Descend Into Chaos Or Split: Managing Intolerable Experiences

Sometimes unacceptable parts of the self are, unconsciously, disavowed, disconnected and attached to the other where they become targets for attack. This constellation of mechanisms is often utilized to cope with distressing, difficult, confusing, traumatic and tricky experiences. Groups are not immune from these kinds of mechanisms. In groups, this is expressed in terms of in-groups and out-groups that often set the foundation for divisiveness and prejudice. This discussion focuses on the South African experience, particularly the current "protests" and the reactions to them.

‘I am human and nothing human is alien to me’ ―Publius Terentius Afer

“We have to heal our wounded world. The chaos, despair, and senseless destruction we see today are a result of the alienation that people feel from each other and their environment.”― Michael Jackson

‘There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you’. ― Maya Angelou

Protest is defined as "a statement or action expressing disapproval of or objection to something" (Oxford Languages, 2021). In South Africa, I imagine elsewhere in the world as well, protests typically develop from an experience of being disenfranchised, typically by the state, the majority and its representatives, that requires an expression of one’s dissatisfaction, disapproval and objection. The protest aims to express the frustrations of a group through mobilising and staging a protest directed towards change. Protests are, thus, often a cry for help, a wish to be seen and a need to be responded to. Typically, in South Africa, mobilised protests are characterized by singing, dancing (not in the "I'm in a good mood and enjoying myself" kind, but in an " I'm showing you what and how much I'm feeling" way), sticks or some sort of rods are usually carried as props. Typically, these props are used to demonstrate the seriousness of the matter and the willingness to defend the protesters’ position. If necessary, often this is more figuratively than literally. These protests are often plagued by sporadic looting and destruction of property, but this is not always the case. Where looting occurs, it is often occasional, unsanctioned, sporadic, condemned and fleeting.

An ‘unknowable’ drive for destruction

In many ways, the current ‘protests’ began similarly as described above. However, things quickly changed into something ominous, dreadful, with an amoebic form that is unrecognisable and uncharacteristic of a "typical" protest. It seemed to carry with it a dark cloud of destruction. The "protesters" had become laser-focused on looting. Typically, in protests looting would occur sporadically, as mentioned elsewhere in this document, during the day at the time of the said protest, and the police would often bring about order. This current looting is taking place throughout the day and night. It is followed by extreme destruction that reminds one of history we would like and have tried, but refuse, to forget. This refusal is set on the background of knowing that it would be irresponsible to lock that history in a proverbial box of the past. In this, not so distant, not to be forgotten, past, there was a collective understanding of the rationale behind the destruction and its necessity was supported by many who were affected. The current destructiveness carries with it confusion and chaos with seeming unclear superficial origins. One can only postulate its origins because it is unlikely that this level of destructiveness has superficial and insignificant roots. There is something about this destructiveness that evokes an image of a baby crying out to be fed and then realizing there is no mother to feed him/her. Then the cries get powered and amplified by something other than and beyond just hunger which is a wish to be heard, an imploration for survival. Similarly, in this case, one is left with a sense that there are deeper issues beneath this destructiveness. Do we dare suggest an underbelly of chronic disenfranchised pain, hurt, trauma, suffering and misery? I suppose this line of thinking would attract a swarm of critics who would focus on the ‘justification’ nature of the statement splitting off and dismissing all other possibilities. It would be amiss of me to not acknowledge the potential multiplicity of the origins of what we are dealing with. In the meantime, let’s look at how different is the current situation from ‘typical’ protests.

Typically, protestors would let their presence be known through song and dance. However, the current looting is executed by a quiet mob that moves like a landslide with boundless destructiveness. The mob leaves nothing but destruction and devastation in its wake. It paralyzes all around it. Spectators, responders and leaders, even some mob members seem to be moving in a trance-like state at times. This binding state resembles another type of response, a freeze response, typically observed during or following extreme chronic trauma exposure. That kind of trauma response only gets resolved when it is confronted and processed. The similarities between the current ‘paralysing’ nature of this destructiveness and the freeze trauma response suggests that similar intervention processes may need to be implemented when things calm down. Because this is trauma, and no amount of condemnation will resolve it.

Managing the splits

The majority of condemnations are coming from online "anti-looters". These individuals' communication positions them in opposition to the doers (looters), giving the impression that there are saints and sinners. Doers and done to. Good and evil. Them and us. There's an apparent and blinding split between the doer and the done to. Splits often result from a need to manage intolerable experiences. In this case, these intolerable experiences seem to be an extreme fear of, and anxiety about, this destructiveness and its catastrophic consequences. The above alone may not account for the various ways in which people’s experiences are constituted. So, one can also postulate that, in part, there is recognition, by the spectators and victims, of a "me in them", which comes with an awareness that "I’m capable" of similar destructiveness. And that becomes intolerable and evokes not only a need to condemn but an extreme desire to distance, attack, and destroy. This seems to be the conundrum of recognizing one's destructive impulses being embodied and played out by another. Hence, casting the proverbial stones seems to temporarily harness the free-flowing angst by positioning oneself away and in opposition to this destructiveness. This, of course, is a temporary fix since it doesn’t address the root cause of the experience. Consequently, the anxiety builds up, and fear erupts, leading to emotionally charged reactions expressed through hyper-engagement with, or extreme withdrawal (akin to a state of paralysis) from, the situation. These reactions are understandable because people are trying to manage their experiences the best way they know. However, such splits prolong suffering. One of the effective strategies that can be implemented in dealing with these difficulties is by going through resultant trauma reactions. In this case, that means acknowledging that things are falling apart and there's nothing one can, individually, do but watch as things descend into chaos.

On the other hand, one needs to witness and recognize the positive forces set against this landslide of destructiveness. For example, news reports and videos on social media show the taxi association in KZN conducting aftermath clean up in Durban. There are also reports of the taxi association in Mthatha actively standing guard, protecting the shopping malls and other businesses. There are further reports of certain communities standing guard and protecting businesses in their areas. Given these reports, it is safe to assume that there are many more similar acts of this nature. There is destruction, but there is also reparation and some protection. No matter how devastating the destructive state seems to be, the rebuilding process is never far behind. Yes, in reality, the proportions are immensely different, with destructiveness far outweighing reparation at this moment.

Lessening the duration of suffering

Despite this disparity, acknowledging and witnessing both the destructiveness and the opposing hopeful, protective and reparative forces of the current situation will maintain one's sanity, somewhat intact, in an insane making situation. Hopefully, it will also help individuals acknowledge their own destructive forces and where these have been split off, they can then be incorporated back into the self. Of course, this is a tall order, particularly given the fact that we are in IT. Whatever IT is. Perhaps, we can rest assured on the knowledge that everything that we are experiencing, our reactions, fears, anxieties, urges, and many other conflicting feelings that may seem odd are normal reactions to this abnormal situation. It stands to reason that one must acknowledge their own privilege of having space, physically and in one’s mind, to be able to think, write and express one's opinion about this ongoing intense and difficult situation. Maybe that could be another way of taking care of the self as well as others. Keep safe.

Reference

Oxford Languages (2021, July 14) Protest. Retrieved 14 July 2021 https://languages.oup.com/google-dictionary-en/

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Random Eruptions of Violence and Destruction or Reenactments of an Unremembered Past, By N Gqweta