Challenges, Threats and Chaos
This
brief paper discusses layered sources of chronic challenges, sources of
boundary violations and some implications for our health. In some respects, we
are living in an increasingly chaotic world; in some of these predispositions
to chaos we have a good deal of control over, and others are prompted by
environmental issues that we have little control over. Sources of unhealthy
levels of stress are everywhere we look and have dire implications for our
physical, spiritual and emotional health.
Chronic Disease Epidemic
In the
United States we expend more resources on healthcare than any other country,
while having more chronic disease than just about any other country. The key
dynamic here has to do with the fact that we are not implementing disease
prevention strategies in this culture. Why is this? Well, we know with
assuredness that consumption of low nutrient, animal-based foods contribute in
a major way to the whole series of chronic diseases. We have known this for
decades, but the traditional medical industry is reticent to act on this
information.
It follows that those of us with heart
disease, cancer, diabetes, inflammatory arthritis, dementia, and many other
chronic diseases, experience all of the financial demands, fragility in their
daily rituals, and stress of all sorts as a result of their illnesses.
Out of
necessity, we have a huge number of caretakers
in our country who are looking after millions of people with chronic
disease. We spend more money on disease
maintenance than anywhere in the world. So, this rampant chronic disease
continues as a critical demand on families, on the medical system, and as a
contribution to chronic stress syndromes, especially for primary caretakers. Caretakers
are at risk for inadequate self-care and therefore becoming ill themselves. The
status of our health is the back-bone of our efficiency, our economy, and our
outlook on life. When confronted with stress, the state of our health dictates
the effectiveness of our coping, our self-efficacy.
Toxic Media
We all
have access to television, smart phones, laptop computers, smart watches and on
and on. The Internet presents us with a significant dilemma given it’s almost
unlimited information flow, the plentiful mis-information, an over-abundance of
advertisements, and the whole screen addiction phenomenon. It has been said
that we can find any answer to any question on the Internet.
This 24-hour
news coverage of criminal activity and mayhem is psychologically unhealthy if
watched excessively. As a stress management technique, we specifically
recommend that people turn off the television, ‘media distancing’ and not expose themselves to this toxic material
excessively; continual exposure to this may create confusion, anxiety,
discouragement and can contribute to depression in vulnerable individuals. So,
it is a bit ironic that the information system is there to provide answers and
clarity, but in some ways has become quite a burden and a source of confusion.
Sensationalism in the presentation of the media is a problem because it
deviates from the truth. Some writers have humorously recommended closing down the
national media for 30 days in order to counter over emphasis on the world’s
problems.
So, let
us pause here and take a look at the additive, possibly synergistic effect of multiple sources of stress and challenge. So
far, we have discussed chronic physical and psychological disease and the
sometimes burdensome information apparatus. Synergy has to do with the concept
that 1+1 = 3; the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. So, it would
follow that a single physical illness like cancer can easily be a stressor unto
itself; but add to this, communication and information flow issues like
contradictory information, misinformation and inaccurate medical and
pharmaceutical information and we have a multiplying effect that can exacerbate
the illness. Most often these distortions in information are prompted by
financial issues, greed.
Hurricane Michael
On
October 10, 2018 Hurricane Michael, a category five hurricane with spinoff
tornadoes and 161 MPH winds made landfall near Mexico beach Florida. Nearby
Panama City Florida experienced tremendous damage and challenge including:
· Destruction or huge damage to most of the trees in Bay
County Florida
· 80% of all residential roofs needed replaced
· As time passed it became clear that there were critical
challenges in negotiating with building contractors, attorneys, and insurance
companies, all of which resulted in long-term financial demands.
· Even now after more than one and a half years, many
people remain with huge damage to their homes and are only now beginning to
rebuild the interior of their residences due to wind and water damage.
· Many businesses and residences were destroyed and have
not been repaired.
· Many people have left Panama City because of loss of jobs
and do not plan to return …
This is
a third source of challenge that has provided a huge threat to tens of
thousands of people; the threat has been physical, psychological, and
financial. And, the upcoming hurricane season began on June 1, 2020, giving us
good reason to feel an added increment of concern and challenge and caution.
Coronavirus
A fourth source of threat, social
disorganization, and challenge has to do with this worldwide, pandemic virus
called COVID-19.
In the
United States we have now lost in excess of 103,000 people to this pandemic
virus. So, families have been fragmented and traumatized, and our medical
resources have been pushed to the limits. We have restructured our lives to
accommodate social distancing, wearing protective masks, and downsizing
business flow. Part of the challenge here is that this virus is persisting over
an extended period of time and it may recur in the fall. Managing the response
to the virus has cost huge federal financial outlays, trillions of dollars. To
pretend that our economy can negotiate this level of increased debt, and not
encounter financial crises, is a fantasy.
Death of Mr. George Floyd
Fifth,
on May 25, 2020 Mr. Floyd was murdered in a confrontation with a police officer
while three fellow officers looked on and failed to intervene appropriately.
The well-organized
mob violence perpetrators who responded to this traumatic and unfortunate event,
were similar to foreign and domestic terrorists in their tactics. These are narcissists
who never learned about boundaries and limits and the distinction between right
and wrong. Organizations of left-wing agitators appear to have played a
significant part in this highly destructive, costly, out of control mob
violence. Regardless of whether the perpetrators were from the local area or
were systematically positioned from out of town, the same psychodynamics apply;
these people were experiencing a highly pathological level of emotion, not upset,
not angry, but dangerously rageful, and in some cases homicidal, dominantly
narcissistic, and without conscience. They were behaving in a criminal manner,
setting cars on fire, attacking police, setting buildings on fire, stealing the
contents of stores, and otherwise purposefully perpetrating resource-depleting
destruction. It is important to note that the contagion effect was operative here in a very significant way; thousands
of these criminals who were not in leadership roles, were influenced to
participate in these dramatically wayward activities, the Contagion Effect.
The
inability to appreciate boundaries, and negative effects on others of the
aggressive protest, is characteristic of pathological narcissism. One of the
seldom discussed but most important aspects of these hugely costly riots has to
do with the example it sets for younger people who may be quite malleable in
their thinking and behavior. With the broad news coverage broadcasted
frequently over time, there may well be a tendency to normalize this type of
sick behavior. The perpetrators can even be held up as idols because of the
dramatic news coverage everywhere we turn. We were recently exposed on
nationwide television to an event where a police officer was doused with
gasoline and set on fire. Clearly, the perpetrators of this behavior are a
threat to society, need to be incarcerated, and need to be held responsible for
their behavior.
Discussion
of etiology, and the more detailed causes of such harmful behavior is beyond
the scope of this paper, except to say that the role of our Christian churches
and intact versus fragmented families as well as cultural pathology are factors
to be considered.
One way
to consider this protracted example of mob violence is it’s psycho- emotional
impact on citizens throughout the country and even in overseas locations. The
uncertainty, the aggression, the tangible damage to businesses and police
resources taken in toto, represents a significant stressor; many of us respond
with concern and worry, uncertainty about safety issues, fear, and altered mood
states. This is stressful to thousands of people.
Many if
not most of the perpetrators felt quite justified in their actions, because of
the death of Mr. Floyd. This single motivating factor is a core issue in the
perpetuation of the violence. Nonetheless, believing that you are justified in
harming others is, obviously, is a huge blind spot and a critical error in
judgment. In part, this feeling is often felt to be justified as a result of
rather rampant relativism in our
culture, the belief that anything goes and that there really are no boundaries.
Yes, absolutes have their place in healthy living.
So, is
this an insurrection? Is this a war? Is this domestic terrorism? Is this a coup? Well, one of the truths, perhaps the most
important truth about this
violence
is that it is a major moral and spiritual setback. This violent protest
represents a fifth challenge, threat, and source of chaos; how are we doing
with integrating this additional affront to our social stability?
Financial Strain
Sixth, I
want to mention another challenge that we are confronted with as we negotiate
these multiple sources chronic stress. There has been a thread of dramatic
economic/financial demand in all of these sources of challenge:
· In Panama City we have continual financial demands as a
result of Hurricane Michael and associated loss of jobs and loss of businesses.
· Having a chronic disease, depending on the severity, can
deplete financial resources because of inability to work and medical bills.
· Regarding the coronavirus pandemic, we see many people
searching for work because of business closings and many hybrid approaches to
new businesses.
· Does the media play a role in perpetuating financial
difficulties? Well, the demeanor and language used by journalists and TV
talking heads and the statistics they share as well as the statistics they
don’t share are factors in fostering negativism vs optimism about our country’s
economic stability, including job possibilities.
· Added to all this, we have the chaos, challenge and threat
created by the death of Mr. George Floyd. The cause of tangible destruction in
our towns and cities is profound and must be shouldered by individuals,
families, businesses, and governmental entities.
· Yes, local government jurisdictions are financially
strapped because of the virus epidemic and associated loss of jobs and
businesses; tax revenues have taken a huge hit. There are up to 43 million
Americans out of work.
Political Divisiveness
Number
seven, on top of everything else, we have continuing degradation within the
political apparatus. The intensity of this issue has implications for the
integrity of our nation. Depending on the results of the coming election, we
could end up with a dramatically different social system based on socialism and
communism. And, let’s be clear about this, that the generation of young people
who see the political aggression everywhere can easily be influenced to believe
that that is the norm and that is acceptable political behavior; this is the contagion effect in action again. This
aggressiveness and the partisan bickering gets to be quite intense and the
accusations are more and more dramatic. Certain politicians are even raising
the issue of defunding police departments. This supposedly would be in order to
increase tax revenues … to decrease budget demands. But also, this would
clearly be an affront to traditional policing and a step toward ineffectual,
fantasy- based policing, with less incarceration and more tolerance for deviant
behavior.
The
saddest part of this series of threats and challenges is that it is hard to
understand how America can ever again trust the integrity of these perpetrators
of violence. Their destructive, lethal acts and criminal behavior are counter
to the Bill of Rights and common sense. We are now confronted with layers of
stress, cultural confusion, tangible threats to our survival and integrity, and
pointed attempts to compromise our law enforcement apparatus. This feels like a
war headed up by terrorists; to the extent that this idea (about war) may have
credibility, we need to utilize all necessary resources to deal with this. We very
much need to reestablish the integrity of our families; it is crucially
important to have a father in the family, a father who can set wholesome
examples of boundaries, right and wrong, and respect for authority. Also, our
Christian churches play a vital role here by reinforcing moral guidelines that
are Biblical, and providing a sanctuary for worship. Finally, the mental health
community has a role to play here, given that narcissism, mood disorders,
personality disorders, and addictions are all too common and need to be
resourced in all of our communities, both in primary mental health facilities
and in our prisons.
In the
meantime, the perpetrators of this protest violence continue to mimic the very
toxic emotions that led to the murder of Mr. George Floyd.
Some of
the other dynamics operative in this whole antisocial protesting movement
include:
· Mentioned above, the normalization of the aberrant
behavior redefines cultural norms and creates a very negative aspect of
American history
· The negative psychological effect on our youth who are
still learning right from wrong, boundaries, and reasonable ways to reckon with
those who they may disagree with.
· The Contagion Effect in which violence is perpetuated and mimicked, and can
provide a very toxic mental imprint that can contribute to post traumatic
stress conditions. Interestingly, simply viewing some of this naked aggression
on television can provide lifelong negative toxic memories that can be quite
troubling. This is not unlike military wartime experiences that can create
lifelong internal trauma.
· The Stockholm
Syndrome and the associated psychological defense mechanism called ‘Identification with the Aggressor’. This
interesting Stockholm Syndrome refers
to a positive bond of attachment formed between a victim of abuse and the
abuser. So, in the case of the George Floyd protest, we can see elements of
hundreds if not thousands of people engaging in illegal, sometimes very
dramatic aggressive acts as a result of their identification with some of the
organizations that are initiating the violence. This phenomenon can happen on a
global scale affecting not only enclaves within our culture, but huge regions
of an intensely populated City or state.
References
Diehl,
Hans and Ludington, Aileen: ‘Dynamic
health, a simple plan to take charge of your life,’ Siloam: A Strang Company, 2003.
Frates, Beth; Bonnet, Jonathan; Joseph,
Richard; Peterson, James: ‘lifestyle
medicine handbook: An introduction to the power of healthy habits,’ Healthy
learning, 2019.
Zahler, William A.: ‘Health, inertia, and information: why are we
sick?’Printed by Create Space, Copyright 2018 by William A. Zahler.
Zahler, William A.: ‘Synergy and the dynamics of lifestyle change,’
Printed by Create Space, Copyright 2019 by William A. Zahler.
William Zahler, MSW, DipACLM
Website & Blog: lifestyle –
interventions.com
YouTube: William Zahler
Phone: Home
850 784-0474; Cell: 850-276-9664
June 2020
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