Illusion, or ignorance, is a mental factor that involves having faulty perception of reality. The individual is not able to see things clearly when they experience illusion.

Illusion/Ignorance

Attachment, or desire, happens when an individual experiences a selfish desire for an object. The person's reality is altered because they want something so much that they idealize it and fixate on it.

Attachment/Desire

Aversion, or hostility, is a mental factor that describes what happens when a person becomes so angry that they perceive everything around them negatively. 

Aversion/Hostility

There are three basic negative mental factors:

- Illusion/ignorance
- Attachment/desire
- Aversion/hostility

Villanova University

Negative mental factors are those that distort a person's reality in a way that makes them less calm and more imbalanced.

Negative Mental Factors

Fabrizio, D. (ed.). (2009). Clinical handbook of mindfulness. Springer. 

Clinical Handbook of Mindfulness

Negative mental factors can lead a person to experience intense distress. For example, aversion can lead to envy and contempt, whereas attachment can lead to dependency.

The Impact of Negative Mental Factors on the Individual

For every negative mental factor, there is a corresponding positive mental factor that can dominate it. When a positive mental factor is present in a person's mind, the opposite negative factor cannot occupy their mind.

Relationship Between Positive and Negative Mental Factors

Rumination happens when a person spends a significant amount of time thinking and worrying about a problem. The thought that is ruminated feeds itself continuously, so the person becomes stuck in a constant cycle of worry that eventually distorts their perception of the reality of the situation.

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