I would like to emphasize that the psychologic reaction of an individual to a given situation depends much more on the individual to a given situation depends much more on the individual than it does on the specific situation. John Brown will respond differently to a certain set of circumstances than will James Smith. The reasons for the difference in responses result from the differences in the personalities of Brown and Smith; therefore, it is somewhat misleading to speak of the psychological aspects of deafness, as though deafness in itself were possessed of a psychology and could be depended upon to provide the same sort of reaction in everyone whom it touched. Some of us behave thus and so as the result of the loss of a limb, or the sudden accumulation of wealth; while others exhibit entirely different patterns of behavior under similar conditions. The personality of each human being is an exceedingly complex thing, and no two personalities are exactly the same. It is this personality of ours with which we attempt to adjust to life, to find contentment, to achieve a measure of success. Because our personalities are so varied, our efforts to adjust are laid along different lines. What is desirable to one individual is unimportant to the next. Each of us measures happiness in his own terms; and likewise, disappointment, frustration, and unhappiness are interpreted and evaluated by people in manners characteristic of themselves.
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