Klesha: Five Afflictions Fueling Emotional Dysregulation

The kleshas are five fundamental afflictions that Patanjali identifies as sources of all suffering: avidya (ignorance), asmita (ego), raga (attachment), dvesha (aversion), and abhinivesha (fear of death). These are not moral failings but psychological patterns. Emotional dysregulation is typically rooted in one or more kleshas. Ignorance of emotional patterns and triggers; ego-defensive reactivity; attachment to specific emotional states or outcomes; aversion to painful feelings; fear of emotional overwhelm or relational death. DBT addresses kleshas indirectly through its comprehensive skill domains. Emotion regulation skills address raga and dvesha (regulating approach and avoidance). Mindfulness addresses avidya. Interpersonal effectiveness addresses ego defenses and asmita. Distress tolerance addresses abhinivesha. Patanjali's five-klesha model provides a coherent psychological anatomy of dysregulation, suggesting that sustainable healing requires addressing multiple afflictive patterns simultaneously. This framework validates DBT's multi-modal approach and helps practitioners understand dysregulation not as a unified problem but as interconnected afflictive patterns requiring integrated intervention.