double bind

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double bind

1. A psychological impasse created when a person perceives that someone in a position of power is making contradictory demands, so that no response is appropriate.

2. A situation in which a person must choose between equally unsatisfactory alternatives.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

double bind

a situation of conflict from which there is no escape; unresolvable dilemma

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

dou′ble bind′

1. a situation in which a person is faced with contradictory demands such that to obey one is to disobey the other.

2. dilemma (def. 1).

[1955–60, Amer.]

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Noun

double bind - (psychology) an unresolvable dilemma; situation in which a person receives contradictory messages from a person who is very powerful

dilemma, quandary - state of uncertainty or perplexity especially as requiring a choice between equally unfavorable options

psychological science, psychology - the science of mental life

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