He ostracism it consists in not participating, either by its own decision or by an external imposition, of public life. The concept comes from the Greek language, when ostracism was a political punishment which was to banish an individual from his community after an assembly vote.
The person condemned to ostracism, in this way, he had barely ten days to leave the city, with a prohibition to return that extended for a decade. Historians maintain, however, that many times this penalty was finally reduced and the punished person could return before the deadline was met.
The ostracism was justified as a decision that benefited the community in general, keeping those people who, for one reason or another, were out of town harmful .
At present, the notion of ostracism is used in the field of politics with reference to the one to whom it is subjected to a vacuum that manifests itself in its exclusion to the participation of acts, meetings, etc. For example: "The deputy suffers ostracism since the president rebuked him in a public event", “The Secretary of Commerce left his ostracism by participating in a meeting with agricultural producers”.
The idea of ostracism, however, is more frequent to name the person who decides not go outside or not attend public shows . This decision may be due to an excess of shy , to an antisocial character or, in the case of celebrities, to avoid being bothered by people: “After winning the prize, I opted for ostracism since I was not comfortable with fame”.
Ostracism in response to rejection
This last meaning of the concept is also used in the field of psychology to designate those persons who by Emotional problems They cannot or do not want to face contact with others. Generally these people have suffered rejection of some kind and this leads them to look for ostracism.
The rejection of a family member when we are very young leaves us with a wound that time does not heal.
The consequence of that rejection is comparable to what produces in us a physical pain; activating even the same region of the brain. This shows that the pain we feel is real, not just metaphysical. Therefore, our brain responds in the same way. When we burn, every time our sore area rubs on something that causes physical pain in us, we immediately move our arm away to keep it from hurting; We do the same with the pain that rejection causes in us. If we have felt despised or badly loved, we try to protect ourselves from future damage moving away from human contact.
It is important to mention that social rejection is found linked directly with death ; in the primitive communities those individuals who were rejected knew that outside the group the chances of survival were almost nil. It is believed that when we feel rejection, that feeling of irrevocable loss, of death, is activated in our memory.
Rejection deprives us of something that all humans need: group membership . For this reason when we can reconcile with people who have rejected us or when we make new ties, the emotional pain we felt disappears, or is relieved.
But the most important thing to note is that the rejection usually generates antisocial behavior in people (opposite to those driven by nature itself). And this is one of the most negative effects of this pain in the life of an individual because it leads him to seclusion and to take refuge in a solitude that is not satisfactory. The consequences of this ostracism can range from neglect and sadness to the need to dump that pain in addictions or other harmful behaviors, and can even end suicide.
