Stop this roller coaster
By Robert Allen
I've just had a unique insight into how modern Irish society impacts on our
lives. For almost two weeks in June I was cared for in the psychiatric unit
of one of our modern hospitals. I ended up there because I could not cope
with modern society. I was depressed, suicidal and burned out, so I went
into the hospital and uttered a pitiful cry for help.
After a few days I came to see that those who end up in psychiatric units
have higher expectations than those in ``sane'' society. As idealists,
dreamers, romantics and carers they have set their expectations of their
fellow humans too high. The crash to ground zero, to Groundhog Day, is
inevitable.
I realised that most people, those who are pragmatic, realistic,
unimaginative, set their standards at a level so low that when their dreams
and schemes fail they are not disappointed.
Nowadays there is little difference between the idealists and the
pragmatists. Modern society has changed this. Society has placed demands
and expectations on people and many cannot cope. They go into denial and
just go through the daily ritual, pretending that everything is really
okay.
I realised there were two types of people, those who soar for the sky and
fall and those who have been taken into the sky and panic.
The unit was a slap in the face. There was an amazing eclectic mix of
people of all ages. Most were there because they could not deal with modern
society. Some had tried to kill themselves. All suffered depression, felt
suicidal and had panic attacks and many had turned to alcohol and drugs as
a solution to their problems - to anaesthise the emotional pain. All were
sensitive, caring people. Some were very creative and many were hyper. Many
were melancholic. Many were confused by the demands of society which
conflicted with their personal instincts. Generally people were positive
but scared and frightened. The unit gave them a sense of place and gave
them back their identity - for a little while.
Eventually they would leave and go back out into the world - a world they
did not really want to live in, and so many ended up back in the unit. For
some the psychiatric unit is a sanctuary, the modern world is a roller
coaster which is going too fast and most of us - those of us who don't have
a ticket to the promised land - want to get off. We want to get off because
there is something wrong. The destination is not somewhere we want to go.
According to psychologist Chellis Glendinning, ``in western culture, we live
with chronic anxiety, anger, and a sense that something essential is
missing from our lives, that we exist without a soul''.
Modern Ireland is now no different from the rest of western culture.
Materialism, consumerism, economic growth and the machine culture are now
pervasive in Irish life. Few people understand why we should challenge this
capitalist culture. The reason for this, asserted Sandra Postel in the 1992
edition of the Worldwatch Institute's State of the World, is because most
people are in a ``psychological state of denial'' concerning the seriousness
and magnitude of the global ecological threat and the consequent effect on
our lives.
In modern Ireland we have been going through a succession of cultural,
emotional and political changes too fast for Irish society to cope - except
those who see capriciousness, competition and selfish desire as ideal human
characteristics and much to the horror of those who abhor apathy, cynicism
and ignorance.
``We shouldn't be worshipping at the altar of capital all the time,'' fears
Letterfrack headmaster Leo Hallissey. ``We need to think of our people, our
young people and our old people. Our social policies are a disaster. I
think that change is very slow. I think there is change and that people are
becoming more aware but at the same time there are some dreadful things
happening. ``
In the 1999 United Nations Human Development Report, published this week,
Ted Turner - owner of the CNN Network and one of the richest men on the
planet, wrote: ``Even as communications, transportation and technology are
driving global economic expansion headway on, poverty is not keeping pace.
It is as if globalisation is in fast forward, and the world's ability to
understand and react to it is in slow motion.''
In modern Ireland we are not reacting at all. Our economy, we are told, is
booming. The Dublin state expects to report surplus funds of £4.5 billion
this year, yet our poverty levels are the second highest in the western
world. It is the same in the Six Counties. The rich are getting richer and
the gap between the rich and the poor is getting wider.
This is being replicated all over the world. According to the UN the
world's 200 richest people have doubled their wealth to more than $1,000
billion during the past four years. As globalisation increases so does the
wealth of the rich. Thirty years ago the richest fifth of the world and
poorest fifth stood at 30 to 1. In 1990 it was 60 to 1. Now it is 74 to 1.
It is probably an understatement to say that the UN are panicking while it
is business as usual in the corridors of power. ``We must bring human
development and social protection into the equation,'' is how the UN
report's author Richard Jolly sees it. He should shout a bit louder and in
the direction of Westminster and Dublin.
So can we do anything to stop this roller-coaster and slow the pace of
Irish life down? Those who cannot cope would say we no longer have a
choice. It is up to the rest of us to prove otherwise.
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