Seeking further examples of Jenga metaphors has taken me to some interesting, some strange and some downright scary sites. I tell you, I’ve discovered some mighty weird ways people use Jenga – both literally and metaphorically.
But I was genuinely intrigued about the novel Jenga metaphor I came across today used in an exchange following an article about the film Krakatoa:East of Java on a blog entitled ‘ Six Mental Illness Myths Hollywood Wants You To Believe‘ by ShawnStruck
‘I am not a clinician, but I am a psychologist, and while some of the comments in this article are worthwhile, there’s a lot wrong with it. Simply put, psychology is not a game of Jenga, wherein one crucial block can bring down the entire tower of mental illness. No one factor made the person snap, and shoving one thing back into place won’t make them whole. If it did, this mental illness stuff would be easy.‘
……..In reply…….
I suppose the analogy here is supposed to imply that mental illness is not like Jenga (rather than psychology). However, the common practice of labeling people ‘imbalanced’ seems at least somewhat grounded in observation. One factor can, in fact, make a person snap. That’s not to say that there aren’t a number of slowly developing and complex underpinnings to any mental illness, but precipitating events are a very real phenomenon.