It may affect communities as a more collective response after disasters, However let me express my take on the world at large :there seems to be a recent phenomena that is akin to a collective PTSD like behaviors in communities culminating in a wide array of symptoms that seems to make people frozen in various ways in a collective sense.
I am speculatively tunnel-scoping here, but it is more apparent to me that nations can collectively respond as if large groups are affected by various PTSD symptoms , mostly in varying degrees .
There is trauma experience , and of course the whole world has experienced traumatic events , in fact people have had collective traumas experienced cumulatively, the most prominent and nearest being the pandemic . When you look back it seems that destabilizations that affects people elsewhere is collectively felt to a certain extent by all, more as a vicarious experiential event through the media news spin cycle , charging up their emotions .
If one cannot separate the self from it , to look inwards to a point of calm within, the boundary of identity dissolves and sense of self feel assaulted , either affiliating with the victim or the aggressor or both in varying degrees at varying times...
There is no salve for the internal chaos that come from the absorptive external chaos . So what happens with this? Let's speculate using some of the symptoms described of PTSD, as if they are collectively felt .
The trauma triggers other recalls within the brain ( again what is one person's trauma is not necessarily the next persons' trauma or even trigger)
You feel triggered , which in itself shows up as a variety of behaviors , thoughts or actions .You have flashes of events from the past which brings up irrational fears and loss of control.
You want to withdraw , you want to do something(right now) or just feel antsy, irate , so in an effort to calm those internal feelings , you surf the media some more, which gets you to more triggers. You feel no one is doing anything and blame a whole lot of people , still those triggers keep going and you feel ineffective and frustrated ...your thoughts are no longer coherent as you are not able to differentiate where some events or thoughts end and others begin. You dwell on things and you stew , feeling less effective.
As you withdraw more you also feel more disconnect, this leads to inaction , or wrong actions .You feel just dissatisfaction , and the outcome is more dissatisfaction and ' blaming the other'. Its always easy to target some others or whole systems instead of effectively managing what is within your control and reach, hence the effective actions to be taken are stifled and only chaos ensue . This internal chaos seeks out others and more chaos and disorganization in a group setting is then the outcome .
A community PTSD of this nature do not follow an identified trauma , hence it is even more damaging for the whole community...
The collective effects are felt and internalized further and if each within the collection of people do not try to quiet their minds any loud mouth gets to spark and set off those wrong actions, an avalanche of wrongs then comes forth with much disastrous consequences... There is need for leadership, strong leaders . They are not the loudest or wildest, but those with integrity of thoughts and calm thoughtful actions for the good of all in the collective group. It takes integrity and clarity of thoughts and actions to lead and there are very few who are true leaders.
(by PC-3 07/09/2023)
No comments:
Post a Comment