The Paranoia Switch is a clinical, neuropsychological, and practical examination of what terror and fear politics have done to our minds and to the very biology of our brains. In it, I examine a psychopolitical phenomenon-- which I call the "paranoia switch”-- that has plagued human beings throughout world history, a destructive pattern that often foreshadows massive social change and war. I provide psychological answers to such questions as, What has happened to us since September 11, 2001? and Will I ever feel as safe as I used to feel? and Is there anything I can do to feel safer right now?-- concerns I have heard from Americans countless times in the years since 2001. Likewise, I address the worried question I have been asked by many people in other parts of the world-- What has happened to the Americans?
In addition, I discuss crucial but often unrecognized issues such as the neuropsychologically "contagious" nature of fear, the effects of terror on culture and human progress, how to recognize a fear-mongering politician, the genetics of political partisanship, and the invisibly retraumatizing effects of national crises since 2001, including the aftermath of hurricane Katrina.
The book’s title, The Paranoia Switch, has a triple reference. First of all, it refers to a psychopolitical change, secondly to the brain’s “fear switch” (inside the limbic system), and thirdly to the dissociative phenomenon of personality “switching” in reaction to trauma. Dissociation (the “switch” in the title)-- being apart from oneself emotionally as a way to cope with overwhelming stress-- occurs in individuals and in groups after trauma, and in people who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. One of the most painful chronic symptoms of PTSD, and of our whole nation at present, is a vague, and sometimes not so vague sense of suspiciousness and paranoia regarding one’s fellow human beings, and the world in general, and an exaggerated perception of vulnerability that inspires irrational behavior. It is what made us buy duct tape in 2001. And now, all these years later, it is what makes us, in a population built on tolerance, stare openly at the dark-skinned person in the airport, whom we would not even have noticed before.
For more than twenty-five years, I have been a therapist for individual survivors of psychological trauma-- victims of physical and sexual abuse, torture, and natural disasters-- and have had the privilege of seeing many courageous people recover from their personal traumas and go on to live satisfying lives. Beginning with a self-scored "walking-around anxiety test" for readers to take, this new book is, in part, an outline for national recovery. Through long and uplifting professional experience with recovering individuals, I can offer a guardedly positive prognosis for Americans as a group, even in a continuing “age of terrorism.” Twenty-five years of experience with survivors has made me hopeful that human beings, as individuals and as nations, may one day be able to cut into the ancient and endlessly destructive cycle of psychological trauma and violent retaliation.
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Click Here to read an Excerpt from my book
Join me for a live chat in News.gather.com on Tuesday, September 11th, from 1-2pm ET.
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Comments: 19
As a retired therapist I understand that for many people perception is realtiy, but knowing what you real risks are will help reduce the feelings imminent danger. The homicide rate in the US has dropped about 50% from its higest level, but most people are not aware of this improvement because of the 24/7 news that we all see. Too often we have paranoid feelings about things that are not real threats while we ingnore dangers that are very real.
Really were we ever safe before?
No....we just thought we were. I think that was just a "wake up" call for thos idiots who thought we were safe & all good & that nothing could go wrong.
Well now everyone knows that America is in danger just like every other country. We Just have fresh water & enough food for everyone in the meantime.
But we still have our problems just like every other country.....so its just the same as it was six years ago. Except now we have George Bush as our President...NICE!
What I am afraid of is a large scale attack, such as with nuclear weapons or something like a dirty bomb or nerve-gas, biological warfare.
I tend to think that we would know who sent this, and pulling off such an attack would just make it worse for the perpetrator, and all Muslim countries, and Muslims, but one can never know how these things are calculated by the enemy. I can only think that if one of our cities was attacked with a nuclear weapon that we would retaliate on any possible enemy in a devastating way.
There are some thing that have changed the world in my lifetime significantly. One has been AIDS ... a big one for me since, though not gay, I grew up in a time where we were taught that catching VD was the worst that could happen to us. But even before that there was terrorism - my first recollection was airline hijackings and the Munich Olympics on TV. My outlook or the threat of terrorism has not really changed much since I knew it was out there.
So much for progress.
Preemptive strike is not following the rules, kidnapping and torture are not fair or kind, and we certainly are not helping to clean up the mess we made. None of this makes us happy OR safe.
Yes, what has happened to the "Americans"? (I presume this means residents of the USA even though it refers technically to anyone in North, South, or Central America.) I think our selfishness and covert attempts to rule the world and dabble in other country's politics and lives, has finally caught up with us.
How it will all turn out depends on what we do from now on, I suspect. Did we listen in kindergarten, or not?
The paranoia may be with the US keeping up with their image of most powerful country in the world, giving their citizen a false sense of security.
There is more power and safety in getting along with other nations and developing strong friendship ties than being looked on as someone to fear.
Instead of giving aid we should be giving good will.
My concern is for government lack of foresight in the use of our finite resources and the dependency we have on the big corporation for our food supply.
Sorry for the rant, but you asked. Life comes without a moneyback guarantee, but to refuse to make the world a better place because it would nip the edges of our comfort zones is simply criminal.
> human race than I am with my personal survival.
-speechless- .... I thought I had heard everything, but now way.
Well, after that though I will ever believe a thing you say. What
a delusion. First, we can never know from our limited idiosynchratic
points of view as little human ants what the big picture of survival
is, so there is not point in putting higher than your own business,
that is not concern, it is just stupidity. Sorry to be harsh, but I think
it is important to understand that.
Individual lives and egos are all we have. We can think we glimpse
a vision of what is outside us, but it is only real in a projected
intellectual way. Not in a way to give up ones own life based on
faith ... or you are no further spiritually developed than a suicide
bomber.
The action that makes sense right now about global warming
is arguing, measuring and coming to some concensus, not taking
actions that we do not understand ... at least in my opinion.
What is the point of giving contraception to the third world when
they may not be convinced that for them the best thing is to
limit families ... maybe they are stupid or do not see it our way.
We cannot afford to give them clear alternatives, or take care
of them. That is not our fault.
After all that I agree that we should all be willing to help the
planet ... right now I think this means listening and thinking,
and then trying to agree on some few simple things.
To take major action without an idea of the problem or the
consequence is equal to acting hysterically, and that usually
makes matters worse.
we do not have a century to reflect on these topics. If you wait for universal agreement on , good luck to your descendants, if any. And no man is an island, we are all part of the main. Do I have to explain to you Bruce that you are going to shuffle off this mortal coil someday? At a certain point, without shared assumptions, there is no point to discussion. If you do not think that the fate of the human race matters more than your own, have a nice day. I do not want to be one of those people who trashes my hotel room and steals everyything not nailed down- figuratively speaking.
We are vulnerable to hazards like drunk drivers, flesh-eating bacteria, demented outliers like the Virginia Tech shooter, and, yes, fanatics who are willing to sacrifice their own lives in order to instill mortal fear in our hearts and advance whatever agenda they support. To some extent, the latter have succeeded. However, most of the fear that most of us feel in relation to the terrorism threat is unreasonable, or, to be honest, irrational.
Six years have passed since 9/11 and nothing comparable has either occurred or even been attempted in this country. Our vulnerability to such an attack, arising from our earlier self-satisfied false sense of security, has been reduced enormously. We have dedicated vast resources to detecting and dealing with such threats. The perpetrators of 9/11 have been hounded into hiding and can no longer act with the sort of impunity they enjoyed before they attained such a high profile.
And yet our fear of being victimized persists—in no small part thanks to politicians who, in order to advance their own partisan agendas, exaggerate the threat and exploit those fears. In that sense, they are no better than the terrorists themselves, and, in fact, they are actually serving the terrorists' purposes.
In fact, our lives— and our very civilization—were in far greater danger during the Cold War, when tens of thousands of nuclear weapons were sitting ready to deliver "Mutually Assured Destruction" at a moment's notice. Likewise, we no longer have to live in fear that we, or our children, will be struck down by tuberculosis or polio or any number of other diseases.
So, folks, rest easy. Things could be a lot worse.
Our collective "paranoia", as you put it, played a very large part in allowing our Decider-in-Chief to prosecute his foolish, fraudulently-predicated war of choice in Iraq without significant resistance from the public, the press, or Congress. It has also resulted in facilitating many other abuses and violations of human and civil rights of late, such as warrentless wire-tapping, national security letters, Abu Ghraib, etc., etc.
Your last two words--"violent retaliation"--made me think of what I find an interesting cultural phenomenon. Two movies are currently playing--one starring Jodi Foster and the other Kevin Bacon--in both of which good, decent people become victims of violent crimes and subsequently go on violent rampages of retribution, shooting down dozens of bad guys. Audiences will, I imagine, experience a vicarious sense of satisfaction at seeing these wicked, shadowy evil-doers getting what's coming to them.
The cause - anxiety or fear
The result - Irrationality and delusion.
As yes your point. Does anyone feel safe again after the actions of 9-11. The political focus for President Bush is to focus on that fear factor and when he is down in the polls to re-focus on that point of fear again, by various means.
Therefore, if one believes president Bush then one may tend toward the paranoid side of the irrational. But then who is the delusional one, he who causes the focus or he who receives the focus.
Be not afraid of fools.
I would say rather do not listen to the propaganda of fools, be they Osama or be they the politicians who have based their survival on the continued threat of Osama.
Or as Frank herbert wrote in his famous science fiction novel "Fear is the Mind Killer".
I've been reading these intriguing comments about The Paranoia Switch, and I definitely agree that the worst terrorist is the one-- foreign or domestic-- who takes up residence in our minds. At least half of the book concerns the ways fear-mongering "leaders" have kept our fears alive so as to further their own agendas.
There's a section on how to recognize a political scaremonger, and one of the issues that I personally am most interested in, as a psychologist and as a human being, is whether or not nations will ever be able to recognize such people before they gain enormous political power. What do you think?
I'm very much looking forward to hearing from all of you at the live chat on Tuesday.
Martha Stout
If people are having a difficult time feeling safe anymore I think it is because they are buying in to the fear mentality that our media is perpetuating. We are not any more or less safe than we were before 911. We are just collectively much more fearful of the unknown. The threat was always there.
I moved to New York from Canada, a few weeks before 9/11. It changed my life, forcing me to re-examine my core beliefs. Since then, I no longer watch the evening news close to bedtime. The tone of most news broadcasts is negative, the stories rife with fear mongering but there are choices. I choose not to be victimized by the media.
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