Garth RattrayNOW MORE than ever, general practitioners are seeing a lot of anxiety-related illnesses. Anxiety in itself is a malady but it also resurrects dormant conditions and exacerbates many others.
It is no longer considered a pure affliction; anxiety co-exists with a variable amount of depression. When we question out-of-control diabetic and hypertensive patients we sometimes find that they have been experiencing 'stress'. We also know that stress compromises the immune system, which in turn loses the ability to defend us against everything from invading bacteria to invading cancer cells. Fear forms the basis of the anxiety/depression complex. The state of the nation has become a major source of our worries and fears.
Many of us know someone who has been killed by criminals. Just last week I learnt of the murder of yet another patient, Retired Superintendent of Police Albert Richards. Our unprecedented levels of crime, violence, indiscipline, moral decay and corruption have left decent Jamaicans feeling helpless and vulnerable. According to an abstract taken from What's it about? fear is a natural part of the psyche of higher order biological life forms. Fear in moderation is both useful and manageable but an excess or lack of fear may be harmful or fatal. In the most general term fear implies anxiety and usually a loss of courage. In religious quarters it is described as Satan's strongest weapon and connotes a lack or loss of faith.
In 1954, New York City-born psychologist Professor Abraham (Harold) Maslow (1908-1970) explicated the new humanistic model, a progressive, ladder-like structure to illustrate the interdependency of physical, mental, and emotional basic human needs. It is a theory about the development of individual human potential called the Hierarchy of Needs. If we are unable to fulfil these needs (especially the most basic ones) we experience fear on many levels.
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs (The Jamaican relevance).
Step ONE: (Physiological). This concerns our most basic biologic needs like air, water, food and sleep. We pollute the air that we breathe with the poisonous (exhaust) fumes from tens of thousands of cars stuck in serpentine traffic lines. We kill trees, denude arable lands and pave over everything robbing the aquifer of water, which in turn diminishes our rainfall. The spiralling inflation rate makes food a luxury item. Sleep is restless as we worry about our physical safety and financial future.
Step TWO: (Safety). We need stability, consistency, adequate shelter and protection from danger. With widespread redundancies and the demise or forced sale of several former financial giants, stability and consistency are rare. Many Jamaicans have inadequate shelter. Our crime statistics speak to our vulnerability to predation. In fact many countries embroiled in social or international conflicts have lower mortality figures than we do.
Step THREE: (Love-Acceptance). We need to belong and to be accepted by others. I remain adamant that all our problems stem from the lack of stable, loving family units.
Hate begets hate and love begets love. As you read this, there are children being abused (in unspeakable ways) and left to grow up wild on the streets. Many children come into this world unplanned, unwanted and unloved. Human beings need love, forgiveness and compassion. A childhood devoid of those traits will produce adults filled with hate, cruelty and violence.
Step FOUR: (Self-esteem). Only a few of us ever get to the stage of self-liking, self-respect, recognition from others and accomplishment. Jamaicans have been accustomed to dependency. Slaves were dependent on their masters. Free Jamaica depended on the Empire. The politics of independent Jamaica fostered that same attitude of dependency in order to garner support. Even today, part of politicking involves 'letting off' money to the grass-roots supporters -- again fostering a mindset of dependency. With constant dependency there can be no accomplishment, no recognition and no self-esteem. That translates into a lack of self-respect and therefore a lack of respect for others. It is no wonder that we are overrun with brutish road conduct and rampant violence everywhere.
Step FIVE: (Self-actualisation). Only rarely do we get to "Be all that we can be" or to utilise our talents and gifts. Fear of violence, poverty and diminished prospects for self-actualisation explain our high rate of migration.
As you can see, many Jamaicans cannot fulfil even the most basic steps of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. We therefore have good reason to be fearful. In one of his lectures Siri Singh Sahib said that fear makes our thinking and concepts short-term and narrow, we end up trying to survive from day to day. Fear (of loneliness, embarrassment, failure, poverty, hunger, pain, death and hell) has been used to control others. We must conquer fears in order to reclaim Jamaica. Evildoers like criminal masterminds, gunmen and corrupt people in positions of power, use fear to paralyse and numb the populace. In so doing they are able to prey upon us at will.
We must remember that fear is simply a God-given, self-protective emotion that Satan uses to weaken us.
EXPOSE CORRUPTION
Step ONE: We can surmount fear by utilising the spiritual force within all of us through regular prayer and meditation. As early as Genesis 15 God appeared to Abram in a vision and said to him, "Fear not Abram, I am your shield!" We must have faith in order for God to work within and through us, after all, we are His children.
Step TWO: We must replace fear with love, love of God, love of our fellowman, love of our country, love of all our children, love of a peaceful and prosperous future for our island home. Help those in need, perform selfless deeds.
Step THREE: Use fear to your advantage; let it motivate you, become proactive rather than reactive. Report criminal activities, expose corruption. Equip yourself through education and training and be independent of those who would take advantage of you. Educate your children spiritually and academically.
Step FOUR: Provide physical, psychological and spiritual support for one another. Become your brother's keeper. Form networks of communication so that no one can feel unloved, alienated or alone.
Step FIVE: Don't be afraid of fear. Remember that "True courage is not the absence of fear, but instead, the mastery of fear." (Mark Twain)
Dr Garth A. Rattray is a medical doctor with a family practice.
