Reid casts wrong vote on health care for second time – CNN.com.

Again, we don’t take political sides at MyTherapyNet.

This story is about the psychology behind the things we unintentionally say.

We wanted to understand the psychological factors at play when Senator Reid voted twice opposite to his intention.

His response (through his office) is that it was because he was “so focused on getting health care passed.”

I spoke to two of the top psychologists in the nation this morning, Dr. Kathleene Derrig-Palumbo and Dr. Frank Lawlis.  I did not mention the issue with Senator Reid.  Instead, I simply asked – “if someone calls out an answer opposite to what they meant to say, what can that possibly mean?”  I then followed that up with, “what if they do it twice?”

Here’s what came back.

1.  It could be a repressed emotion.

2.  It could be a mistake.

3.  It could be repressed anger.

4.  In response to what doing it twice could mean, we’re told that it could unveil what a person is really feeling – it is the subconscious  allowing the truth come out.

For instance, if you ask a person “do you like to exercise”, and they respond “no … I mean, yes”.  They really don’t like it, but they want to believe that they do, or have others believe so.

Or it could just be a slip … or two.