#192 / PTSD

I believe that self-esteem, generally seen as a psychological issue, has a "political" analogue, and that our individual and collective self-esteem, or lack of it, has a major impact on how we either succeed, or not, with efforts to create a human world that fulfills our deepest needs and desires.

It strikes me that things are exactly the same with respect to the psychological condition of post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. That psychological condition may well have a political expression, too, and I wonder if our current politics can't largely be explained by the fact that our society, generally, is suffering from a rather extreme form of that condition.

Desmond Tutu's recent article, pointing out that although we all suffer under the threat of nuclear disaster, no nation is actually doing anything to relieve us from this nightmare, is just an example of what I am talking about.

I am often accused (by my friends and those who love me) of being too "negative" about our situation. If that's a valid comment, and I admit its truth, this could well be another manifestation that the PTSD diagnosis is accurate, and that the diagnosis may correctly be applied not only to our individual conditions, but to our collective existence, as well.