Karpman Drama Triangle writ large

The Karpman Drama Triangle, when played by two or three individuals, is hard enough to resolve. Resolution can require stepping out of the triangle scenario to assess it.

The problem can become almost entirely intractable when the Perpetrator is actually the 'system' itself. Ill-defined power structures, maybe AA groups, families, organisations, employers, states, civilisations, or humanity itself, become the locus of all projected 'sin'. This can take the form of extreme views, lurid and paranoid theories, gross generalisations, covert power networks, or other mental constructs. Knitted from cherry-picked details and bolstered by factoids, the Triangle is not merely a dynamic occurring within the person's life: it is the life within which the person lives, breathes, and has their existence.

To tackle this, the entire belief system must be dismantled. However, if the belief system is 'home', is in fact the universe the individual 'lives' in, how can this be done?

This is very much what happened to me when I joined AA. It was suggested I simply live one day at a time, mind my own business, ignore everything outside my 'hula hoop', and heal, which could take years. It did in fact take years.

I have a horrible habit of drifting back into this Karpman Drama Triangle writ large, and, when I do, the problem can be unpicked only by extracting myself, spending a while being the 'bozo on the bus' in AA, and waiting until I have enough distance to look at reality differently. Then, and only then, do I have a chance. I cannot keep one iota of my world view, or the whole thing is actually being kept, like DNA or a virus, ready to re-propagate itself throughout my entire being.

As the Big Book says, we have to be willing to let go entirely.