Plain Advice

The first step toward finding a solution is identifying the problem. This may sound simple, and sometimes it is. However with those things that have the most negative impact in your life, it is usually complex to uncover the core issue. Many times, the thing you may identify as the problem is really just a symptom of an even deeper, more fundamental problem.
For example, an overweight person may find their issue to consist of the following dimensions: The top layer would be the obvious facts; the individual takes in more calories and/or exercises less than is optimal for their body to maintain a healthy weight. Someone who does not have a weight problem may look at an overweight person and wonder why they don’t take the obvious steps to lose weight. I doubt there are many overweight adults who don’t know that they should eat less and exercise more. The observer may consider that the individual is just lazy or lacks motivation. Often, lack of willpower and low motivation are factors, but they are just another layer in the onion. Below the surface, weight issues are rarely a simple matter of lack of knowledge, willpower, or motivation.

So lets move deeper into the weight problem. Here is where your problem becomes more unique and less obvious. Just one example of an underlying issue could be the fear of attracting attention from the opposite sex. Underlying this issue could be that the person was raped or violated in some other way. It is like peeling layers off an onion, and in many cases there are many many layers. See how finding the real problem can actually be quite complicated?

I am going to stop here to say that I am not a proponent of waiting until you have gotten to the very bottom of a problem to start working toward resolving it. Why? Very often, getting to the bottom of the proverbial onion is something that is just far too painful for you to handle. Sometimes it is not even possible. At least right now.

My suggestion is that you peel that onion as far as you can handle and at the same time be functional. If you find yourself curled up in bed, unable to go to work because you realized that the real reason you cannot trust your spouse is because your father abandoned you, don’t go there yet. It’s OK to know that there is still more to uncover as you start working on the issue. Allow yourself to grow and develop and as you go through the process, you will become more able to identify and accept what lies beneath the surface. This is not the same as being in denial about the real issue. It is simply acknowledging that you are not able or ready to really get into it.

When you find a solution to a problem that is just a symptom of a bigger problem, you are really just learning to cope with the symptom. This is perfectly fine, and better than continuing in a negative behavior just because you haven’t faced the issue beneath it all yet, for whatever reason.

For example, I have Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). There are debates about the real cause of this, along with most mental health disorders. Is it biological, environmental, unresolved issues from childhood? Nobody knows for sure, which prevents me from solving the real problem. However, I have found ways to cope with the symptoms. The solutions I have found are acceptable to me for now. I am able to function and live life pretty much the same as others around me. If I were to be obsessed with finding the real reason for my disorder, I would become highly frustrated because it would be hard to come up with a definitive answer.

So keep in mind that often, your problem solving will be focused on finding strategies to manage the symptoms. If you are clinically depressed but have not figured out WHY, it’s OK. One coping strategy might be taking an anti-depressant. The real underlying issue has not been solved, but a painful symptom may be alleviated. This allows you to function and be more effective in your search for other long term solutions.

I suggest sitting down in a quiet place, with a pencil and paper. Give yourself enough time to really reflect on the issue you are trying to address. Brainstorm on paper if this helps. If it helps to talk it out with someone, do that. The point is, open yourself up and consider what the problem really is. Dig down as deep as you can or want to. Like I said above, if you start feeling your world crashing down because you dug too far, stop for now. Put that part on a shelf and give yourself permission to deal with it later. If your problem really has no known cause, stop at the symptoms that lie right above what could be the cause.

It really is not necessary that you ever get to the root of some problems. Sometimes, though, there will be a trade off you must be willing to accept. My grandfather was a World War II veteran. From the little he talked about his experiences, I gather that he saw many things in the war that traumatized him. He suffered from insomnia for years, and he hinted to me that he had nightmares frequently about his experiences in the war. He was never willing to talk openly about what he experienced with me or anybody else, to my knowledge. I think my grandpa dealt with his trauma the way he was taught, and the way he saw best. I also believe that the things he experienced festered inside of him for the rest of his adult life. Had he processed this information in a therapeutic way, he may have not had so many sleep issues for the next 70 years of his life.

And then there are the problems that really don’t have a deep dark issue attached to them. If you really cannot peel the layers off a problem, it is likely that what you see is what you get. For example, sometimes I have the problem of not knowing what to fix for dinner. All it takes is a little planning and my problem is solved. Don’t take this article about problem solving to an extreme where you are making problems bigger than they really are.

In social work, a process we frequently refer to is “assessment”. One dictionary definition of this word is: “To determine the value, significance, or extent of.” In problem identification, it is necessary to always be assessing the extent and significance of the problems. Assessment needs to be a part of your problem solving strategy. This process is not linear, and neither is identifying your problem. This means it is not something that you do only in the beginning of the process. Assessment is something that is ongoing. If you keep this in mind, even if you start at a level that is not as deep as the real problem, eventually, through ongoing assessing, you will eventually get to the core if that is your goal.

Another important suggestion is that if the issue is a very painful one for you to deal with, you should seriously consider becoming involved with a therapist to help you through this process. If you decide to take this path, see “Choosing a Therapist”.

Share This

This entry was posted on Friday, May 25th, 2007 at 5:32 am and is filed under Problem Solving Strategies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.