More and more Ukrainians become fatalistic
Recently a new tradition has appeared in virtually every Ukrainian family: gathering around a television set and forecasting probable scenarios for the Iraq events. Some, after watching just another bombing scene, speak about World War III, others — about the consequences for the economy, still others — possible ecological catastrophe. Nobody is surprised these days by an overseas phone call just to ask, “How are you?” All that became a certain symptom characteristic of just about everybody. German psychologists emphatically recommend on television that we forget about everything and have fun. The aged, in their opinion, should not watch TV news at all, since this could cause dangerous mental disorders and losing all sense of reality. Scholars at Hertfordshire University (Great Britain) made public the results of their research, demonstrating that with the start of hostilities in Iraq the British become more and more superstitious. The number of British citizens believing in knocking on wood and broken mirrors grew by 19%, reports Forum.
Experts believe that such a reaction is more than natural. Oleksandr Hubenko, Ph.D. in psychology, editor-in-chief of the journal Practical Psychology and Social Work, and head of the Gifted Child magazine project, believes that the war has exposed the fragility of everything that seemed to be solid in life: trust in the future, in the inviolability of middle class prosperity and stability. For many people, he states, the weakness of the pagan archetype of force becomes obvious, which since certain period became a dominant in the global policy and consists in bowing to naked force as a method of implementing a new world order. Anti-war protests against the expansion of force are graphic evidence of this.
People’s conscience, confronted with the unreliability of customary life concepts, seeks support in higher spiritual values. However, some escape from their fear of real life into ritual actions and magic fetishes, securing for themselves an illusion of safety.
Simultaneously, the escalation of aggressive political methods is evidence that not everybody can resist the temptation of this might. As a result, we see induced brutality, when the terrorists’ brutality provokes brutality in the anti-terrorist coalition, which, in its turn, leads to a new escalation of violence. A vicious circle of violence and brutality is formed, which can be broken only by discretion and Christian mercy.
It is completely natural that, deliberately or not, people seek support from above. In Mr. Hubenko’s opinion, this can be viewed as a certain positive result of the global cataclysms.
Ukraine also cannot avoid such issues of psychological comfort (or rather discomfort). According to polling data, for 70% of our compatriots, the fear of the Shock and Awe campaign echoes to reach us. Without making any general conclusions at the national level, psychologists point to the exacerbation of various manias and panic anxieties. Practicing psychologist Ihor Zubayev recalls a patient who recently told him that she fears for her child’s fate, which causes insomnia. “My husband went through Afghanistan, and he still kills people in his nightmares. Lately he hardly speaks to anybody,” he said.
The increasing number of such patients causes anxiety in Ukrainian psychologists. The combination of the Ukrainians’ mental specifics with the current situation makes the situation even more complicated. According to candidate of science in psychology Iryna Holovnieva, Ukrainians have a significantly increased anxiety level. It’s an open secret that the reason for this is our excessive emotionality and inclination to overreacting along with Chornobyl and Sknyliv disasters we have experienced. Even now, comparing recent polling results with those conducted in the mid-1990s, one can see that Ukrainians have become more fatalistic. While in, say, 1995 only 30% lacked confidence in their own capabilities, that category has now grown to 35%. In general, 72% of Ukraine’s citizens fear for their future.
However, the last fact has repeatedly demonstrated its positive sides. It is known that fear, failures, and instability always bring people together. Our history is evidence that hard times favor self-identification. Olena Donchenko, Ph.D. in sociology and director of the Mass and Organizations Laboratory at the Social and Political Psychology Institute, believes that while watching the events in Iraq, Ukrainians will become aware of their self-sufficiency and finally begin to trust themselves. More importantly, this can promote a sober view of things and realizing what is really important. Such things have happened before: the protective mechanism existing in our mentality in hard historical moments make it possible to concentrate on something that is our own, hold on to our piece of land, and be happy for each day of our lives.
