Quick summary: Foundational devaluation syndrome describes how experiences from birth until the development of critical thought between ages four and seven embed lasting beliefs of low self worth in the brain’s foundational processes. This can lead to persistent feelings of being unlovable or inadequate that undermine relationships and careers throughout life without the individual recognising the root cause. Recognising this process highlights the need for mental health approaches that address deep seated self concepts to improve wellbeing and reduce cycles of underachievement in personal and professional spheres.

First of all, something important to bear in mind. The term “subconscious” is commonly in use in articles about mental health. But this is not some mystical hidden power of the mind, as is often promoted and believed. It is a process in the physical brain, a process that that is already fully functional at the moment of birth.

You have probably never heard of foundational devaluation syndrome (FDS for short) until you read the title of this article. That’s because I only recently coined the term after a great deal of research into a mental health issue that is seldom, if ever, discussed.

It refers to the workings of the very deepest part of the core of self, the part of you that was formed as a result of everything you encountered, everything you experienced, from the moment of birth until you eventually developed a process known as ‘critical thought’. 

It is impossible to state exactly when that would have been, thought was somewhere between four and seven years old. Until then, your subconscious would accept every idea you learned about you as an absolute truth.

A child is born with an innate curiosity, a compulsion to make sense of everything around them and because they are egocentric, centred entirely on self, they know that everything around them is to do with them, because of them or for them. Not only that, it is all accepted as fact, a reality, until they are old enough to question it.

Everything they observe is laid down in the subconscious processes as the foundations of the sense of self and how they fit into the world around them. It is not stored as words, ideas, or even feelings, but as a fundamental subconscious knowledge of who and how they are. It means that:

• If they repeatedly encounter disgust (which is a born-in recognition) they know they are disgusting.
• If they are frequently ignored, they know they are worthless.
• If they are often bawled at, they learn they are powerless.
• If they are told constantly that they are stupid, they will believe it.
• If they are not loved, they will not recognise love if it ever comes to them.
• Every single experience is marked as ‘normal for them’.

These early experiences of the world and their place in it forms the basis of their personal truth about self. Everything they encounter later, even when critical thought is finally established, will be assessed in relation to that fundamental subconscious belief system. And it will be that way for life.

It can often result in any or all of profoundly low self-worth and self-belief, a certainty that that they are unlovable, universally disliked, and a natural failure. There is an expectation of being dismissed, discounted, overlooked, ridiculed and ignored.

The outcome

Foundational Devaluation syndrome means exactly what it says (the individual has been devalued) taught that, to one degree or another, that they are of little worth. They don’t compare themselves with others to understand or discover this, since they already have a deep recognition that they are of lower competence and value than most.

FDS might be only a partial process, perhaps only affecting only their attitude to money or love, perhaps believing they cannot have either; or it might be nearly or totally complete, affecting every area of life. 

Inherited personality factors will come into play, too, so if somebody with FDS has inherited a tendency to aggression, they may be defensively aggressive, challenging anybody they believe is dismissing them in order to hide the truth. 

And if they have inherited a subservient ‘way of being’ they will be constantly apologetic for their shortcomings, perhaps seeking to avoid any form of punishment or expectation that they do any better.

The major issues are often seen in relationships and career, since these are two of the most important aspects of an individual’s life; and in those areas FDS is at its worst when there is a high degree of intelligence, coupled with the unshakeable knowledge that they are stupid. 

Then, they will choose menial careers which will not inspire them, or they will fail in careers that would otherwise suit them. They may continually change jobs or seek to avoid careers altogether to avoid being discovered as ‘useless’. 

The one who thinks they are unintelligent will seek an unintelligent life partner, often leading to frequent conflict because of differing levels of understanding and diverse core values. They may go through frequent breakups, or avoid deep relationships altogether, basing them solely on sexual need and tiring of them quickly.

Perhaps the worst aspect of all this is that the individual has absolutely no understanding that they are not as they could be. Instead there is a false recognition, below the level of conscious thought or reason, that they are inferior and no amount of discussion can ever convince them otherwise. 

They seldom present themselves for any type of therapy because they have no recognition that there is anything wrong, or that any change could be made. They believe, without anger or regret, that most others are intrinsically ‘better’ than they are.

And here’s the kicker. This whole process can work in the opposite direction, where an individual is “supervalued” from birth. They learn they are loved because they are wonderful and special, that they are important, that every whim and requirement is attended to as immediately as possible, that they are clever and entitled to more than most others.

This would then be foundational supervaluation syndrome. In general they will be happier in life than those with FDS, though not necessarily any more successful in the long term; but they may well feel that they are. They will frequently be popular as a result of their self-confidence and they will probably not suffer from the syndrome in any way at all.

So, it is only the FDS sufferer (who may only have realised they are such by reading this article) that would benefit from therapy to resolve their false beliefs about self. 

And there is a problem, because, currently, there is no known therapeutic process that can make lasting change that deep in the psyche where there are no thoughts only active concepts that are as much a part of the individual as life itself.

But I’m working on it.

Terence Watts is the creator of Brain Working Recursive Therapy (BWRT).