary expenditure of energy and time, revenge is the least healthy due to the emotional strain and the heightened stress level that it causes.

Answer 2

When wronged, there is always anger. The feeling to want to retaliate is understandable, but not very constructive since 2 wrongs dont make a right. However, anger has a strong charge with it that calls for some action. The healthy way of dealing with anger is to do "something" about the wrong you have received. Constructive ways of handeling this are to turn and walk off, to take a break and calm down, then address the problem and resolve it, right injustices, take action to prevent it from happening again.

Answer 3

Two wrongs don't make a right, three lefts do.
There is a difference between retaliation and justice being served. I assume your question is directed toward the US reaction to 9/11.
Americans, on the whole, don't feel justice has yet been served in that case. We cannot have closure until justice balances the scale again.

Answer 4

I could make an argument that to retaliate would help with closure for the individual and in that way reduces the distress to that persons life. And since causing distress to a persons life is one of the signs of a mental illness, reducing the amount of the distress must, in fact, be a positive right?


Now this is just self diluted warped logic... but it sounds good doesn't it :)

Answer 5

No, a negative action will breed negative consequences. You may feel better initial but soon you'll be looking over your shoulder, wondering what other people thought of your action, and questioning how good of a person you are. Just forgive them if your can and if thats not possible then try to understand how some people could do something like that. Put yourself in their shoes, no matter how dirty and stinky they are. :)

Answer 6

A desire to retaliate is as natural as wanting to go to the toilet or have sex, but you'd be pretty stupid to do any of them "right now as and when the impulse took you. The difference between success and failure in life is often down to self control and responding in a controlled or planned way in order to achieve what you really want..

People who can't control their basic instincts are as welcome as adults without potty training.

Answer 7

by means of fact every person is idiots thats why. Im sorry if my answer sounds like that i'm in undesirable form yet sometimes i'm getting so ill of ***** footing around human beings its gets too stressful for words to describe it.

Answer 8

Sure it's healthy - it's a form of self-preservation. Actually acting on that desire, however, isn't necessarily healthy.

Answer 9

It's all depands on your mood, and present health condition, for example if you are sick fewer, perhaps, and you were to eat a healty food / fruits it might get worst, so there is nothing to say wronged desire.